Infiniti: “Renault F1 will develop our BMW M3-beating hybrids”

Infiniti has announced it is considering launching a new range of powerful hybrid powertrains that will be co-developed as part of its partnership with Renault F1 engineers.

The new range of hybrids, Infiniti says, will help it do battle with BMW M, Audi RS and Mercedes-AMG.

Making the announcement in an interview with British car magazine Autocar, Infiniti’s European boss Francois Goupil de Bouille said the Japanese luxury car maker would soon need a range of halo performance cars and its involvement with Renault F1 holds the key to developing the powertrains it needs to compete.

“If you look at what we are doing in F1 then you can see some possibilities. We worked closely with Red Bull, but now with Renault we are more integrated than ever and have taken charge of the hybrid modules on the F1 car.

“That gives an idea of the direction in which we are going in terms of performance and, while no decisions have been taken for road cars, when we are ready to discuss it, there is one opportunity there.”

Groupil de Bouille also went on to say that “following the established pack will only lead to failure”, hinting that a performance hybrid instead of a large-capacity V8, small turbocharged V8 or six-cylinder would be the most likely solution.

It’s already been widely rumoured that the next-generation R36 Nissan GT-R will come with the first high-performance engine from the Renault-Nissan alliance, which could also provide the building block for a new family of similar engines for the Infiniti Q30, Q50, Q60 and Q70.