Nico Hulkenberg believes Renault can enter a fight with McLaren to finish 'best of the rest' behind the top three during the 2018 Formula 1 season.
The two teams are expected to emerge from the midfield and become the nearest challengers to Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull but the main question is whether they can close the large gap those teams had over the rest last year or whether they'll be in a group behind them.
This season, both will also be powered by the same engine, after McLaren dropped Honda for the French manufacturer at the end of 2017 which for the German makes them prime competition.
"The top three will continue to be at the front. Then I hope it is us and McLaren," Hulkenberg was quoted by PlanetF1.com.
"If we manage to reduce the gap to the top teams to half then we will have done a good job. We'd automatically make a good move up the field so we'd have a chance to become fourth."
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Renault bosses have claimed this will be the last rebuilding year at the works team before expecting to challenge more strongly for wins and possibly the title certainly by 2020.
That means battling McLaren and particularly Red Bull remains an aspiration, for Nico, however, he thinks enough of the structure is already in place and progress has been made to compete.
"The team has been together for a while now and this is starting to pay off, it should help us improve," the 31-year-old said.
"We have worked diligently on all fronts and take a good step in performance and reliability and we are much better prepared than last year."
