Title-winning Tech: Renault R26 2006

Previous Seasons

In March 2000, Renault bought the Benneton team, who at the turn of the millenium has now become an underfunded midfield team - a big fall from grace considering their dominance in the mid-90's. The team finished just 7th in their first year as Renault F1 but improved to finish 4th in the next two seasons - culminating in their 1st win (and also a young Fernando Alonso's maiden victory) in mid-2003.

The 2003 season proved to be a turning point for the Enstone-based team, as they made a number of key off-track decisions that set them up with great foundations. Firstly, they opted to run a third car on fridays instead of testing between races. This option was introduced by the FIA for smaller and more financially restricted teams, so it was a surprise that the Renault team chose to do this. The advantage to the team was that this did help them out massively in terms of using this data to aid setup and strategy in the future.

In the run-up to the 2004 season, the long standing rumour of Technical Director Mike Gascoigne leaving for Toyota had been confirmed. This left Renault with a tricky decision - recruit from within or replace with a high profile, experienced household name. They bravely chose the former, promoting Gascoigne's deputy Bob Bell to the role. It would prove to be an inspired choice.


R25

The 2005 season featured some new technical regulations which aimed to reduce the downforce available at the teams' disposal. In response to this, Renault halted development of their R24 near the end of 2004, to focus solely on the R25. This boardroom decision did lose them a sizeable financial bonus, as they lost 2nd in the 2004 constructors' championship to BAR, but would ultimately enhance their title chances in the future years.

The R25 featured a new electronic control system (ECS), called 'Step 11', developed by Renault and Magneti Marelli. The system was very innovative, combining both the engine and transmission control units, a first for a Formula One team. Apart from having much larger processing power, 'Step 11' overall was a smaller package than other teams', meaning the addition weight and volume saved was used to put the ballast where they wanted - a big advantage when trying to keep the car balanced.


Winning both the Drivers' and Constructors' championships was a major achievement, but they actually didn't have the fastest car (due to their engine power, more on that later) over the whole season. What they did have, however, was the most reliable and consistent car on all types of track - only had three DNFs due to reliability over the whole, 19 circuit-long, season (Both Renault cars didn't start the infamous 2005 US Grand Prix, due to fears over safety of the Michelin tyre).

R26

After becoming double world champions, the pressure was on Renault as favourites, even with the introduction of V8s instead of V10s. This engine change helped the French company, meaning all teams had to rebuild and package their engines, due to the cylinders lost. This levelled the playing field as all engines were found to be within a 10 horse power bracket, reducing the effect the engine has on speed - making aerodynamics even more important.

Renault introduced a v keel suspension for their R25 with great success, so developed the concept more into 2006. Due to higher ride heights being implemented in 2001, teams connected the lower wishbones to the nose using a keel concept. This involved having a triangular shaped add-on below the nose (As shown in red below) which also helped divert airflow under the car (same concept as a nautical keel, used on ships and boats). Renault's keel suspension in 2005 was different though, using a hollow 'V' shaped keel (in black below the blue/yellow nose in image) to connect wishbone to nose. Obviously this meant that it was more structurally stable, meaning a lighter keel, but also allowed more airflow under the car, more fluid mass under the car means less drag, and the added benefit of more airflow reaching the diffuser in less time (giving more downforce).

Despite having a much lower budget than Ferrari, McLaren, etc, Renault had a very good wind tunnel as there was a strong correlation between the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and the data from physical car testing on the track - which seems simple but it's a very key step in producing an aerodynamically efficient car. Since taking over the team in 2001, Renault worked very hard back at Enstone to improve efficiency of their wind tunnel, adding fuel to the fire of 'quality not quantity'. With the new V8s implemented, Renault separated their water and oil radiators (and massively reducing their size) allowing a much more aggressive bodywork shape, resulting in tighter sidepods and a small 'coke bottle' section at the rear.

Rotary suspension dampers were the common damper solution in the early 2000's, but Renault had put their effort into a newer technology, looking at the chassis rather than suspension dampers. Mike Gascoigne, while at Tyrrell, was involved in hydraulically linking all four wheels using an experimental damper system. The knowledge gained from this led Gsacoigne to implementing Micheljn's Optimised Conact Patch (OCP) suspension system at Renault. OCP basically used extra suspension linkages to keep the tyre orientated with the track surface. However this system was declared illegal by the FIA before it could be raced, it Bob Bell did learn some interesting things from the concept and designed the R26 around a 'mass damper' system, which above all assisted balance and stability under braking. The FIA did ban the system midway through 2006, but this didn't halt their championship aspirations.

Game Changer: Engine Packaging

Between 2001 and 2003, Renault used a radical V10 engine design, having an abnormally large bank angle, θ (angle between opposite cylinders). Their θ was in excess of 100 degrees, normally it would be 90, which brought them countless reliability problems when testing it. The major upside to a large θ is that the it lowers the centre of gravity (COG) of the car. For 2004 the team abandoned the large θ engine, this time going the opposite way, utilising a 72 degrees bank angle. This was actually as radical as the wide-angle version used previously, as all other teams now had a 90 degrees θ. The new Renault V10 was a lot higher and heavier than their competition, but they still stuck with the design.

With a full season of testing under its belt, the 2005 72-degree V10 had been made significantly lighter, to try to get back the low COG advantage of the wide-angle engine they had used previously. This allowed them a larger variation of where to put the extra ballast, a substantial advantage when setting up their car. After a promising 2004 with an engine they knew was too heavy, 2005 proved that they had a well packaged, aero efficient car. 

For 2006, the shorter 2.4L V8 engine was introduced into Formula 1. Theoretically, this would mean a shorter wheelbase, to accommodate for the two cylinders lost from 2005, however Renault decided to keep their larger wheelbase (and fuel tank), after consultation between the departments back at Enstone. This meant the engine was moved back slightly and also the gearbox was lengthened (due to the change from six to seven-speed gearboxes). Keeping the same wheelbase means that Renault could stick to what they knew worked well (the R25) but with the added bonus that engine power had been regulated into a very tight horsepower bracket. 

The iconic blue/yellow liveried Renault R25/R26 cars showed that with innovative thinking and risk-taking it's possible to have a great amount of success on a relatively low budget.

 Images: F1Fanatic, F1Technical, FavCars.