Renault meeting 2017 deadlines - Bell

Renault chief technical officer Bob Bell says the French manufacturer is “meeting milestone deadlines” ahead of the 2017 Formula One season and its planned rules changes.

Renault has endured a challenging return as a fully-fledged F1 team in 2016, with only seven points in the bank after 15 grands prix.

Team principal Frédéric Vasseur said last weekend that the late takeover of Lotus forced Renault to somehow write off the current season in order to get a jump start on the radical aero and tyre changes slated for 2017.

Despite Renault still looking to add more staff as part of its ongoing restructuring, Bell explains that the team is on pace and hitting its targets for next year.

“Back at the factories, we are meeting milestone deadlines with the practical process of drawing the components, getting them made and bringing them together,” he said.

“This is a very involved and complex process and is largely on-track at the moment. The hunt for performance in those components continues unabated!”

Bell also echoes Vasseur’s sentiment about the current results not reflecting the hard work going on behind the scenes at both Viry and Enstone.

“As a team we have progressed well since the beginning of the year. Recruitment has been key these past few months, and still is. Although the aim is to have around 650 employees it is always about quality not quantity.

“We can see visible signs of change even walking around the sites compared to what it was six months ago.

“You can see the increased headcount and renewed facilities. The changes are palpable and we feel a sense of achievement which at the moment is not yet visible on track. Beneath the surface wheels are most certainly turning.”

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