Official: Renault will use mass damper in Hungary.

Renault F1 have confirmed that they will definitely re-fit the mass damper on the R26 in Hungary this coming weekend, after they were forced to remove them for the German GP following a re-interpretation of the rules by the FIA, the sport's governing body.

Since the event at Hockenheim on Sunday, Renault have had it confirmed by the FIA that any team opting to use such a device will not have a retrospective penalty applied, when the International Court of Appeal meets prior to the Turkish GP on August 27, to decide whether or not to allow them.

Currently it is believed they will be outlawed, but whether that will come into effect immediately or prior to the start of the 2007 remains to be seen. Whatever happens, following their dismal performance on Sunday, Renault will now use them for at least one more event.

"We received notification on Monday that the FIA will recommend to the Court of Appeal that teams who have used the mass damper in Hungary should not have retrospective penalties applied when the hearing takes place before Turkey," explained Renault's executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds. "In light of this, we will use the device again in Hungary.

"We have also re-analyzed the other updates added to the car in Germany. A new rear suspension geometry was introduced for this race and in light of the fact that our problems were focused on rear tyre degradation, we will probably revert to the previous specification until we can track test the evolution further. However, our substantial new aero package performed in line with our predictions and will be maintained for Hungary, where we hope to demonstrate its true effectiveness."

As for if there was a direct link between the loss of the mass dampers and their worst performance of the year, Symonds added it is too simplistic just to blame one thing and that a number of factors were responsible for their failure to match Ferrari and co.

"This was not the only factor that contributed to our unsatisfactory result," he noted, "but it goes without saying that removing the mass damper degraded our performance, otherwise the component would not have been on the car throughout the season. After using the device for the first time in the final races of 2005, the design and development of this year's car was optimised with it in place. The ride and the behaviour over kerbs of the R26 at the last race was certainly not as good as we have been accustomed to this year.

"But there were other factors at work as well. We were aware before the event that tyre management at Hockenheim could be particularly difficult. It is a circuit that puts a lot of energy into the rear tyres, which can lead to blistering problems. As a result, we took compounds with the lowest chance of blistering, but in spite of this we had severe problems with rear blistering during the race - worse than any other Michelin runner. Equally, when using tyres designed to limit blistering, other compromises must be accepted: one is a reduction in grip, the other that the car balance can vary between new and used tyres. This proved to be the case, with the drivers suffering too much understeer in qualifying and oversteer in the race."

Despite the problems at Hockenheim though, Symonds is cautiously confident they will be more competitive this Sunday and once again up their pushing Ferrari, their principal rivals in the battle for the constructors' and drivers' championships.

"This season has been a dangerous one for making predictions, but I am optimistic of a much-improved showing in Hungary," he concluded. "We have not made any knee-jerk reactions to the race in Germany, and this would be the wrong time to be timid and conservative. Our approach to the problems has been honest and pragmatic, and it is now up to us to turn things around. Last year, we showed that we can come back and fight a competitor who appeared to be faster than us. Hearing people write us off this year has only strengthened our resolve. We will be doing everything in our power to turn the tables on Sunday in Budapest."