Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul says the French Grand Prix marks an "important milestone" for the manufacturer, in the wake of recent gains.
Renault arrives at its home grand prix off the back of its strongest result of the campaign in Canada, with Daniel Ricciardo taking sixth – from fourth on the grid – and Nico Hulkenberg seventh.
It marked Renault’s first double points result of the year and lifted the manufacturer to fifth in the Constructors’ Championship, just two points behind McLaren.
Renault endured a fraught start to 2019 amid reliability setbacks, owing to conrod issues, and has also struggled with its R.S.19.
A substantial upgrade package is set to be introduced at Le Castellet this weekend as part of its long-term ambition to pull clear of the midfield pack.
“The result [in Canada], and the manner in which we achieved it, should give us the confidence and motivation to push on through a demanding period of races with five Grands Prix before the summer break,” said Abiteboul.
"France is clearly an important milestone. Not only is it our home Grand Prix at Le Castellet, but also the opportunity to demonstrate a further improvement in our competitiveness.
"While Canada, a power sensitive circuit, underlined the gains made in engine performance, France will see the introduction of several development items on the chassis.
“One thing is clear: we cannot dwell on Montréal and to aim for a repeat of that result and keep striving to reduce the gap to the front.”
Renault engine chief Remi Taffin added that the squad’s response to early setbacks has been a boost for the entire operation.
"We knew we had the performance in the engine right from testing and race one,” said Taffin.
“Overall, we had a good winter, conducted a lot of work on that front, but we were caught by two incidents in the first two races. We showed our ability to react to that.
“We introduced upgrades in Barcelona, counter measures to our problems, and from there showed we could firstly, be reliable, and secondly, show the performance of our power unit.
“We have a good baseline but we know there’s a lot more to do and more is still to come. We could say in Montréal we were satisfied because we were where we targeted to be, at the front of the midfield.”
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