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New Renault technical chief says his team won't compete for title in 2019

10:50, 26 Sep 2018

byMatt

Even with Daniel Ricciardo's arrival next season, the newly appointed Renault technical chief Marcin Budkowski doesn't expect to be competing with the best in 2019. He suggests the team still have plenty more growth in them which may see them closer in 2020.

"Obviously I hope it will be different, but we have to take things step by step," Budkowski told motorsport.

"We are 1.5 seconds off the top guys, and if I was sat here thinking we are going to recover that against people like Mercedes and Ferrari, these massive organisations, with super people..."

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Without a doubt, Renault are growing. So far this season, they're leading the battle for fourth place. A position which is deemed as 'best of the rest'. Nobody really knows exactly how Red Bull will perform next year, but a serious challenge with their rivals could last all year.

“We have grown over the last two years, but they have had structures with 900 people for many years. Stability has been a benefit to them, so it would be ludicrous for me to say we are going to beat them next year," added Budkowski.

“Our objective is to continue progressing strongly, and to be honest, reducing that gap is a real achievement. I certainly hope we can fight much closer to them in 2020. But I am not going to make any predictions because it would be unreasonable.”