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Abiteboul: Renault has to recover from poor start to 2019

Abiteboul: Renault has to recover from poor start to 2019

13-05-2019 16:29
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Jake Williams-Smith

Renault team boss Cyril Abiteboul has admitted the French outfit has endured an underwhelming beginning to the 2019 Formula 1 season after another disappointing race result.

Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg finished outside of the points once again in 12th and 13th place respectively. Former Renault driver and now McLaren man Carlos Sainz managed to end his home event in P8 and added to the tally McLaren has over its power unit supplier.

Speaking after the race, Abiteboul acknowledged the difficulties the team was facing and said it would recover from the poor form it was going through.

“Barcelona is always a good race weekend to assess the competitiveness of the car and the team after the first couple of fly away races which are not always representative.

“The midfield is very close and any deviation leads to spectacular variations.  But the result today is clear, even without the Safety Car, a few points could have been possible.  We are not in line with the targets we have set ourselves.”

He also added that the two-day test that will take place this week on Tuesday and Wednesday would be crucial in identifying any issues Renault is facing for the rest of the season.

“The test next week comes at a good moment to assess particular areas of the car in depth and look at important development items as we define our short-term and medium-term action plan to recover from a poor season start that does not alter our determination and our long-term objectives.”

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