Formula One news
R27 to show progress despite test pace
03 April 2007Technical director Bob Bell believes that Renault will be nearer the front of the field at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Although the team's drivers were often lagging at the bottom of the timesheets in last week's Sepang test, Bell is confident that sufficient improvements have been made to lift the R27's performance.
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"Within the team, we are hoping to show that we have taken a step forward relative to Melbourne," he said.
"At this stage, it is unrealistic to talk about catching Ferrari or McLaren - but we need to show that progress has been made and that we are starting to close down the gap.
"The main gain in Malaysia will be a new front wing package, which will help with the performance.
"The race weekend in Melbourne, and our testing last week in Sepang, showed that the car is well-balanced - particularly on old tyres. That will be a definite strength. However, the other lesson from Australia was that we are lacking in overall grip, and this will certainly penalise us in the high-speed corners. We hope to have made progress and moved closer to the pacesetters, but the real verdict will come out on the track."
Bell is unconcerned by seeing the R27 off the pace at the recent Sepang test because of the nature of the new testing regulations. He thinks that not much can be read into the times because testing in 2007 demands a different approach.
"We are now only allowed to test with a single car during the season, and there is so much development work to be done that you have to be very disciplined in how you run.
"That means putting miles on development parts and completing reliability work - and a knock-on effect is that there is less of an opportunity to set quick headline times. Test times are never a reliable guide as to true competitiveness, and that is more true than before in 2007," he added.
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