Renault aiming for podium

Bell believes that the team's new R24 challenger represents a big step forward over last year's car, and also reckons that Renault could benefit from the revised rules introduced for this season.

"During periods of last year's [Australian] race, we ran as high as second place," said Bell. "That position was not maintained: our consistency during the stints was poor. This year, we have a package that represents a good step forward in performance, and we better understand the tyres.

"Furthermore, as we saw last year, the Renault team reacts well to rule changes and adapting to a revised race format will be one of our strengths. The drivers are highly motivated and confident, and we know how we want to run the car. There is no reason I can see [that we will] not be aiming for podium places."

Renault's strong consistency in pre-season testing has led many to label the team as a dark horse to challenge for this year's title. Bell says that the team's winter form has given it a major confidence boost heading into the season.

"We have run very reliably, and that has been our primary focus, identifying all the problems that might catch us out later," said Bell. "We have completed our planned test work, and performed five full weekend distances: compared to this time last year, that represents a significant advance.

"The car behaves how we expected and responds to changes, which encourages us to think it will prove easy to set up during the race weekend. The winter has gone exactly to plan, and that gives us confidence for the early races."