Renault seeks gains from floor “evolution” at Russian GP

The Renault Formula 1 team will introduce its latest floor update at the upcoming Russian Grand Prix in a bid to strengthen its position in the constructors’ championship.

A double points finish for drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz at the last race in Singapore enabled Renault to pull 15 points clear of nearest rivals Haas in the battle over fourth place in the constructors’ standings.

The French manufacturer brought a new floor and additional aerodynamic parts to the Belgium Grand Prix in August, with Renault anticipating a “small gain” from the updates which have been described as an “evolution” from recent parts introduced Spa and Singapore.

“We have floor updates for Sochi; this is an evolution from the update we saw in Spa and this should give us a small gain,” technical director Nick Chester said.

“We ran updated bargeboards and sidepod vanes in Singapore and they behaved as expected, so we will use these again in Russia.”

Managing director Cyril Abiteboul believes the continued development push will prove crucial in Renault's hopes to come out on top in the close fight behind F1’s leading three teams.

“We have some further upgrades and mechanical tweaks we hope to give some further stability,” he added.

“Singapore has confirmed once again how tight the competition is at the moment as well as the competitiveness of the top teams – even at circuits we expect to play to our strengths.

“We need to keep pushing in every area and take points when we can as we know our adversaries will do the same.”