Cars Info: F1

Renault F1 launch: RS18 revealed ahead of 2018 Formula 1 season

Renault has become the fifth Formula 1 team to unveil its new car ahead of the 2018 season.

The RS18, sporting a revised livery that features more black than yellow, is the third offering from the French manufacturer since it returned as a works team in 2016.

It will be driven by Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr, who joined the team with four races to go in 2017 ahead of a full-season tilt this year.

Renault improved from ninth in the 2016 constructors' championship to sixth in '17, pipping Toro Rosso at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

The team's development through 2017 was dramatic and it ended the campaign with the fourth fastest car on merit, behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul wants to continue that upward trajectory this term.

"Last year was successful in many ways," he said.

"It was the second year in our rebuilding and a further step towards our long-term plans and aims.

"2016 was all about recruiting, investing, bringing in new sponsors, new talents and building our brand.

"It was a quantified progression towards what we want to become and challenging the top teams.

"Our headline target [for 2018] is to show continued progression through results.

"We want to be able to showcase our progression in every regard; power unit, chassis, operations, drivers.

"Everything must improve and we must continue to grow.

"We want to demonstrate this in many different ways, from the teams we will be directly racing against, to the gap to the leaders, including also our fan base and the respect that our team will inspire in our way we behave on and off track."

Renault follows Haas, Williams, Red Bull and Sauber in unveiling a 2018 F1 design.

Expert view

Gary Anderson, Technical Consultant

"Since taking over from the previous owners, Renault has been spending its time and money restructuring its chassis base at Enstone, but you can only use that excuse for so long and 2018 is the year that it needs to start producing results on the track.

"With Red Bull and McLaren now using its power unit, there are very few places for Renault to hide. In reality, that is the same for Red Bull and McLaren so it will be good to see this three-team battle.

"I don't expect Renault to do the same as Mercedes does when you compare it to its customer teams but respectability will be nipping at Red Bull and McLaren's heels.

"The new car doesn't jump out at me as being a major change in philosophy from last year. Actually, the only 2018 cars that do that so far are the Williams and Sauber.

"The detail looks very similar to what Renault had at the end of 2017. Optimising what was probably the fourth-fastest car then is one thing, but it will take a lot more than that to move forward into the top three."

Gary Anderson's in-depth analysis of the RS18 will appear on Autosport later on Tuesday.

Sauber unveil first F1 car with Alfa Romeo, the C37, for 2018 season

1:31 AM

Alfa Romeo colours on the new Sauber C37; Team aiming to move away from the back of the grid as F2 champion Leclerc joins Ericsson

Sauber have unveiled their first car since teaming up with Alfa Romeo, with the team aiming for a much-improved 2018 season in the C37.

The car follows a similar theme to Sauber's livery concept from the end of last year, reverting from the blue and gold of last season to Alfa Romeo's corporate dark red and white.

Distant back-runners in 2017, the Swiss outfit have renewed hope for the campaign ahead after agreeing a long-term and wide-ranging technical partnership with Alfa Romeo, who return to the sport following a 33-year absence.

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Marcus Ericsson is entering his fourth season with Sauber but has a new team-mate this season, joined by highly-rated Ferrari protege, F2 champion and F1 rookie Charles Leclerc.

"I am very much looking forward to the 2018 season, and to seeing Marcus and Charles on track," said team boss Frederic Vasseur. "We have put lots of effort and hard work into the C37 over the last few months, and it is fantastic to be launching the new car today. I am convinced that Marcus and Charles form the perfect driver line-up, with one being an experienced driver and one a promising rookie.

"Our target ahead of 2018 is clear: We have to catch up with the field and continue improving our performance during the course of the season."

Sauber will be supplied with new Ferrari engines after settling for year-old power units last year. The Alfa Romeo deal is part of a beefed-up relationship with Ferrari, with Sergio Marchionne serving as both car company's president.

The C37 features notable aerodynamic revisions, particularly around the sidepods with the car following the trend of the 2018 designs seen so far with intricate winglet detailing.

Technical director Jorg Zander said of the new car: "The philosophy is much different to that of the C36. The aerodynamic concept has changed significantly, and the C37 has several new features in comparison to its predecessor. We are positive that the new concept offers us more opportunities and will help us to make improvements during the course of the season.

"The 2018 Ferrari engine will also give us a boost in terms of our performance."

Source : skysports.com

Red Bull launch new RB14 car for 2018 season

1:22 AM

Red Bull have launched the car they hope will return them to Formula 1 championship contention for the first time in five years.

The RB14 bucks the team's trend of recent years, by appearing well before the start of pre-season testing.

The team said launching "aggressively late" allowed more time to develop the car, but that they did not need to launch late this year.

Daniel Ricciardo will conduct initial testing at Silverstone on Monday.

Red Bull are the first major team to unveil their car, at the start of a week that will see the vast majority of the new machinery appear before the start of pre-season testing on 26 February.

Renault and Sauber are launching on Tuesday, world champion Mercedes and rivals Ferrari on Thursday and McLaren on Friday.

Red Bull came on strong towards the end of last season after a slow start, Max Verstappen winning two of the last six races.

The new car is a clear evolutionary development of last year's RB13 but features a number of technical innovations:

Very narrow and aggressively undercut side pods - the bodywork beside and behind the driver - and unique aerodynamic airflow-shaping devices in front of them.
The rear wing also features endplates that cut in towards the centre of the car in a more angular and aggressive manner than is usual.
The car was launched with a temporary paint scheme, described by the team as "a special edition livery".
The race paintwork will be unveiled in testing at Spain's Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya next week.

Analysis

Red Bull were unexpectedly far off the pace at the start of last season but by the end of it had proved they were more than on top of the new regulations for wider, faster and more dramatic cars.

Allowing for the power deficit of their Renault engine, Red Bull argued they had the best chassis of all by the end of the year.

Mercedes and Ferrari might both have contested that claim but there was no question the Red Bull was right up there.

There is no reason to doubt from first appearances that the new RB14 will continue to be one of F1's leading cars - and in Ricciardo and Verstappen it has what most would agree is the best collective driver line-up on the grid.

But their hopes for success will depend on whether engine partner Renault has managed to fulfil its objectives of closing the performance gap on standard-setting Mercedes and their close rivals Ferrari, as well as solving the reliability problems that plagued them last year.