Renault R31

[hardingfv32]

This illustrates perfectly the risk of going it alone in F1, or any other technical competition. It's pure "hero or zero".

A) How can a design decision at the start of the season be influenced by the competition when you have no idea what they have decided?

B) They had an idea that showed equal performance during the design stage. There were no indication it would develop poorly.

C) Everyone else did the same thing and that approach failed to beat RB.

Brian

[BreezyRacer]

This illustrates perfectly the risk of going it alone in F1, or any other technical competition. It's pure "hero or zero".

A) How can a design decision at the start of the season be influenced by the competition when you have no idea what they have decided?

B) They had an idea that showed equal performance during the design stage. There were no indication it would develop poorly.

C) Everyone else did the same thing and that approach failed to beat RB.

Brian

I'm not knocking them for it .. quite the opposite .. I'm praising them. But as soon as you end up going it alone you cannot apply much of what you see and learn about competitor cars to yours, hence the risk. I would have done what Renault did as well.

[mith]

Visually car didn't changed much through the season. I remember tighter bodywork and cosmetic modifications of the front wing. Might be more, cause sometimes I didn't have enough free time to be up to date. So Petrov could have been quite close to the truth actually. And that would be very interesting for us - fans - because it would be quite good indicator, how much you're falling back through the season, when others develop their cars and you don't. In other words - how much year of in-season development is worth.

[PlatinumZealot]

I think Petrov felt disrespected because the Team didn't want to spend money on his campaign. Almost like they couldn't be bothered.
All the efforts probably went into the R32.

[timbo]

All the efforts probably went into the R32.

But they DID try different things (including "normal" exhaust) but to no avail.

[MIKEY_!]

There was the new exhaust (which failed) and then a couple of changes to the FW. That's all i can think of, not much really. For a team so apparently short of cash it kind of makes sense to 'scrap' a year when you've lost your key driver.

[timbo]

There was the new exhaust (which failed) and then a couple of changes to the FW. That's all i can think of, not much really. For a team so apparently short of cash it kind of makes sense to 'scrap' a year when you've lost your key driver.

Also a different cooling arrangement-sidepod tweaks.

[Carlo's]

They were testing a new front wing:

[ringo]

The main plain is interesting, as it takes over what is normally the foot plate.

[raymondu999]

Very hard to see though; given the car is all black. Can anyone enhance the contrast or something?

[MIKEY_!]

In Abu Dhabi, Renault finally introduced this new, Red Bull-inspired front wing, which had been expected to appear at Suzuka last month. Run solely by Vitaly Petrov, the more flexible design differs from the previous version in several ways and is intended to boost downforce. The main plane has a different shape with a smaller chord, and the attachment to the central section is also different (lower arrow). The curved flap (upper arrow) is similar in shape and length to that found on the Red Bull.

http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/ ... 7/918.html

[mith]

Did they race it?

[wesley123]

I believe Petrov did race it in Brazil.

This front wing is the example of an dissapointing year for Renault, last year they were the example of development and front wings bringing many new features into formula 1. This year none and they had to style their new front wing after the Red Bull one

[bill shoe]

I think the R31 with forward exhaust will be a car we remember for a long time. The car wasn't very fast over the season, but the radical exhaust concept actually worked on a basic level.

For me it was welcome relief from the other teams' drap attempts to copy Red Bull. This Renault will go down as an all-time classic, much like the 6-wheel Tyrell. It's not quite as radical as the Tyrell, but it's close.

Well done.

[FrukostScones]

I think the R31 with forward exhaust will be a car we remember for a long time. The car wasn't very fast over the season, but the radical exhaust concept actually worked on a basic level.

For me it was welcome relief from the other teams' drap attempts to copy Red Bull. This Renault will go down as an all-time classic, much like the 6-wheel Tyrell. It's not quite as radical as the Tyrell, but it's close.

Well done.

yeah the car was quite unique (it even exploded) but the other teams had to exploit the exhaust gases somehow and having no front exhaust means that you have optimise the flow the rear... , and the Red Bull didnt have U-pods if I remember correctly...
But overall it was a shame what happened to the former Renault team...