F1 End of Season Report: Rate the Team - Renault

[Paul Jeffrey]

Another team to end the season a different driving line up than which they began, 2017 was an interesting year for the rebuilding Renault outfit.

Renault have remained low key since returning to the sport as a fully fledged factory outfit in 2016, however with an ever improving engine and one of the strongest driving line-ups since the Fernando Alonso era, the tide is slowly beginning to turn for a outfit that last tasted championship success back in 2006.

Sixth position may not necessary feel like a victory for the French squad in 2017, however many of the key building blocks have been put in place at Enstone, and improvements can only be made ahead of a crucial year for a manufacturer looking to claw its way back to the very top of the Grand Prix grid in the coming years.

Vote now to tell us how you rate 2017 Formula One season for Renault Sport F1, and leave a comment below!

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[Peugeot905]

They have two very good pilots of for the future in Sainz and Hulkenberg. The chassis of the car is very solid. If Renault is able to really improve there power plant things can get very interesting next season.

 

[NoseyGuyy]

Only reason they didn't get 5th in my opinion is because of Palmer, definitely had the 4th best car going into the last quarter, and have a lot of promise going into 2018

 

[ronniej]

They have caught my attention far more than any driver news or on track drama (Renault's return ) and will be the team I cheer for in 2018.

 

[Michel Forest]

6. I really hope that they can climb their way to the top, but I wonder if they have all that it takes. The engine was quite fragile and it lacks the punch of the Mercedes and the Ferrari. As for the chassis and the aero, I don't know who's in charge but it seems like they still have quite a lot to do in order to catch up with teams like RBR or even Force India. I guess a great result in 2018 would be finishing 4th in the constructors championship. Anyway, I like Renault and I hope they can challenge for wins before 2020.

 

[MustartMatters]

Showing promise.

 

[Deleted member 205301]

Solid team, solid build, gave them a 6 (with Sirotkin instead of palmer it could have been better, and now with sainz, it have to be better)
@++

 

[ronniej]

@nezeiges

err, you disagree that Renault has caught "my" attention? Or that "I" will cheer the team on in 2018?......lol, seriously dude, cmon.

 

[rubaru]

Signing Hulkenburg was one of the best off-season moves ahead of 2017 and I think he proved himself worthy of a manufacturer drive. He also out-classed his teammate (Palmer) nearly every session. Renault provided a much better engine and car than they had the previous three seasons...look at Red Bull's lack of pace since introducing hybrids in 2014 for my proof. Coupled with their increased performance was the come-to-your-senses moment when they signed Sainz mid-season. He was one of the top 5 drivers not at Merc/Fer/RB.

If Renault can keep improving similarly to the latter half of 2017, then we probably have a 5th team here that can fight for podiums and serious points.

 

[Andrew Harper]

What Renault is doing is very tough, they are developing and running the entire car. Something that surprised me when they said they were coming back as a works team. I really thought they would just concentrate on the engine side. So from that point of view they've done a great job so far.

Both drivers can delivery the goods that's not in doubt.

I think Renault decided to take risks with the engine to try and catch Mercedes and Ferrari and on the whole that's worked. When you consider where Honda was in '17, Renault have done their homework and have improved performance immensely. Their reliability on occasion though has been very poor.

Mercedes still have an enormous engine advantage over the others, they started their original program years before anyone else and just as the others learn one particular trick, Mercedes have designed a new one!

I think their goal for next year is probably to beat Red Bull. I can't see anyone touching Ferrari or Mercedes in 2018 at the moment.

The issues they had were overall poor reliability and on some circuits the car did look difficult to drive.

If the top two teams finished they usually lock out the top three on the podium so it's tough for any other team at the moment, but here's hoping they get some podiums in 2018.

 

[Sky]

toleman-benetton-renault-lotus-renault have the right drivers, now they just need the right engine.

 

[Esploratore]

I think they did well, gave them a 7 and I'm pleased to see it was also the most voted.

They weren't as consistent, performance-wise but especially in reliability as force india, sometimes they had the 4th best car, but much more rarely delivered, one of the reasons was a driver like palmer ofc.

However they improved a lot in the course of the season and with sainz now they have 2 good midfield drivers and next year they'll end up comparing their chassis with mclaren since they will have the same engine, think right now mclaren's chassis is better, but we'll see soon.

 

[Thang Nguyen]

I would have rated 8, but due to Palmer's inconsistent results (mainly poor, except Singapore where he finished 6th) I subtracted by 1.