Kovalainen remains upbeat

The reigning world champions have failed to finish on the podium so far this year and are currently working flat-out to try to get to the bottom of why their R27 is not performing as well as expected.

But despite the difficulties, Kovalainen says that he is still enjoying his debut season and he is confident that Renault will return to form soon.

"I have enjoyed every single race," said Kovalainen on Renault's latest official podcast. "Even if it has been bad at times, I still enjoy racing.

"I have shown I have been able to improve after my not so good debut in Melbourne, I have been all the time on the pace with Giancarlo Fisichella, I have scored already a point and I have finished every race. So there are many positive sides about things.

"I enjoy the challenge, now we have to work as a team and push really hard together to find out the problem. I am confident we can make a step forward. I enjoy the challenge.

"It gives me motivation to work hard, and I arrive in Barcelona with a very happy mind and a focused mind. We are going to attack the maximum."

Although Renault still do not have definitive answers for the shortcomings in their R27, Kovalainen is adamant that much more speed will be unlocked from the car once they do.

And he is also well aware that the team must continue working on their normal development programme, rather than focus all their efforts on trouble-shooting.

"Everyone is working overtime to identify the problem and once we do that then we will be able to make big steps," he explained.

"I am confident we can bounce back, but in the meantime we still need to run the development programme we planned before the season.

"If we forget that, then by the time we find the problem we will be another half a second behind. So there are good programmes going on at the factory and everyone is pushing hard."