Renault aim to be third quickest team

The world champions have endured a difficult start to the season, with a fifth place as their best result after the first four races.

Renault are currently in fourth place in the standings, 47 points behind championship leaders McLaren and 12 behind third-placed BMW Sauber.

Although the team made progress at the Spanish Grand Prix last weekend, they are still far from fighting for podium positions, but Dassas reckons that should be their goal by the end of the year.

"We need to be fighting for podium places by the end of the season, and to try and become the third quickest team," said Dassas. "That's the minimum required. I'm fully confident and I know we're capable of achieving that. The car's improving at every race.

"There's obvious progress, although it's in small steps at the moment. Now, we need to accelerate that development."

Despite their difficult season, Dassas says the team morale remains high as they work on solving their problems to return to the top.

"Morale is good, that's for sure," said Dassas. "The people from Viry and Enstone know that Formula One is made of highs and lows; they're know how to handle fluctuations in competitiveness. The engineers are working hard to solve our problems, I can assure you.

"We have pinpointed the zones of the car that are concerned. Now all we have to do is to find and apply to solutions to get us back on the right track. There's still work to be done."