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Renault: We need to work on reliability

Renault: "We need to work on reliability"

06-07-2020 13:31 Last update: 13:31
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GPblog.com

Daniel Ricciardo unfortunately dropped out during the first Grand Prix of the season in Austria where Esteban Ocon managed to finish the race. The Frenchman crossed the finish line in eighth place and that meant the first points for the team. However, the failure of Ricciardo continues to overshadow these results with the conclusion that there is work to be done.

This is how it can be

"Today was a reminder of what Formula 1 can be like and, sometimes, it’s unkind. It’s a shame to retire early, but we had a cooling issue and we had to retire the car as a precaution before we did any further damage," said Daniel Ricciardo in the review of Renault.

Team boss Abiteboul says it was a typical race and the team still has to work on the reliability of the car. "It was very good to be racing again. It was a typical first race of the season with lots of things going on throughout and some possible high reward for anyone completing the race distance."

"We didn’t manage that entirely with Daniel’s retirement as a precaution for a cooling issue. Esteban did a very good job and it was a solid return to racing for him, bringing us our first points in Austria since the team returned to Formula 1. He will be able to build from today."

"The other positive of the weekend is our baseline performance at a track where we have been very weak in the past, but in a very competitive midfield. Ahead of next week, we must focus on the main negative of the weekend: the car reliability that not only cut Daniel’s race short but also impacted Esteban’s build up to qualifying earlier in the weekend compromising his starting position.”

Finally, Ocon also responds to the performance of Renault on the Red Bull Ring, which argues that qualifying should be better. "I’m satisfied with how the race went, but we know we need to qualify better in order to be further up the order. Our race pace was good, and I was happy with how the car felt."

"We’ll review the race and see what we can rectify and improve for next weekend. We know there will be an opportunity to fight for higher positions and I’m really looking forward to the next race," said Esteban Ocon.