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"The change of regulations could mean quite a shake-up in the
order of relative competitiveness, plus the fruits of our
expansion will be ramping up," team principal Frederic Vasseur
said in a look forward to 2017.
"We made an early start to developing next year’s car with this
in mind.
"Whilst 2017 should see a good step forward, we are realistic in
our expectations as we know that we won’t leapfrog the midfield
in a single season," he added. "However, we are all pushing for
a big improvement in competitiveness."
Renault Sport Racing managing director Cyril Abiteboul said the
workforce at the Enstone factory in England had increased by 20
percent since Renault took on the failing Lotus team at the end
of 2015.
As part of a recruitment drive, Rob White had transferred from
the Renault engine plant at Viry-Chatillon to become operations
director, while Ciaron Pilbeam had returned as chief race
engineer after a stint at McLaren.
Abiteboul said work on extending the main factory building at
Enstone, to house the expansion of almost every department,
would begin soon.
On the engine side, performance and reliability had been
improved notably, with Red Bull winning two races in 2016 with
the French manufacturer's rebranded units.
"Next year promises a fantastic show. The cars will be faster
and more aggressive looking. The tyres will be wide. The action
will be tremendously exciting. We certainly expect to be in the
thick of it from the very beginning," said Vasseur.
Renault have a changed line-up next year, with Germany's Nico
Hulkenberg joining from Force India to race alongside Britain's
Jolyon Palmer.
World champions with Spaniard Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006,
the team finished ninth of the 11 this year with only eight
points.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin,; Editing by Neville Dalton)
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