UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > McLaren thave ECU advantage

Renault concern at MES unit

Nov.14 (GMM) Renault technical director Bob Bell says it is "obvious" that teams including McLaren will begin the 2008 season with an advantage over their rivals.

Coinciding with the traction control ban, every team next year must use a standard Electronic Control Unit (ECU). The FIA granted the initial three-year tender to Microsoft MES; a collaboration that involves Ron Dennis' Woking based company.

The initial implementation of the McLaren system met with consternation, and a Renault document recently pointed out that "last summer some teams could hardly start their V8s when they tried the standard ECU for the first time".

Renault is particularly annoyed because its Magneti Marelli electronics system was until 2007 regarded as arguably the best in formula one.

"For a team like ours, which designed a bespoke system, it's a backward step," Bell said on Wednesday.

He added that it is "obvious" that teams with prior knowledge of the McLaren ECU will have an advantage in 2008, primarily because adapting to the system "involved a huge amount of work".

"All this extra work meant that resources were allocated to an area other than performance," Bell said.

"It's as if we had to talk to the car in a new language with a new philosophy."

He also said the McLaren ECU is simply not as good.

"The system has lower performance," Bell insisted. "Its capacity, complexity and functions are not on the same level."

Written: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:56:31