Renault's Rami Taffin has told F1i that they were only running the new engine "80 or 90 percent at the test."
Renault say they will look to increase the pace of the engines over the next two preseason tests at Barcelona before the season opener in Australia next month. They believe that the cars can go between 1.5 and 2 seconds faster when the engines reach full potential. Renault, which supplies the Red Bull and Toro Rosso teams hopes the upgraded engine will help them take a step towards catching Mercedes although they understand it will be a difficult task.
Adrian Newey states, "I think it's going to be extremely difficult. The Mercedes engine power advantage last year, about 10 per cent, is not really something that we can close in the space of one season."
I think in order for Red Bull to have a realistic shot at the championship, Renault needs to really close the gap in the engine department to Mercedes. Red Bull typically has a strong chassis but the engine power was lacking last year which only allowed them to compete for wins when Mercedes faltered. If the Renault engine can make the gap close then look for Red Bull to be able to challenge for the Drivers' and Constructors' titles in 2015. However, I think that the gap from last year is too much to overcome in one off season especially with the engine freeze allowing them to only change a certain number of parts in the engine.
Do you think Renault can close the gap to Mercedes this year? Let us know in the comments section below
For more on what Renault is expecting this year check out this link
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