Wednesday 19th April 2017

Renault Vision 2027 F1 car

What will F1 look like in a decade's time? Renault thinks it has something

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Hands up - who is fairly pessimistic when predictions about the future of F1 are made? Common themes tend to emerge: A reduced focus on the driver, duller races, less of a spectacle for fans. Well now Renault has shared its idea for the future of F1, and it doesn't sound half bad.

The R.S. 2027 Vision Concept has been unveiled at Shanghai, said to "optimise performance and enhance the entertainment value of Formula 1." To that end the car weighs 600kg but boasts 1 MegaWatt (1,341hp) from its V6 engine and electric motors. The batteries are larger and recoup more energy (500kW as opposed to 120kW now), with the car also using four-wheel drive and four-wheel steer. With the car's capability what it is, Renault says human performance will be "at the heart of the sport."

More than that, the fans will get a closer look at just what those drivers are doing. The polycarbonate canopy is transparent, as is the driver's helmet. LEDs in the wheels show driver position and energy reserves, while the lights change colour depending on the power source being used. Telemetry will also be available to fans via their smartphones, to give a better idea of race strategy. Also, like Formula E in fact, a boost of power for the most deserving driver - as determined on social media by the fans - is being mooted, that information available to the driver in their steering wheel display.

The car itself is also more reliant on autonomous tech than today, with Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2V) communication expected to become a bigger part of the car and the sport. While some of the uses sound intriguing - allowing the driver to see exactly where opponents are on the track, giving immediate warnings of displayed flags - others sound rather more ominous: for instance when the safety car is out, the "delegation of driving duties is automatically activated". This mean the car takes control, keeping cars single file and eliminating any overtakes. Hmm.

That being said, Renault does have some interesting plans for the races and the championship as a whole. Its plan is to introduce more standard elements to reduce expenditure, plus restrict development too. Parts such as hydraulic suspension would be substituted for active replacements, for example. Renault says a level playing field "injects an extra element of excitement into the season, granting all teams an equal opportunity to compete."

As for the races themselves, Renault's plan is to reduce race distance from around 300km today to 250km - a shorter race means a smaller, lighter fuel tank too - and split that distance into two races. One would be longer than the other, the shorter race known as the 'Final Sprint'. A 'Rookie Night Race' has also been suggested, involving reserve drivers and those in their first year of F1, for the Friday night before a race weekend.

So that's Renault's plan for the future of F1, both for the cars used and the championship overall. Like what you see? Dislike what you see? As always, we'd love to hear what you think!

[thundercolo]

Sounds and looks great, but i think that they should concentrate in their current car rather than in fancy 3D renders. If they continue with their poor results they may not even be in F1 in 2018...

[HustleRussell]

thundercolo said:

Sounds and looks great, but i think that they should concentrate in their current car rather than in fancy 3D renders. If they continue with their poor results they may not even be in F1 in 2018...

You missed their first double Q3 and double points score in two years at the weekend then?

[ukaskew]

thundercolo said:

Sounds and looks great, but i think that they should concentrate in their current car rather than in fancy 3D renders. If they continue with their poor results they may not even be in F1 in 2018...

Yes, they obviously took their F1 engineers and designers directly away from their current F1 workload to do this.

[patmahe]

The new guys at the helm and particularly Ross Brawn being part of the leadership of F1 gives me (cautious) hope for the future of the sport. The fact is that Bernie seemed happy to peddle the same business model and fluff around the edges with increasingly complex and silly rules as a result. Don't get me wrong the man did a lot for the sport and made it what it is today, but in my opinion lacked the vision for the future that is required. Far too slow to embrace social media and only interested in traditional revenue streams.

F1 can be amazing and the teams and manufacturers and indeed the fans have some excellent ideas for how to make the sport great, I hope the new owners implement many of these and that we can experiment with the format to see what works and what doesn't. F1 today is good, it could be incredible given the right moves in the coming years.

[tram50]

HustleRussell said:

You missed their first double Q3 and double points score in two years at the weekend then?

I think we all missed the double points score Last one was 2010

[SAS Tom]

Why would the driver need a transparent helmet? What would we gain from seeing the drivers hair and ears? Never mind the fact it's impossible.

[bristolracer]

Most deserving driver on social media?

Should stop the Germans winning

Will we still have social media in 2027?

[Mound Dawg]

Of course, being a Renault it looks great now but give it a couple of years, the odd missing hubcap, unwashed paint and some duct tape on the bumpers and it's going to date as quickly as raspberries left in the sun.

[ZesPak]

SAS Tom said:

Why would the driver need a transparent helmet? What would we gain from seeing the drivers hair and ears? Never mind the fact it's impossible.

Please tell me, why is it impossible?

[Ftumpch]

ZesPak said:

SAS Tom said:

Why would the driver need a transparent helmet? What would we gain from seeing the drivers hair and ears? Never mind the fact it's impossible.

Please tell me, why is it impossible?

Yes - in fact I would have thought a transparent helmet coupled with a skilled Papparazzi could help us keep tabs on what Lewis Hamilton's doing with his newfound hirsuteness.

[big_rob_sydney]

Maybe its just me, but every time I go for a drive these days, I cant get over how bad the traffic is, and I wonder when we'll finally start using some kind of flying car / bike.

2027 will be here soon enough, and I dont think we'll be there yet, but surely it wont be too much longer.

Where are our flying cars???