Renault 'can finish fourth in the Championship'

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Tuesday 19th August 2008

Pat Symonds has urged Renault to put in a big push as they enter the latter part of this year's Championship in order to achieve fourth place in the Constructors' standings.

With seven races remaining this season Renault are sitting in fifth place in the Constructors' battle, just four points Toyota and a distant 59 behind third placed BMW.

However, at the most recent race in Hungary it was Toyota who emerged as the strongest of the three teams, while BMW faltered in their quest to challenge for podium finishes.

But despite the outcome of the Budapest race, Symonds claims the pecking order of the team's chasing Ferrari and McLaren has not changed.

"We saw that BMW had a poor weekend and Toyota had a good weekend, but I don't believe the pecking order suddenly changes," Renault's director of engineering said.

"There are certainly trends, and at the moment we have a very distinct upward trend, whereas BMW have a little bit of a downward trend and Toyota seem to fluctuate.

"So I don't think that the race itself shows a change to the status quo, but merely reinforces the trends which have been developing for a little while."

Symonds reckons that Renault's ability to bring both cars home in the points in Hungary signals their intent to finish fourth in this year's Constructors' Championship.

"The performance in Hungary reinforces the belief that we are moving in the right direction and gives me confidence that we can finish fourth in the Championship and end the season with the third fastest car," he added.

However, in order to do that Renault will need a strong showing at this weekend's European GP, which takes place at the new Valencia circuit.

"We look forward to every race and I think we like the challenge of a new circuit," Symonds said.

"We enjoy the ambiance of visiting new places and the race team have had a short break so they will head there raring to go. It certainly looks like a fabulous venue."