Renault Hoping for First Podium at Home GP

The Renault team are hoping to score their first podium finish of the season at their home Grand Prix next weekend in France.

"We will certainly be looking for points and it would be great to improve on that at our home race," said technical director Mike Gascoyne in the French squad's preview. "That must be our aim. There would be no better place in the whole year to score a podium finish.

"There will be large numbers of senior personnel from Renault at the race and it would be great for the commitment they have shown to the F1 programme to be rewarded with a podium finish."

The French outfit have missed out on a couple of possible podiums this season due to the reliability problems with their R201 car, and at the British Grand Prix they failed to score any points due to mechanical problems.

However, both Jenson Button and teammate Jarno Trulli were out of contention due to a risky tyre choice that didn't work out. Gascoyne believes his team were handicapped by the performance of their Michelin tyres, which proved to be no match for the Bridgestones when the Silverstone circuit was wet.

"We showed we are very competitive in the dry and we were running in points scoring positions close to the other top three teams at Silverstone," added Gascoyne. "We looked like getting in the points and we got the strategy right by getting the drivers into the pits quickly for the first stop. Subsequently, it was disappointing that the tyre performance did not allow us to be competitive.

"Tyres have always been critical and Silverstone only served to show what large differences tyres can make. All the Michelin runners know that their tyres are not as competitive as they should be in the wet and we were dreading those kind of conditions.

"The light rain and then a drying circuit allowed the Bridgestone intermediate to demonstrate its superiority, but they were probably the worst conditions possible for us."