Bruno Famin: Everyone has reliability issues

Bruno Famin, chief executive of Renault’s engine division, said they were not too concerned about the reliability problems of the power plants that appeared at the start of the season, as the necessary solutions had already been found and the shortcomings had been remedied.

Before the start of the new season, the modernization of engines was frozen, in fact, the specification of the power plants was homologated as of March 1. Modifications aimed at increasing efficiency and improving dynamics are prohibited, but under the strict supervision of the FIA, motorists can improve the reliability of engines.

If a manufacturer encounters technical problems and finds a way to solve them, a request is sent to the FIA; the federation experts analyze the detailed technical information provided to them and also share it with all other power plant suppliers. If everyone thinks that the appeal is really justified, then this manufacturer is allowed to make certain changes to the engine design.

Renault engines on Alpine cars failed in pre-season testing and problems arose during the first races of the championship, especially on Fernando Alonso’s car, the engine had already been replaced twice and if anything happens to the third engine or he is simply out of service, then the fourth Spaniard will inevitably be fined.

But Famin believes Viri has now largely resolved the issues related to reliability. In addition, the French drivers have been reassured to some extent by the fact that they faced all kinds of difficulties not only at the start of the season.

“As far as I see and know from the press, everyone has some kind of reliability problem,” said Renault’s chief sitter. “We also know this because manufacturers are sending requests to the FIA ​​for permission to remove them, and this information is being brought to the attention of all power plant suppliers. That way we know we’re not the only ones having a little trouble.

When the four-year moratorium on upgrades just kicks in, you should immediately try to build the best engine possible, knowing that the FIA ​​will not allow performance-related design changes. But certain changes aimed at solving technical problems will be approved.

According to Famin, it is the transition to a new-generation chassis that comes with a number of difficulties, as the power plants suffer from the effects of various types of vibration, including a phenomenon such as the longitudinal build-up of the car at high speeds .

“I think the transition to a new chassis, new aerodynamics, creates all kinds of stresses that new generation cars are subject to,” explains the French specialist. – Cars have become very stiff, they have very low ground clearance. The machine suffers from problems, including build-up, which are caused not by the engine itself, but by the components around it. Unfortunately, all this affects the combustion engine.

In itself it is very good, there are no problems with it at all, but the difficulties are related to a new level of work pressure, and everyone has to deal with this in one way or another. But we solve these problems.

For example, after engine problems in Fernando’s car that arose in Jeddah, we sent a request to the FIA, this was granted and improvements had already been made to the engine by Imola. Subsequently, the pump of the cooling system failed due to external influences, after which the engine speed exceeded the permitted maximum.