SEPANG, Malaysia -- Renault expects to do well in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix after adding new parts to its car, according to technical director Mike Gascoyne.

"Overall we are pretty confident," he said in a team preview for the second Formula One race of the season. "I believe the team is in a comparable position to where we finished last year and for us Melbourne was a much harder circuit than Sepang at which to succeed.

"For this race we will have new aerodynamics and mechanical items, which will represent a good step forward.

"We have a new diffuser, a new rear wing and several new items on the rear suspension."

Renault's Jarno Trulli ran briefly in second place during the season-opening Australian Grand Prix before spinning off and hitting a barrier. Jenson Button was caught up in the first lap pile-up.

The team ran as Benetton last year and made strong progress after a weak start, with Giancarlo Fisichella making a breakthrough with third place in Belgium.