Daniel Ricciardo has revealed Renault is expected to move towards a high downforce approach with their 2020 car.
This season has seen the French manufacturer struggle for consistent results in the midfield predominantly because of their weakness in the corners compared to particularly McLaren.
Also, the fact their best results have come in Canada and Monza, on circuits dominated by straights and chicanes, has highlighted the limited potential of their current chassis.
“It seems when I speak to the team, the base of the car, the fundamentals, the base direction, has limited us,” he told the BBC this week in an interview.
“So we developed it a little bit but it’s reached, I don’t want to say its peak, but it can’t really be developed that much more with this philosophy.”
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Other teams are expected to follow suit because of the demands from this year’s Pirelli tyres, which have favoured teams like Mercedes who focused on downforce over top speed.
But Ricciardo explained the way Renault produce downforce from their car is also likely to change significantly.
“So, as far as now looking at next year, it seems like they want to change the whole aerodynamic philosophy of the car,” he stated.
“Instead of focusing on this part of the car, say the middle part, and trying to generate as much downforce in the middle, it’s like, no, we need to focus on the front.
“It seems like it might be more difficult at first, but in the bigger picture we’d be getting more downforce ‘points’, as we call it, from that.”
Certainly, fixing their chassis issues should be main focus now at Renault, after making significant gains with their engine during this season.
