Renault is not ruling out launching a new car later this year, team boss Frederic Vasseur has admitted. The early promise of the newly-launched RS16 has been mixed, as the car is a hurriedly-compiled version of the one designed by Lotus last year for a Mercedes engine.
"The recovery of the Lotus project was done late," Vasseur admitted in an interview with France's L'Equipe, "and at our first meeting in Enstone, we set the first objective as being present at this test.
"We had to adapt the chassis for a Renault engine, which did not mean redoing everything from top to bottom, but not far from that," he explained.
It means that, for now at least, Renault is troubleshooting the 2016 car just so it runs respectably.
"We have no short-term goal," Vasseur revealed. "We're not going to say we want to finish seventh or eighth this year.
"But I also don't want us to take the easy route of saying 'We are in a transition year, we spend the year painting the office and we'll see you in 2017'.
"That would not be good psychologically," he insisted. "Enstone is a race team and we must keep that spirit of always getting the last hundredth.
"Are we going to introduce a more successful car during the season? First we will see where we are in Melbourne and then get an idea about what are the clear regulations for 2017.
"But even if we switch to 2017, I want to keep a total commitment to 2016," Vasseur added.
But he said it is reassuring to know that Renault has the full backing of its carmaker parent, who are willing to wait the necessary time for success.
"The advantage of having a medium-term project, which is quite rare in F1, is enormous. Carlos Ghosn has set us goals for three years and five years, which is a luxury," said Vasseur.
Also warning Renault that success may take some time is Fernando Alonso, who won his two titles for the French marque ten years ago but is now struggling to build up the new McLaren-Honda project.
"If Renault returns it is to win," he said, "but F1 these days takes a little time, money and also luck.
"It's like McLaren-Honda," Alonso added. "It's not just the name and the past that gives you success. But I'm glad they (Renault) are back."
Renault might built B-car for 2016
- Published on 26 Feb 2016 14:12
-
0
- By: Danny Sosef
.
Trending news
-
Honda Calls Newey's Criticism of Their Aston Martin Partnership a "Misunderstanding"The relationship between Aston Martin and Honda has not started well, but Honda's leadership wants to push back o...
09 Apr 2026 13:56 -
Schumacher Says Leclerc to Red Bull Makes No Sense — Piastri Is the Logical ChoiceSpeculation about who might replace Max Verstappen at Red Bull if he were to leave has produced one name more than an...
09 Apr 2026 12:54 -
Doornbos Predicts Hamilton Will Win a Race This Season as Ferrari Close InFerrari left Suzuka with mixed feelings. The car showed genuine top-end pace through the corners, Charles Leclerc pus...
09 Apr 2026 14:58 -
Red Bull Boss Mekies: Tsunoda Deserves a Place on the GridYuki Tsunoda's Formula 1 story has taken an unexpected turn. After four seasons with the Red Bull junior team, he...
09 Apr 2026 17:04 -
Danner Reassures Russell: "Antonelli Will Not Keep This Up"George Russell is sitting nine points behind his teammate in the championship after three rounds, and the narrative h...
09 Apr 2026 16:01
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Local time
-
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Local time
-
Friday
-
Saturday
-
Sunday
-
Friday
-
Saturday
-
Sunday
Test calendar
Circuit de Catalunya - Winter testing
-
Jan 26
I. Hadjar
- 1:18.159
-
-
-
Jan 27
M. Verstappen
- 1:19.578
-
-
-
Jan 28
A. Antonelli
- 1:17.362
-
-
-
Jan 29
G. Russell
- 1:16.445
-
-
-
Jan 30
L. Hamilton
- 1:16.348
-
-
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
-
Feb 11
L. Norris
- 1:34.669
-
-
-
Feb 12
C. Leclerc
- 1:34.273
-
-
-
Feb 13
A. Antonelli
- 1:33.669
-
-
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
-
Feb 18
G. Russell
- 1:33.459
-
-
Feb 19
A. Antonelli
- 1:32.803
-
-
Feb 20
C. Leclerc
- 1:31.992
-
-
World Championship standings 2026
Pos
Driver
Team
Points
Pos
Team
Points
Related news
Give your opinion!
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Spain
-
Bahrain
-
Bahrain
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
-
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
-
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
-
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia
Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
10 - Apr 12
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
1 - May 3
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
22 - May 24
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
5 - Jun 7
Monaco
Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
Driver profile
- Team Aston Martin
- Points 628
- Podiums 9
- Grand Prix 195
- Country ES
- Date of b. Jul 29 1981 (44)
- Place of b. Oviedo, ES
- Weight 68 kg
- Length 1.71 m
- 187,374 comments on Aston Martin
78 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Fernando Alonso
Team profile
- Team name Renault
- Base Enstone, France
- Fernando Alonso 1
- Daniel Ricciardo 3
- Fernando Alonso 5
- Fernando Alonso 5
- Fernando Alonso 7
- Romain Grosjean 8
- Fernando Alonso 8
- Fernando Alonso 8
- Pastor Maldonado 13
- Jenson Button 15
- Kevin Magnussen 20
- Nico Hülkenberg 27
- Jolyon Palmer 30
- Esteban Ocon 31
- Carlos Sainz jr 55
- 236,937 comments on Renault
- 26 members have this team as their favourite
- Tweets about Renault
Replies (0)
Login to reply