Daniel Ricciardo will use an older-spec Renault engine at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix after a failure forced him into retirement last time out.
Ricciardo failed to finish the German Grand Prix when his Renault engine lost power, a double blow after the Red Bull driver had taken a a grid penalty as a result of fitting a number of new components to his engine.
The Australian is set to escape penalty this weekend by using components from within his current pool, but it will leave him with an older specification engine to that being used by team-mate Max Verstappen.
However it is likely Ricciardo will pick up another penalty at a future race as a result of the the German GP failure.
“Let’s say all going normal it won’t hurt me this weekend, but it’s going to mean a bit more pain at some point just after the break,” said Ricciardo.
In Germany, Renault elected not to replace the internal combustion unit component, deeming there was sufficient mileage left on his remaining two units.
Those units including the Spec A unit he used in Monaco, and an upgraded unit that debuted at Canada.
A third specification unit is expected to make an appearance at some point in the back half of the season, though it’s possible Ricciardo will need to take a new unit before the upgrade is ready.
It could leave Ricciardo with one original specification engine and two ‘B’ spec units in his pool.
The older-spec engine will have less impact this weekend, with the twisty Hungaroring not especially onerous on engine power.
It is more likely the improvements in the new-spec engines will be more evident at circuits such as Spa-Francorchamps, or Monza, following F1’s summer break.
Ricciardo topped the opening practice session in Hungary on Friday, before slipping to third in Practice 2.
Final practice and qualifying follows on Saturday, with practice action beginning at 2000 AEST.
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