Renault set date for ‘Lotus Renault GP R31’ launch

2011 F1 season

Posted on

| Written by

2011 Lotus-Renault livery

Renault will join Sauber by launching its 2011 F1 car on January 31st at Valencia.

Continuing the model designation of previous Renaults, it will be called the R31, the team revealed on Twitter.

The new car will be revealed at noon, three-quarters of an hour after the Sauber is unveiled.

The team will show its new black and gold livery on an earlier car one week from today at the Autosport International show in Birmingham.

Keep track of all the car launch, test sessions, races and more with the F1 Fanatic Google Calendar

2011 F1 season


Browse all 2011 F1 season articles

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

45 comments on “Renault set date for ‘Lotus Renault GP R31’ launch”

  1. Really looking forward to testing now!

    Any pre-testing bets for surprise of the season? My bet is for Sauber and Lotus (2010 Lotus!) to do better than last year!

    1. …and Mercedes.

  2. Ugly looking car.

    1. I think the red ‘Total’ end plates spoil the look, but, ignoring those, it’s quite ok!

      1. Agreed. Someone photoshopped those to black and the whole livery looked waaaaaay better.

        1. Have you got a picture? I’m not a big fan of the red :(

    2. agree with RIISE. There is something about it that just makes it look hideous, and its not the total end plates.

  3. With Mercedes giving themselevs a long development time for 2011, and Williams aiming for the top 4, it should be very interesting to see where the teams are placed at the start of 2011. Its going to be a very intersting first race!

    1. Although they’re testing at Bahrain a week before the first race, so unless the new wings and KERS work some miracle it still probably won’t be a terribly exciting race. Hopefully I’m wrong.

  4. Looks bloowdy awful.

    The 2010 Renault was stunning.

    I’m hoping they’ve refined the design a little…can’t help the above image was released to beat Fernandes and co. rather than a genuine stab at decent livery.

    1. As that livery concept still sports some of their 2010 sponsors the livery might improve.

      Still I would solidly support any move for them to retain the black/yellow they had in 2010 as it looked great and stood out.

      1. I wouldn’t count on it. The livery will be presented on January 13th, and sneak peaks showed by LRGP’s twitter present exactly the same color scheme so far (the nose was revealed). So expect THIS. As Renault and Kubica fan I really hope that thing will be as fast as ugly the livery is. Black and yellow will be missed :(

    2. I agree. The gold-work is too heavy, makes it look gaudy. And the red end-plates clash almost as horribly as the yellow-against-orange of the ING days.

      2010’s black and yellow was the only good looking livery Renault have used since Mild Seven stopped sponsoring the team. I say bring back the tobacco-themed liveries but do it right!

  5. Why does everyone complain about this design?

    It actually looks damnn classy

    1. I like it too. Nevertheless, a few changes could make it look even better ;)
      Hope the car will be better than in 2010.

    2. Fernandes’ Lotus had a similar design, but It was more sharp and better suited to the car. This one doesn’t really look like the old car.

  6. The livery looks freaking HORRIBLE! The lines are too thick and the Total end plates completely destroy the Black and Gold look anyway! The HUGE Lotus logo doesn’t help either…

  7. I wonder when we’ll all start referring to Lotus GP as anything but ‘Renault’.

    1. They are Renault.

      Lotus are a sponsor only. We don’t call McLaren “Vodafone” do we?

    2. I wonder when we’ll all start referring to Lotus GP…

      Who’s that? You mean Renault?

  8. They MUST replace all red on that car with more black, and the “Total” letters with gold writing.

    1. As all sponsors change their colours to black and gold on the car, I don’t see how Total can’t.

  9. I would have thought black livery would increase radiation absorption from the sun, so at hot races such as Qatar, don’t Lotus Renault run the risk of overheating (more so than their rivals in livery that perhaps reflects radiation from the sun ie McLaren)?

    1. With exhaust temperatures close to 1000℃, I don’t think a slightly hotter engine cover will make too much of a difference. The drivers probably won’t feel the difference under their racing suits.

    2. With exhaust temperatures close to 1000℃, I don’t think a slightly hotter engine cover will make too much of a difference. The drivers probably won’t feel the difference under their racing suits.

      Plus this is a glossy black finish, so it will reflect a substantial amount of heat.

  10. 2010 is over so now all we have is car launch, some drivers seat being filled, testing, & racing in March,seems like yesterday the season ended.

    1. Sorry it will be “some drivers seat to fill”

      Why is my grammar that bad? Really do need to work on that!

  11. I don’t think the red is as bad as the huge Lotus logo on the nose!!! Yeah we get it – Lotus are on board – but it’s still Renault who constructed and power your car!!

    1. And neither that owns the team!!

  12. Just because Renault are now sponsored by Lotus doesn’t mean that they have to be like Lotus. If Renault want to go for a past livery, they should go back to their blue and yellow livery.

    1. Renault are owned by Lotus, not sponsored.

      1. The majority of Renault is owned by Genii Group, Lotus are the title sponsor and also own up to 50% of Renault as a “co-owner”.

        1. Genii Capital owns 100% of the shares of the team after buying out Renault’s 25%. There has been a lot of talk about Lotus Group buying a large chunk (25%-40%) but they have not yet done so. So far they are just a sponsor.

          1. Not in Bahar’s eyes…. they are the new Ferrari! :/

          2. Thank you mvi! I can’t believe how much misinformation there is out there about Lotus…

      2. Group Lotus have no shares in the Renault F1 Team. And neither do Renault for that matter! Very confusing!!

        I am not condoning it, but its a great bit of spin from Group Lotus for confusing fans and even some journalists on this one.

  13. This Livery needs banning so badly, its insulting to the classic Lotus livery and to the history of team Lotus. Like it or not, it is advertising tobacco. If I was in charge of Marlboro I would say “ok then if they can give JPS free advertising like that, Ferrari will be running in bright red and white Marlboro livery thank you very much”.

    1. The difference is that JPS is not sponsoring the team. Marlboro gives Ferrari millions.

      1. I can imagine the boss of JPS sitting behind his desk, reading this…

        “Sweeeeet…”

        1. Exactly. It makes no difference that JPS are not putting in money. Renault themselves are advertising JPS for free even though that is not their intention. The very fact that we are discussing this is media coverage for JPS. The many people who are old enough to rememeber or knowlageable about F1 history and will think “Oh thats JPS colour back in F1, maybe I will buy some instead of my regular brand” .Other f1 fans who are young will find out that this livery is JPS through word of mouth posibly leading to starting smoking. The result is the same whether the advertisment is free or not. If this is allowed, Ferrari will be fully within their rights to slap the barcode back on their cars and that is a backwards step (not to mention the Ferraris looked sooo much better without it). It could even start a whole new tobacco sponsorship era using classic iconic liveries and the power of word of mouth which has so much influence now.

  14. i think renault or lotus…this year will make a very good year

    1. Well I think Mclaren or Ferrari…this year will make a very good year. lol.

      (Forget that Lotus group are title sponsors. This is Renault.)

  15. This just doesn’t sit right with me. I know there is a very SMALL Fiat sign on the Ferrari, but when has there been another car manufacturers name on a well established car making F1 team? I could not imagine two other great names being on the one car!?

    1. Lada on last years Renault?

      I think the main problem everyone has with it is the massive size of the nose logo. This is a place on the car which is traditionaly taken by a small team badge not a sponsor. It gives the car its identity just like dogtags. If you striped the sponsors off a ferrari, the prancing horse badge would remain. Renault on the other hand has had its dogtags stolen by group Lotus, been forced to wear someone elses clothes(which are also stolen), and has had a huge sign slapped on its forehead saying “I am Lotus!!!”

Comments are closed.