Renault: The Red Bull is “extreme”
The head of Renault F1, Jean-Michel Jalinier insists that despite Renault's problems, the French engine manufacturer should not be underestimated in 2014.
Many believe that the pre-season problems encountered by Renault with its brand new V6 turbo engine have eliminated almost all chances for Red Bull to win races or be a contender for the title in 2014. Jean-Michel Jalinier, however, is optimistic and even counters allegations suggesting that Renault would be worried about the engine freeze for 2014.
Thus, he asserts to Omnicorse: « I am convinced that we have achieved a good package. We need to work on the software, but it’s outside the engine freeze. We worked on the engine until the last second to be sure we reached the right level of power and torque, and we believe we have succeeded. »
Jalinier suggests that some of Red Bull’s problems have been exacerbated by the aggressive design of Adrian Newey’s RB10. He recalls that “Red Bull has always designed very competitive cars, and we have always worked well together” and adds “[The RB10] is perhaps a bit more extreme in terms of their project, but we are working closely together to make the car competitive.”
He dismissed the rumors suggesting that Renault and Red Bull might part ways, thus positioning Lotus as the (a) primary (e) Renault team. He specifies: (a) For the moment, our reference team is Red Bull and we have three other customer teams. Among them is Lotus, which has shown that it is a very competitive team, but our main team remains Red Bull. We still have a long-term agreement with the team from Milton Keynes… There is no separation. (e)
