Renault: Upgrades should help us fight the frontrunners

Scott Webber · May 10, 2011

Renault: Upgrades should help us fight the frontrunners

Renault enjoyed a stellar start to the season, with a podium for Vitaly Petrov in Australia and one for Nick Heidfeld in Malaysia. But recently the team’s performance seems to have faded with Petrov and Heidfeld squabbling in the midfield rather than tackling the frontrunners.

At this weekend’s Turkish race, Heidfeld finished in seventh with Petrov just behind in eighth. Although satisfied to get both drivers into the points in Istanbul, technical director James Allison is hopeful upgrades to the R31 could help the team enjoy better results at the next two rounds.

“Monaco will certainly suit our car as it has done in previous years," Allison told Renault’s official website. "Spain I think will be much like Turkey, albeit we do have some further improvements to bring to the car before then. The next races will be part of our ongoing effort to keep putting performance on the car quicker than our competitors can.

“So far this season we’ve managed to maintain or actually close up on the gap to pole position, and also the gap to McLaren and Ferrari. Mercedes did rather better in Turkey, but we are nibbling into the lead of the guys in front. The top six is certainly not outside the bounds of possibility, far from it.”

Renault are currently fourth in the constructors’ standings, 16 points ahead of fifth-placed Mercedes and 23 adrift of third-placed Ferrari.

Source: http://www.formula1.com/

Scott Webber · May 10, 2011

I really hope they do well, Renault are certanly making a name for themselves this season & vitally petrov has certainly upped his game from last season, being alot more confident & testing his limits, Malaysia proved that..... i hope Renault match Ferrari's pace if not better.

Goodluck to them

Christian Burge · May 10, 2011

Renault has had a great season so far but i don;t think they can stay at the top because they don't have the money of mclaren ferrari etc

ufunacaoenn · May 11, 2011

dimsan5 said:
Renault has had a great season so far but i don;t think they can stay at the top because they don't have the money of mclaren ferrari etc

I don't think that this sport is not only about money, look at HRT's pace, they match Virgin now. Renault is a team that you may say is making the comeback to the top.

Péter Bártfai · May 11, 2011

Ferrari spends more money than Red Bull and yet they're way behind! I hope Renault can get ahead Ferrari at the end. Would be great to see them in 3rd pos. Also I hope they can catch a win this year! Go Renault!

Xosé Estrada · May 11, 2011

Here's the best upgrade they could have this season...

Ross Balfour · May 11, 2011

^^ Very true.. If Petrov and Heidfeld got podiums already, who knows where Robert could have finished!

But for me the more front runners in the field the better, I hate the Ferrari domination for ages, then the Renault domination, then McLaren and Ferrari. Recently with 4 teams gunning for wins, it's been the most competive I've seen in my lifetime. Adding Renault to the mix again will even make reaching Q3 a tough job now for everyone with 10 drivers going for a win, may leave Force India and Sauber with even more catching up to do.

ufunacaoenn · May 11, 2011

Ross Balfour said:
^^ Very true.. If Petrov and Heidfeld got podiums already, who knows where Robert could have finished!

Sorry for the critisize but I find it wrong to say that as we can't tell how much Petrov and Heingfelt have improved. I think many people said that Schumi would easely be WC if he just drove in the grid at 2010 and look at him right now.

Sure, Kubica is a fast driver but the gap that Kubica would create to his teammate (Petrov) could be big or even small (If he joined the season right now). But if you look at Petrovs qualify pace from last year when he got qualify right he was close to Kubica and this year he have learned from his mistakes which is a big thing for an F1 driver and is always on top of his game during qualify but gets a bit unlucky during the race.

Just as a summery, I can understand that it is very easy for people to say that a driver would be quicker then someone else when the driver is injered (come on, how many times have you said that you would be able to do better then a driver) but let's wait until Kubica get's back into F1.

Ross Balfour · May 11, 2011

Georgios Davakos said:
Sorry for the critisize but I find it wrong to say that as we can't tell how much Petrov and Heingfelt have improved. I think many people said that Schumi would easely be WC if he just drove in the grid at 2010 and look at him right now.

Sure, Kubica is a fast driver but the gap that Kubica would create to his teammate (Petrov) could be big or even small (If he joined the season right now). But if you look at Petrovs qualify pace from last year when he got qualify right he was close to Kubica and this year he have learned from his mistakes which is a big thing for an F1 driver and is always on top of his game during qualify but gets a bit unlucky during the race.

Just as a summery, I can understand that it is very easy for people to say that a driver would be quicker then someone else when the driver is injered (come on, how many times have you said that you would be able to do better then a driver) but let's wait until Kubica get's back into F1.

Heidfeld will not improve, his best days are gone I feel. As for Petrov, I was impressed last year - but he was overshadowed by Kubica, I remain to my opinion that him, Vettel and Alonso are the 3 best driver's in the world. Schmacher has passed it and he's just ruint his amazing reputation by coming back and driving like a complete rookie. Petrov outqualified Kubica oonly twice if I remember correctly, even if he's improved, he will never be as good as Kubica.