Renault hope to end season on a high

The French squad, world champions for that past two years, have already shifted their focus on their preparations for the 2008 season following a disappointing season.

Rivals such as Williams have seemed to catch up with Renault in recent races, who look set to finish in fourth place in the constructors' championship. The world champions, however, are only 11 points ahead of Williams with three races to go.

But despite the midfield pack being very tight at the moment, Symonds reckons Renault will still be able to stay in front and finish the season on a high.

"The midfield group has clearly closed up over the last few races, which was to be expected, but I am confident that we still have the performance to lead that group," said Symonds.

"While our championship position is relatively comfortable, we cannot afford any slip-ups, and especially if we have to deal with unpredictable conditions which are a distinct possibility.

"This has not been our best season, but the drivers and the team deserve great credit for their undiminished commitment.

"We will be aiming to finish on a high, with three strong, dynamic races."

Teams will be racing for the first time at the Fuji circuit this weekend, and Symonds admits it is hard to make any predictions for the race.

"It is very clearly a circuit that follows the modern trend, of slow corners and long straights," he said. "The 1.5 km long main straight means we have to compromise our ideal downforce level in order to ensure competitive top speeds, and that in turn makes the car trickier for the drivers to handle elsewhere on the circuit.

"I think that the very slow section at the end of the lap, from turns 10 to 16, is also likely to be a critical sector of the track in terms of laptime. But we will need to wait until first practice until we can get a complete understanding of the circuit's challenges."