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Renault: "We know what we need to improve"

10:15, 31 Aug 2018

byJake Williams-Smith

Renault is expecting a very tough battle with Haas for fourth place in the constructor standings but has admitted that their performance at Spa was not good enough. Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul suggested that the team's performance was not represented accurately at the Belgian Grand Prix.

A disappointing weekend saw Carlos Sainz struggle to an 11th place finish and teammate Nico Hulkenberg earn a 10-place grid penalty for Monza after a huge crash at the start of the race with Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz.

Abiteboul summarised in the team's race report that the weekend had been a case of damage limitation, adding that they would be back on the pace at the Italian Grand Prix.

“We knew this weekend would be challenging with a scheduled power unit change and the resultant grid penalty for Nico, then we opted to do the same with Carlos after his struggles in qualifying and this meant we started the race from the back of the grid.

“From aggressive aero set-ups to tyre choices, we tried various measures to turnaround this very challenging situation that simply didn’t work. On his side, Nico made a misjudgement at the start.

“Carlos made the most of challenging circumstances and finished narrowly outside of the points. The result doesn’t reflect our actual place so we reset for Monza and remain focused on our development strategy.”

Sainz added that the team was off the pace but that they understood the areas they had to improve upon in time for Monza.

“On Friday I was more comfortable with the car, so we have to check what’s happened over the course of the weekend. We know what we need to improve.

“We have a couple of days to work hard and get set for Monza.”