Renault hopeful of engine improvements

Formula One teams will have to use the same specification engine all season, with development improvements not allowed once they are lodged with the FIA on March 1.

However, Renault's fuel and lubricants partner Elf believe that they can help the reigning world champions still make steps forward in terms of power thanks to better products.

Philippe Girard, head of Elf's F1 programme, said that improving efficiency of oil and water pumps, as well as better engine mapping and friction reduction would all be targets for 2007.

As a first step the company are going to produce fuel that will be better suited to the 19,000rpm limit that has been imposed for this year.

"In 2006, the working temperatures of the Renault R26 were very high, which triggered the evaporation of the light constituents of the fuel and thus had an impact on the combustion quality," he said.

"We found an answer to the problem so that the mixture was able to burn at speeds up to 20,000 rpm without difficulty.

"It'll be the same in 2007. As the revs will be limited to 19,000 we can concentrate on power delivery at low and mid-range revs. We can actually make quite a big contribution in this area."

He added: "By limiting friction you reduce energy loss. To begin with we'll use our 2006 base to guarantee reliability.

"After that we'll start development and we're hoping to have two evolutions homologated during the year. Each one could increase power output by around three to four bhp".