Renault has the best chance in years to challenge top teams.
ENSTONE, England—Following their 2016 takeover of the then-defunded Lotus team, the Renault F1 Team’s goal for a return in Formula 1 was to work their way up the grid and, possibly by 2020, take on the top teams.
Courtesy: Speedcafe.com
Renault may be ahead of schedule.
The Anglo-French squad took sixth and fourth in the last two seasons, and on Tuesday, Renault launched their new challenger for 2019–the R.S 19.
The intention? It’s to challenge Red Bull Racing and other top teams in the F1 grid, namely Ferrari and defending champion, Mercedes.
The new driver in the team is Daniel Ricciardo, who left the Milton Keynes team and (in a surprising move) will now drive for Renault for the next two season. He replaces Carlos Sainz Jr., who moves on to McLaren.
Nico Hulkenberg returns with the team.
Cyril Abiteboul, the operation head for the team, feels that his team is becoming a force. “When you walk around Enstone you feel the passion and dedication to racing,” Abiteboul said. “The first phase of the plan was regeneration. Pretty much every area of the factory has been improved, if not completely transformed–from wind tunnel instrumentation, manufacturing, milling machines, clean room, race bays. Every single area has been improved to compete on the same level as the best.”
Team Chief Rene Taffin believes that the performance gap Renault has been facing will become a thing of the past. “These (engine) regulations are extremely complex,” Taffin replied. “But we understand what they are and have put a structure in place,” he said.
“We have the structure and we have the people now. Eventually, we can see the result of it.” Team Chief Rene Taffin
“We have worked hard on the ERS [energy recovery system] and worked a lot on the ICE [internal combustion engine],” Taffin continued. “In 2018 we introduced new concepts that proved to be successful, and we have taken some of them further down the road and into 2019. The result was the best winter we have ever had.”
These improvements should give Renault the best chance in years to challenge top teams.
