Renault has revealed their new car for the 2018 F1 season.
The RS18 is the third Formula One car produced by the team since its return to the sport as a full manufacturer entrant.
Renault finished sixth in the constructors’ championship last year and managing director Cyril Abiteboul said the team aims “to show continued progression through results” this year.
“We want to be able to showcase our progression in every regard; power unit, chassis, operations, drivers. Everything must improve and we must continue to grow. We want to demonstrate this in many different ways, from the teams we will be directly racing against, to the gap to the leaders, including also our fan base and the respect that our team will inspire in our way we behave on and off track.”
Renault continues to supply power units to Red Bull and this year will also provide engines to McLaren, having ended its relationship with Toro Rosso. “It’s an honour to supply to teams as big as Red Bull and McLaren and is a recognition of the quality of our product and work that they have chosen Renault,” said Abiteboul. “Of course, they are very strong competitors and that’s an extra challenge and motivation. They will clearly be our benchmarks for performance this season.”
Interactive: See more of the Renault RS18
Brighten up the dark area of the pictures to see more of the Renault RS18. More the slider left to right to show the original and brightened images.
Renault RS18: Front
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Renault RS18: Front three-quarter
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Renault RS18: Rear three-quarter
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Ben Needham (@ben-n)
20th February 2018, 15:02
From that one angle so far – I have to say it looks stunning! A really nice paint job and a sleek, aggressive looking chassis. Let’s hope it’s fast.
Looking forward to seeing the front!
Ben Needham (@ben-n)
20th February 2018, 15:05
…and there it is! Looks great – my favourite looking car so far. Even the halo doesn’t look totally hideous on it.
Christopher Bowers (@darkstar)
21st February 2018, 0:49
I totally agree. The front wing in particular is stunning.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
21st February 2018, 3:38
The problem is that, apart from the “diet” it doesn’t look any different than last year’s, and consequently doesn’t look like it’s going to fair better than last couple races. Underwhelming, and so was the Sauber, more so the Sauber, significantly less intricate than it’s peers. Even the RB was underwhelming, apart from adopting Mercedes style and philosophies.
Micheal Jackson
20th February 2018, 15:08
From the angle given, it looks like a refinement of last years car. More like what they were trying to achieve last year. Lets see what happens. I think they will be a little faster than last year if their engine is good but still behind force india and williams until I see more pics.
GeeMac (@geemac)
20th February 2018, 15:10
Someone on the internet needs to lighten these images up so you can see what the heck is going on with the bargeboards!
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
20th February 2018, 15:26
Youtuber ‘Aarava’ does this every launch day. Good analysis too!
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
20th February 2018, 15:33
Ask and you shall receive it seems!
Straight in with the high contrast sliders…
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
20th February 2018, 15:47
@geemac @fullcoursecaution Glad you like them – had been meaning to do it for earlier launches but for various reasons there wasn’t time (and the Sauber pictures weren’t that dark).
GeeMac (@geemac)
20th February 2018, 15:48
That is really useful, thanks @keithcollantine
graigchq (@graigchq)
20th February 2018, 15:11
Best looking car so far…
Hugh (@hugh11)
20th February 2018, 15:12
That looks great and aggressive. Although the overalls and the car are a different yellow. Really annoys me when people do that. Why not use the same yellow for both. It’s logical. Hopefully they match more irl.
Hugh (@hugh11)
20th February 2018, 15:14
Although looking at the 360 video they just posted https://twitter.com/RenaultSportF1/status/965966784204386305 it looks more like the same colour, and it’s just the lighting making it look very yellow.
Krommenaas (@krommenaas)
20th February 2018, 15:16
Or, just a theory: they made the yellow lighter to make the cars easier to distinguish from the papaya orange McLarens. The overalls were not updated.
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
20th February 2018, 15:25
This is my thought also
Hugh (@hugh11)
20th February 2018, 15:26
Same yellow :) https://drivetribe.imgix.net/PYZAxx7XSXCVVxQy5XDf5A
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
20th February 2018, 17:57
It’s the yellow of the renault brand, I doubt they would alter it to please McLaren!
IvoI (@ivostivanov)
20th February 2018, 15:14
It looks stunning! I think the car`s yellow isn`t as bright as the pictures present!
just.daz (@nemo87)
20th February 2018, 15:14
I know it’s only launch spec but it looks a lot less ‘busy’ compared to the other cars we’ve seen from an aero perspective.
Also I’m not sure on the lack/shade of yellow.. I’ll wait for on-track pics before I decide!
digitalrurouni
20th February 2018, 16:12
Agreed on the less busy comment.
N
20th February 2018, 15:17
Looks very unimaginative.
LosD (@losd)
20th February 2018, 15:19
First image I saw (from another site) was the straight front one, and I thought it was quite boring… Then I saw the side shots… It’s beautiful!
Joao (@johnmilk)
20th February 2018, 15:19
It is the simpler one so far, which makes it look (body wise) the best looking, apart from that hideous nose.
I was expecting more from renault, they have the backing of a manufacturer, but year after year they fail to re-stock on yellow paint. 2019 will be all black?
Joao (@johnmilk)
20th February 2018, 15:21
I would also want to know the genius that came up with the idea of painting black numbers on a black background, and yellows numbers on a yellow background
ian parker
20th February 2018, 15:37
Harold Ballard, Toronto Maple Leafs 1979. The Names on Jerseys confrontation with the NHL.
Michael Brown (@)
20th February 2018, 15:20
I like the black on the outside on the front wing, it makes it look smaller than it is.
I wish there was more yellow, which I say every year.
deMercer (@)
20th February 2018, 16:48
That was my first thought too.
Pratyush P (@pratyushp276)
20th February 2018, 15:23
I love the mixed black/yellow paint job on the front wings, and the way the driver numbers have been done on the RS18 is just stunning. Just wow!
IvoI (@ivostivanov)
20th February 2018, 15:25
The best about the paint job is that from the front it is yellow and from the side it is black. What a nice idea!
Ashwin (@redbullf1)
20th February 2018, 18:01
Yes I liked that too
Maciek (@maciek)
20th February 2018, 15:26
Pretty cool, could’ve had a bit more yellow detailing along the sides, but really pretty nice, I like how they’ve visually reduced the size of the monstrous front wing (I pray for the day it happens for real).
Jere (@jerejj)
20th February 2018, 15:36
One of the best looking if not the best looking car so far. It looks somewhat aggressive.
Goil
20th February 2018, 15:43
What is the point of these online launches? We don’t get to see the real car – and given the relative simplicity of the Renault compared to other designs that have already been launched I wouldn’t be surprised if the car we see at Barcelona is quite a bit different from this. For example the whole barge board area looks more or less the same as it was at the end of last season!
pastaman (@)
20th February 2018, 15:50
Reminds me of the RB launch last year with the aero looking a lot more simple than the other teams. Especially in the sidepod/bargeboard and front wing areas it doesn’t look like they have done anything radical.
Asanator (@asanator)
20th February 2018, 15:52
Nice to see a car with sponsors on it! I like the paintjob, but the car itself looks very undeveloped, aerodynamically to my untrained eye.
Joe
20th February 2018, 16:00
If F1 was a livery designing contest, Hulkenberg and Sainz would be in for heck of a season. But its not, its an excercise in engineering, and this car looks woefully undeveloped and a step behind in the current progression of aero packages. I hope they know something nobody else does, or that this is just a dummy, and that the package that hits the ground in Australia will be a further evolution..
Dave
20th February 2018, 16:01
Is that a different shade of yellow?
Panzik
20th February 2018, 16:03
I think they are hiding something, the car looks too easy.
Sundar Srinivas Harish (@sundark)
21st February 2018, 6:19
Definitely. These images might just be to showcase the livery. The real car will have a lot more in terms of aero.
BaKano (@bakano)
20th February 2018, 16:35
I like that the air intake has a rectangular shape. Differs than the common round or oval ones we’ve seen so far. Maybe that shape has no particular aero effect but it looks nice.
deMercer (@)
20th February 2018, 16:53
Strange, on the image of the front with only the car (first image), the front wing has three yellow flaps on each side. On the image with the drivers sitting on the front tires (last image) the front wing has just two yellows flaps on each side, the third one is black.
The Last Pope (@the-last-pope)
20th February 2018, 17:24
@demercer
See the different airbox shape. That is last year’s car, RS17 in the new livery.
deMercer (@)
20th February 2018, 17:46
@the-last-pope Damn, you’re right. Well spotted!
The new RS18 has a close resemblence to the old RS 17, it seems …
The Last Pope (@the-last-pope)
20th February 2018, 17:56
@demercer Spotting credit goes to you. Only your post made me suspect it was the old car and to take a closer look.
The Last Pope (@the-last-pope)
20th February 2018, 17:27
Plus halo of course.
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
20th February 2018, 18:20
This is the first instance where the removal of the sharkfin has impacted the aesthetics I reckon, as Renault’s yellow stripe framed the livery nicely last year.
Nice to see the back of those dumb TLAs though, has the ‘must have massive 27 HUL’ rule been altered now there is less space?
Nick
20th February 2018, 19:05
Not that I’m any sort of aerodynamicist but it does appear, on the surface at least, to be somewhat simpler than the cars released so far.
Of course that’s no indication as to whether it will be quick or not.
Markp
21st February 2018, 0:02
Sauber is the car so far that will have amateur aerodynamicists occupied for next few weeks. Good chance Sauber will be by far the slowest of all cars released so far, maybe slowest full stop so how basic things may look or don’t the form of last few years is just as good an indicator. Torso Rosso normally looks one of the best but every year does not amount to much. Intriguing to see if Renault get close to Mclaren.
Maximus33
20th February 2018, 20:33
I have just spent the last five minutes sliding back and forth on the top image wondering why they kept the exact same sidepods.
Schudha
20th February 2018, 21:34
Come on get rid of these stub noses already
Burt Hunter
21st February 2018, 0:09
Looks really nice. As for the most recent Renaults, the 2010 design was my favorite.
68btyme (@steadyb)
21st February 2018, 0:15
Looks really nice. As for the most recent Renaults, the 2010 color scheme was my favorite.
Jon (@johns23)
21st February 2018, 1:25
Would like to see an F1 team leave their sponsors logos as they are, in terms of the corporate colours. Would add a little more colour to the grid. Mite be interesting instead of seeing reversed logos on black all the time
Esploratore (@esploratore)
21st February 2018, 2:16
Ahah, they said “It’s an honour to supply to teams as big as Red Bull and McLaren and is a recognition of the quality of our product and work that they have chosen Renault,”, now I think renault is overall doing a good job at trying to make a decent engine, but I don’t tihnk it’s a recognition of the quality of their product they’ve chosen renault, the thing is, ferrari or mercedes won’t supply teams with potential like red bull or mclaren and honda is best avoided, renault is the only decent engine open to “everyone”, with the limit of 3 teams per year.
SaturnVF1 (@saturnvf1)
21st February 2018, 4:37
What, no brightened photo of the drivers? I want to see the detail in Carlos’s hair!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
21st February 2018, 7:33
@saturnvf1 Missed a trick there…
electrolite (@electrolite)
21st February 2018, 7:49
Stunning livery – its like one of the fan mock-ups you see which never actually get implemented!
I’d be very surprised if the car looked this basic at Melbourne, but so far it seems to be evolution rather than revolution.
Pinak Ghosh (@pinakghosh)
21st February 2018, 9:33
All the other cars launched so far has major visible aero upgrades, especially around the pods and behind the front wheels. Even Sauber made a lot of changes in that region. In contrast, Renault looks to be more simple and less cluttered. But, is simplicity that the right approach or could the team have done more?