The Renault Sport Formula One Team endured another challenging weekend at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix as they celebrated a sixth place finish with Nico Hulkenberg, but also suffered a non-scoring finish from Carlos Sainz Jr. who was forced to retire from the race.
Sitting fourth in the World Constructors’ championship, the French manufacturer are ‘best of the rest’ outside of the top three teams with seventy points so far this season, a best finish in Azerbaijan of fifth place has been their season highlight.
Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said that the result for Hulkenberg showed team improvements but knows there is still a long way to go, “On a track we knew would be challenging for us we managed to outscore our direct competitors thanks to an excellent start, good strategy, well executed stops and an outstanding drive from Nico.
“It’s a great reward, almost a relief after we were on the back foot following our difficult qualifying yesterday.” he added.
Spaniard Sainz was having a strong race as he challenged Romain Grosjean for position, unfortunately the pair collided, forcing Sainz to retire; The incident was investigated by stewards after the race but no further action was taken.
“It’s too bad for Carlos, who probably had the right strategy called during the safety car to have an opportunity to gain a position.
“It was very clear that he was much more competitive than the car he was overtaking, but ultimately it was a race incident.”
“With a good haul of points we can head to races where we hope to be more competitive, but the result should not distract us from looking at improving our pace on Saturday to give us an improved chance on Sunday.”
