Renault has presented renderings of its new car for the 2019 F1 season, the RS19.
The team also revealed its new livery in an event at its chassis factory in Enstone today.
The RS19 is outwardly very similar to the RS18 it replaces. However it features the wider, 2,000mm front wing familiar from other new cars for 2019, as well as an enlarged rear wing. The power unit air intake is also noticeably larger than on its predecessor.
The team has risen from ninth in the championship when it returned to F1 in 2016 to fourth place last year.
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Video: Renault presents its 2019 F1 livery
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Miguel Sampaio (@gordess)
12th February 2019, 12:30
I’m really liking the look of the 2019 cars; Cleaner, sharper, “racier” overall!
I wish Renault woudl have added more yellow, though… But the other two I think are really great, specially the STR!
Coanda (@ming-mong)
12th February 2019, 13:17
I agree with your comments regarding the 2019 aesthetics. I love that new airbox & the new higher deeper rear wing works nice. I was skeptical going with the new higher rear wing however it works for me.
I don’t agree with adding more yellow. As much as I love them I wouldn’t want it to mimic a Jordan.
Tim
12th February 2019, 14:58
…longer.
Can’t agree with you. Personally, I don’t like return of 2 meter shovel wings, and cars keep getting bigger.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
12th February 2019, 12:33
What a beauty! And I’m starting to like those front wings. And those yellow endplates make it gorgeous.
Nick (@nick101)
14th February 2019, 3:04
Nothing would make me happier than to see that this thing is as fast as it looks! C’mon Renault – give Dan and Nico something to fight with!!
tony mansell
12th February 2019, 12:42
And the winner is, Renault. What a beauty. I quite liked the Williams until I saw this.
Simeon Simeonoff (@simeonoff)
12th February 2019, 12:45
This is the best looking 2019 F1 car so far. The front wing and bargeboards look so aggressive. Quite sophisticated. Very Red Bul / Ferrari-esque side pods. Marcin Budkowski didn’t lie when he told the media the car is all new.
Todfod (@todfod)
12th February 2019, 12:51
@simeonoff
Completely agree. Renault are the only car so far to show a decent amount of detailing around their front wing, bargeboards and sidepod are. It looks a heck of a lot different from the RS 18.
The car looks pretty too.. it’s much fresher than Toro Rosso’s generic livery, Haas stolen livery and Williams’ Colgate livery.
Simeon Simeonoff (@simeonoff)
12th February 2019, 12:59
Oh, and that rake. They want the car to be very fast in the corners.
Jere (@jerejj)
12th February 2019, 12:50
The best-looking 2019 car so far. The difference in rear wing size compared to last season is more noticeable on this car than on the other two 2019 cars shown so far.
Coanda (@ming-mong)
12th February 2019, 13:18
+1
juan fanger (@juan-fanger)
12th February 2019, 12:53
It is only a mockup and likely quite misleading, but that front wing is very different with the reduced height in front of the wheels. Will be very interesting to see if that design stays.
GongTong (@gongtong)
12th February 2019, 13:14
I don’t recall when it became the norm to release renders of the cars instead of having proper reveals, but if Liberty want to “improve the show” I say they start from the beginning: the pre-season.
Mandate official launches with a fully functional car. Obviously they’ll still try to hide what they can. But starting on the first Monday of February last years champions unveil first, and each day we work through the order of the WCC. I used to be so hyped for the releases but these just don’t do it for me.
Back on topic: lovely looking car, Renault.
Fudge Kobayashi (@)
12th February 2019, 13:21
Liberty can’t mandate things like that. The teams themselves stepped away from full launches for a number of reasons; budget, secrecy and the emergence of the online world.
ddd (@fandukaja)
12th February 2019, 13:28
Obligatory launch/reveal events seems to be too harsh – idea of forcing teams to spend money on hyping pre-season would look like Liberty making others to do their job.
I am ok with renders only – you can have glimpse on livery scheme but nothing more, as a lot of part will be changed before season starts.
kpcart
12th February 2019, 14:33
How many people watch the Melbourne gp, and how many follow f1 car launches. Not going to happen, only die hard followers care about the car launches pre season, and there is no race or winner pre season.
socksolid (@socksolid)
13th February 2019, 1:47
I don’t really see anything of value in official car release events. It is basically just a show to show the car. Is that interesting.. at all? What more do you get from the show that you get from these computer renders or photos (which may have been photoshopped)? It might make little bit of sense when there is a huge rule change like we had in 2017 but even then where is the value for the teams or for the spectators?
You’ll get a decent idea when the cars go out in testing. As for these livery launches I think they are quite fine as they are. Most of the cars have very little changes from 2018 anyways so there is very little new.
Rick D. (@partsguy20)
12th February 2019, 13:22
I like the look of this car. I hope Team Hulkenbadger (my name for the Hulkenberg-Ricciardo driver lineup) will do well with it. Hopefully it’s as fast in real life as it is in my imagination.
Also, these renderings are really incredible. To me, this genuinely looks like photos of a real car, even down to the details like the front wing supports and adjustments. I guess the only giveaway is that I don’t see any fasteners for the rear bodywork.
xcm
13th February 2019, 2:17
I thought the opposite, the bare carbon fiber gives it away, and frankly, looks bad.
Theres no contours, Every elements weave’s line up at the same angle. Theres no differance in the size of the carbon tows, floor or top of rear wing…
Looks bad man.
TurboBT
12th February 2019, 13:23
I’ve seen this design before:
https://www.pokloni.com/poklon/mankini/15841
TurboBT
12th February 2019, 13:24
I was kidding. The design is beautiful. I like it.
rpiian (@rpiian)
12th February 2019, 13:50
Yikes – a bit NSFW lol!
Passo (@passo)
12th February 2019, 13:27
I can’t help but feel like teams could do better with these renders. They do nothing to reflect how the car will look in real lighting conditions, on the track. And given how incredibly high-quality these renders are, I can’t imagine it’s a leap to get them a bit more real-worldy. Still, looks nice.
rpiian (@rpiian)
12th February 2019, 13:49
I like it. Reminds me of the 2010 car. Which I liked a lot. Game on Hulk n’ Badger!
montreal95 (@montreal95)
12th February 2019, 15:12
@rpiian Weirdly that’s what I’m reminded of as well. I liked that car too apart from the ugly as hell sharkfin.
kpcart
12th February 2019, 14:29
Those front wings are still too complicated, still 5 planes or whatever they are called, I bet all sorts of little things will still start to show up on them too. I recently saw racefa s posted redbull 2005 car launch, that front wing looks so much more simpler. Also, f1 traditionally looked light and nimble, now they look so long and bulky, they would be heavier than 90s champ cars not for all the carbon composites. I Bet the current power units weigh more than a 90s champcar 2.6 V8 turbo.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
12th February 2019, 15:15
@kpcart There’s a reason these “little things” as you called them haven’t appeared from the start. The new regs ban some of the types and severely regulate others so they’re not a big benefit. Teams will find loopholes of course, but don’t expect too many
anon
12th February 2019, 21:56
kpcart, actually, the engines used by Champ Car in the 1990s were a fair bit heavier – the Cosworth XB series engine had a claimed weight of about 260lb, or 118kg (probably a dry weight i.e. without fluids), whilst the Ilmor 265E (otherwise known as the Mercedes-Benz 500I) was claimed to be about 273lb, or 124kg, but seems to have actually weighed in at closer to 130kg.
The engines that Champ Car used back in the 1990s were heavier than the current F1 power units – bear in mind that even the modern IndyCar engines have to have a minimum dry weight of 248lb, or 112.5kg, so even a 2019 spec IndyCar engine is heavier than the current power units in use in F1.
As an aside, it is interesting that people complain about modern F1 cars being “too big”, but then they compliment the aesthetics of a modern IndyCar – yet, as it so happens, modern IndyCars, being a little over 5.1m in length and nearly 2m wide, are similar in size to current F1 cars.
Khürt Williams (@khurtwilliams)
12th February 2019, 15:04
I enjoyed seeing the images of the new cars for 2019. Can’t wait for the racing to start.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
12th February 2019, 15:17
Great looking car from any angle ,and the first year in forever that I won’t be able to call the Toro Rosso my favorite of the F1 designs. The STR still looks good but the RS19 is better imo
JayMcG (@jaymcg)
12th February 2019, 17:53
Very cool.
Spawinte (@spawinte)
12th February 2019, 17:57
Swan neck wing mount!
Newfangled (@newfangled)
12th February 2019, 18:42
Looks fast, so will probably be fast. Wouldn’t take much for Renault’s gains to make them everpresent in the top 6 were one of the ‘Big 3’ to produce a substandard package. My bet is on Red Bull.
JayMcG (@jaymcg)
12th February 2019, 19:45
The Red Bull chassis is usually great though. No doubt even with the ever struggling stagnant Honda they will win a few races and still be in the top 3.
ddd (@fandukaja)
12th February 2019, 19:42
I’ve jus noticed how fragile is mirror mounting element – looks shaky even on still renders :)
Ink
12th February 2019, 22:18
Safety argument aside,
I can’t help but picture this car without a halo and how much better it would look.