Ahead of the opening race of the 2019 Formula One season in Australia on March 17, we take a look at how each team is shaping up for the new campaign.

Here we assess how Renault, boosted by a big-name new driver, can hope to get on.

HOW DID THEY PERFORM IN 2018?

After a miserable start to life back in F1, some improvement was evident for Renault in 2018.

Nico Hulkenberg was the best of the rest, finishing seventh in the drivers' standings, behind only the drivers from Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, but the French team failed to register a single podium.

Towards the end of the season, though, there was a sense that the team were simply building towards 2019, with the arrival of Daniel Ricciardo on the horizon.

THE 2019 LINE-UP

Daniel Ricciardo

Frustrated by his role at Red Bull, Ricciardo looks set to be the main man at Renault.

Ricciardo won two of the first six races of the season in 2018 - enough to see Lewis Hamilton count him into the title battle - but speculation around his future and jostles with team-mate Max Verstappen saw him go winless for the rest of the calendar.

At Renault, where he will get the billing he feels he deserves, the Australian needs to shine.

Nico Hulkenberg

Hulkenberg was the best driver in the midfield in the last campaign, but he may well find himself playing second fiddle in his own garage this year.

How the German deals with the presence of Ricciardo will dictate Renault's fortunes, with the team needing last year's leading light to deliver again, while assisting the former Red Bull star.

Without a podium in his F1 career, Hulkenberg will strive to prove he is more than a support act.

THE TO-DO LIST

- Close the gap. It is simple. The gulf between the top six drivers at the top three teams and the rest was huge last year, even if Renault were then next in the standings. Having won the constructors' championship as recently as 2006, this ambitious outfit need to get back into the conversation.

- Get on the podium. Another straightforward task. Nick Heidfeld was the last Renault driver to land a top-three finish - back in April 2011. Surely, with Ricciardo on board and the team talking up their chances, that run cannot continue? But if the drought is extended through the first few races of the season, scrutiny will build.

HOW WILL THEY FARE?

Renault simply have to have a better year with Ricciardo on board. The Australian has the talent to deliver, too, and team managing director Cyril Abiteboul believes they boast, with Hulkenberg, the best pairing in the sport. The pressure is on to challenge the big three.