Over the past three seasons, it has been clear that there are the “have’s” and the “have not’s” when it comes to the pecking order on the Formula 1 grid. Backing this up has been the fight for fourth place which has been won for the last two seasons by everyone’s favourite underdogs, Force India.
Thus, when trying to break out of the midfield bunch, the target has to be fourth place. And despite the bravado of past where teams would be quick with pre-season predictions of victories or podiums, such is the strength of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull in the modern Hybrid era that fourth place becomes the first summit any of them must aim for.
Now Renault team boss Cyril Abiteboul agrees that this must be the aim of the Enstone squad before it looks to close the gap to the top three.
"Ahead of us is a very long 21-race calendar during which many things will happen," Abiteboul said. "This puts a premium on stability and consistency, which we feel we have increased as we enter our third year as Renault Sport team. We have a new car with lots of things going on aerodynamically and under the bodywork that are not immediately visible.
“Everything as a whole will evolve a lot over the course of the year. Adding to our confidence we have two highly motivated drivers who know the team very well. This showed over the course of testing – they didn't make any mistakes and gave very detailed feedback that gave us extremely clear indications on the direction to take both for Melbourne and in the longer term.
But he was quick to point out that the team’s improved performance was not a given and that it wouldn’t be until after the flag drops in Albert Park that they would know if they were in with a chance for the fourth place in 2018.
"Of course there are some unknowns. Our relative level of performance compared to the rest of the field will only be clear in Australia. We are totally realistic that the midfield is very close, but our objectives are to start the season in the way we finished 2017; united, dedicated, racing hard and pushing all the way."
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