Renault admit they wanted to be "further ahead" at this stage of their full Formula 1 return but are optimistic about forthcoming car upgrades.

Last year's fourth-place finishers head into this weekend's Canadian GP, which marks the one-third point of the season, only eighth in the standings with reliability problems hampering their progress so far.

But having fixed a conrod issue on their engine to return to full power output in recent weeks - a breakthrough the team expect to pay clearer dividends at high-speed Montreal - Renault believe good times are ahead.

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"I'm confident the engine made a good step over the winter, there's still a little bit more to get in qualifying, that will be for later into the season," team boss Cyril Abiteboul told Sky F1 in Monaco.

"The rest is chassis, it is not at the level we want at this point in the season. There is a big push being done for Paul Ricard - not because it is Paul Ricard [Renault's home French race], it happens that we have a number of projects that will come out of production for Paul Ricard and then we will know where we are.

"But frankly we need to understand what's not working at the level that we want with the car, but also within our organisation, as we'd like to be further ahead at this point in our journey."

1:17 Relive the best bits from last year's Canadian GP in Montreal. Relive the best bits from last year's Canadian GP in Montreal.

'Ricciardo can lead the team to a different level'

Renault saw positive signs in Monaco, where Daniel Ricciardo qualified sixth and finished in the points for just the second time since his arrival at the team.

Abiteboul believes the Australian is enjoying his new working environment and can play a key role in Renault's progression.

"It's a journey, it's a road map, and we need to have the humility to accept that it takes time to build a winning team," the Frenchman said.

"That's exactly what we are doing and that's exactly what we explained to Daniel last year when he decided to join us. We were not trying to sell something that would not happen, and I think that was our honesty that paid.

"People that knew him from before think that it's a different Daniel. Maybe he's not in a position to win races, but there is more than that also in life. He is happy and I'm really sure that by being happy and natural he can carry to the team to a different level because ultimately, he's a driver who wants to win races and that's our duty to him."

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