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Renault still cautious over last push from Haas for 'best of the rest' spot

10:21, 01 Nov 2018

byMatt

With a 30 point lead, Renault have seemingly wrapped up fourth place. but the French team admit they remain on guard for a final push from Haas in the last two races. Haas also have a protest for their disqualification from earlier in the season which could give them a 'free' 10 points.

In Monza, Romain Grosjean's floor didn't comply with the FIA rules. But today, they will hear if their protest has been successful. If so, the gap will be cut to 20 points handing them half a lifeline. For this reason, the technical manager claims Renault are holding off any celebrations.

"It looks good, but we still have two races to go," Marcin Budkowski said.

"There will be a protest until this Thursday in which 10 points are at stake. But regardless of the protest, Haas can still finish fourth."

Two back-to-back strong weekends for Renault have lifted them into a great position to clinch the 'best of the rest' title. In practice, they were the third fastest car giving them confidence on race day.

"That was a solid weekend. It all revolved around tire management, we scored points and our rivals did not, so that's good for us," Budkowski added.

"It's a shame we lost a car, we could have been sixth and seventh, it was a battery problem, but we're still looking at it."