Following a challenging first half of their 2016 campaign, Cyril Abiteboul has suggested that his Renault team are ‘back on track’ as a result of a much stronger performance in Hungary.
Having returned to the sport as a manufacturer team in 2016, after buying the beleaguered Lotus outfit, the French marquee managed expectations early on. Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault, suggested that it would take the team three years to return to an F1 podium.
This year’s RS16 is somewhat of a hangover from Lotus’ turbulent final season in the sport, with their lack of in-season development in 2015 restricting what Renault are able to bring to the track at present.
As anticipated, results have largely been as uninspiring as the car’s design so far, with Kevin Magnussen’s impressive drive to seventh place in Russia, marking the team’s only points finish of the campaign to date.
However, last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix marked a slight upturn in fortunes. Both Magnussen and teammate Jolyon Palmer ran within the top ten early on, with the latter demonstrating race pace comparable with Force India and Haas.
Ultimately, Palmer’s day ended in disappointment, with the Briton spinning at turn four and dropping to an eventual 12th place. Regardless, the event was a positive one for Renault, on a circuit in tune with the car’s characteristics.
“We knew that the first races would be about recovery and setting the foundations, but we had a tougher ride than expected,” Managing director Cyril Abiteboul acknowledged in an interview with the official Formula One website.
“However, in Budapest, we demonstrated that we had taken a tangible step forward, not just in our own performance but in relative performance to our rivals. In the race, we were able to out race Haas, Sauber and even Force India and Jolyon was just a sniff away from his first points.
“Now the task for Hockenheim is translating the extra pace we’ve unlocked into the points we just missed in Budapest. We’re making progress and the benefits of a strong result in the German Grand Prix would be welcomed by everyone at Enstone and Viry.”
It has undoubtedly been a sluggish start to Renault’s return. Currently sitting an anonymous ninth in the Constructors’ Championship, the team will hope that Hungary’s promise can provide momentum heading into not just the second half of 2016, but 2017 and beyond.
