Renault pushing ahead

Renault is already looking ahead to next season and the wind tunnel at Enstone, UK, is in full use as the team gears up to 2004. Technical director Mike Gascoyne had a long term plan when he arrived at Renault in 2001and now the two technical teams -- at Enstone, where the chassis is developed and at Viry in France where the engine is built -- are going full steam ahead for the next racing year.

"Tim Densham spent 2002 hard at work on the R23, which he has also developed this season," Gascoyne told the Renault website. "In parallel, Mark Smith began work on R24, the design of which began last December. And then, while Mark is developing the new car in 2004, Tim will begin the process again with R25…"

Renault has abandoned its wide-angle V10 engine in favour of a more classical 72 degree cant for next year. A 50% scale model of the car, the R24, is already being tested; and far from the traditional Renault blue, the interim chassis is green.

"Strangely enough, the model is actually painted green," said Gacoyne. "The reasoning behind it is very simple: it doesn't make it any faster, but means we avoid any potential confusion with models from previous years when it comes to keeping parts in Stores."

Renault has been challenging the likes of Williams, McLaren and Ferrari this season -- no lie, look at the results -- but although the podiums speak for themselves, Gascoyne is cautious about the future.

"The R23 is already very aerodynamically efficient," he said. "With the R24, we hope to make another step forward. The data we have already collected is encouraging, and there are still six months available to hone the project. We are pushing ahead at full speed."