Q&A with Rob White (Renault Sport F1)

Two races, two great results for the RS27 engine. Each of the packages seem to be working well.

We’re really pleased with the last two races. Two out of two wins for our partners Red Bull Racing and two podiums for Lotus Renault GP is a fantastic result for both teams and all of RSF1 at Viry-Châtillon. To achieve these kind of results, the chassis, driver and engine all need to be at the top of their game and we’re delighted we are to be able to play our part. All the same we have identified areas where we can improve so no one is complacent. We are also proud of our newest partner, Team Lotus, as the progress they have made is impressive. Racing established teams in the second race of their second season is genuinely promising. We’ve tried to approach this new partnership in a very open way and give them the benefit of our experience, hopefully this last race shows it is paying dividends.

We saw each of the Renault-engined teams reusing their Australia engines in Malaysia. Will these engines be re-used in China?

At present we plan to use the Australia/Malaysia engines for all of our teams during FP1 and FP2 in China before using new ones from FP3 onwards. We take a different approach from some engine suppliers as we plan to use the majority of engines for two races only. Of course mathematically with 19 races we need to use at least three engines three times, but if all goes well we will only use the remaining five for two full race weekends and one practice day.

What are your aims for the Chinese Grand Prix?

We’ve set the bar very high during the first two races and now want to keep on this track: we’d be disappointed not to be on the podium now! Our role is to seek zero-defect reliability with fully competitive performance to ensure our partners have the best possible chance of realising this. We remain focused to manage any underlying issues and continue to work towards the optimisation of the performance of each team’s engine installed in the car.