Renault test drivers Jerome d’Ambrosio and Jan Charouz sampled the team’s 2009 F1 car in a shakedown test at Silverstone earlier this week.
It was the first time behind the wheel of an F1 car for both drivers.
Belgian d’Amborsio and Czech driver Charouz were each limited to a maximum of 50km of running under the testing restrictions.
Ho-Pin Tung, the third member of Renault’s young driver programme, did not participate in the test.
Images (C) Renault/LAT
Icthyes
20th March 2010, 1:07
Even the R29 looks better with the new livery!
GQsm
20th March 2010, 14:06
Was just scrolling down to comment on that. The car looks a hundred times better with this livery.
I thought it was a mega ugly car last year but it may have been just the livery.
wasiF1
20th March 2010, 2:07
What was they doing in the shakedown test?
marc
23rd March 2010, 18:30
dont know why do you ask
Ides
20th March 2010, 3:32
Why would they be only limited to 50km? What sort of rules apply to a 2009 chassis?
Remco H
20th March 2010, 9:31
They are allowed to test under restrictions with a 2009 car. Other tests can be done with a 2 year old chassis at best, special tyres en no aero updates
Scalextric
20th March 2010, 3:37
These testing rules are so restrictive. Maybe GP2 and simulators are good ways to learn to drive an F1 car but I doubt they give anything approaching the full experience. If F1 is overly worried about inexperienced new teams cluttering up the circuit shouldn’t they also be worried about new drivers with limited experience floating around at the back of the pack? How does a 50km test save a team money compared to a 200km test? You still have to set up at the circuit and pay for the support services, track rental etc. Does anyone understand this system?
HG
20th March 2010, 5:30
exactly, this testing restriction thing has got out of hand. Yes, you can save some money by saving teams doing milllions of Km’s but come on, why not ban free practice 1, 2 and 3? That would be taking it too far, as has the current cut back.
Red Andy
20th March 2010, 13:00
The way I look at it, teams do way too much testing. At the moment they’re restricted to 15,000km, whereas they only do about 6,000km of actual racing in the whole season. To put that into some kind of perspective, a football team wouldn’t play more than 100 pre-season friendly matches to prepare for a league season of 40-50 games.
What should ideally happen is that Fridays of race weekends are turned into test days, with teams allowed to run up to three cars and no restrictions on engines, gearboxes etc. That way teams and drivers (including test drivers) get a decent amount of running without too much expense.
GQsm
20th March 2010, 14:14
Don’t agree with the football anology at all. When they are testing they are not competing. It is more the equivalent of football training not friendly matches.
G-Shiz
20th March 2010, 15:37
Agree, very poor analogy. Love the livery on the 2009 car though.
HG
20th March 2010, 22:40
What should ideally happen is that Fridays of race weekends are turned into test days, with teams allowed to run up to three cars and no restrictions on engines, gearboxes etc. That way teams and drivers (including test drivers) get a decent amount of running without too much expense.
…so you do agree with me then, that testing rules are too restrictive :)
The soccer analogy is poor, and irrelevant. There is no technology to ‘test’.
Im not addvocating carte blanche free for all testing, but the current regieme is too restricitve IMHO, especially for younger fresh talent trying to get into F1. F1 should follow motogp and at a selected few races a year, have monday testing, with third cars allowed.
HG
20th March 2010, 5:31
I think the r29 looks great with that livery
BasCB
20th March 2010, 6:55
Can it be that this shakedown with the 2009 car already tests the first miles of the updated renault engine?
Adrian
20th March 2010, 8:25
I hope they get another sponsor to go on the side pods soon. They’re just so blank it spoils the aesthetics of the rest of the livery…
PJA
20th March 2010, 9:17
I agree, I think in the short term they should do what HRT have don e and put the drivers names on the side pods, as I think that has improved the HRT livery.
David B
20th March 2010, 13:51
Why not putting there the numbers?
I regret the times you could recognize the cars by the number, Now they are really too small.
George
20th March 2010, 14:14
Love their helmet designs, the car looks great too
Untitled258
20th March 2010, 16:08
Am i the only person to hate this livery. Its better then the IGN livery granted, but that doesn’t make it nice. There’re hasn’t been a nice renault since 2006.
HG
20th March 2010, 22:41
i quite like this livery, but the light blue liveries of that era i liked a lot
Dan M
20th March 2010, 17:59
Seeing as the dimensions of the R30 are not that much different than the ’29, I wonder if they can load the test R29 full of weight and use it as a development platform.
Chris
20th March 2010, 20:45
50km? What’s that? Around 10 laps?
I don’t see the point of even running such tests. It doesn’t make sense when the FiA also want the teams to cut costs.
Pat
21st March 2010, 8:56
That Renault livery looks great it’s gotta to be worth another 3/10th’s per lap ! :) – and that R29 needed it.
Steven
21st March 2010, 14:10
Wonder which track configuration they ran on? The classic GP circuit is my guess as I doubt the ‘Arena’ circuit is not probably quite ready or could they use the National circuit?
Byron R
23rd March 2010, 11:49
Someone payed a lot of money for them to drive an F1 car, at least they got some pictures of themselves driving the car. Some pics for their sponsors/moms to hang on the wall. Hope it was worth it.
marc
23rd March 2010, 18:29
i like the car but it just does not look right without ing does any one agree with me!!
is the reaunult badge their because they dont have any other sponser it is just shocking!