The Renault team believe that they will perform much better at the Japanese Grand Prix compared to their disappointing Singapore GP weekend, with the high-speed Suzuka track set to suit the team's R31 car far more.
Renault put in one of their worst weekends of the season at the Marina Bay track, with both Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov finishing well down the order.The high downforce nature of the Singapore track was blamed for their poor performance, which saw Senna the leading Renault driver home in a lowly 15th place.
But the team have confidence that they will perform better at the Japanese GP next weekend at Suzuka.
"I'm convinced that will be the case," Senna said in the team's race preview when asked if Suzuka would be a better track for them.
"The low-speed nature of Singapore made it the worst circuit for us in terms of performance.
"That hurt us a little bit, but with the updates we have planned for Suzuka we should be strong there, and hopefully will be able to get both cars in the points again – that's where we belong."
He added that he was aiming to continue learning over the rest of the season, saying: "Undoubtedly [the other drivers] still have the upper hand because they have completed more races than me.
"Suzuka will be another of the traditional races where I have limited experience. I'm learning and catching-up with the other drivers on the grid, but they have a considerable amount more experience than I do."
His team mate Vitaly Petrov, who was only 17th in the Singapore race, also believes that the team will show more fight at the Japanese weekend.
"I hope the car will be strong there," the Russian grunted, "It's important to have confidence in the high-speed corners because if your confidence is down you can lose a lot of lap time."
He added: "[Suzuka] one of the most fearsome tracks, but when you get it right it gives you immense satisfaction."
Team boss Eric Boullier added: "Things should get better for us on quicker tracks and Suzuka is one of them. In Japan, we expect to return to the level of performance we saw in Belgium and Italy.
"Our mission will be to focus on getting both cars into Q3. From then on, the weekend should be pretty straightforward."
Meanwhile, the Renault team announced a small staff restructure ahead of the Japanese GP, with Alan Permane becoming their new Track Operations Director.
Permane's promotion comes after Steve Nielsen left the post of sporting director after the Singapore weekend.
"It's very simple. Part of what were Steve's responsibilities will be taken over by Alan Permane, who is now Track Operations Director," Boullier explained.
"In addition, John Wickham is part of our team and further changes will be announced shortly. I expect this transition to be very smooth."
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