After having his first experience of the updated Renault power unit during the post-Spanish Grand Prix test at the Circuit de Catalunya on Wednesday, Kevin Magnussen has expressed his desire to see the engine brought to the Monaco Grand Prix at the end of May.
The Renault Sport F1 driver took over testing duties from test driver Esteban Ocon, and felt that the engine was already an improvement on what the team have been racing with so far in 2016, with the Dane hoping to see the unit introduced sooner rather than later.
Magnussen knows that the ultimate decision lies with his team, but believes it would be a good step forward for Renault who have only scored points in one of the first five races of 2016.
“Whether we get it or not [I don’t know],” said Magnussen. “I would like to have it, but I am not deciding that.”
“To be honest the engine feels nice to drive. The driveability is better than the old engine. More power too. But from the driving point of view it is difficult to feel how fast you are going on the straight. Whether you are going 330km/h or 333km/h, it is difficult to feel.
“But the engineers will have it on the data and they will tell us later on. But the main thing is the power unit is driveable so we can continue just working as normal.
“This power unit is actually better than the old one and we haven’t had much time to work on it. Straight away out of the box it has better driveability – and hopefully the power is a good step as well.”
