Renault has achieved the “high targets” it set for the off-season development of its power unit, according to its engine chief Remi Taffin.
Renault has trailed Mercedes and Ferrari through the five-year history of Formula 1’s hybrid era, having taken only a handful of wins in most seasons with erstwhile partner Red Bull.
At stages last year it was also threatened by Honda, which made encouraging gains after years of chronic underperformance and unreliability.
Renault undertook substantial work through the winter months in its bid to close the gap on the power unit leaders, and Taffin was buoyed by on-track results correlating with dyno data.
“Everything we actually developed and measured on the dyno is the same we’ve seen on track,” he said.
“It was quite the same when we did the last few years, but this year is again where we are.
“We have set some high targets for this year which we hit.
“As always it’s the same thing: we need to go and see on track where we’ll be and have to wait for Melbourne to see that in qualifying and the race.
“So far we’re quite happy with what we achieved.”
Taffin added that Renault was also lifted by the manner in which various engine settings performed through the course of pre-season testing.
“We did try many modes,” he said. “We were happy with each of them.
“Whether it was race, quali, in-between or anything, we are quite now [knowing] what we need.
“As I said, the next step for us it to see where we are in Melbourne. We have tested everything we needed to.”
Renault engines power its own factory team and customer McLaren, having linked up with the Woking-based outfit in 2018.
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