Renault surprised that Haas, not McLaren, main threat in 2018

Renault F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul has said that his team had expected to be locked in battle with McLaren for 'best of the rest' status in the 2018 world championship.

That didn't turn out to be the case. Even though McLaren switched to Renault power units this year, Renault still ended the season with almost double the number of constructors championship points compared to their customer team.

"I am a bit surprised having to fight against Haas for most of the season when I was expecting it to be against McLaren," Abiteboul told Motorsport.com earlier this month.

"Let's remember - last year when we announced McLaren, everybody told me, 'You are crazy, you are going to be beaten by your customers!'"

• Abiteboul: Renault engine will 'close the gap', chassis will take longer

Instead it was the Haas squad that was the closest rival to the French factory team, although they were still 29 points behind in the final standings.

"We were very close to being beaten by a team that is a very new team, a young team, younger even than us, with a very different set-up."

The Force India team would have finished between Renault and Haas if not for losing over half their points as a result of the takeover that saved them from administration during the summer.

Renault itself has improved significantly year-on-year since the manufacturer returned to the sport full-time in 2016. That year the team was a lowly ninth place in the standings, but improved to sixth in 2017 before climbing to fourth by the end of this season.

"We should not undervalue the effort and the achievement after three seasons moving from P9 to P4," said Abiteboul. "I don't think any team in modern history - and you would have to go back quite far - to see a team achieving such an improvement.

"We can be sure of the progress the team is making," he added. "Overall I think we can be satisfied with what were the main objectives.

"First, consolidate the team's situation, being more or less the best of the midfield," he elaborated. "[Second], to be in a position to reduce the gap to the top teams, which will clearly be the target of next year."

Renault's 122 points compares to 419 for Red Bull, which was using the same power units in 2018. The team will switch to Honda engines next season.

There's another big jump to the 571 points clinched by Ferrari over the course of 21 races, and then another large gap to Mercedes' unassailable 655 points at the top which saw them clinch their fifth consecutive constructors championship.

"There is a big, big negative margin to the top teams, which is a source of concern," Abiteboul admitted.

"But having said, when I look at the rapidity of our progress at the factory and in particular in the preparation of next year for both chassis and engine, I am saying, why not? It is possible."

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