The Renault R.S.19 is a

Formula One racing car A Formula One car (also known as an F1 car) is a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel formula racing car with substantial front and rear wings, and an engine positioned behind the driver, intended to be used in competition at Formul ...

designed and constructed by the

Renault F1 Team The French automotive manufacturer Renault has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine ...

to compete during the

2019 FIA Formula One World Championship The 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship was the motor racing championship for Formula One cars which marked the 70th running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the governing body of international motorsport, the F ...

. The chassis was designed by Nick Chester, Chris Cooney, Martin Tolliday, Simon Virrill and Pete Machin with Marcin Budkowski overseeing the design and production of the car as executive technical director and

Rémi Taffin Rémi Taffin (born 14 March 1975) is a French engineer who is the technical director of French firm Oreca. He was previously the engine technical director for the French Formula 1 team Alpine F1 and Renault Sport. He graduated in mechanical engi ...

leading the powertrain design. The car was driven by

Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German professional racing driver who is scheduled to make a full-time racing return to Formula 1 with Haas F1 Team in 2023, after serving as a reserve driver for Aston Martin F1 Team for the yea ...

and

Daniel Ricciardo Daniel Joseph Ricciardo ( "Ricardo", ; born 1 July 1989) is an Italian-Australian racing driver who last raced in Formula One driving for McLaren, under the Australian flag. He made his debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with the HRT ...

. The car made its competitive debut at the

2019 Australian Grand Prix The 2019 Australian Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix 2019) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 17 March 2019 in Melbourne, Victoria. The race was contested at the Albert Park Circuit and was the f ...

Season notes

A tough first part of the season for Renault saw them only scoring 39 points in the first 12 rounds; 43 less than what they did at the same point in 2018. This resulted them sitting 6th in the Constructors' Championship at the mid-season break. After

Racing Point Racing Point F1 Team, which competed as BWT Racing Point F1 Team and commonly known as Racing Point, was a British motor racing team and constructor that Racing Point UK entered into the Formula One World Championship. The team was based in ...

's protest against Renault's innovative

brake balance The brake balance or brake bias of a vehicle is the distribution of brake force at the front and rear tires, and may be given as the percentage distributed to the front brakes (e.g. 52%) or as the ratio of front and rear percentages (e.g. 52/48). Th ...

adjustment system, which didn't break any rule from the technical regulations, but failed to comply with one of the rules written in the sporting regulations ("Driver must drive the car alone and unaided."), the French team was disqualified from the results. The system automatically changed the brake balance as the car drove around the track. At the end of the season, Renault finished 5th in the Constructors' Championship. Renault performed particularly well in most power circuits. In Canada they were comfortably best of the rest, finishing sixth and seventh. Daniel Ricciardo was able to fight and hold off Valtteri Bottas in a much faster Mercedes for a few laps. In the Italian Grand Prix they managed to beat both Red Bulls and Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel (although helped by the fact that he spun in the early stages of the race), to take a comfortable 4th and 5th.

Design and development

For the season

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

signed

who partnered

. Renault's managing director

Cyril Abiteboul Cyril François Roger Abiteboul (born 14 October 1977) is a French motor racing engineer and manager. From 2013 to 2014 he was the team principal of Caterham Formula One team, and was the managing director of the Renault F1 Team from 2014 to 2020 ...

said that the gains they made in the engine side were the biggest since 2016. The team brought new updates to the car throughout the season. One of the biggest they got was the update package for the , which failed to provide the expected leap in performance. Although the engine's performance provided Renault with some positive results at circuits where engine power was vital, such as at the , poor aerodynamics and reliability issues lead to the team being unable to escape the midfield, with 8 races in which neither driver achieved points. At the end of the season,

announced changes to the aerodynamic department of their team as a result of the R.S.19's failures. Chassis Technical Director Nick Chester would leave the team, with former

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

and

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

chassis engineer

Pat Fry Pat Fry (born 17 March 1964) is a British motorsports engineer. Primarily working in Formula One, he has previously held positions with the McLaren, Ferrari, Manor Racing, and Benetton teams. As of 2022, Fry is the Chief Technical Officer for t ...

and former Williams and Ferrari aerodynamicist Dirk de Beer to join the team.

Complete Formula One results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as they had completed over 90% of the winner's race distance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Renault R.s.19 R.S.19 2019 Formula One season cars