BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Renault play the realism game



By Matt Majendie BBC Sport Online

Even the biggest Formula One teams have fallen foul of their own ambition.

Most recently, both British American Racing and Jaguar promised Grand Prix wins in the short term only to miss the target in dramatic fashion.

F1 car launches are notorious for causing even the most astute team bosses to get carried away with the moment.

And Renault boss Patrick Faure was as guilty as his predecessors on Thursday when he announced his team were bidding to win the constructors' championship in 2004.

Renault up their ambition

While Faure's aims are admirable, managing director Flavio Briatore and technical director Mike Gascoyne were both far more realistic in their assessment.

Briatore, more likely to fly off the handle than most, simply stated: "I hope to finish the season in the same position," alluding to the team's fourth place last year.

Gascoyne took it slightly further, saying the team's obvious next goal was to close the gap on the top three, but he did promise race wins.

The new R23 car was trumpeted by the team at their launch at the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France as "evolution, not revolution".

Title challenge

And, while the line itself is blatant marketing speak, the sentiment is clear.

Renault, in only their second season back in the sport, are aiming to build for the long-term, to eventually, and quite realistically, one day challenge the likes of Ferrari.

Their 2002 season was an impressive beginning as they showed great promise, improving out of sight since they took over the Benetton team at the end of 2000.

This year Briatore et al will be confident of further improvements.

Like their F1 rivals, they have hardly stood still ahead of 2003, spending 18 months preparing the R23.

A series of major changes have been made for the new car, among them:

A new carbon/titanium gearbox

A revamped version of their radical wide v-angle engine, updated from the R22

A fundamentally revised aerodynamics package, which will not be seen until just before the new season.

Like every F1 contender, the car's reliability will remain unproven until the season-opening Australian Open.

Championship bid

The talk at the team's joint bases in Viry-Chatillon and Enstone is focused on potentially putting together a championship bid in 2005.

But, for all this promise, there remains a possible stumbling block in terms of the new testing legislation.

Renault have opted to take up the new option of reducing their testing sessions, once the season begins, to just 10 days.

In return, the team - along with Minardi and Jordan - will have two-hour testing runs on the Friday of each Grand Prix.

The major risk is that the French manufacturer may gain short-term glory from it, but lose out in terms of future development to the likes of Ferrari.

Gascoyne and Briatore, though, are adamant it is the right choice.

Testing risk

Gascoyne said: "There is the advantage of being better prepared come each race and the disadvantage of having less track testing time in the rest of the season.

"But we have our Viry-Chatillon base to overcome any problems we might encounter and, while we accept it's a risk, we are confident it's worth it."

The risk could prove huge and only time will tell if it pays off.

But you cannot blame Renault for trying.