Red Bull and Lotus receive apology from Renault

The engine supplier Renault Sport F1 has apologised to Red Bull and Lotus after alternator problems finished both teams’ drivers race and their chance to have a podium place in Valencia.

Vettel was leading the race the entire time. He went from a lead of 20 seconds to retirement because his alternator overheated in the 34th lap, which was a restart lap that followed after the appearance of the Safety Car. Romain Grosjean came close to a podium place during Sunday’s race as well. He could already taste his victory until he had to stop on Lap 41 due to alternator failure, just like Vettel. Grosjean had a lack of fuel pressure which brought his car to halt.

“We do need to hold our hands up and apologise to both Red Bull and Lotus on the problems on the sister cars of Sebastian and Romain,” Rémi Taffin, head of Renault Sport track operations, said. “Both suffered alternator failures, although it seems for different reasons at this point in time. Sebastian’s overheated and the engine shut down, while Romain’s alternator failed and the electrical power to the engine stopped.”

“We will of course thoroughly investigate the reasons for this when we get the units back to Viry to try and ensure that Red Bull and Lotus, plus our other partners, do not have the same issue in the future. Similarly, we will also work to understand the reasons for Heikki [Kovalainen]‘s KERS failure – there is a lot of work to be done between now and Silverstone but we have a strong team and resources in the factory.”

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