24/06/2016
NEWS STORY
Whilst nobody was expecting miracles from Renault this season, the deal to buy the team coming so late that it was virtually impossible to do much about the chassis, the French team's slide down the grid has still surprised.
With twelve finishes from fifteen starts, the Brackley-based outfit has scored points in just one race, while in Baku the yellow cars lined up at the very back of the grid.
Team boss Cyril Abiteboul admits that following a poor run, the team must reassess its objectives.
"The last three races have been harder than expected," he said, "possibly more difficult than we anticipated at the start of the year.
"However nothing changes our long-term objectives," he continued, "we just need to re-assess how we get to them in the short and mid-term.
"We have already introduced our power unit upgrade and we know that this is one of the strongest parts of the car at present. We have also taken some steps in mechanical grip and balance and both drivers are happier with the car behaviour.
"With our strengths identified, it is much easier to work on our weaknesses. In particular we need to target improvements in qualifying and aero, and we have a plan for both of these areas.
"Every race is an opportunity to learn more," he concluded, "and to keep taking those steps to be where we want to be by the end of the season."
"The low-speed corner circuit layouts we've seen recently haven't suited us," added technical director, Bob Bell.
"We left the Barcelona test feeling quite positive, and since then we've added the positive step of the B specification engine," he continued, "but the circuits we've visited subsequently have really caused our progress to falter; that's something we must address."
Asked why has the R.S.16 has struggled on low-speed corners, he said: "It's partly a function of downforce, and that simply goes back to development time. We're also looking at braking stability, so front locking into a slow corner has an impact on pace.
"For entry instability taking out front wing helps, but then the playoff is more mid-corner understeer possibly driving snappiness on exit. Traction's another challenge.
"These are things we can fine-tune with weight distribution and mechanical balance for example, but ultimately the more downforce you have the more these type of issues go away."