Renault chiefs are confident that work undertaken during the in-season test in Bahrain will enable Nico Hülkenberg and Jolyon Palmer to display stronger race pace at this weekend's Russian Grand Prix
Both Hülkenberg and Palmer made it through to Q3 at Sakhir, but the pair slipped back in the race, believing the longer runs highlighted flaws with the R.S.17.
Renault evaluated several new parts, including a revised front wing, during the test, and is confident that it can translate its work into improved race pace at the Sochi Autodrom.
“The R.S.17 is not as well balanced as we’d like over a full stint,” commented Chief Technical Officer Bob Bell.
“Whilst you can get away with this over the course of a qualifying lap – where fresh tyres can mask the balance issue – the performance is less consistent when you take to the longer runs of race stints.
“The R.S.17 has a somewhat nervous corner entry, followed by mid-turn understeer, followed by a nervous exit making finding traction a challenge.
“If we can address these areas, our drivers will have a very effective race car at their disposal. We believe the problems are aero related, so we’re primarily looking for the solution there.
“Once we have the entry-phase of the corner sorted, the rest should follow more easily.
“The big positive is that the car has the basic pace to be able to be qualified well. Our current issue is extracting that pace in a race scenario.
“If you have the pace the key is maintaining it; it’s easier to translate qualifying pace to race pace than to find basic performance.”
Renault, which set itself a pre-season target of taking fifth in the standings, currently occupies eighth place, courtesy of Hülkenberg’s Bahrain points.
The German echoed Bell's optimism over race pace gains, though is hoping to reach the finish this season, having retired on the opening lap at Sochi in 2015 and 2016.
"I think we made good progress to enable us to improve our race pace for Sochi when we were testing in Bahrain and we have some new bits for the car to facilitate this too," he said.
"Of course, the Sochi Autodrom is a completely different circuit, so we can’t accurately predict our relative performance until we get there, but I’m feeling positive.
"I haven’t had the greatest amount of luck in Sochi with two retirements and a 12th placed finish, so it would be great to score my first points there in 2017!"
