Renault a victim of circumstance in China - Abiteboul

Renault endured a frustrating weekend in China with both cars finishing out of the points after an eventful afternoon in Shanghai.

Nico Hulkenberg failed to capitalise on his fine qualifying performance, falling victim to the successive Safety Car circumstances which negated the team's strategy, while Jolyon Palmer's race was also partially undone by the double neutralization.

At the end of the day, both drivers followed each other home to finish P12 and P13.

"Ultimately, this has been a frustrating weekend for us," said Renault Sport boss Cyril Abiteboul.

"We showed strong potential with our P7 on Saturday, however the race did not deliver the results we wanted.

"The early Virtual Safety Car meant we were immediately on the back foot as we’d already pitted Nico to cover the threat from those behind. He then also received a penalty.

"Jolyon suffered from the same Virtual Safety Car affecting his strategy and after that we were on damage limitation."

• Renault's Hulkenberg in the penalty box!

While race result will be written off by Renault, Abiteboul was encouraged however by the RS17's speed and its ability to sustain an enduring effort.

"We are disappointed to end the second Grand Prix with no points, however the positives are that we showed both pace and reliability here.

"We need to harness our potential better in the coming races."

GALLERY: All the pictures from Sunday in Shanghai

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