Renault Hoping to Overtake Williams

Renault have set their sights on Williams as the Formula One team to beat of the big three who finished above them last season.

"We're not the quickest team but we can certainly race for the podium everywhere," said technical director Mike Gascoyne after Spaniard Fernando Alonso gave the team a first podium in Malaysia on Sunday. "We've got to look to finish above fourth in the Championship and Williams are probably the ones we need to try and push.

"I think Williams have got a great engine but their car's difficult to handle. We're never going to overtake them on a straight line but I think anywhere we outqualify them, we can hold them off," he added.

"The handling of (our) car means we're quick out of the corners, we can brake late into them."

Renault, with a good chassis but underpowered engine, are currently level second on 16 points in the standings with champions Ferrari and two ahead of last year's runners-up Williams. McLaren lead with 26.

Williams, powered by BMW, won five Constructors' Championships with Renault engines between 1992 and 1997.

The French carmaker, who quit Formula One as a constructor in 1985 and returned last year after buying Benetton, swept the front row in Malaysia with 21-year-old Spaniard Fernando Alonso on pole alongside Italian Jarno Trulli. The next race is Brazil in two weeks' time.

"I think we'll be very competitive in Brazil," Gascoyne said. "We've got new aerodynamic parts, it's a circuit we've gone well at, both drivers are very confident and quite rightly so. We've got to do the same again in Brazil.

"We've tested the tyres here for Brazil and I think we'll have a good race. A good handling car goes quick in Brazil so I think we're pretty confident for it."