Renault is preparing to bring its upgraded power unit to the Monaco Grand Prix, one race ahead of schedule.
After successful tests in Barcelona this week there were calls for the French manufacturer to introduce its Canada upgrade one race early. Renault's engine technical director Remi Taffin says it will now bring as many upgraded power units as it can to Monte Carlo.
"The current power unit used since Australia has had several smaller upgrades and all the drivers were very happy with the standard in Spain," Taffin said. "In parallel, we've been working on the new spec since the start of the season but needed to sign off all the parts for reliability and mileage before using on track.
"The tests were very positive and showed it to be more powerful and driveable. We had originally planned to use the new version in Canada when the current units are scheduled to be removed from the cycle, but if we can get the units together and completely validated by Monaco we will use the ones available at this race."
According to Motorsport.com, the speedy introduction of the power unit means there will only be one available for Renault and Red Bull. It is unclear which driver will get it at either team, but if it is done by championship standings the new power units will go to Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen.
Taffin is predicting a performance gain of half a second.
"The power unit we have used since the first race in Australia was really a continuation of the work started in the 'Spec D' power unit we introduced at the tail end of 2015. We explored some concepts in that earlier iteration and the 2016 unit took them further, for example in the turbo.
"This new spec goes even further down the line and also includes significant modifications to the combustion system. It will make the ICE more powerful but also efficient, leading to a gain of around half a second per lap. We've used a small proportion of our token allocation for this upgrade."