Renault launches RS17 F1 car
Renault has become the second team to unveil its 2017 car at a launch event in Westminster, London. The French car maker hopes to see a dramatic improvement in performance over their 2016 campaign, aiming for 5th in the constructors' championship.
"The RS17 is the first car which Enstone and Viry - the team's chassis and engine factories - have been able to plan and develop from the outset and we're satisfied by the fruits of this interaction," said Renault Sport president Jerome Stoll.
"For 2017, our performance targets are clear. We want to take a definite, tangible step forward in performance and results. Fifth position in the Constructors' Championship is our goal."
As ever, the launched car will have changed by the time the team arrives at Melbourne for the first race. Renault's managing director Cyril Abiteboul is confident however that the new set of regulations have provided the team with a chance to make a major leap forward, after completing 2016 with was virtually a 2015 car.
"We will know for sure in Melbourne, we need to remain a bit patient," Abiteboul said of whether Renault can catch up in 2017. "But frankly, yes, it looks very positive news for us and for Formula 1, and if things are good for Formula 1 then it's good at the end of the day for all of its teams, including ourselves.
"As far as we are concerned of where we stand in our journey in Formula 1, in our mid-term plan, we definitely see that as a positive. It's a reset, everyone had to start from a clean sheet of paper, it has allowed us to adapt our investment with what we did with the regulations. We see that as an opportunity to accelerate the catch up of the midfield, and also accelerate the reduction of the deficit to the bigger teams. Let me be honest, the big teams will remain the big teams and ahead. But for us, we see that, overall, as an opportunity."
