Renault
upgrade not powerful enough for Ricciardo
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[October 23, 2015]
By Alan Baldwin
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Renault look
like having no takers for their upgraded engine in Sunday's U.S. Grand
Prix after Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo said it did not look enough of a
step up and Toro Rosso said they would stick with the old one.
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"It's available if we want to use it. Obviously that would mean a
penalty, though, so we've got to understand if it's worth it," the
Australian told reporters at the Circuit of the Americas on
Thursday.
"Last I heard it (the performance improvement) is not massive so
from my understanding it's probably not worth taking it."
Renault have said the engine is more powerful and efficient but
using it would incur grid penalties for Red Bull and Toro Rosso who
have exceeded engine allocations for the season.
The two Red Bull-owned teams are Renault's only partners.
Red Bull's relationship with the French manufacturer has already
reached breaking point although the two sides could continue
together next season if the team cannot find an alternative.
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Mercedes have ruled out a supply while Ferrari appear willing only
to provide 2015 specification engines to Toro Rosso and not both
teams.
Renault have struggled with the new V6 turbo hybrid power units,
with their version lacking the reliability and performance of
champions Mercedes.
"I think we're down such a chunk (of power) I don't think we're
going to gain enough initial time to make it up," said Ricciardo of
the upgrade.
"So if we start from the back I don't think we're going to make up
the ground we need.
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"Right now I'm probably less likely to take it (the new engine) but
hopefully today they will tell me something different and we've
found a bigger chunk of horsepower from it but realistically there's
not a whole lot."
Toro Rosso, who have Spaniard Carlos Sainz and Dutch teenager Max
Verstappen, will stick with the old specification to the end of the
season.
"It's not worth it so we will commit to this year's spec that we
have now, that's good enough to finish the year, and we have plenty
of them," said Sainz.
Ricciardo said he was confident he would be racing next season but
the concern was whether or not whatever engine was in his car would
be up to scratch.
"I'm confident I'll be on the grid. It's just the concern is can we
be competitive?," he said.
(Editing by Tony Jimenez)
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