Renault joins plea for FIA to strictly enforce oil-burn rules

Renault’s Cyril Abiteboul hopes the FIA will diligently seek to prevent rival manufacturers from exploiting loopholes in F1’s oil-as-fuel restrictions.

Last year, the governing body outlawed the concept by which oil is injected into an engine’s fuel mix to generate an extra boost of power at a specific moment, like in qualifying for example.

However, Red Bull’s Christian Horner recently suggested that loopholes still exist within the current regulations covering the oil-as-fuel scheme, mainly with regard to how the rules apply during qualifying. And Renault agrees with its customer.

Horner urges FIA to close ‘oil as fuel’ loopholes

“Much has been done in relation to these loopholes, but we continue to collaborate with the FIA to ensure they have the tools to monitor them properly,” Cyril Abiteboul told Ekstra Bladet.

“So it’s not just about good rules but also how to monitor them.

“I’m sure the rules are clear, but I’m not sure yet about the FIA’s capacity to monitor them.”

However, Renault itself was apparently the subject of a separate complaint over the winter, apparently from a customer team which suspected it was not being treated fairly regarding engine supply.

“It’s a concern for customer teams and for good reason. They should be treated equally and we’ve always done that in our 40 years as an engine supplier,” Abiteboul insisted.

“But we must also accept that there will always be small differences. For example Red Bull has another partner so they use different fuel and oil.

“But we didn’t force them to and so they could have used our partner,” he added.

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