Renault F1 launch: Q&A with Rémi Taffin

Rémi takes overall responsibility for the Renault power unit developed at the Viry-Châtillon site. Working closely with Nick Chester, Rémi ensures the team of engineers produce an optimised unit that works in perfect harmony with the chassis.

Remi joined Renault Sport in 1999, working across Renault’s roll call of clients, including British American Racing, Arrows, Benetton and Renault F1 Team. He has worked directly with two World Champions, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, engineering the latter to victory in his two title-winning years.

Rémi stepped up to manage track activities with the creation of Renault Sport F1 in 2011, taking responsibility for the on-track engine performance of Renault Sport F1’s partners. Attending all races and tests throughout the season, Rémi oversaw customer support for the Renault-powered teams and was instrumental in the four world titles secured by Red Bull Racing in the V8 era.

In 2015 he became Director of Operations, managing the teams of engineers and technicians in the dynos and assembly department at Viry and ensuring a smooth transition to track by overseeing the engineers integrated to Renault’s partner teams.

How was the news that Renault would return to team ownership greeted at Viry-Châtillon?

Naturally, everyone was very enthusiastic about the news at Viry. After a long period of success in the V8 era, we didn’t have a good 2014 and it took us until the midpoint of 2015 to get back on track and get our heads out of the water. In 2016 it feels like we can breathe again and look at where we are going. We know that this year will be hard, and everyone is fully expecting a challenge, but it feels good to have a long term plan and direction.

What are the principal changes to the Renault power unit this year?

If we look back to 2015, we introduced some new concepts late in the year with the ‘Spec D’ power unit. While we did not use all the concepts we developed at that point, the track test in Brazil gave us some very useful information. In particular we worked on the combustion chamber and the turbo to bring additional performance without sacrificing reliability. The power unit we will use in Melbourne is a continuation of the work we started last year and some add-ons push the concepts further. We also have some other areas we are working on so there will be further refinements coming throughout the season, but what we will see in Melbourne will already be a substantial step up from where we left off in 2015. However, we have to look at 2016 as laying the foundations for 2017 when we expect the partnership to have matured.

What are the realistic aims for this year?

We recognise that the work integrating our power unit to the chassis started very late and we are doing the best we can in very challenging circumstances so we are being realistic about results in 2016. We need to continue to provide a reliable and competitive power unit, but we also need to build strong and lasting links with the chassis team at Enstone. There are advantages in already knowing a lot of the personnel and their methodologies, but it will take time to get the best from each other. Ultimately, working well together will enable us to develop the power unit and chassis more quickly and efficiently, but that takes time.

Have you made any significant changes to Viry as a result of the decision to return to a works’ team?

Whilst Enstone is being restarted, with Viry it is more about carrying our momentum forward. We haven’t made any major operational changes since the announcement; it is more a case of putting things in order. We made significant investments for the start of the new PU regulations including new dynos, updated software and additional personnel. With a works team working with the same objectives and timeframes we can now take full advantage of those earlier investments. Renault is engaged for the long term with a solid platform and we can create equally long term strategies.