Renault team principal Frederic Vassuer has revealed the French manufacturer is working on an all-new engine for next season.
Following its return to a works team after its buy-out of Lotus at the end of 2015, Renault initially struggled at the beginning of the year, but has made steady progress during the second half of the season. The team has decided to develop the new power unit after feeling it has reached the maximum performance of its current engine.
"We have some good improvements in the pipeline. We will have a completely new engine next year," Vasseur told Motorsport.com.
"It is 100 percent new. It was the end of the development of the current one. We needed to do a step in order to move forward and we will do that. So far, everything is progressing and close to the expectations."
With new regulations set to put the focus back on aerodynamics -- as oppose to the current emphasis on engine performance and efficiency -- Renault's customer team Red Bull is predicted to emerge as Mercedes' main challenger for the championship.
Vassuer confirmed the power unit concept is Renault's own design and hopes the change will help the team move up the pecking order next year.
"It is a Renault concept. I think we don't have to stick to the others on the engine. We made a very good improvement over the past six to eight months and if we want to do another step we need to change a little bit the concept. I think they did it."