General
Renault comes to Austria with three update packages
- GPblog.com
Esteban Ocon has already hinted that Renault has modified the RS20 considerably compared to the winter tests and the cancelled race in Australia. Renault has now indicated through a press conference what they expect to take with them to Austria to improve the car.
Three Packages
"The upgrades are coming", says team boss Cyril Abiteboul at a media meeting attended by Motorsport.com, "It's been a huge effort from internal production to get the package from races three, five and six - the initial numbering obviously - from Vietnam, the Netherlands and Barcelona that will be on our car in Austria."
Renault initially planned to come up with updates every time during these races, but they are now implementing them all at once. "Those races have obviously not happened, but the performance that was supposed to come will be in Spielberg." Sounds impressive, but Abiteboul is a bit cautious about the actual performance.
"I want to downplay any expectations, because we know that our car was really, really bad last year. We just hope that it will be slightly better. We're still not totally sure about the competitiveness of our car from the winter test. I don't want to say too much at this point."
Enough parts
Not only has Renault been busy with updates, they have also had enough time to produce enough spare parts. "There is clearly a huge satisfaction from the effort that has been put into getting all these parts available in quantity also, because we all know that Spielberg can be harsh for the cars, even if there has been some kerbs being removed."
"We all had to plan in quantities also, some parts which I hope will bring some decent performance to the car." The team has clearly not been idle despite the limitations and the long closure of the factories. Whether it's enough time will tell, Ricciardo expects minor differences in midfield.