F1 News: Cyril Abiteboul Hopeful Renault Renaissance Will Continue in France

After the Canadian Grand Prix, where the Renault F1 Team had their best result of the 2019 season, seeing Daniel Ricciardo finish 6th, followed closely by teammate Nico Hulkenberg, team boss Cyril Abiteboul hopes the French outfit have turned the corner on what until that point had been a dismal season.

"We enter the French Grand Prix on the back of a strong team result in Canada. We demonstrated our ability to recover from a disappointing start to the season in a controlled and professional manner. The execution of the weekend was good with Daniel and Nico delivering strongly in both qualifying and race. The result, and the manner in which we achieved it, should give us the confidence and motivation to push on through a demanding period of races with five Grands Prix before the summer break.”

With the Formula 1 paddock heading to France, Abiteboul would have been under increasing pressure to deliver a strong result on home turf in front of Renault bosses and the French public. Although the result in Canada eased the pressure slightly, and lifted the mood in what had been a down beat garage, the Frenchman is under no illusions that he is off the hook, and knows the team need to deliver on their home track.

"France is clearly an important milestone. Not only is it our home Grand Prix at Le Castellet, but also the opportunity to demonstrate a further improvement in our competitiveness. While Canada, a power sensitive circuit, underlined the gains made in engine performance, France will see the introduction of several development items on the chassis. One thing is clear: we cannot dwell on Montréal and to aim for a repeat of that result and keep striving to reduce the gap to the front," concluded Abiteboul.

The French Grand Prix takes place at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet from 21-23 June.