Button not expecting quick fix for Benetton
The struggling Benetton Formula 1 team is due to use a new version of its Renault engine at the French Grand Prix this weekend, but driver Jenson Button is not expecting any sudden leaps in performance
Benetton has scored just one point so far this year and Button has yet to qualify higher than 16th, but the changes for this weekend are said to increase the power of Renault's radical 111-degree V10 and also improve the driveability.
The B201 has been beset by handling and aerodynamic problems, but Button believes it will take more than an increase in power to enable the Enstone-based team to start fighting for points.
"We are not going to be in the top 10," Button told this week's Autosport magazine. "Although hopefully we will be 14th and 15th, but you never know what the changes are going to do.
"It is going to be quite a big change. It should be easier, but it is not going to be easy. We are moving forward and by the end of the season we should be much stronger."
Button and team mate Giancarlo Fisichella have suffered not only from a lack of pace, but also from poor reliability. Renault has vindicated its decision to stick with its radical wide-angled design for this year, but according to Benetton's chief designer Pat Symonds, the team has completed only a third of its scheduled test mileage.
Symonds also believes improvements to the car will take time. He said: "You don't suddenly dream something up overnight."
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