The first thing you notice looking at the brand new Renault RS18 is the flashing yellow livery that Renault used on it.

Of course the Renault RS18 is fitted with the hideous halo device. The French factory brand has chosen a black livery on it and it looks like there is no aerodynamic tuning done on the halo.

Furthermore the Renault works team has cut off the monkey seat, the shark fin and assembled the halo as 2018 regulations demand and at first nothing more big changes were done to win more points in 2018.

Renault is back in Formula 1 since 2016 after a 4 years break. In their comeback year they finished 9th in the 2016 F1 constructors championship with 8 points. That season was Manor's last. Last season Renault scored 6th place in the 2017 F1 constructors championship with 57 points. They retired 12 times. So reliability problems are a big issue for the French racing brand.

From the looks of yesterday's launched car, the focus of Renault is mainly on reliability and not on aerodynamic development. Hopefully the Renault engineers have done some magic underneath all that carbon fibre, otherwise it's going to be a long 2018 season for Renault and their top notch drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz.

What's new on the 2018 Renault F1 car?

When you zoom in on the new Renault RS18 car and compare it with the 2017 RS17 F1 car you will notice that not much has changed and the car is more an evolution of last years car. Just like the Haas VF-18. We found the following changes:

  1. Minor inner & outer bardge board aero changes.
  2. Mirrors moved backwards and are lowered because of the Halo.
  3. Looking from the top view you will notice that the sidepods are more narrow.
  4. Also looking from the top view you can see that the shape of the back is much more narrow and now looks like a smooth water drop.
  5. The back suspension is fitted more to the front of the car.

That's all we can come up with for now. Do you see more? Let us know.

Renault says they also worked hard during the winter to maximise the power unit performance and reliability which is also good news for McLaren and Red Bull.

Renault RS18 VS Renault RS17 top view

Renault RS18 VS Renault RS17 top view

Those two teams also use a Renault power unit this season. Red Bull will for sure be faster then the Renault works team this season. McLaren will launch their car Friday.

The last win of Renault was in 2008 in Japan by Fernando Alonso, almost 10 years ago. The odds for wining a race this 2018 season are not very high looking at this first comparison.

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