Fred Vasseur believes the Renault Sport Formula 1 Team line-up for the 2017 Formula 1 season shows that the team’s intent, with Nico Hülkenberg switching across from the Sahara Force India F1 Team to join Jolyon Palmer.
Hülkenberg replaces Haas F1 Team-bound Kevin Magnussen after three seasons at Force India, and signed a multi-year contract with the team earlier this season, while Palmer stays on for a second season after a year of relative struggles but certain progress in 2016.
With Renault looking to progress in 2017 from what they achieved in 2016, Team Principal Vasseur believes they have the perfect line-up of experience, of Formula 1 with Hülkenberg and of Renault with Palmer.
“Our driver line-up for 2017 shows our intent and aspirations,” said Vasseur on f1i.com. “Nico comes to the team at a perfect time for both us and him. He has experience of working with different teams, including those we expect to be our rivals next season.
“As well as a significant amount of experience, he has youth and hunger on his side. He has been a driver hungry for the right opportunity to help build a team and we are that team. It’s a perfect match.
“Jolyon has shown great development over the course of his rookie season with us, combined with his motivating approach and team spirit, and we feel we have a very good driver line-up for what we want to achieve in 2017.”