Renault confident in midfield battle

Mar.13 - Renault thinks it is a solid bet to head the F1 midfield in 2017.

The French works team had a bad 2016 in the wake of the Lotus takeover, but technical boss Alan Permane said at the end of Barcelona testing: "Together with Toro Rosso, we are slightly ahead of Force India and Haas."

Indeed, it is believed that Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull top the pecking order, Williams is alone in fourth place followed by a gaggle of midfielders.

Permane added: "I do not believe that Toro Rosso, Haas and Force India will be able to keep up with our development pace."

Toro Rosso chief Franz Tost told Speed Week: "We are well placed in the midfleld.

"I see Mercedes in front, then Ferrari and Red Bull with a gap to (Felipe) Massa in the Williams. Force India seems to be faster than us, with Renault in our league and question marks about McLaren and Haas."

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Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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