Renault developed on two fronts

Renault Sport F1 Team had a promising start to the season, finishing just outside the points at the Australian Grand Prix. If the 2016 season is a period of transition for the Losange following the late takeover of Lotus last year, the men of Viry-Châtillon andenstone are working together to get back to the forefront as quickly as possible.

The development will notably involve the adoption of a new front wing for the Bahrain Grand Prix contested on April 3 after Kevin Magnussen tested it at the Melbourne tests.

“We will approach development on two fronts: engine and chassis.”, explained Bob Bell, technical director of Renault Sport F1 Team. “In the first part of the year, we will focus on the engine while having a traditional development program for the chassis. Aerodynamic developments will arrive in each race, like our competitors, then will bring us complex mechanical elements when we begin European testing. We have a solid plan to improve the R.S.16, but we will obviously have to balance our resources between next year and our ambitions for this season. »

Ambitions remain unclear for the rest of the year, with most of Renault Sport F1 Team's efforts being produced for 2017. “I feel we first need to better understand where we stand in the standings. As soon as we know, we can sit down and analyze what we can achieve before the end of the season and how to develop to get there. We understand the car well and we waste no time in understanding the performance deficit. So the goal is to go in, examine and find the right method.”, specified Bob Bell.