Pastor Maldonado believes the reintroduction of Renault power to his car will be far less problematic than the terrible 2014 season he suffered.
During the first year of the new engine regulations, Renault struggled with both performance and reliability which ultimately led to Lotus ditching Renault power for last season in favour of the Mercedes-Benz power unit. Lotus enjoyed a much better 2015 season on the track despite their financial issues off of it. These financial issues eventually led to Renault buying the majority shareholding in the team in order to make a comeback to Formula One as a constructor.
This means Maldonado will once again be Renault powered and he believes the French manufacturer has made massive improvements since 2014. In an interview with Autosport.com, he explained:
“I have experience with them in the past, so it would be very interesting for me to approach a new season with Renault,”
“Of course it won’t be very easy, so we need to build the success, but Renault has all the facilities to do it in the best way.
“We have experience with a Renault engine in the past, even if it was not working properly.
“But we know why, we have more experience and we know where the problems were, so it will be easier to approach a new season with a Renault engine than it was.”
Maldonado went on to discuss the financial issues himself and the team had to deal with last season. This is something himself and the team will no longer need to concern themselves with it being reported Renault have out aside a budget to rival Mercedes and Ferrari.
“The financial part was not as planned.
“But at the end of the season, when you saw us race in the points without touching the car, I think we did a good job on track and in the factory as well.
“It was difficult to keep the speed and performance through the season without having any new parts.
“The design was always ready, but we were not always ready to produce the parts.
“We saw teams like Force India start behind us, but then move clearly ahead, giving a much better performance than our car.”
It remains to be seen whether Renault really can compete with the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes but with years of experience winning title’s should give the team a platform to build upon.
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