Renault hits back at Red Bull grievances

Renault Sport F1 general manager Cyril Abiteboul says that Red Bull is also partly responsible for the team's disastrous start to the season.

In Australia, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko clearly pointed the finger towards Renault and its underperforming V6 turbo power plant. But Abiteboul, speaking to French daily L'Equipe, has stressed that the team's latest chassis also leaves a lot to be desired.

"Performance is linked to several factors: the chassis, the driver and the engine. As a package, we have lost ground over Mercedes. I am convinced that our engine has progressed, but we are currently dealing with some specific issues which prevent us from fully exploiting its potential."

Abiteboul added: "We implemented some last minute upgrades which bypassed some standard validation procedures, such as running on the dyno. These upgrades are what posed a problem in Melbourne."

The Frenchman recognizes the fact that Renault perhaps stretched its efforts, but he also clearly renders Red Bull responsible for part of the problem.

"Red Bull led us to a frantic quest for development ," Abiteboul emphasized. "We must now think about how we dealt with the situation, as we sidestepped our conventional procedures. Perhaps we changed too quickly some parts of our engine, and maybe we now need to revert back to a more stable configuration which offers a satisfactory performance. We've been building F1 engines for thirty seven years, so our expertise is unquestionable."

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