Although they are happy with Robert Kubica's result in Valencia, Renault admit they "were hoping for a little bit more".

Kubica, who started sixth on the grid, continued his impressive form with a fifth-place finish to stay in touch with the front runners in the Drivers' Championship.

Despite the 10 points, chief engineer Alan Permane feels the team were a tad unlucky after both their drivers found themelves behind the Safety Car.

"It was a good result for Robert, but we were hoping for a little bit more," he said. "We were quite unlucky with the timing of the Safety Car because when it came out we were preparing for Vitaly's scheduled stop and the mechanics were already in the pit lane with Vitaly's tyres.

"The Safety Car was deployed just as Robert was approaching the final corner so we quickly called him in to try and take advantage, but obviously the mechanics had to rush back into the garage to get his tyres ready. That cost us a bit of time and delayed Robert's pit stop, which dropped us behind Button and Barrichello. However, it was certainly the right call to react quickly to the Safety Car because we moved ahead of both Ferraris so Robert remained in fifth place after the pit stops."

He believes a European GP podium was in their grasp.

"If we hadn't been planning to stop Vitaly on that lap, then I'm sure we could have serviced Robert and stayed ahead of both Button and Barrichello, which would have given us a podium," Permane added. "Formula 1 is all about 'ifs' and 'buts' and you can always look back with the benefit of hindsight, but it was a shame that we lost out like that."