Bell: Renault set for big step forward

Renault technical director Bob Bell believes that upgrades to the team`s R28 should provide a `big step forward` in pace for this weekend`s Spanish Grand Prix, despite Fernando Alonso playing down the progress last week.

The former world champions will introduce a host of revisions to their car for Barcelona, including improved aerodynamics and new suspension components, which the team hope will lift their current form.

Although Alonso told Spanish media last week that he felt the developments were not enough to allow Renault to challenge the teams at the front of the grid, Bell is more optimistic about the speed improvements from the new parts.

“We are reasonably confident that the things we are putting on the car will produce a clear and definable performance advantage,” Bell said on Monday.

“I think we will also see some more unquantifiable benefits with improvements to the driveability and feel of the car because if we give the drivers more confidence, particularly under braking, they can extract more performance from the car.

“So we can be reasonably confident that it will be a big step forward and that it will be multiple tenths of a second.

“We do have to be cautious, though, and remember that every team sees Barcelona as an opportunity to introduce a major upgrade - we just have to make sure that we take a bigger step than the other teams.”

Bell said the focus of the improvements, which included a Red Bull-type extended engine cover, was in improving both high-speed and low-speed grip.

“We now have quite a clear picture of where we are under performing,” he explained. “One of those areas is our aerodynamic performance because at the moment we are deficient in aero-generated grip in the high-speed corners. That`s where we are making the biggest push because that area is probably contributing the most to our lack of performance.

“Equally, we are losing out in the low-speed corners where the performance of the car is dominated by mechanical grip, and so we have suspension upgrades that will start addressing those problems. We are also a bit down on engine performance and we can recognise a straight-line performance deficit compared with other teams. However, in the world of frozen engines there is not much we can do about that.”

21.4.2008   ▪ Formula One    ▪ Renault    ▪ www.autosport.com