Renault not focussing on 2019 car with current championship fight

Renault chassis chief Nick Chester has revealed that the team can't put its focus on the 2019 car yet, as the team is still feeling the pressure from behind them in this year's championship fight from the likes of Haas and Force India.

The French team are currently leading the best-of-the-rest battle, meaning they're in fourth place behind the big three teams (Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing). Fifth-placed Haas F1 are sixteen points behind, meaning they're still within reach. That's why Renault aren't letting their foot off the gas now.

"We know we can't really - we have to develop," Chester told Autosport when asked when Renault will start focussing on next year's car.

"Maybe once we can get to race 15 [Singapore] or 16 [Russia] we can review it, but by then most things will be in process anyway to the end of the year.

"It's just too tight.

"An Austria result and you've wiped that [gap] out.

"We've got to keep going and pushing and getting pace on the car."

That Austria result Chester referred to was a disastrous weekend for Renault. They had a double DNF, with both Carlos Sainz and Nico Hülkenberg having technical issues, while Haas finished fourth and fifth, their highest points total in team history.

Haas have looked the quicker team at times, but their lack of consistency is what has cost them so far in the battle for fourth with Renault. That, and the fact that the American team has Romain Grosjean, who will crash his car pretty regularly.

"Probably from now on, there'll be a few more updates and then after that will probably be smaller parts that can come out of the windtunnel programme that [are] working on 2019.

"But we know we're going to have to keep going all year."