Renault hopes for McLaren slip up
The Mild Seven Renault team will have to rely on McLaren's reliability curse to strike again if they are to complete a world championship double, according to technical director Pat Symonds. In the fight for the Constructor's championship Renault have only six points advantage over McLaren with still 3 races to go. According to Symonds team honours will come down to a test of strenght rather than speed.
Pat Symonds, Technical Director "We are not arrogant here in the team, and we do fully appreciate that the McLaren is now a quicker car than the Renault. It is partly to do with some of the strategic engineering decisions that have been made in the team. We do not want a car that is fast and fragile, we want a car that will finish every Sunday because that is how championships are won.I still think it will come down to reliability, even at this late stage. With three races left, ourselves and McLaren have six race starts each until the end of the season.If both teams get six finishes between now and China, it is likely that McLaren will beat us. But if they fail to finish, then we can beat them. So firstly, we have to make sure we finish the races with both cars. Then after that, we need to put pressure on them."
The Renault team has an updated car for Interlagos and Symonds hopes that can cut McLaren's advantage, which has seen them win the last four races.
"We have a good step on the aerodynamics for Brazil, that will help us claw back some of the deficit. In terms of image and the importance to the company, there is no doubt that the drivers' title is the one to win - everybody remembers the world champion driver, not the world champion team. But within the team, there is a very strong drive to claim the constructors' title as well."
The fact McLaren have outpaced Renault over the last few months does not overly trouble Symonds, who is content to see his team delivering the best they can with the resources they have. Renault are famed for being the most frugal of manufacturer-backed teams and Symonds is proud of what they have achieved.
"With a racing driver, I believe what marks out good drivers from champions, is the champion's ability to set a personal best every time he goes out in the car - they can always push back their limits. It is no different for the whole team: we are looking to set our 'personal best' at each race until the end of the year. In Monza, we didn't win but I came away very satisfied because I felt we had put in a personal best performance as a team. Equally, after problems in the pit stops this year, we had two of the quickest stops in Spa. It is an enormous challenge to get a team working at the top of its game, but when it does, it is extremely satisfying."
