Renault F1 R26

Tags: motorsport F1 Renault F1 Team Renault F1 R26 Formula 1

In front of world-wide media and VIP guests in Monte-Carlo, the world champion Renault F1 Team today officially launched its 2006 championship campaign with a clear objective: defending the world championship with an aggressive approach to the 2006 season.

“In terms of performance objectives, there can be only one: to be fighting for the world championship in the final races,” explained Renault F1 Team President Patrick Faure.
“We enter the year with an unchanged line-up in our management, our drivers and our technical team. Everybody at Viry and Enstone has been working to prepare a technical package capable of keeping us at the top. Complacency has no place at Renault. We are focused on repeating our successes.”

For 2006, the Renault F1 Team has adapted to significant changes in the technical regulations governing Formula 1. Teams must now run with 2.4L V8 engines (instead of the 3L V10 used in 2005) which have been introduced in order to cap performance, with an initial reduction in power of approximately 20%. These regulations have been framed in order to reduce the potential for development in the medium and long term, thus cutting costs. The change has necessitated the design and development of a brand new engine, the RS26, by the team at Viry-Châtillon. This project has been led since its inception in September 2004 by Léon Taillieu, under the leadership of Engine Technical Director Rob White.

“The RS26 is a brand new engine, which has been designed to exploit the new regulations to the maximum,” explains Rob White. “The regulations now impose many parameters of engine design, such as a minimum weight limit, a fixed architecture and even the centre of gravity. We have taken a pragmatic approach with the aim of producing a winning engine. The dialogue with our colleagues on the chassis team has been open and extensive, to produce the best possible overall package. We have approached the V8 project with relish, and high ambitions.”