Renault Serbia

how come the Renault f1 cars were good back in 2005 & 2006?

how come the Renault f1 cars were good back in 2005 & 2006? - what were the rules back then that were advantageous for Renault? what rule change in 2007 made them drop to the middle of the pack?

Public Comments

1. in 2005 & 2006 renaults had the best engines in terms of reliablity(though not in terms of speed n power)..rather i think they still have it...i have rarely seen an renault engine going kaput in recent times....but the renault wasnt the fastest of the lot in 2005 rather Mclaren-Mercedes MP4-20 was the quickest car that season....but also one of the most unreliable cars....and in 2005 Ferrari had one of their worst seasons ...and no other team came close to them, in 2006 again McLaren's had lot of reliablity issues and were finally out of championship contention as the season started to end...ferrari though had an better car as F2006 which was slightly better than the Renault and equal to Mclaren in terms of Aerodynamics but engine again was an big issue and the championship determining race at suzuka saw Michael's ferrari blowing off.....and Renaults which as i said aerodynamically not as brilliant as ferrari but engine wise being the best in terms of reliablity again won the championship....But if seen closely than Alonso won his championships by not fighting with the championship contenders but by cashing in on their bad luck....like in 2005 and/or 2006 i hardly saw Alonso pulling off an brilliant over taking maneuver against an Mclaren or Ferrari respectively(rather i couldnt remember even 1)...most of the races he drove from start to finish without his position changing ....like if he started from 2nd on the grid he may finish 2nd but would finish 1st only if the person in the front retires...!!...
2. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, budget cuts. Renault underwent big budget cuts in 2007 which limited there development. There was even the possibility of Renault pulling out of F1, one of the reasons why Fernando left. Also the engines had an affect. Renault had a great V10 engine and Renault had ruled this era in F1. On changing to V8s they had to redesign this engine radically, so there advantage in this field was reset to 0. This year it has become apparent how good the engine is. Drivers from Red Bull were able to compare the Red Bull Torro Rosso's Ferrari engine with the Renault engine (which is basically the same engine as the 2007 with further limited development) in theres and reported the Ferrari was superior and more driveable. And lastly and the main reason. They struggled a lot with there aero package. 2007 regulations meant a move from 3.0 litre engines to 2.4 litre engines. This also has an affect on the aerodynamics, as there is less engine in the back this means big redevelopment of the rear aerodynamics of the car. It also means teams were aiming for more minimum drag than last year, to counter act the loss of straight line speed from the smaller engine. In this field, Renault sacrificied a lot of downforce, which was reported in the media by Fisichella in pre season testing. And this led to a poor car and a poor year for Renault.
3. Two words Fernando Alanzo
4. . How come Renault F1 cars were good back in 2005 & 2006? Two words.... 2005 & 2006......ooops, thats one word and a few digits, but you know what i mean.... .
5. ALONSO BUDGET CUTS TYRES. MICHELIN- WERE FASTER THAN BRIDGE-STONES, WHEN EVERYONE WENT ON BRIDGE STONES IT HIT THEM HARD, THE HAD PERFECTED THE CAR FOR MICHELIN'S, NOT BRIDGE-STONES!
6. Peaks and troughs If you're new to the sport, Google the following; Williams- see their decline from the all conquering Williams Renaults of the 90's to the also rans they are today; Ferrari from late 1970's to late 90's Night and day in terms of attitude of drivers and infrastructure; McLaren from their decline in the mid 90's to their all conquering (and frankly eerily brilliant) rebirth in 1998 . Its puts Renaults predicament into perspective, they'll be back.
7. The Mass Dampers. FIA banned them, but the race stewards deemed them legal at the German GP practice, however Renault threw cation to the wind and ran the cars without the dampers for the rest of weekend. You could see the effect at Hockenheim in 2006. Fisi qualified 5th without the dampers, and Alonso 7th. Finishing places for Renault: Alonso 5th, Fisi 6th.
8. That would be the engine freeze at the end of 2006. When the freeze came, the renault engine was from 4-10 hp weaker than mclaren or ferrari because both teams managed to tweak out a few more hp at the last minute. This can be easily seen when the Ferraris and McLarens can overtake Renault on the straights without use of slipstream. So because of this, renault have had an uncompetitive engine for 2 years so expect this to change next year when engine development resumes. Anyways it let McLaren and Ferrari dominate the track. Go Ferrari! Go Massa! Cue Brazillian and Italian national anthems
9. Three reasons: 1.- Michelin Tires, 2.- Mass Damper 3.- Fernando Alonso 1.- The Renault was a car designed fully around the characteristics of the Michelin Tires. Pat Symmonds really got it perfectly with his team because it was quick and reliable. 2.- They used those seasons a mechanical mass damper that gave them and edge. Later it was ruled illegal. However they didn't´t lose any points because of this ruling. The lost almost 0.6 sec/ lap after they were forced to get rid of it. 3.- The other reason was that Fernando Alonso was a magnificent driver, definitely the best running Michelin tires, along Kimi in McLaren and Montoya during his Williams years.