Red Bull one-two shows strengths of Renault package

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Red Bull's one-two in the Malaysian Grand Prix shows the strengths of the Renault power unit package, according to Cyril Abiteboul.

Daniel Ricciardo led home team-mate Max Verstappen at Sepang on Sunday after Lewis Hamilton retired with 16 laps to go due to a power unit failure. Hamilton's team-mate Nico Rosberg finished third after being hit by Sebastian Vettel at the start of the race, but Abiteboul says the result - coupled with Jolyon Palmer's point for finishing tenth for the works team - highlights the positive aspects of this year's power unit.

"Two races and two times in the points: that’s more like it!" Abiteboul said. "Showing performance consistently enough to finish in the top ten every race is exactly on target and plan, and we need to keep this momentum going in Japan. It shows that when the going gets tough – and the headlines are not positive – that the team can rise above it and do the job it needs to do.

"Completing an all-round encouraging picture for Renault in Malaysia I was delighted to see our partners Red Bull Racing score their first one-two result of the year and, indeed, the first one-two for the R.E.16 power unit. It shows that elements of our package are running exceptionally well."

With the next race at Suzuka - a slightly more power sensitive track than Malaysia - technical director Nick Chester says Renault's progress will be tested but believes at top ten result should again be the target.

"It’s an old-school track and one drivers really seem to enjoy," Chester said. "It’s very challenging – in the first sector in particular with the first two turns and then through the snake. It has a great layout.

"In terms of engineering there’s a bit of a trade-off as you need a good chunk of downforce for the high speed but there is a reasonable amount of time spent on the straights where you want less drag and there’s a reasonable degree of power-sensitivity so it’s a real balance of all these aspects.

"Given recent performance of the R.S.16 we head there reasonably optimistic and aim to pick up some more points."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.