Fisichella: Renault half a second behind

The French outfit, world champions for the past two seasons, have not been able to show the same sort of pace as McLaren or Ferrari during winter testing, with their drivers finding a lack of grip with the new Bridgestone tyres.

With two weeks to go before the first race in Australia, Fisichella reckons the gap to the top teams is quite big.

"We are struggling a little bit at the moment. We need to find a little bit of pace," Fisichella was quoted as saying by the Herald Sun.

"Ferrari and McLaren are a step forward at the moment. McLaren and Ferrari are stronger than us. It's at least half a second a lap. It's a lot.

"We are not as quick as two years ago, when I won (in Australia), and last year, so we are struggling a little bit at the moment," he added. "We have some new bits coming for the first race in Australia. The main thing now is to find a little bit more (speed).

"The aim is to win, but it depends on the competitiveness of the car. If we are able to have the speed of the last couple of years it is possible, but if not then it is not. Reliability is quite good, but we need a bit more pace."

Fisichella admits Renault are struggling to extract the maximum from their tyres, having switched to Bridgestone following Michelin's exit at the end of last year.

"We are struggling to drive the car. The grip overall is not great. So probably it is downforce," Fisichella said.

"Maybe it (the tyres) is one of the reasons. But a team like McLaren has not got that problem, so if they can make them work..."