Renault Unveils Its F1 Car

[cosworth151]

Renault has unveiled its new F1 entry, the RS16. It was shown in a mostly black with yellow livery. It also wears Infiniti badging that has been on the Red Bull cars for the past few seasons.

http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/renault-sport-f1-teams-unveils-new-car-paris

[John S]

I'm shocked that they have launched in black, they may know something about Haas' plans to have yellow car and didn't want to spoil Gene's first year in F1 - how sweet.

[cosworth151]

I wonder if they might still be working on a sponsor to replace the big Renault logos on the nose & sidepods. Black is a nice, sinister looking color that can be replaced with that sponsor's colors later.

[Scott]

I wonder if they might still be working on a sponsor to replace the big Renault logos on the nose & sidepods. Black is a nice, sinister looking color that can be replaced with that sponsor's colors later.

'Total'ly agree.  I bet they will have more stickers and slightly different colour scheme before Melbourne.

[John S]

It seems nothing was as it seemed with the RS16 unveiling, Renault  revealed neither its 2016 car nor the race livery as the wraps came off the mostly black single seater during Wednesday's Paris event.

It has emerged that the mainly black livery is just an interim solution for testing. "We'll be a different colour by the time we get to you!" Renault said on Twitter, replying to a message from the British grand prix host Silverstone.

Not only that, the chassis displayed to the international press on Wednesday was actually a 'show car' -- basically a re-painted 2015 Lotus, as the 2016 edition is still being put together at Enstone.

"It's a show car," confirmed managing director Cyril Abiteboul. "The real one will be assembled next week.

"We are not launching (now) but it (the 2016 car) will be at the test," he revealed.

"It will be with this livery but it will be the 2016 car. Then closer to Melbourne there will be a reveal of what the final colours will look like."

To sum up Renault really revealed nothing, we are all still in the dark about the RS16 and it's racing colours.

[Scott]

The unveilings are becoming a joke.  Why bother, aside from having a bit of champagne with some of the sponsors?  A repainted 2015 car that in no way resembles their 2016 challenger?  What a waste of bandwidth that was for any of us to go and look at.   

[Jericoke]

Why bother, aside from having a bit of champagne with some of the sponsors?

Question asked and answered.

F1 still differentiates itself as a land of glamour.

Over recent seasons that has been slipping as teams opt to simply show up for testing.  It also coincides with loss of sponsorship.  Maybe Renault is right to put the sizzle before the steak.  (Or maybe they're wrong, but at least they're trying something new)