Abiteboul: We will be more competitive

Renault Sport boss Cyril Abiteboul believes that his team has what it takes to compete with Mercedes and Ferrari this season.

Abiteboul said the Renault team has been working around the clock to ensure that they are ready when the 2016 season begins in Melbourne on March 20. 

The Frenchman acknowledged that his team have to keep up the same level of work throughout the season if they are to stay in contention with their rivals. 

"Frankly if you had told me in Abu Dhabi at the end of November that we would be in this shape today I would definitely have signed for it," he told Motorsport.com.

"It's a lot down to execution now. We know what we have to do, and we have to do it properly and carefully and in order.

"There is substantial work going on in every department back in France and also in Enstone. I think we know what we have to do. That is the big difference with before, I think before we were a bit blind, and now we've seen the light."

Renault endured a rocky relationship with Red Bull last season, with the Austrian-backed outfit not shy in stating their displeasure with the standard of power unit that they were supplied with by the French manufacturer.

Red Bull had looked to terminate their contract with Renault, but with a new deal having since been negotiated, Abiteboul is determined to make the arrangement work.

"Frankly it was not an obvious thing to do, after all the things we went through in the last two years, to continue the relationship with them," he admitted. "But I continue to believe it was the right thing to do for us strategically. 

"Now we will have to see if it makes sense to continue that in the next few years. But as we have a big job to catch up right now, it makes complete sense, so I'm very happy with the continuity of that relationship."