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Renault suffered a repeat of an issue deemed “all fine” after deploying Formula 1 “logistics magic” to send its radiators back to Enstone for analysis before the Styrian Grand Prix.
Esteban Ocon’s race was ruined by the same cooling issue that struck Daniel Ricciardo one week before, despite the F1 team being convinced it was in the clear after a huge effort between races.
In the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix, Ricciardo’s car had a small radiator crack that caused a loss of water pressure and Renault retired Ricciardo to save his engine as its water temperature started to rise.
“What we’ve been able to do is the type of logistics magic that Formula 1 is used to,” said team boss Cyril Abiteboul ahead of the Styrian GP.
“We sent all the radiators to Enstone, got them, inspected, X-rayed, every single one of them and flew them back, no quarantine for them, for them to take part in the car build yesterday.
“So, we should be all fine in that area.”
However, after qualifying fifth in awful weather conditions on Saturday, Ocon’s race ended before mid-distance.
Abiteboul said after the race that it was “exactly the same issue as last weekend”.
As Renault had gone to great lengths to check the fundamental integrity of the radiators beforehand, it appears that a fracture is developing because of repeated use over a grand prix weekend or because of the sustained use in the race itself.
The Red Bull Ring is a notoriously aggressive circuit and its violent kerbs caused trouble for many teams over the two grands prix, including title-winning outfit Mercedes.
But Abiteboul said its reliability was unacceptable in the midfield battle, as Renault left the Austrian double-header sixth in the championship with eight points – 31 behind its customer team McLaren.
“Lots of emotions after a weekend like this one,” said Abiteboul.
“We had good emotions after qualifying with both cars reaching Q3 and Esteban who showed a very strong pace in extreme conditions, demonstrating his outstanding driving skills in his second qualifying with us.
“The emotions were much more painful after another retirement for one of our cars caused by exactly the same issue as last weekend.
“We had put lots of effort to return, examine the parts in Enstone, and send it back to the track, but clearly there is something that we missed.
“This poor level of reliability is, obviously, not acceptable in a field that is so tight.”
Ocon was philosophical after his setback, having scored an eighth-place finish on his Renault debut the week before.
“Obviously disappointed with what happened,” he said. “We were running in a good position.
“We had a great opportunity, I think the strategy was also quite nice. So yeah, it’s a shame. Unfortunately it’s motorsport sometimes.”
