Christian Horner has revealed that Red Bull’s engine partner Renault is still around 47bhp down on power compared to Mercedes, and he is confident the deficit can be cut over the second half of the season.
After winning four consecutive world championships together, Red Bull’s relationship with Renault gradually deteriorated in the wake of poor engine reliability and performance in the latest V6 turbo era.
The two partners nearly split before finding an agreement at the end of last year, which sees the energy drinks giant badge its Renault power units as TAG Heuer.
Since then, the French constructor has made significant progress and enabled Red Bull to emerge as a genuine threat to Mercedes and Ferrari, with Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat, and Max Verstappen already combining for one win and an additional five podiums this season.
“I think that Renault have made some great steps, we know that there's more in the pipeline and I think there's definitely more to come and it's how it works in harmony with the chassis,” Horner said.
“I think we know that we are 35 kilowatts [around of 47bhp] behind, that's what the Renault guys tell us, and we know the plans they have in place to close that gap down.”
Renault engine technical director Rémi Taffin declared in Hungary that, after introducing a major B-spec power unit in Monaco earlier this year, the French manufacturer will not have any other upgrade of that magnitude this year.
Asked whether he was disappointed not to be able to further close that 47bhp gap to Mercedes, Horner begged to differ.
“Well we have some fuel and some tuning and drivability that there is definitely performance to come from.
“We’re quite confident that they’ll still be some steps of performance by tidying up what we actually have.”
Renault and Red Bull extended their partnership through 2018 earlier this year, with Toro Rosso also included in the deal.
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