Renault seeks momentum to chase down Williams

Renault needs to build up some momentum in the coming races to chase down Williams in the constructors' championship, according to managing director Cyril Abiteboul.

The battle for fifth place in the constructors' championship is a close one this season, with 21 points covering four teams. Williams leads the way ahead of Toro Rosso and Haas, with Renault eighth at present but having shown impressive pace at high downforce circuits. Abiteboul believes Singapore could be the catalyst for a run that will close the points gap.

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"We are now focusing on these busy Asia rounds," Abiteboul said. "Williams sit just 21 points ahead of us in fifth place in the constructors' championship and, with seven races to go, it's very much in our capability to chase that down by the end of the season.

"We need to create some momentum and string together some consistent results with both cars inside the top 10. Singapore will be vital to kick start this effort."

Technical director Nick Chester agrees that the rest of this season should see Renault competitive at many circuits, with Singapore, Malaysia and Japan all requiring a good level of downforce.

"We've kept improving the car which has been very positive," Chester said. "Since Silverstone the car has been a chunk more competitive. Budapest and Spa kept that trend up and we were the fourth-quickest car in terms of pace.

"We weren't as quick in Monza, but the upcoming races should see us back to the level of performance we saw at Spa. There are no remaining tracks with super-low downforce. We have good potential to be strong at these next three Asian races."

And Chester says Renault is still bringing upgrades to its car as it looks to build on the performance gains it has made during the European season.

"We've made softer rear springs to make the rear end more compliant which will aid traction. As ever, you have to get the compromise right as it's a balance between a compliant chassis and not losing too much aero performance. We have some minor updates to the bodywork which we will evaluate during the practice sessions."