Renault Restructures Performance Divisions, Reveals 2016 Formula One Car

As for the partnership with Infiniti, one of the “founding partner” of the new team, it will also “develop the next generation of energy recovery systems”, with the objective of promoting “technology transfers to cars of our clients, “said Cyril Abiteboul, the CEO of Renault Sport F1″.

The new auto, which was manufactured at the team’s Enstone base, features a predominantly black livery, though Renault Sport chief Jerome Stoll hinted the colour scheme could change ahead of the 2016 season opener in Australia.

In an impressive first season, they took the teams’ championship title, whilst narrowly missing out on the drivers’ championship with Sebastien Buemi by just one point. The Nissan-owned brand was involved with Red Bull F1 as technical partner since 2011.

“We are working a lot on the engine and we recognise we are starting with a handicap, compared particularly to the victor”. We think we have the talent, the willingness and the experience to close the gap.

Renault Sport Cars, which has been concentrating recently on increasing the global reach and the appeal of its cars, is now responsible for the GT versions the Megane, Clio and Twingo (due later this year). We are not there to participate, but to win.

Renault must continue to rebuild the Lotus team they took over past year and improve their engine, which has lagged badly behind the Mercedes power-unit since the introduction of turbo hybrid engines in 2014.

“You always need to manage the pool of engines, and maybe we are out of sync with what we are doing for the Renault team and what we are doing for the Red Bull team because of the introduction of the engine”.

The French company said it aims to use F1 to promote its brand to a wider audience, while continuing to use Formula E to showcase the electric cars in its range.

“The reason we chose to come back, it is primarily marketing: in the coming years, the growth of our group will be in emerging countries such as China, India and Brazil, where F1 is one of the most popular sports”.