Formula One car development blog

Renault are on the winning path again, and it quickly shows in the way their development goes. During the season, the team concentrated on improving tire management to allow for a more consisent pace during the race. Recently they also made 'reliability' progress on their engine, but now there's more.
An interesting idea that Renault now came up with is to actually use part of the hot air exhaust gases to heat up the rear tires. The R28 now features a modified rear wheel shield with... Read more

It is no secret that Renault have put high hopes on their Barcelona update, and the Grand Prix even stunned their own guys. Apart from their new elongated engine cover, the French team also developed a new front wing that features important changes to the bridge element. In order to add downforce and driveability, the upper element is now split up in downforce generating aerofoils on each side and a central bridge section. The latter is now an almost perfectly round bow over the nos... Read more

Renault is the first team to have copied Red Bull's overside engine cover. The team must have looked closely to its fellow Renault powered team as the item very much resembles Red Bull's design. The British team introduced theirs at the last test before the start of the season, while Alonso has been busy trying the item in the second day of Barcelona testing. The team also chose to fit their car with the raced front wing instead of the new one in order to better analyse the performa... Read more

Renault have added some extra downforce on the R28 to cope with the braking and acceleration requirements of the Bahrain track. Just like Ferrari, the team opted to create a new front wing with more panel surface, especially in the centre of the car. In Renault's case this means that the nose cone is now deep in between the front wing's upper plane. In addition to that, both drivers are now running with a straight rear wing. The model was already run at Australia and Malaysia, but i... Read more

While it can be an independent development, Renault required about a month since the BMW introduction to also connect the sidepod panel with the barge board. The French team ran their new item at the last winter test for the first time and was used all the weekend in Australia. The panel is larger than the BMW and particularly aims to direct air around the sidepod and onto the rear wing. When designed correctly, such a device can generate considerable amounts of downforce at the rea... Read more

Whether this is the rumoured W-wing of Renault remains to be seen (rumours tend to be wrong sometimes), the team introduced its new wing just this weekend (upper image). The difference with the wing that was tested through the winter (lower left inset) is the curvature close to the end plates. While similar designs have appeared at Renault, this one is completely new and very much resembles the current rear wing of McLaren (lower right inset). The wing also has twin central supports... Read more

While it was expected that more and more teams would revert their inboard mirrors to have them located behind the front wheels, somehow it turned out to be the opposite. Renault had its mirrors integrated into the sidepod panels while on the R28 the have made them pointy and very close to the chassis. The wing mirrors are even partly above the cockpit sides and allowed for very short connections between the monocoque and the mirror covers. You can also see from the top view that the... Read more

Similar to Honda's totally different strategy, Renault had to do something very different to get back on form. The French team have gotten rid of their V-keel and instead designed a low nose that allowed the team to hold on to their almost horizontal frontal wishbones. As a comparison, the RA108 is on top with the R28 on the bottom. It is clear that the nose of the Renault is substantially longer and also lower between the front wheels. Metric markings are added, using the Renault f... Read more