Renault 2019 F1 livery launch

Late completion of car jeopardises Renault’s shakedown plans

2019 F1 season

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Renault may be forced to delay its planned shakedown of its RS19 on Saturday owing to the late completion of parts for the new car.

The team revealed its livery for the new season on 2018-specification car at its factory in Enstone today and also presented renderings of how its finished car will look. But team principal Cyril Abiteboul admitted they were cutting things “super tight” with their pre-season preparations.

“We are still due to do a shakedown on Saturday during a filming day,” he told media including RaceFans at the event. “It may or may not take place as we speak.”

Abiteboul blamed the late sign-off on regulations for the 2019 F1 season but also admitted the team had cut things fine by trying to maximise their development time.

“Sometimes we are vocal about thew late change of regulation. That’s the harsh reality of those late change of regulation. And I believe that we are not the only teams to be in that situation.

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“We are, to a certain degree, also paying a little bit the fact that we are much more integrated this year than before. So I think to a certain degree when when you are in such a situation you are a bit more complacent with milestone and internal planning. You think that it’s going to be OK.

“When you are only working with suppliers you can’t do that, you can’t negotiate the lead time with suppliers, the lead time is the lead time. When you are your own supplier you start thinking that I’m going to negotiate with myself. So to a certain degree we are paying a bit of that price.”

The team will have to be more conservative with its development goals next year, Abiteboul added.

“We know that there is a direct connection between the time you’re spending in the wind tunnel and how competitive you are. So we know that there is a direct connection between how short you can reduce your lead time and your competitiveness those are the sort of things that we need to do.

“We need to be constantly flirting with the red line. I think we’ve gone maybe a bit over the red line. That’s why my thoughts are really with production which are, as we are speaking, massively working to get the parts out of the door for us to be ready in testing.

“I think next year we will have to be a bit more conservative because it’s not performance it’s also reliability. We don’t want to turn up and shakedown your car and suddenly realise that there is something that’s not working. So it’s a balancing exercise. We’ve been a step too far. Maybe we’ll have to review for next year.”

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Video: Renault presents its 2019 F1 livery

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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...

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14 comments on “Late completion of car jeopardises Renault’s shakedown plans”

  1. Auspicious start…

  2. #MindGames

  3. And so it begins……..

  4. Here we go again.
    This excuse will be used for the reminder of the season, unless they are championship contenders.

  5. As long as they’re working come Melbourne! A filming shakedown shouldn’t be the make or break for the season. Get that engine sorted. Don’t give Danny Rick a brick!

    1. You know they said that lat year too and the year before that…
      But without the chassis it doesn’t matter how powerfull you engine is see Williams for example

      I hope Daniel get a decent car so he can show his magic.

  6. No biggie…!

  7. I was really hoping to not hear any excuses from the Renault camp up until the end of pre season testing or maybe Melbourne. Little did I know it would start at the time of unveiling…

    It’s not a huge stepback to miss a filming day.. but starting a season by missing your first target of a shakedown date…

  8. Judging by the last few years I’m surprised that not all teams plan to do a “filming day” before testing by now. Those who run their car for the very first time at the actual test miss the whole first day, minimum, just to get the car running properly. At the same time those who did a shakedown beforehand have had a few days to sort out all the little gremlins that turned up so they can get straight into racking up mileage. With only 8 days of testing allowed, being one or two days ahead is a huge advantage. I’m not really a Renault fan but it’s nice to see them pushing, it would be sweet if they can close in on the top-three. Not so nice to see them in potential trouble and giving excuses even before the car has seen daylight though.

  9. Wouldn’t say they are in trouble. They are maximising development. If they miss the filming day they can just wait until testing.

  10. The found the solution

    because it’s not performance it’s also reliability.

    at last… sigh..

  11. ‘As we speak’ — according to Motorsport.com Abiteboul said: “No. As we speak, we are 100% sure of nothing.” . And he continued with: “We should have a motorhome and a coffee machine working, but that is as far as I am 100% sure!”
    A motorhome with a coffee machine. Well, it is a start. I mean… it is something. If you read his 100% remarks as an invitation do not forget to bring your own coffee, water, sugar, milk and cups.
    And you will be fine.

  12. The looks are not a priority for me, I am hoping that the upbeat talk of power gains and improved reliability are not just hype. Until the first couple of races RB is also an unknown they could have teething problems that may cause them to drop of the pace a little. With Renault improving things could get interesting at some circuits.

  13. This sounds like McLaren last years. Not good.

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