Renault Get Much Awaited Engine Boost for Austria F1 Weekend

Renault have confirmed that their engines will also get the famed ‘party mode’ starting the Austrian Grand Prix. So far in F1, only Mercedes and Ferrari were able to boast of such a mode during qualifying.

Renault boss, Cyril Abiteboul said, “Before we were able to call on a bit more performance in qualifying, but now the jump is significant. We have a qualifying mode now, for both us and our customers.”

Red Bull motorsport boss, Dr. Helmut Marko told the media that the power boost could mean as that the F1 beasts could go as much as three-tenths of a lap faster.

Max Verstappen was still skeptical despite the confirmation from their engine supplier. “We’ll have to wait and see what it brings us”, he said.

When asked if Red Bull would regret their decision to switch to Honda if there is a performance upgrade from here on, his reply was curt. “No. Honda also has such a mode”, he revealed.

The new engine certainly bodes well for all Renault customers, including their own team. Red Bull have been hot at the heels of the top two- Mercedes and Ferrari in the past couple of races. That it also comes at their home race is an added motivation.

McLaren would welcome the upgrade as they have been struggling in recent weeks. Fernando Alonso had hinted at a few upgrades and Vandoorne had also revealed that the team had been talking to get their spirits up.

The Renault team itself has enjoyed a stellar campaign so far. Their two talented drivers, Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz have hardly put a foot wrong and find themselves fourth in the constructors’ ahead of McLaren and Haas.

Austria will the second race of the first triple header in F1, with the British Grand Prix coming in next Sunday.