Vasseur reflects on ‘long and hard season’

Ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix, Renault team boss Fred Vasseur said that although their second points finish of the season in Singapore was positive, they are still not where they want to be.

Since returning to Formula 1 at the start of the season when they took over Lotus, the French manufacturers' were expected to be competitive. But with only seven points on the Championship table, Vasseur is hoping to end the season on a high.

Despite their underwhelming season so far, with Kevin Magnussen claiming all seven points, the Frenchman has insisted that their motivation remains unchanged.

"The motivation is always there but it’s that much more rewarding when the outcome of a race weekend is positive," he told F1i.

"This has been a long and hard season so far and we're all at the start of a long journey so a positive result is warmly welcomed."

On their prospects for the remainder of the season and beyond, the team boss wants improvement from all areas of the team garage, but with a keen eye on 2017.

"We must continue to work on improving all areas, however we have particular focus on those areas of car and team performance which are relevant for next season," he continued.

"So for the car, areas like reliability and improving our systems of understanding tyre performance are applicable.

“Also, for the team, areas like pit stops are crucial and we saw how well we are performing in this area with some exceptional stops from our crew in Singapore.

"What we can witness during a race weekend is only the visible part of the iceberg. There is a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes from recruitment to restructuring and physical infrastructure improvement and expansion.

"This is a long term project and we have to go through this planning and development phase in order to reap the benefits in the future.

"What everyone sees on television on a Sunday afternoon is just one aspect of a Formula 1 team. We are happy that there is strong progress being made."