Renault needs to speed up the way it develops its F1 car throughout the season.
That is the view of Daniel Ricciardo, who has switched from top team Red Bull to Renault for 2019 and beyond.
"Our main goal this year is to finish the season fourth in the constructors' championship or maybe even higher," he told France's L'Equipe.
"But the gap to the top three is significant and it won't be closed overnight. For that, it is necessary to develop the car more intensively," Ricciardo said.
"Talking to Nico (Hulkenberg) and slowly understanding how the team works, I know that the pace of development last year was lower than expected," he added.
"We need to figure out what needs to be done to make the car better, but also to ensure that all the necessary updates are implemented as quickly as possible.
"This will be the key factor on which our ability to close the gap depends."
Renault's technical boss Nick Chester said Ricciardo is helping the team to become a top three team.
"Daniel has great attention to detail, and gives a lot of feedback to the team," he told El Confidencial newspaper.
"Everything he knows about Red Bull is very important to us, in terms of how the team works etcetera," Chester added.
