Renault have unveiled their 2018 Formula One car – the R.S.18.
“Our headline target is to show continued progression through results. We want to be able to showcase our progression in every regard; power unit, chassis, operations, drivers. Everything must improve and we must continue to grow. We want to demonstrate this in many different ways, from the teams we will be directly racing against, to the gap to the leaders, including also our fan base and the respect that our team will inspire in our way we behave on and off track.”
Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz will drive for the team this year, with Sainz having joined the team in the latter stages of the 2017 season. Hulkenberg has warned that it may take ‘two or three years’ more for Renault to be able to battle with the front-runners. Speaking to motorsport.com, he said:
“It is a very time-consuming thing to get a team to the level that Red Bull and Mercedes are. The investment they make now in building and modernising the factory, the benefit we will get only in two/three years’ time – not until everything is up and running and we understand it. There is always such a long lead-up time. They have all been through the same. Look at Mercedes, how many years they were OK but not where they are now. Red Bull, the same. It takes a couple of years to get on top of these things because this is such a complicated sport and then the rules keep changing so constantly the game is changing.”
Following their return to the sport in 2016, Renault improved to sixth in the championship hunt in 2017. This season, beating McLaren – who they begin supplying engines to in 2018 – will be a priority.