Renault: more progress needed to beat BMW

The world champions have been making progress since their poor start to the season, and have moved close to the pace of BMW, who have established themselves as the third strongest team this year.

Although Renault are 25 points behind the German squad, the battle for third place looks set to be close in the remainder of the season, but Bell admits they still need to make progress to match their rivals' form.

"The target is clear: to continue closing the gap to BMW on track, and to begin doing so in the championship," said Bell. "If you look back to the opening races of the year, it was as if we were in a different race to them.

"Now, we are regularly qualifying in the top ten, and according to the type of circuit, racing with our direct rivals.

"Giancarlo and Heikki are both pushing very hard and getting the maximum from the car. They now need a more performance to fight on equal terms with BMW. That is what we are focused on providing them throughout the second half of the year, beginning this weekend at the Nurburgring."

Although Bell confesses the start of the season was disappointing, he says he has been encouraged by Renault's progress since then.

"It has been a mixed bag, to be honest," he said. "Initially, we were all disappointed to see that the car was not performing as we had predicted. But since that initial realisation, I have been extremely heartened and motivated by the team's response.

"Everybody in the organisation, from top to bottom, has just got their heads down and grafted to improve the situation. We have already made significant improvements to the car, and that will continue during the second half of the year. I'm very optimistic we can maintain our upward trajectory."