Renault is looking to 2017 as an opportunity to make significant progress but has warned that it is doing so from an inferior starting point that its rivals.
Renault has scored just six points on its return to Formula One as a constructor this year after taking over the Lotus team last winter. Uncertainty over the Enstone team's future at the end of 2015 resulted in a lack of investment in this year's car, which is essentially the 2015 Lotus with a Renault engine.
Changes to the technical regulations for 2017 create an opportunity for teams to move up the grid, but Renault's team principal Fred Vasseur says his team's development starts from a lower base than its rivals.
Yes, we do consider 2017 a good opportunity for us," he told Formula One's official website. "Right now we are using a 2015-designed car that was built around a Mercedes engine, so when switching to a Renault engine we suffered from the very beginning.
"It is a fact that we are not building the 2017 car based on the 2016 one, but on the 2015 car -- and that is a lot of catching-up! But as I just said, 2017 holds a good opportunity for us. Yes, right now it is a bit stressful to manage such a huge gap based on the structure that we have - but we are working hard on it."
Vasseur stressed that Renault's plans for success are long term, spanning over the next five seasons.
"Outsiders probably don't have the same understanding of the situation: if you want to be successful, you sometimes have to bite the bullet," he added. "This is a long-term project -- we need to build up a completely new team.
"If somebody joins at the end of 2016 he will design the car of 2018, so this in itself is a time that has to be considered. Yes, right now we are improving on track -- we already have a better organisation than at the start of the season, so we are moving forward -- but again: we will get results in mid-term and not next week."
And Vasseur admitted he is resigned to Renault's current ninth place in the constructors' championship.
"Well, the pecking order seems quite clear and it will be difficult to change it, as we are not working on the car. So unless a gift comes from God I don't know how we should jump ahead."