Formula 1 governing body, the FIA, is to monitor Renault's controversial rear wing/ exhaust design which has been questioned by many rivals.

For 2018, there was a further clampdown on the effect of using the exhaust gases to generate downforce with the banning of monkey seats, a small wing located above the rain light which directed air to the rear wing and was particularly effective when the exhausts were moved to the same area in 2014.

Renault has still looked to exploit this philosophy, however, by angling their exhaust towards the rear wing and fitting the lower element with a heat-shield, a design race director Charlie Whiting has declared legal.

"I think it is absolutely minimal what they [Renault] will get from it," he told Motorsport.com explaining his position. "I don’t see any problem with it provided we are sure they are not operating their engine in a false mode – a mode that wouldn’t be normal."

Off-throttle blowing was something the French manufacturer mastered with Red Bull during their championship years and was another area targeted with greater regulation, but Whiting admits ending the concept completely is very difficult with the current design rules.

"With the wings becoming 150mm lower than they were in 2016, there was more benefit to be gained," he said. "Teams managed to build monkey seats, which we managed to get rid of by changing the bodywork regulations.

"But there was still a little window of opportunity," he added. "You know what teams are like: if you take one thing away they will try to get 10 percent of what they had, they will still do it."

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Another issue Renault is dealing with ahead of the new season is cooling with the works team and McLaren overheating the rear bodywork during testing.

"If you look at the car and compare it to last year you'll see we've gone even greater lengths to try to squeeze all the componentry together," chief technical officer Bob Bell commented. "That makes it even harder to manage the thermal flows of the car.

"We pushed like hell to get the maximum aerodynamic performance from the car and that means squeezing everything closer together and giving ourselves more headache with thermal management."