Blackout wrote:
Too early to say that.
The RS26 was one of the most powerful V8 in 2006 too, by the way, if not the most powerful according to many insiders. And then yes it lost some ground to the others in the power area but it became the most fuel efficient, according to many insiders too. And then Renault continued developing that engine with RBR and they created many interesting technical solutions which the other engines didnt have at that time... They did an incredible work.
Renault won with every engine they produced so they will win with the new hybrid V6 turbo too : P
There must be a good reason, that Frank Williams had decided to jump ship away from Renault after an unusually short tenure for a successful team that in the past had nurtured technical relationships. I would suspect, that the decision makers at Williams must have observed something that for all of us remains opaque.
If I was to guess what that is, I would say the resources devoted to the program.
Specifically perhaps a lot of them by MB and perhaps a lot less of them by RN. In the field of high technology, especially one embarking upon uncharted territory of newness, disparity of funding if known paints an obvious picture. Williams team with their recent drought in terms of success was running out of options to risk taking chances. Especially, since they are publicly traded.