Gascoyne: Renault is back to beat the big guns

The Enstone-based team becomes the official Renault works team next season and is already using its revolutionary 111-degree V10 engine. Gascoyne, who was headhunted from Jordan last summer, says 2001 is very much a build-up year before the Regie comes back in full effect next season.

"What's important this year for Benetton is that we put all the bits in place for when we become Renault, and we join the big two," said Gascoyne. "We're not talking about this year, or being 'best of the rest' or whatever. It's very, very clear; Renault is here for one reason, and that's to win, and beat Ferrari and McLaren. Finishing the 'best of the rest' is an irrelevance for Renault."

He believes that looking at the bigger picture, rather than trying to achieve high-flying results in 2001, will pay dividends in the long term.

"What we've got to do is put the right people in place, the right programme, the right resources, so that in a year or two we can challenge for the World Championship," he added. "A lot of what we're doing is focussing on that, rather than the short term aim of getting the next car out. I think the aerodynamics programme is typical of that. We've probably trebled the resources since I've joined the company, changed a lot of things, and the fruits of that are only now starting to come. Don't expect great things from the car yet, but do expect in six months for Benetton to get stronger and stronger and stronger."

As a result, Gascoyne is not recommending that you rush out to the bookmakers and risk your last dollar on Benetton scoring well in the first half of this season.

"We're in good shape for the future, but it won't be what we want it to be at the start of the season," he admitted. "We're very happy with the car. The most important thing for me is the basic package, and there's nothing wrong with it."

One thing that has been amiss, however, in its pre-season build up is the lack of reliability from its Renault engines. Gascoyne believes this is another necessary evil as Renault probes the limits of its new powerplant.

"They have had their teething problems, and they'd be the first to admit it," said Gascoyne. "They've done some fairly radical things with the material they are using and so on, and that takes time to sort. It perhaps looks a lot worse than it is."

For a full Mike Gascoyne Q&A, click HERE.