Renault 'within 1% of the leading team'

FERNANDO ALONSO

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Monday 5th May 2008

Renault are confident of turning their Spanish progression into points - and maybe even a podium - at this weekend's Turkish GP.

The team showed a vast improvement in pace at the previous race in Spain, during which Fernando Alonso qualified in second place. The Spaniard was on track for a hefty points-haul on Sunday afternoon, however, came undone when his engine expired.

It was a disappointing outcome for the team, however, director of engineering Pat Symonds is confident they can repeat their Spanish form in Turkey this weekend as they've closed the gap to the front-runners.

"Aerodynamic efficiency pays dividends at nearly every track, and so there is no reason to believe that we will not be in a similar position in Istanbul," he said.

"I firmly believe that we are within 1% of the leading team now, which is a big improvement from where we were at the beginning of the season.

"But we must not be complacent because there is still a lot to do and so we will introduce further aero upgrades in time for Istanbul."

Renault are, however, moving in the right direction according to Fernando Alonso, who has thanked for the team for all the hard work that almost paid off in Spain.

"It was clear from the beginning of the weekend that we had made progress in Barcelona and I said that this was thanks to the efforts of the whole team who have worked very hard in the last few weeks to get us closer to the leading pace," the double World Champion said.

"This is only the first step and we will have an aggressive approach for the races to come with further new developments.

"I know it will not be easy, but I am sure that we will now be able to have some exciting races, and as a driver I want this more than anything."

The entire team in fact wants it with Symonds acknowledging that the welcome boost that Spain offered to the team's morale

"There is a great deal more confidence at the moment, although I think it's fair to say that the belief that we would progress has always been there because nearly all the guys in the team have been through the winning experience of a couple of years ago," he said.

"The last few weeks have been very hard for the team and so there is no better reward than seeing the evidence on the track of all the work that has gone on. It makes everybody upbeat and ready to put a lot more in for the coming weeks."

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