Renault Sport Formula 1 Team: Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, Sunday

Renault Sport Formula One Team posted another double points finish in Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix. Nico Hülkenberg crossed the line in eighth position after a hard charge from eleventh on the grid. Carlos Sainz came home in tenth, giving the team a strong points haul and consolidating fourth position in the Constructors’ Championship.

Nico used a creative strategy to run long on the Ultrasoft tyres to gain track position. By his first stop he was a superb sixth, and rejoined still inside the top ten. Taking full advantage of fresh tyres, he put in a series of quick laps to move into eighth. The German finished under half a second from P7.

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Renault Sport Formula 1 Team – Formula 1 2018 Monaco Grand Prix preview

One positive after the Spanish Grand Prix is moving into fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship. It is the first time we’ve been in this position since our Formula 1 return and, while it’s very early in the season, it shows we are getting stronger, which gives us motivation for the rest of the season.

Overall Spain was a challenging weekend and we did a good job of recovering from a difficult Friday to a positive points haul on Sunday, courtesy of Carlos’ seventh place. We have some lessons to take away, such as starting the whole event stronger, and making sure reliability is absolutely impeccable – we can’t afford to lose any points in the close fight in the championship.

Renault Sport Formula 1 Team: Seventh for Sainz in Spain

Renault Sport Formula One Team’s Carlos Sainz drove a strong home race to finish in seventh place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for today’s Formula 1 Gran Premio de España Emirates, with the points gained taking the team to fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship. Nico Hülkenberg had a very short race after the rear of his R.S.18 was collected by a spinning Romain Grosjean, pitching both into retirement on the first lap.

Renault Sport Formula 1 Team – Formula 1 2018 Emirates Spanish Grand Prix preview

Azerbaijan delivered our best result to date since returning to the sport in 2016. We appreciate it took special circumstances, but it does not take anything away from the fact we are now in a position to capitalise on any opportunities. Our progress is clearly illustrated in the data in a number of ways; for example our gap to pole has halved from last year.

The start of the European season now needs to see a consolidation of that performance. We will be helped in Spain by a step on the engine side with new fuel and some aero tweaks to reflect the characteristics of the track.

Renault Sport Formula 1 Team: Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Sunday

Renault Sport Formula One Team secured its best-ever finish since returning to Formula 1 in today’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. In an exceptional, incident-filled race Carlos Sainz finished in fifth position; the first time Renault has finished in the top five since resuming the sport in 2016.

Nico Hülkenberg had a bittersweet race; starting fourteenth on the grid the German had a strong start and quickly moved up the field to challenge Carlos in the top five. Unfortunately, after the safety car, he went wide at turn four and hit the wall, damaging the car’s suspension and retiring from the race.

Renault Sport Formula 1 Team – Formula 1 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix preview

We had the same result in China as Bahrain just one week before, but the feeling after Shanghai was almost entirely positive rather than lucky. In a straight fight against our competitors, we confirmed that we currently have the fourth best engine-chassis-driver combination on the grid. This is what we must carry forward and target at every race and the priorities are clear for both sides of Renault Sport Formula One Team at Enstone and Viry.

Renault Sport Formula 1 Team: Super sixth for Nico in China

Renault Sport Formula One Team’s Nico Hülkenberg took sixth position in an exciting and action-packed Heineken Chinese Grand Prix today. Nico fought through an eventful first lap, managed his tyres well and was able to take advantage of a safety car period for his second stop to be in the fight for the positions ahead come the end of the 56-lap race. Carlos fought a similar race to finish ninth, also challenging for the position ahead on the final lap.

Renault Sport Formula One Team: Formula 1 2018 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix preview

Bahrain consolidated the start we saw in Melbourne. Nico was able to score a good haul of points and fight for position at the sharp end of the midfield. Carlos had a more difficult race – his pace was good but he was compromised by a poor start and found it difficult to regain ground. We saw yet again how competitive this season is and how every detail has to be absolutely on point. In such a dynamic midfield, we must accelerate the deployment of our performance plan.

Renault Sport Formula 1 Team: Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, Sunday

Renault Sport Formula One Team’s Nico Hülkenberg took sixth position in today’s fast-paced and strategic Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix. Nico ran as high as P4 during his two-stop strategy race, where he ran a Supersoft-Soft-Supersoft tyre strategy. Carlos Sainz was unfortunate to finish just shy of the points, crossing the line in P11.

– Nico started the race from P7 on his qualifying Supersoft (red) Pirelli tyres, pitting on lap 15 from sixth for a new set of Softs, then on lap 39 from fourth for a further set of scrubbed Supersofts.
– Carlos started the race from P10 on his qualifying Supersoft tyres, stopping on lap 16 from eighth for a further set of scrubbed Supersofts, then on lap 26 from twelfth for a new set of Softs.

Renault Sport Formula 1 Team: Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix preview

Foreword from Renault Sport Racing Managing Director, Cyril Abiteboul

In Australia, there were a number of strong points; reliability, performance and the final result.

We did not have any reliability issues in Renault Sport Formula One Team, nor our two partner teams. The performance of the team was more or less where we expected and hoped for the first race. Ultimately the result was good; the first time that we have had both cars in the top ten since our return, and the first time in the history of Renault that six Renault-powered cars have finished in the points.