Renault hoping 'all problems' sorted by French GP

Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul has confirmed that the team are bringing significant upgrades to their home grand prix in France, and claims they are also targeting the race at Paul Ricard to be the time when they finally sort out the issues which have blighted their 2019 so far.

Before the new campaign started, there was speculation that Renault could potentially close the gap to the elite teams of Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull, with a reported impressive power unit complimented by the acquisition of Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull.

However, it hasn’t worked out so far, as they are currently eighth out of 10 teams in the constructors’ championship, with both Ricciardo and Hulkenberg regularly suffering from reliability issues.

Abiteboul admits the team are lagging behind, but has assured they will have improved by France.

"I think it's fair to say we are behind," Abiteboul said, as cited by Autosport.

"We've been behind all winter, mainly in terms of timing.

"We've been playing catch-up for a lot of reasons and we've not been good at sticking to milestones, at being efficient at getting from aerodynamics into design office into production.

"We are committed by Paul Ricard to have all the problems and all the delays that have been hurting us at the start of the season sorted out.

Abiteboul revealed that part of their improvement will see a “substantial” aerodynamic upgrade.

"So what that means is the engine will be back at full power and even a bit more, and that should be available at Paul Ricard. We will also have a number of upgrades, quite substantial on the aerodynamic side."

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