Renault remain baffled by loss of form

[davewilson]

Renault have admitted they still don't know why they have lost their competitiveness this year, although the team's director of engineering Pat Symonds believes the likely cause is the switch to Bridgestone tyres.

The reigning world champions have had a disappointing start to the season, with Giancarlo Fisichella saying in Malaysia they are far away from even winning a race, let alone the title.

And, despite both cars finishing in the points at Sepang on Sunday, Symonds confessed that they have yet to figure out why they lost their form over the winter.

"We are left with lots of questions which we will go through step by step until - like Sherlock Holmes - you're left with the probable causes," Symonds told autosport.com.

"We know we are good in the quick corners, as you'll see from sector times. But we are also inconsistent. But I see inconsistencies in other teams, even those operating with more performance.

"We are well aware that something is badly wrong, but we don't know what yet, even though we've already eliminated some of the possibilities."

When asked whether the aero impact of the wider Bridgestone tyres could be a factor, Symonds said: "I suspect that this may end up having some significance when we do find the answers.

"It is a fact that we did lose aero performance when we fitted these tyres to the 2006 car. Also, in the past, when there was more freedom of what you could do with tyres, we used to do lots of wind tunnel testing of tyres - and that's now closed off.

"We pulled that loss back but perhaps in doing so we have fallen back in other areas. I look at the Honda and wonder if it is not exactly the same thing.

"After Brazil last year we went to Jerez to test. I don't think there's much doubt that our 2006 car was faster than McLaren's 2006 car. Yet when we went to the Jerez test on the Bridgestones, suddenly the 2006 McLaren was faster than the 2006 Renault."

Symonds has ruled out the change to the movable floor regulations having any impact on what happened in Malaysia, even though the team had to make modifications to their car to ensure they passed the new tests.

"In fact, the changes we had to make had the effect of allowing us to run a lower ride height - which should have been an advantage," he added.