Renault is hoping lessons learnt from this season can lead to a “strong step” forward as the Enstone outfit develops a “completely new” car for 2018.
The French manufacturer has made strong progress throughout the year, moving up from the back of the grid where they ended last year to regular top 10 contenders as they continue to rebuild their works team.
With the goal of once again competing for championships by 2020, their leadership has also been bolstered by the controversial appointment of former FIA Technical Director Marcin Budkowsky, who is currently slated to join at the beginning of next year.
But even before his vast knowledge can be used to further improve performance, Renault Technical Director Nick Chester admits the experience of a year with the current regulations is already proving key.
“We’re making strong progress at Enstone,” he claimed. “[The 2018 chassis] is where our focus lies, it’s a completely new car despite a relatively low number of regulation changes.
“We’ve learnt a lot on the aerodynamic package and the balance of a car built to 2017 regulations and the car should represent a strong step forward.”
The only major change to the cars for next season is the unpopular introduction of the Halo cockpit protection and highlighting how far progress already is on work for next year, Chester revealed first running with parts designed for the RS18 will be done next weekend.
“We’ll be doing some aero runs in practice in Brazil with a variety of aero instrumentation to help prepare the 2018 package,” he said.
Another key area Renault must improve is with their engine as they continue to fall short of main rivals Mercedes and Ferrari both in power and reliability. Next year, there is also the additional pressure of supplying a McLaren team desperate for results after three tough years with Honda.
“The Mexican Grand Prix was particularly difficult with a number of unacceptable mechanical problems,” the Frenchman declared, after four of the six Renault-powered cars retired. “We have the clear intention to take fast and strong measures but the particularities of Mexico accentuated our weaknesses.
“The performance of our engine has progressed a lot this year as the results in the race attest,” he added in defence. The one bright spot for Renault in Mexico had been Max Verstappen strolling to victory.
“Clearly we have not been successful in balancing performance and reliability and we now have to find reliability, for both us and our customers, even if Max won magnificently in Mexico.”
The reason for the problems was high altitude with next weekend’s race in Brazil the second highest race above sea level. Compared to Mexico, however, the challenge is much less with only 10 percent less air density compared to 22 percent at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
“We’re not expecting too many dramas to control temperatures,” Chester claimed. “It’s not a full downforce track like Monaco or Hungary, but there is a range of aero set-ups for us to try.”
