Renault targets top three

Although the French manufacturer's new car has already been seen testing at Barcelona last week, setting some impressive times in the process, today's launch did reveal a subtly revised colourscheme for the new season, with more prominence given to the Regie's corporate yellow.

"We must look to dislodge at least one of the teams above us in the championship," said Faure. "One can no longer just talk about the top three teams: last year, we became part of the Big Four. Renault's targets for this year are, logically, placed higher, and in order to achieve them, absolute reliability will be critical. The correct steps were taken last year in order to ensure this, and we are confident we will attain this target from Melbourne onwards."

2004 will be Renault's third season in F1 since it bought Benetton, and Faure wants to build on the progress the team has made in this time.

"There's no scoop here," he insisted. "We always want to make progress, and we must do that this year if we want to challenge for the title in 2005. In 2002 we were fourth overall, but we were the first of the last. In 2003 we were fourth again, but we were the last of the first. We hope to keep moving forward."