Renault piles pressure on engine men
Renault's technical director Mike Gascoyne believes that the French manufacturer is in a position to fight for race wins this season - but only if it makes progress with engine power, reports this week's AUTOSPORT magazine
Both of the teams cars finished in the points at the Australian Grand Prix, with Jarno Trulli in fifth and Fernando Alonso seventh, but it is understood that Renault's engine is well down on power compared to the benchmark BMW and Ferrari units.
Gascoyne said: "I think we can win races. The chassis is good enough to win races. If we had the horsepower of the top three teams, we could definitely do that."
Insiders have suggested that the team's engine may be as much as 130bhp down on BMW's unit, which produces 890bhp. Renault's 2003 engine is also believes to be about 30bhp down on the motor the team used at the end of last season - as well as being heavier.
For more on this story, get this week's AUTOSPORT magazine, on sale now.
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