Abiteboul puts premium on stability and consistency

Renault Sport F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul says that his team has to focus on the basics in 2018 before it can hope to push for a title.

"Ahead of us is a very long 21-race calendar during which many things will happen," Abiteboul explained this week. "This puts a premium on stability and consistency.

He added that the team had made progress on both fronts heading into its third season.

"We have a new car with lots of things going on aerodynamically and under the bodywork that are not immediately visible.

"Adding to our confidence we have two highly motivated drivers who know the team very well."

He praised the performance of both Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz in pre-season testing earlier this month.

• Progress first at Renault, rewards later - Prost

"They didn’t make any mistakes," he said. "[They] gave very detailed feedback that gave us extremely clear indications on the direction to take both for Melbourne and in the longer term."

But Abiteboul admitted that no one would know anything for sure at this stage of the season. It wouldn't until the field rolled out onto the starting grid next weekend for the Australian Grand Prix that the answers would come.

"Of course there are some unknowns," he acknowledged. "Our relative level of performance compared to the rest of the field will only be clear in Australia.

"We are totally realistic that the midfield is very close," he stated. "Everything as a whole will evolve a lot over the course of the year.

"But our objectives are to start the season in the way we finished 2017: united, dedicated, racing hard and pushing all the way."

Abiteboul will be hoping for a more productive start than Renault had 12 months ago. Hulkenberg finished just outside the points in 2017, with the second car retiring after only 15 laps.

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter