They are a distant fourth in the constructors’ standings with a best finish of fifth so far by Giancarlo Fisichella in Australia.

Now Dassas has set the Anglo-French outfit a realistic target to hit.

“We need to be fighting for podium places by the end of the season, and to try and become the third-quickest team,” Dassas said on the team’s official website.

“That’s the minimum required. I’m fully confident and I know we’re capable of achieving that.

“The car’s improving at every race, there’s obvious progress, although it’s in small steps at the moment. Now we need to accelerate that development.”

Sunday’s race in Spain was an improvement of sorts in terms of speed – Heikki Kovalainen set the fourth fastest lap time en route to a career-best seventh-place finish.

But both drivers were compromised by fuel rig problems that required more pit stops than originally planned.

Team boss Flavio Briatore knows that Renault cannot afford to make more mistakes if they are to turn around their disappointing start to the season.

“We need to investigate the fuel rig problems, and ensure they don’t happen again,” he said.

“We have made progress, and that is positive, but every point is still vital and we need to ensure we take the maximum from every race at this stage of the season.”