Renault will introduce a new floor and other aerodynamic parts at the Belgian Grand Prix later this month. The Spa-Francorchamps circuit will see the return of Formula 1, as the series has been on its usual summer break for the last three weeks.
Renault currently heads the mid-field fight, holding off rivals Haas, McLaren and Force India for fourth in the standings. It has recorded a best finish of fifth place this year, coming at the Azerbaijan and German Grands Prix.
And now it is introducing fresh aerodynamic bits in order to maintain its advantage in the fight for fourth: "We have a new floor for Spa and some other bodywork parts to go with that, which should be helpful," said technical director Nick Chester.
"We're in a super tight battle in the midfield. We have to put more performance on the car to have a good fight until the end of the year, but our target is to retain fourth place. We're being pushed quite hard and we have a lot of work to do. We can do it, we have a 16-point gap, but one good race can wipe that out, as we saw in Austria."
Chester says that the team can't rely on the misfortunes of other teams to guarantee fourth in the championship, stating that it will continue to add "raw" pace to the car.
"The goal is to outqualify our rivals as that makes things easier, but if we don't, and if we're close, we tend to race well," he said. "The objective is to find raw car pace but, as long as we're close, we're confident we can out-race our rivals."
Fergal Walsh
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