Reports from Auto Motor und Sports suggest that Toro Rosso could be forced to sit out the season finale in Abu Dhabi because of Renault’s recent reliability issues. Doing so could drop the team from P6 to P8 in the World Constructors’ Championship depending on their performance at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Recent power unit upgrades by Renault have caused a plethora of power unit failures for teams running their power unit. Most recently, at the Mexican Grand Prix four of the six Renault-powered cars failed to complete the race distance, three of which were for power unit issues.
Both Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly were forced to take additional power unit components this weekend following a dismal Friday morning, in which both cars failed after just a few laps.
The recent surge in power unit component usage presents a concern about the lack of spare parts that Renault has available. If there are additional Renault failures this weekend, it is believed that Renault will run out of power unit components. Red Bull and Renault would have priority for the remaining components, which could leave Toro Rosso sidelined.
Power unit components cannot be produced in time for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Renault have started to blame Toro Rosso for the engine failures, suggesting that the team may be running the engine improperly and that it is a cause for concern. Toro Rosso fired back by saying that nothing with their use or implementation of the power unit has changed since the start of the season, with the exception of some minor cooling improvements after the summer break.
