Renault is planning to introduce a "substantial" aerodynamic upgrade at next month's French Grand Prix, a move that should finally bring the French outfit in line with its development programme.
Renault's 2019 season to date has been a story of under-performance and engine issues, with Abiteboul revealing earlier this week the full extent of its power unit problems and the development delays they induced.
However, organizational changes at its Enstone and Viry-Châtillon bases have helped the team reduce its design and manufacturing deficit.
As a result, the team's R.S.19 will receive in France the updates initially planned a few races ago.
"I think it's fair to say that we are behind," acknowledged Abiteboul in Monaco.
"We've been behind all winter, mainly in terms of timing.
"We've been playing catch-up for a lot of reasons and we've not been good at sticking to milestones, at being efficient at getting from aerodynamics into design office into production.
"Production is still saturated with a number of designs that should have been released weeks ago."
As Renault falls back in line, the French Grand Prix will allow the team to run at full capacity for the very first time, both in terms of its engine and chassis potential.
"We are committed by Paul Ricard to have all the problems and all the delays that have been hurting us at the start of the season sorted out," explained Abiteboul.
"So what that means is the engine will be back at full power and even a bit more, and that should be available at Paul Ricard.
"We will also have a number of upgrades, quite substantial on the aerodynamic side.
"And last but not least, we will have a number of performance projects that have not been delivered on time, because of all the delays in the rest of the organisation, that will be delivered for Paul Ricard at the latest."
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