Renault has admitted they will have a tough time to stay ahead of Haas in the Formula One constructor standings as the season goes on. Renault team principal Cyril Abiteboul explained that the team was expecting the gap to close despite being in front of the American team.
Renault's Belgian Grand Prix weekend could scarcely have gone worse, with Nico Hulkenberg picking up a 10-place grid penalty for Monza for a first corner crash reminicent of Haas' Romain Grosjean back in 2012 and Carlos Sainz struggling to an 11th place finish.
Speaking to Motorsport.com after the race, Abiteboul was frank in his assessment of the situation, saying that the advantage Renault had enjoyed for the first half of the season was alwasy going to vanish.
“Frankly we were assuming that this gap would disappear like an ice cube in the sun,” Abiteboul said.
“We knew since day one that Haas is very competitive, and actually it’s quite the opposite, we are lucky that we are still ahead. It gives us the opportunity to keep on defending until Abu Dhabi.
“We know that we have another challenging track in Monza, but let’s see. We have quite a lot to come in terms of development on the chassis, but I expect the predominant factor is going to be engine competitiveness.”
Abiteboul also noted that Spa-Francorchamps was always going to be a tough venue for the team, taking grid penalties for multiple power unit changes for both Hulkenberg and Sainz.
“We decided to focus all the grid penalties that we needed, and hopefully there won’t be any more to come, and there will be more straightforward races in the next eight rounds.
"It was scheduled (for Spa) for Nico, it was scheduled for Monza for Carlos, but because of what happened in qualifying, which is still not explained, we decided to do that here, and now so it’s out of the way."