Renault R.S.16

The Renault R.S.16 was a Formula One racing car designed by the Renault Sport Formula One Team to compete in the 2016 Formula One season,[2] and marked Renault's return to the sport as a constructor after a five-year absence. The chassis was designed by Nick Chester, Martin Tolliday and Nicolas Hennel with Bob Bell overseeing the design and production of the car as chief technical officer and Rémi Taffin leading the powertrain design. The car was built in Enstone in Oxfordshire with the engine supplied from Viry-Châtillon in France. It was driven by former McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen and 2014 GP2 Series champion Jolyon Palmer.[3] Renault chairman Carlos Ghosn declared that they would not win in 2016, but wanted to in the future.[4] The Renault R.S.16 was based on the previous season's Lotus E23 Hybrid car.

Renault R.S.16
The Renault R.S.16, driven by Jolyon Palmer, during the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix.
CategoryFormula One
ConstructorRenault
Designer(s)Bob Bell (Chief Technical Officer)
Nick Chester (Chassis Technical Director)
Martin Tolliday (Chief Designer)
Nicolas Hennel (Head of Aerodynamics)
PredecessorLotus E23 Hybrid - Lotus Engineering
Renault R31 - Renault branded
SuccessorRenault R.S.17
Technical specifications
ChassisCarbon-fibre honeycomb composite survival cell
Length5,088 mm (200 in)
Width1,800 mm (71 in)
Height950 mm (37 in)
WheelbaseOver 3,100 mm (122 in)
EngineRenault R.E.16 turbocharged 1.6 L (98 cu in) V6 engine (90°), limited to 15,000 RPM in a mid-mounted, rear-wheel drive layout
Electric motorinfiniti kinetic and thermal energy recovery systems
TransmissionIn-house Renault semi-automatic sequential gearbox with eight forward and one reverse gear
Weight702 kg (1,548 lb) including driver
FuelTotal Excellium 102 RON 94.25% + 5.75% biofuel
LubricantsElf HTX 840[1]
BrakesCarbon discs with steel calipers
TyresPirelli P Zero (dry), Cinturato (wet)
Competition history
Notable entrantsRenault Sport F1 Team
Notable drivers20. Kevin Magnussen
30. Jolyon Palmer
Debut2016 Australian Grand Prix
RacesWinsPodiumsPolesF.Laps
210000

Season summary

After the mediocre results of the previous season under Lotus branding, 2016 proved to be a disaster for the team, as the car was slow and unreliable. This is partly due to the restructuring of the team, following its transition from Lotus which suffered from financial issues and poor management. In addition, the car's main weakness was its last year chassis: it suffered from aerodynamic problems plus a lack of upgrades to the car and was fitted with the inferior Renault R.E.16 power unit, compared to the Mercedes PU106B power unit in 2015. This therefore prevented the team from being competitive and ended up near the back of the grid.

Renault blamed the apparently reworked of Lotus E23 Hybrid car as the root cause of the R.S.16's uncompetitive performance. However, Renault retaliated with an uncharacteristic public revelation of the engine's output of 800 bhp, which was considered to be competitive at the time. Renault's criticism soured their late purchase in December 2015 and combined with the lack of results and thus slipped back to near-bottom table in the whole 2016 season.

Renault finished ninth in the Constructors' Championship, scoring just 8 points throughout the whole season - the team's worst season since 1978 when it was Renault and the 2014 season which the Enstone team was based as Lotus respectively.

The R.S.16 in testing livery during pre-season testing in Barcelona

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Points WCC
2016 Renault Sport F1 Team Renault RE16 1.6 V6t P AUS BHR CHN RUS ESP MON CAN EUR AUT GBR HUN GER BEL ITA SIN MAL JPN USA MEX BRA ABU 8 9th
Kevin Magnussen 12 11 17 7 15 Ret 16 14 14 17† 15 16 Ret 17 10 Ret 14 12 17 14 Ret
Jolyon Palmer 11 DNS 22 13 13 Ret Ret 15 12 Ret 12 19 15 Ret 15 10 12 13 14 Ret 17

† – Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

References
  1. "Renault Partnership - ELF". elf.com. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  2. Barretto, Lawrence (3 February 2016). "Renault launches its 2016 Formula 1 project". Autosport.com. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  3. "2016 Final F1 Entry List". fia.com. FIA. Archived from the original on 19 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  4. "Renault launch 2016 car with Kevin Magnussen alongside Jolyon Palmer". Sky Sports. Retrieved 26 March 2016.


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