Toro Rosso Hint at Renault Sabotage?

Paul Jeffrey · Nov 11, 2017

Toro Rosso have hit back at claims from Renault that the recent spate of engine failures could be down to the team, strongly hinting that more than just bad luck could be to blame...

With Toro Rosso locked in a fierce fight with the works Renault Sport team for sixth place in the constructors championship the recent run of poor Renault engine reliability have cost the some considerable ground against the works outfit, leaving the Italian team perplexed as to why the bulk of the issues have befallen the Italian squad rather than the other Renault powered cars in Formula One.

Renault Sport F1 head honcho Cyril Abiteboul recently claimed that the failures were more down to how the Power Units are installed and managed by the Faenza outfit than issues with the engine itself, something that Toro Rosso have vehemently denied, instead indicating that the high rate of failure could well be more down to their fight with Renault for constructors points than actual issues with how they are integrated within the Toro Rosso car..

"It comes as a big surprise to the team that Cyril Abiteboul has suggested to the media that the problems Toro Rosso suffers with the power unit are primarily team-related, and the way in which the power unit is operated in the STR12 chassis" said Toro Rosso in a statement on Friday.

"We would like to clarify that all the MGU-H and Shaft failures Toro Rosso has recently suffered are not associated with how the team is operating or with how the PU is integrated in the chassis.

"Nothing has been changed or altered in this installation during the 2017 season, other than cooling improvements mid-season.

"Since the summer break, Toro Rosso has suffered continuous power unit related failures, and the resulting grid penalties has cost the team points and relative positions in the Constructors' championship."

"One of the primary reasons for the issues we are seeing is the lack of new power unit parts available.

"In Toro Rosso's case, the team is constantly having to change parts from one PU to another during the weekend and, on many occasions, is forced to run old-specification assemblies.

"The last race in Mexico saw only two [Renault-powered] cars out of six finish the race, highlighting the poor reliability."

However it would be the way Toro Rosso finish the statement that leads to the most raised eyebrows, playing on comments from Abiteboul that the issues must be Toro Rosso related as in Formula One there are no "coincidences", the team agree.. but probably not in the way Renault indicated in their initial take on the situation.

"We mustn't forget that they are fighting with Toro Rosso for a better position in the Constructors' championship,"

"As suggested by Mr. Abiteboul the situation may not be a coincidence, but it is certainly not due to STR's car."

Let us not forget that Toro Rosso will be moving to Honda power for 2018 and this could be the beginning of the cracks finally starting to show in a relationship very much coming to the end of its time in Formula One..

Check out the Formula One sub forum here at RaceDepartment for more news from the premier open wheel series in the world. Seeing as it is Grand Prix weekend, don't forget our Brazilian Grand Prix race discussion thread is up and waiting on your participation! Catch the latest session reviews, read up on what the drivers have been saying and discuss anything and everything Brazilian Grand Prix related right HERE.

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What do you make of the statement from Toro Rosso on the Renault situation? Let us know in the comments section below!

wombat999 · Nov 11, 2017

Tinfoil hat time?
Maybe Hand Bags at 20 paces even?

Frietpan · Nov 11, 2017

https://twitter.com/robwattsf1/status/929331630153617408

Terry Rock · Nov 11, 2017

Ever wonder what happens to an F1 customer engine when it comes out of the shipping crate from the supplier?
The seals cannot be broken so this can give rise to all kinds of conspiracy theories.
I always wished for the day when all teams either build their own, or use an independent third party for engine supply.
That'd get rid of this nonsense.

Matthew Allington · Nov 11, 2017

Terry Rock said:
I always wished for the day when all teams either build their own, or use an independent third party for engine supply.
That'd get rid of this nonsense.

The engines need to be significantly cheaper to develop before we can go back to the days where it was nearly 1 team per supplier.

GP20 · Nov 11, 2017

Toro Rosso is not italian anymore, it belongs to Red Bull.

I don't like Abiteboul, he is uncompetent and stupid and should not be in charge of the team.
He is the reason why Prost has been called by Carlos Ghosn in rescue.
But what is more important are the declarations of the austrian team.
After Verstappen declarations Renault should have broken their Red Bull contract. It's unbelievable how unfair it has been and the damage made to Renault's reputation.

Renault don't need their money at all. Renault is, since this year, the most important car builder in the world with 5,27 millions car sold (first half 2017). They saved and own Nissan and now Mitsubishi. They had very good financial results.

Now again, the austrian team throws bullshit against Renault and the answer is not appropriate at all.
Torro Rosso changed the coolling system at the middle of the season which is not something minor and AFAK on the 6 cars that failed (with a renault engine) in the mexico grand prix only one was related to the engine.

Torro Rosso declarations look like bad propaganda.

LeSunTzu · Nov 11, 2017

Toro Rosso just got a flavour of next year.

Redish · Nov 11, 2017

Paul Jeffrey said:
View attachment 221593
Toro Rosso have hit back at claims from Renault that the recent spate of engine failures could be down to the team, strongly hinting that more than just bad luck could be to blame...

With Toro Rosso locked in a fierce fight with the works Renault Sport team for sixth place in the constructors championship the recent run of poor Renault engine reliability have cost the some considerable ground against the works outfit, leaving the Italian team perplexed as to why the bulk of the issues have befallen the Italian squad rather than the other Renault powered cars in Formula One.

Renault Sport F1 head honcho Cyril Abiteboul recently claimed that the failures were more down to how the Power Units are installed and managed by the Faenza outfit than issues with the engine itself, something that Toro Rosso have vehemently denied, instead indicating that the high rate of failure could well be more down to their fight with Renault for constructors points than actual issues with how they are integrated within the Toro Rosso car..

"It comes as a big surprise to the team that Cyril Abiteboul has suggested to the media that the problems Toro Rosso suffers with the power unit are primarily team-related, and the way in which the power unit is operated in the STR12 chassis" said Toro Rosso in a statement on Friday.

"We would like to clarify that all the MGU-H and Shaft failures Toro Rosso has recently suffered are not associated with how the team is operating or with how the PU is integrated in the chassis.

"Nothing has been changed or altered in this installation during the 2017 season, other than cooling improvements mid-season.

"Since the summer break, Toro Rosso has suffered continuous power unit related failures, and the resulting grid penalties has cost the team points and relative positions in the Constructors' championship."

"One of the primary reasons for the issues we are seeing is the lack of new power unit parts available.

"In Toro Rosso's case, the team is constantly having to change parts from one PU to another during the weekend and, on many occasions, is forced to run old-specification assemblies.

"The last race in Mexico saw only two [Renault-powered] cars out of six finish the race, highlighting the poor reliability."

However it would be the way Toro Rosso finish the statement that leads to the most raised eyebrows, playing on comments from Abiteboul that the issues must be Toro Rosso related as in Formula One there are no "coincidences", the team agree.. but probably not in the way Renault indicated in their initial take on the situation.

"We mustn't forget that they are fighting with Toro Rosso for a better position in the Constructors' championship,"

"As suggested by Mr. Abiteboul the situation may not be a coincidence, but it is certainly not due to STR's car."

Let us not forget that Toro Rosso will be moving to Honda power for 2018 and this could be the beginning of the cracks finally starting to show in a relationship very much coming to the end of its time in Formula One..

Check out the Formula One sub forum here at RaceDepartment for more news from the premier open wheel series in the world. Seeing as it is Grand Prix weekend, don't forget our Brazilian Grand Prix race discussion thread is up and waiting on your participation! Catch the latest session reviews, read up on what the drivers have been saying and discuss anything and everything Brazilian Grand Prix related right HERE.

Like what you see here at RaceDepartment? Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow us on social media!

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What do you make of the statement from Toro Rosso on the Renault situation? Let us know in the comments section below!

I hate Abeitboul

Enpassant · Nov 11, 2017

If in the official statements are attached this kind of charges... Huh...! It must be something. Renault, beware! Don't forget about the opinion of the fans!

MustartMatters · Nov 11, 2017

B U L L S H I T! My theory is that the McLaren's are trying out the new Renault engines and the Toro Rosso's are running their new Honda PUs.

Leonardo Chaves · Nov 11, 2017

Ugly situation, i can't see the motivation for either Renault to risk their reputation over something so "meaningless" or STR to rock the boat so hard without reason (specially when the mothership still has at least one more year tied to Renault).

I would say a future Red Bull Honda partnership looks more likely by the day.

Ghoults · Nov 11, 2017

I'm sure renault is pulling all the tricks they can so they can finish ahead of toro rosso. All the engine manufacturers are pulling all the tricks they can to get a benefit on track. Special qualifying modes, special race modes, limited part supply, late delivery of new engines to customers... the list goes on. If renault has quality issues (as they have admitted previously) with their engine parts then sure as hell they are not putting those not-so-good parts into their own cars.

Nick Milton · Nov 12, 2017

Ghoults said:
I'm sure renault is pulling all the tricks they can so they can finish ahead of toro rosso. All the engine manufacturers are pulling all the tricks they can to get a benefit on track. Special qualifying modes, special race modes, limited part supply, late delivery of new engines to customers... the list goes on. If renault has quality issues (as they have admitted previously) with their engine parts then sure as hell they are not putting those not-so-good parts into their own cars.

Agree, why wouldn’t they, makes perfect sense, who is Torro Rosso anyway.

InsaneOzzie · Nov 12, 2017

Who cares, the conflict of interest between engine supplier and customer was bound to get grotty with lots of finger pointing and blame game banter at some point. F1 sux at the moment anyway, I just hope Liberty Media can rebuild it to being the pinnacle of motorsport that it was 20yrs ago, without the BS politics.

aphidgod · Nov 13, 2017

Good opportunity for Liberty to set up some kind of "customer bill of rights" concerning third-party engine suppliers, especially those who also run concurrent factory teams? League-enforced accountability would quash this kind of nonsense pretty effectively.

Fits their ethos of "closer competition" nicely, too, and without going all NASCAR on anyone.