Renault: Tough test ahead in Malaysia

Renault have warned their rivals to expect an even tougher test in Malaysia after Giancarlo Fisichella’s Australian win.

The Italian leads the world championship after one round following a dominant weekend in Melbourne, which followed on from a strong winter’s testing.

But technical director Bob Bell has revealed the French team have more up their sleeve and will arrive in Sepang with an even quicker car.

He said: “We already ran new developments on the car in Melbourne, and there is more to come for Malaysia.

“Our aero department, led by Dino Toso, responded extremely well to the regulation changes last year, and has now put in place a very aggressive development programme to maintain our performance until the end of the season.

“Under the new rules, there are plenty of new ideas coming out of the wind tunnel and lots of potential for more. We anticipate that we will be taking an improved car to every race this season.”

But Bell refuses to be complacent and expects reigning champions Ferrari to bounce back from a poor weekend at Albert Park.

He added: “We are not under any illusions – Ferrari are probably still the strongest team, and don’t forget they only ran with a modified version of last year’s car yesterday, there is still the new car to come.

“They will be very strong all season, and I expect McLaren and even Williams to be up there too.”