Formula One news

Renault working hard behind the scenes

Ferrari closed to within two points of Renault at the Turkish Grand Prix and with the next race Monza being the Italian team's home event, the pressure is building on Renault F1. Nonetheless Renault will be hoping that updates to the R26 can hold off the threat of the Prancing Horse.

At the four-day Monza test which started yesterday, Renault will be trying out several changes to its cars to counteract the advantage lost through the mass damper ban. Renault's technical boss Pat Symonds is planning on shifting the weight of the car towards the front end, which should improve the car's starting speed. This will in turn help Renault to get in front of the Ferraris and control their race pace.

A third upgrade this season to the Renault V8 engine is also in the pipeline as well as tweaks to the aero package of the car. However Alonso sees the tyres as the biggest area to make improvements.

"With an aerodynamic change, you can gain a tenth of a second, but with a new tyre perhaps half a second," German magazine Auto Motor und Sport quoted the Spaniard as saying.

With this in mind, Michelin will be testing a new tyre construction with Renault at the Monza test.

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