Renault are, at the moment, at the same stage as last year, having scored only one point less as compared to 2008 (11), but having much lower prospects for the second half of the season. There seems to be little the Enstone technicians can do to turn the page on the 2009 season, considering they've already implemented several updates on the R29 that eventually didn't pay up: double diffuser, KERS, improved aerodynamics, etc.
Taking all this under account, Piquet believes a second consecutive miraculous turnaround in the championship is not in sight yet.
“Last year I think we had a better car than this year. Last year's was progressing better...or maybe it's that everyone else is progressing quicker. The development never stops. The key is to develop quicker than the other cars and it's not going to be an easy second half of the year for us,” said the Brazilian in an interview with British magazine Autosport.
He also insisted that teams with bigger budgets are now holding a better chance of recovery that smaller teams, as extra hours of work are now paying up via much-developed aerodynamics. While revealing Renault will bring something new to the table at Nurburgring, Piquet said it will be hard to score points in Germany.
“The middle of the pack is very close,. Hopefully for the next race there will be a few upgrades. The car looks OK and the team is always very optimistic that we can fight for the top five. In the first test in Portugal, it was way off the pace and we recovered. But it's still hard,” added the Brazilian, who is yet to score a point this season.
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