Renault not as well prepared as rivals - Abiteboul

Renault Sport F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul has taken stock of the team's trip Down Under and feels the French manufacturer was behind its rivals in terms of preparation.

Jolyon Palmer's race weekend was a soap opera of disasters while Nico Hulkenberg's performance fell just short of a finish in the points.

"This first Grand Prix of the season under these new regulations has delivered several lessons," contends Abiteboul.

"Our race result highlights that we were not as well prepared as our opposition and our lack of mileage and preparation, both during pre-season testing and during this weekend, meant we suffered.

"We have learnt that in this new Formula 1 era everything needs to be perfectly executed, as it is very difficult to gain track position.

"We needed to be stronger at the start, in our execution of our strategy, in our pit stops and with our car set-up and balance."

• Hulkenberg: close to points, but not close enough

On the positive side, Abiteboul saw a glimpse of the R.S.17's potential and confirmed the team's aim of eventually heading the mid-field runners.

"Although there were very few laps of clean air to demonstrate it, we feel that our car-engine-driver combination allows us to be in the group that we were targeting to race against.

"At every race, we should be in a position to fight for Q3 on Saturday and to fight for points on the Sunday.

"Looking forward, our first priority for Shanghai is to improve our reliability and from there we should be in a stronger position."

GALLERY: all the pics from Sunday's action

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