The R26 in numbers

Since taking championship victory for the second consecutive team in Brazil last weekend, the Renault F1 Team has been on cloud nine. So let’s take the opportunity to look at the hard numbers about the R26…

It took nearly 18 months from drawing board, or rather computer screen, to race debut. Before it even turned a wheel, it demanded nearly 10,000 drawings and around 6,500 components! An F1 car of this kind is a like a giant, full-scale puzzle of which up to 80% is made of carbon fibre, the favourite material of F1 designers. Six chassis were produced this season for use in races and testing – that equates to about 21km of carbon fibre textile!

With aero developments coming on stream at each race, the R26 was constantly evolving throughout the season in order to achieve the objectives announced long ago in January: double championship victory.

The job has now been done, and the R26 took 8 Grand Prix wins, 7 pole positions, 5 fastest laps, 3 100% Renault front rows and scored 206 points in total. It led 520 laps during the season, which equates to nearly 2,485km of the 10,394km raced in total during the year. The numbers leave no doubt about it: the R26 more than deserves its crown, just like the 550 women and men at Enstone who worked unstintingly to achieve their goal.

But in Formula 1, nothing ever stands still… Even as the R26 returned from Brazil several days ago, the factory is already hard at work on its new baby, the R27, of which the first example should be ready to break cover early in the new year… There’s no rest for the wicked… or the world champions!