Renault will 'do better' in 2005
Renault's director of engineering Pat Symonds has told autosport.com that he believes the team's optimism about its new R25 is more than justified after Fernando Alonso gave the car its first public outing at Valencia in Spain this morning
The new R25 appears to be an evolution of last year's race-winning R24, with the biggest difference being in the nose area, but Symonds has revealed that the car is improved in almost every area - which should lead to improved fortunes for the outfit in 2005.
"One should always be optimistic, but one should be able to justify that optimism," said Symonds, prior to the first running of the car. "I feel good about it. The measurables, things like engine power, have improved despite the engine being longer life.
"Aerodynamically it is hard to say though, especially when you have a major change in the rules. With stable rules we know we are looking for something between five and seven percent over the year, and we can then know if we have done better or worse than that.
"This time we started off with about a 25 percent reduction in downforce and we are nowhere near that now. But whether we have done better or worse than other people I am not sure."
Despite his uncertainty about whether the team has done as good a job on its aerodynamics as its rivals, Symonds is confident of the qualities of Renault's design team - and upbeat that the team will improve on its third placed finish in last year's constructors' championship.
"The aero department over the last few years has consistently kept a rate of development that has been equal to or better than everyone else, and I see no reason why that should not be any different," explained Symonds. "We identified a little area of weakness on last year's car and we have addressed that.
"I am very happy with the driver line-up and happy with the team being so stable. I have every reason to be very confident that we can do better than last year."
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