Vasseur: We are looking at every single detail

If China wasn’t the weekend the team wanted, it’s evolution rather than revolution which will bring the rewards reckons Racing Director, Renault Sport Racing, Fred Vasseur.

China: What went wrong?

It was a tough weekend for us from the beginning. The suspension issue on Kevin’s car meant we lost a lot of running time and this had a particularly detrimental effect this time. This meant that not only he missed out on running, but we didn’t accumulate the necessary comparison data between the tyres so making set-up choices for the rest of the weekend was a challenge. For Sochi we do expect an improvement from where we were in China, that’s for sure.

How’s the working relationship with both drivers?

We work well together and the relationships are strong. We still have yet to have a clean race with both cars over the course of the weekend: Kevin had a puncture in Australia, then there was the red light issue in Bahrain, where Jolyon wasn’t able to race at all. Then China was a pretty difficult race weekend all round. You need good, solid trouble-free weekends to be able to make clear and steady progress, and that’s what we’re working towards.

What were your thoughts on qualifying now it’s reverted to the familiar format?

I certainly recognised the system! I think it was exciting to the last moment in China so this was positive. In any qualifying format it’s never action at every turn, but I think the spectacle was good in Shanghai. Of course, the sport will always look to see where improvements can be made, and it’s good to see if sometimes we can learn from our mistakes too.

Away from the track, how are developments coming for the team?

There is a lot going on that will not be seen yet and equally there’s a lot of good initiatives we have already seen. China was a good example where we had a new member for the Renault Sport Academy with Sun Yue Yang joining us as well as increased support for Asian Formula Renault. We announced an exciting new partner with APL, and one which allows us to focus on the human performance of the team. We also were able to showcase the team’s new Bell and Ross watch which well matches our team image and goals. It’s clear there are many strong building blocks being put in place. Certainly with the Academy we have a lot of work to do, but it’s very exciting and potentially very rewarding in many ways.

Where is the team focussing for improvements?

We are looking at every single detail. At Viry every detail of the power unit is being looked at and at Enstone every aspect of the chassis is being looked at. It’s not a question of focusing on one area, it’s a question of looking across the board at every detail. We know we have a lot to do, we know our targets so that is what we are working towards.