F1 | Renault, Abiteboul admits: "Haas is very competitive, we are lucky to be ahead of her"

Renault's fourth position in the constructors' championship is really starting to falter. After the Belgian Grand Prix, the Haas he narrowed the deficit from the French team to just six lengths and in Monza, a track that will showcase the Ferrari engine, the American team could crown its comeback.

Interviewed by Motorsport, Cyril Abiteboul, team principal of Renault, said he was anything but surprised by Haas' performance: “Frankly we thought this gap would disappear like an ice cube in the sun” - He admitted. “We knew from day one that Haas would be very competitive. We're lucky to still be ahead and this gives us the opportunity to continue to defend this position all the way to Abu Dhabi. We know that Monza will be another challenging track, but we'll see. We have a lot to offer in terms of chassis development, but I expect the predominant factor will be the competitiveness of the engine.".

With the double penalty imposed on Hulkenberg e Sainz for the replacement of components of its power units, Renault should no longer face sanctions from now until the end of the championship. An aspect that Abiteboul highlights with confidence: “We decided to concentrate all the grid penalties we needed. Let's hope that there won't be any more and that the next eight GPs will be simpler. The penalty for Nico was scheduled for Spa, while for Carlos it was scheduled for Monza but, due to what happened in qualifying, which we haven't yet explained, we decided to serve it here in Belgium.".