While happy with progress in one area, Daniel Ricciardo says Renault now has another to address if they want to be competitive.

That first area has been the power unit, which saw the French manufacturer focus solely on performance even if it came a little at the detriment of reliability.

The improvements though allowed Renault to shine on high-speed circuits, with the Australian finishing fourth at the fastest of them all at Monza.

“It’s really good," he told Holland's Ziggo Sport.

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“Since the hybrid era, it was evident that Renault was not the strongest package. It’s not a secret and was always a little bit of a weakness for them.

“But this year, absolutely, they have made a big step. It was needed and they did it.

“It took a lot of pressure off them as well because from the outside there was a lot of pressure from the media.

“I’m happy for them that they finally got a big step.”

However, while one weakness has been largely addressed, another has been exposed as a lack of downforce has limited their potential, with Renault losing out to customer team McLaren in the fight for fourth in the Constructors' standings.

“We knew the deficits to the Mercedes and Ferrari power units these last few years, so to have something close to them now feels a lot better,” Ricciardo noted.

“But what is now evident is that we have work to do on chassis and aerodynamics.

“We have ticked one big box this year with the power unit so next year, if we can tick the chassis box, we can really start to be competitive.”