Motorsport: Renault wary of McLaren backlash

Champions Renault can expect a backlash from team McLaren in the second half of the Formula One season, the team's chief strategist Pat Symonds warned today.

"In the last few races, we have seen that McLaren are coming back in to the mix and they will play a major role," he said in the team's mid-season review ahead of Sunday's French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours.

"At the start of the year, I was expecting a four-way fight between Renault, Ferrari, McLaren and Honda. Ferrari have lived up to expectations and Honda seem to be further behind than we thought," added the executive director of engineering.

"But after struggling in the opening races, McLaren are right back at the front. We are no longer fighting just one team but two."

Renault have won seven of the 10 races so far this year, with Ferrari's Michael Schumacher winning the other three as the Italian team emerged strongly from a dismal 2005.

McLaren were Renault's main rivals last year, winning 10 of the 19 races -- two more than the eventual champions -- but finishing runners-up.

The Mercedes-powered team will be determined to do well at Magny-Cours and the seven races beyond that after seeing both their drivers collide and retire at the first corner in Indianapolis.

Renault team boss Flavio Briatore said he was convinced his Anglo-French outfit could repeat last year's double success with Spanish world champion Fernando Alonso 19 points clear of Schumacher in the drivers' standings.

He warned against complacency, however.

"We have the performance, the reliability and the people. They are doing the job and doing it well," he said.

"If we carry on, if we take nothing for granted and continue to push ourselves, then we can do it."

- REUTERS