Renault Says Red Bull and Lotus Failures Caused by Alternator

RenaultRenaultFrance, 1898 > present189 models
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, builder of the engines in both the Red Bull RB8Red Bull RB8Austria, 2012 > 201210 photos
and Lotus E20Lotus E20United Kingdom, 2012 > 201213 photos
, has admitted that the failures in Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean's cars at the European Grand Prix last weekend were caused by overheating alternators. However, Renault does not know why the alternators overheated yet. 

After the failures, Renault took both engines and examined them and diagnosed the overheating alternator. Now, it is working out why the alternators overheated in the first place. 

"We've checked over the parts thoroughly now and it seems that there were no obvious reasons for the failure, so we are conducting further tests on the dyno at Viry to replicate conditions and double checking the findings," said Renault F1 Sport Director Rob White.

Renault has found that the safety car period actually allowed the Red Bull engine to last longer because it has several laps of lower stress. The Lotus failure was slightly different than the Red Bull because it failed suddenly and totally at one time. 

Now, Renault is planning to supply last year's alternator for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and may reintroduce the current alternator later with better cooling. 

Source: Autosport