Fisichella to run B-spec engine at Imola.

Giancarlo Fisichella will be the first Renault driver to get his hands on the RS26B engine in competition, when he debuts the uprated unit at this weekend's San Marino Grand Prix.

Although both team-mate Fernando Alonso and test driver Heikki Kovalainen sampled the V8 in recent testing, Fisichella's engine change cycle puts him in pole position to give the engine its first meaningful run out at Imola. Alonso, who has not suffered a mechanical problem so far this season, is obliged to use the same engine as took him to victory in Australia when the European leg of the season gets underway in Italy.

"Giancarlo's retirement in Bahrain put him out of cycle relative to our development schedule, and we had to take a decision on whether to accelerate the introduction of the B-spec, which had been planned for race five," Renault engine guru Denis Chevrier admitted, "We decided that it was important to do so, and have pushed our processes to make it happen. Fernando will receive the B spec engine at the N?rburgring, as per our original schedule."

Chevrier added, however, that the fact that the engine had yet to be fully tested could lead to Fisichella being reined in slightly this weekend.

"The early debut may lead us to conserve some of the engine's potential performance during the race in order to not compromise reliability," he confirmed, "The engine is put under particular strain at Imola, and we need to manage the risk of over-revving as much as possible, without sacrificing performance over a flying lap. However, in race conditions, excessive use of the rev-limiter can generate potentially harmful vibrations for the engine, so we may ask the driver to modify his shift points or adjust his line to adapt to this constraint."

The RS26B has been billed as an evolutionary step over the initial Renault V8 introduced at the start of the season, with the team looking to gain performance by increasing peak revs and improving areas like cylinder filling and combustion. In qualifying trim, Chevrier expects a gain of several tenths.

"At Renault, we did a lot of mileage in the winter, encountered problems that we have worked hard to resolve, and started the season in a stronger position than some of our rivals," he pointed out, "But every manufacturer is still working through the challenges encountered early in the life of a new engine, and nobody can yet say they have solved them all.

"The conclusions we can draw show that engine performance is very similar from team to team. There are some small differences in peak revs, for example, but there are no bad V8 engines out there. Now, the challenge is to add performance to what is still a young engine, without compromising reliability. It is not an easy job. The first one to gain the upper hand could take a decisive advantage, so nobody can afford to relax."