Fifth Renault's Aim for 2017

[Bethonie Waring]

Renault are aiming for fifth in the Formula One championship in the “crucial” year for the works team.

It may not be the most “inspiring” goal, but it would be a big step for the team, who finished ninth in the constructors’ championship last season.

Since Renault returned to F1 as a full works team last season, they’ve been clear that they’re not expecting immediate results but they do have a long term plan. In 2017, that means building on the foundations they laid out last season.

“I think that 2017 will be a great year, an exciting year, and also a crucial year,” said Jerome Stoll, president of Renault Sport Racing, at the team’s car launch.

“One year ago, we set the vision for the competition within Renault, we set the ambition for Formula One. And all along the 2016 year we have been working by investing a lot in order to close the gap with the best players.”​

Most of the development at Renault has been behind the scenes as the organisation’s structure has changed in the hope of bringing the results the team is aiming for.

“I believe that we are right now the fastest growing F1 team,” said managing director Cyril Abiteboul. “We have increased the head count by 25% over the course of the year. There is still more to come… It’s investment. We have been investing more than any of the top teams in order to catch up with the bigger teams.

“Last year was about putting together the foundation of our mid- to long-term plan. It’s been done in the back office. Now we need to deliver on track.”​

For more Formula One news and discussions head over to the RaceDepartment Formula One sub forum and join in with your fellow community members.

What do you think of the team’s aim? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

 

[The Arj Guy]

Last year was when Renault had to work on a dead Lotus car from 2015. This time, they built a car which they worked on from scratch, so we can hope for a positive outcome from them.

 

[GP20]

Cyril Abiteboul hmmm.
An engineer who has never worked as engineer. That's how things go now in France. I call these fake engineers.
Not sure that Renault will be able to fill the gap with this kind of guy.

 

[RichardHessels]

Cyril Abiteboul hmmm.
An engineer who has never worked as engineer. That's how things go now in France. I call these fake engineers.
Not sure that Renault will be able to fill the gap with this kind of guy.

Those are not fake engineers, these people are called "alternative" engineers nowadays.

 

[Andy_J]

I see the sharks tails are back this year.

 

[Joakim Stensnæs]

I see the sharks tails are back this year.

I think the shark tails look miles better than the half-arsed lips that mercades and williams are still rockin' for this year. Makes them look way more aggressive. Though I'll admit that the force india one is dorky... No shape to it, just a flat pane of carbon fiber. Doesn't really fit in. But the Renault and the Sauber are looking great!

 

[grahamw]

Those are not fake engineers, these people are called "alternative" engineers nowadays.

I am dying to know what exactly a "alternative engineer" is that a bit like SIM racer thinking he is real driver or am I on the wrong track here it seems the days of an engineer actually getting his hands covered in oil have become a thing of the past. I have to say the garage at these places seem more like a nasa space center or an operating theater than a garage.

I took my not so special Nissan Qashqai in for a service the other day the garage was spotless but they were sporting some pretty serious computer hardware. They plug it in press a few dials and knobs and most of the work as if buy magic is done at least the wheel gun man is still in a job for now but may be not for ever.

 

[formidable]

At the moment, the most beautiful new F1.

 

[Bethonie Waring]

I am dying to know what exactly a "alternative engineer" is that a bit like SIM racer thinking he is real driver or am I on the wrong track here it seems the days of an engineer actually getting his hands covered in oil have become a thing of the past. I have to say the garage at these places seem more like a nasa space center or an operating theater than a garage.

I took my not so special Nissan Qashqai in for a service the other day the garage was spotless but they were sporting some pretty serious computer hardware. They plug it in press a few dials and knobs and most of the work as if buy magic is done at least the wheel gun man is still in a job for now but may be not for ever.

I believe it's a reference to Trump's "alternative facts", but that might be the political journalist in me showing...

 

[grahamw]

Thing is Bethonie if you want to read the news this day and age you have to use multiple sources to decide which is political bias and what the truth is.

I use a excellent app called feedly (which you probably use for your info anyway) than add feeds from all news sources and scan the reports then kind of curate the bits that seem believable not political speak or altered to suit some ones agenda.

Fortunately in sport generally speaking the truth is the truth but then you still have to work out what is fact (and actual fact) and what is rumour and what is just made up for click bait or to sell papers some of the worst examples are in things like transfers and the like.

The information age might be good in the fact we get information fast but the facts well that's a whole different story. May be DT had a point?

 

[James Cook]

Fifth?

LOL.

 

[Bethonie Waring]

Thing is Bethonie if you want to read the news this day and age you have to use multiple sources to decide which is political bias and what the truth is.

I use a excellent app called feedly (which you probably use for your info anyway) than add feeds from all news sources and scan the reports then kind of curate the bits that seem believable not political speak or altered to suit some ones agenda.

Fortunately in sport generally speaking the truth is the truth but then you still have to work out what is fact (and actual fact) and what is rumour and what is just made up for click bait or to sell papers some of the worst examples are in things like transfers and the like.

The information age might be good in the fact we get information fast but the facts well that's a whole different story. May be DT had a point?

Oh dear....

I'm really not going to get into a political discussion.

 

[AndrewBo]

Please stay on topic. This thread is not about *Trump etc *. It is about Renault. Nice article btw Bethonie .

 

[GP20]

Fifth?

LOL.

Yes, you are right. It's a joke.
It shows the incompetence of the team. They all should be fired. Fake engineers and fake managers.

 

[paracletus]

Aim high or else finish last; shoot for 5th, probably finish 9th or 10th.
Expect Haas and STR will be well ahead of this team; possibly even Sauber will beat them.

 

[Peugeot905]

Aim high or else finish last; shoot for 5th, probably finish 9th or 10th.
Expect Haas and STR will be well ahead of this team; possibly even Sauber will beat them.

Why would you say that Renault is works team with alot more resources than those 3 except probably SRT. This year they aren't running that old lotus chassis.

 

[Joakim Stensnæs]

Why would you say that Renault is works team with alot more resources than those 3 except probably SRT. This year they aren't running that old lotus chassis.

'old lotus chassis' was still designed for 2016. And to target 5th in the constructors seems unrealistic. Maybe they can beat haas, toro rosso maybe? But they still have to get in front of Mclaren and Williams.

Although I'm a little biased towards Haas because of kevin(i must admit), I do think they are still gonna be the main rivals, maybe along with Toro Rosso. Last year Esteban Gutiérrez did not do well for Haas, and I'm pretty confident that Kevin will be able to deliver a better resault for Haas. And if at the same time, Grosjean can deliver similar resualts in 2017, then there's gonna be alot of fighting for points between the mid-field IMO.

That said, I do know that generalising performance like that over the course of a season does not make 100% sense due to reliability and so on. But it's something to keep in mind.

 

[paracletus]

Why would you say that Renault is works team with alot more resources than those 3 except probably SRT. This year they aren't running that old lotus chassis.

Fair point.
They were so far off last season in many ways, it just seems like renault need more time before they become competitive again.