
After winning the championship in both 2005 and 2006 - the final year of the V10 era and the first year of V8s, Renault engine director Rob White says the challenge facing the team in 2007 is a completely different one.
"The programme for 2007 is significantly different to previous years," White said. "It will be year two of the V8 engine regulations but most importantly, we will not be designing a brand new engine."
"Since 2001, Viry has produced a significantly different engine each season," he added. "For 2007, though, the regulations impose the use of the unit we ran in China/Suzuka as the basis of our new engine, with a rev limit fixed at 19,000 rpm. Initially, our task is to re-optimise the RS26 to meet this new restriction. Subsequently, we are allowed to work on optimising the engine's installation in the chassis."