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Renault building for 2017 with 'substantial investment'

Renault is building for a stronger 2017 season by committing to "substantial investment" at its base in Enstone, according to Cyril Abiteboul.

Having completed its takeover of Lotus late in 2015, Renault has struggled this season and has scored just eight points so far with three races remaining. While Abiteboul calls for patience as Renault rebuilds the team, he says there is clear progress being made in a number of areas which should be seen next season.

"Well, we always said that it would be a long-term plan but obviously there has to be some steps and some visible steps," Abiteboul said. "That is the first step of the plan.

"There will be more development; there will be more announcements, more decisions. We have a substantial investment plan in Enstone. There are also good upgrades coming up on the engine side. So it’s all coming together. The structure is coming together. So, fairly satisfied with the way things are progressing."

And Abiteboul says the example of Haas - with the American team deferring its entry to 2016 and duly scoring 18 of its 29 points in the first two races - shows the importance of a settled and organised team.

"I think they’ve done a great job and in particular because they are ahead of us so they are some form of nightmare to us, to the championship. Mostly I think it is interesting because they are showing that, as always, the points you are taking at the start of the season are very important. They almost count twice or three times more.

"Also, that in Formula One it’s important to have planning and preparation time. So it’s quite different and in contrast to our situation at Renault, where we sort of arrive in Melbourne in a bit of a panic mode. Unprepared. With more resources.

"So it’s all to the credit of Gene and his team, but I think they are compensating, through planning and a clever business model and the relationship with Ferrrari, the lack of resources that they have in comparison to other teams. The challenge obviously is to make that sustainable on the long run. That’s obviously what I wish to the team."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.