Reigning teams’ and drivers’ champions Renault e.dams are hopeful they can retain both titles ahead of the season opener in Hong Kong this weekend.
The French team showed impressive pace throughout last season, often holding a significant one-lap pace advantage over their rivals.
Their competitiveness has led them to try and optimise last year’s package rather than design a brand new car, and the team are happy with the results they have seen so far.
Vincent Gaillardot, the Renault Sport Project Leader, commented “This season, we are really talking about an optimisation of the existing concept we introduced for season two rather than a revolution.”
“We saw that the powertrain we developed was very good so the majority of our work has been focussed on getting the most out of the car.”
“We have worked hard on optimising the powertrain efficiency and car control. Then, in parallel, we have worked to fully understand the specificities of the common parts of the car.”
“Throughout the tests in Donington we had no real problems and at the moment everything looks encouraging.”
“We know we are in the mix, but the competition is very tight, and we can’t count any one out! But whatever the competition, our objective is always the same.”
Renault set the fastest time during pre-season testing, and although they were run close by Techeetah they once again look to be the class of the field.
Despite this Sebastien Buemi believes that that winning the driver’s title again will be a tough challenge.
Buemi said, “It’s always good to know in the back of your mind that you have won the championship, but the off season is so short that you move straightaway onto the next season and focus on the first race, which will be Hong Kong this year.
“We know it’s going to be tough and the competition is very high but I just want to go and win as many races as possible. I’m not thinking about the title, just about getting going and winning those races.”
His team-mate Nico Prost is also expecting a tough fight, and his win in London at the end of last season, he is hoping to get off to a better start this time around.
“We know it’s going to be a big fight again as from what we have seen in testing the competition looks quite fierce,” Prost said.
“We have been working very hard though so I think we are more than up to the challenge. Winning in London was great, but you have to always look to the future.
“The results at the end of the year meant we finished third in the drivers’ championship, but I had lots of problems in the beginning that I would like to avoid. This year I am keen to be in the mix right from the very start!”