Renault team principal Cyril Abiteboul opened up on the team’s “aggressive” plan of action for the 2020 season. The Enstone outfit unveiled a radically redesigned car at preseason testing but haven’t been able to show off its true form. Abiteboul revealed the team’s various developmental packages to aid the R.S.20 in its quest for glory.
Renault leaving no stone unturned
2019 was a disappointing year for the French team. After a positive campaign in the previous season, Renault looked like the team to beat among the midfield teams. Sadly, the Enstone outfit took a step back development-wise and struggled to recreate its previous form. Renault ultimately lost fourth place in the Constructors’ Standings to arch-rivals McLaren.
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It was clear that Renault needed some big changes to bounce back from its slump and the team gave the R.S.20 a much-needed makeover. Just before preseason testing, the French team revealed its 2020 car with a completely redesigned nose. Renault has opted for an aggressive, unconventional design in a gamble that remains an unknown.
But credit must be given where its due. The Enstone outfit suffered no reliability or mechanical failures for the entire running of winter testing. A first for Renault, after its recent debacles.
Apparently, Renault had planned 2 major upgrades for the Vietnamese and Dutch Grands Prix respectively. Sadly Coronavirus had other plans for the 2020 season. Speaking to F1.com, Abiteboul disclosed Renault’s different approach for the 2020 season.
“We ticked all our boxes, but those boxes are also very dependent on what other people are doing”
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“One question left unanswered was the relative competitiveness of our car and we were only expecting to find out in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon. Obviously that didn’t happen. We’re very curious to find out.”
“We were up for a very aggressive development plan,” said Cyril.
“We’re very keen to get the factory up and running again so we can resume that activity. The figures looked very good in the wind tunnel and production was very busy producing race three and race five packages.
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“All of that is completely up in the air, so that is the situation we have. But again, lots of people have bigger frustrations than those ones, so we need to accept we need to be a bit patient.”
Renault desperately needs a good result this year. Not only to redeem themselves but also to stop their star driver from walking away.