Nico Hulkenberg says he “wrestled” his way to ninth place in Bahrain, but reckons the car’s race pace “exposed” the areas Renault needs to improve.
The German driver lined up seventh on the grid after an impressive qualifying performance but was unable to hold onto the position.
Hulkenberg was pleased to score Renault’s first points of the year with ninth, but admitted the 57-lap race highlighted the areas where the manufacturer needs to improve.
“It’s good to have the first points of the season on the board and I think I had a good race given the pace of the car,” he explained.
“I really wrestled with it a lot and two points were the best we could do on the strategy we ran.
“We are a lot better in qualifying, but over the 57 laps of the race we exposed some of the areas where we need to improve.
“Fortunately, I am testing here on Tuesday, so we have a great opportunity to make progress.
“We have some updates for evaluation when I’m in the car, which will hopefully improve our race pace by a big chunk for Sochi.”
Team-mate Jolyon Palmer trailed home in 13th position in the sister RS.17.
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