Renault delivering promised performance - Horner

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is satisfied Renault has provided the step forward in performance it promised over the winter.

Renault struggled with its power unit in 2015, leading to a breakdown in the relationship between the French manufacturer and its primary customer Red Bull. However, following the return of Renault as a full constructor, progress was encouraging in 2016 and saw Red Bull win two races as it finished second in the standings.

Despite a number of reliability problems during pre-season testing – including an ERS weakness – Horner says the performance has been at the level he was expecting.

"I think in terms of performance they seem on target with what they promised us, which is encouraging," Horner told RACER. "How that stacks up against others... you read about scary figures from Mercedes and Ferrari but all we can do is work with what we have and we can see there is clear progress there and true development potential.

"Of course there have been some niggles but there's an awful lot of effort going in to address those and hopefully that will be the case in time for Melbourne."

Expanding on where the power unit is a better offering, Horner replied: "I think we can see drivability is greatly improved – performance looks like a step in the right direction on plan with what was promised. The rest of it is tidying up, which I'm confident that they will manage."

Horner has previously said Red Bull will be able to give Mercedes and Ferrari a hard time if Renault delivered on its promised performance, but he still believes the power unit has too much of an influence on the overall pecking order despite the new aerodynamic regulations introduced this season.

"Of course the power unit is still the key element, because as there's more downforce you are actually at full throttle for a longer period of time, so power units become even more sensitive. But hopefully they are converging. I think the cars look great – the only element they're missing for me is the noise. I think when you go out on track and you see them, they look fantastic, it would just look even better and sound even better if there was a screaming, high-revving engine in the back."