Renault: R30 can score in every race
Renault's technical director James Allison believes the French squad should be capable of scoring points in every race following a promising start to the season
Although Robert Kubica was unable to finish in the points in Bahrain, the Pole qualified in the top ten before he was spun by the Force India of Adrian Sutil in the race.
Kubica charged back to finish in 11th position, just outside of the points.
Allison admitted it was disappointing to leave Bahrain with nothing to show for, but he was encouraged by the pace of the R30 car, which he reckons can be in the points regularly.
"We have a car that should be capable of bringing home points at every race," said Allison. "If we keep up the pressure on the development side, there's no reason why we shouldn't be doing that."
He added: "Overall, I'm disappointed that we're going home empty handed because it's not a fair reward for the effort the team has put in over the last few months or the underlying competitiveness of our car.
"On the flip side, I'm pleased that we've met our initial performance expectations, which is the tricky bit. Our basic competitiveness could have put us sixth or seventh in qualifying, and that's a hugely better position than at the end of last year or at the beginning. It shows that we've made a proper step up with the car."
Allison, whose team underwent an update to its wind tunnel late last year, believes there is no reason why Renault cannot continue to close the gap to the front.
"Since the tunnel shutdown, our rate of development has been encouragingly strong, and we expect to be adding performance to the car at every race this year," Allison said.
"However, we cannot forget that we were still a second off the front-running pace in qualifying. We have started the season with a credible level of performance, and we aim to finish the season at what I'd describe as a good level."
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