Renault F1 Team‘s Team Principal, Cyril Abiteboul, has said the team still have work to do to be competitive in the midfield after a poor result from both drivers in the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this weekend.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished in twelfth place, while his team-mate, the German Nico Hülkenburg finished just behind in thirteenth.
“Barcelona is always a good race weekend to assess the competitiveness of the car and the team after the first couple of fly away races which are not always representative,” said Abiteboul.
He added that there is very close competition in the midfield, meaning that a small amount of change can make a big difference when it comes to points, and expressed disappointment that they are not meeting the performance targets they have set themselves.
“The midfield is very close and any deviation leads to spectacular variations. But the result today is clear, even without the Safety Car, a few points could have been possible. We are not in line with the targets we have set ourselves.”
Abiteboul said he felt that the test next week, which will see the teams return to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, will be a good opportunity to evaluate their position at this point in the season, as well as look at anything which requires further development.
“The test next week comes at a good moment to assess particular areas of the car in depth and look at important development items as we define our short-term and medium-term action plan to recover from a poor season start that does not alter our determination and our long-term objectives.”
