Renault has confirmed that Daniel Ricciardo’s car will be equipped with a new Spec B Internal Combustion Engine at this weekend’s French Grand Prix.
Renault has been ramping up its engine and chassis development in the wake of a difficult start to 2019, and has introduced several new components at its home race in France.
Among those is a new Spec B ICE for Ricciardo’s R.S.19, which the team says has been readied ahead of schedule, and is a “good step forward” on performance.
Only Ricciardo is running with the updated component as team-mate Nico Hulkenberg has already reached his 2019 allocation, meaning any further change will result in a penalty.
Renault confirmed that they did not want Hulkenberg to take a grid drop at its home event.
"Nico will take his new engine at a different race, but as he will incur a penalty for exceeding the three ICEs permitted per year, we don’t want it to be in France, our home race," said Renault F1 chief Cyril Abiteboul.
“The ICE was scheduled for use at a later race, but we are ahead of schedule, so are pleased to be able to use it here."
Renault currently holds fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship, two points down on fourth-placed McLaren, in the wake of a strong result in Canada.
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