Renault unconcerned about late V8 debut

The French car manufacturer are not planning to run their V8 engine until their new car is ready in January - which will effectively put them behind the schedule of some teams who have already run the new-for-2006 engines in testing this season.

But Bell is adamant that the team's pre-season timetable will not put them at a disadvantage in their bid to successfully defend their crown.

"We are not at all complacent about the work involved in making the new package reliable for the opening races, but we have adjusted our project timing to take account of this," he said.

"Our new car will run early in 2006, and we will get two chassis running as quickly as possible to maximise our track testing time.

"We believe this is the most effective and balanced use of our resources, taking into account the fact we had to develop the R25 until the end of 2005 in order to secure the championships and that our engine architecture will change for 2006. Our priority is to produce a competitive package with which to defend our titles next year."

Bell believes that Renault's focus on reliability over out-and-out performance is one of his team's biggest considerations - and was likely to have been key to them beating McLaren this season.

"There are still lots of unknown factors when it comes to getting the best out of a Formula One car," he added. "Our job is to manage the risks. If you don't take any, then you go backwards.

"If you take too many, then you can have serious reliability problems. The 2005 season showed we had found a good compromise with the R25. We innovated in some areas, but we did it in a controlled way.

"We always tried to consider reliability as our priority, and to improve performance without endangering our ability to finish races. That strategy paid off: the R25 may not have been the quickest car at every race weekend, but it was the most competitive over the whole season."