The Renault RS16 is an evolution of the car used by Lotus during the 2015 season according to technical director Nick Chester
After the car was unveiled at the first test in Barcelona on Monday, Renault’s technical director Nick Chester says the RS16 is just an evolution of the car raced by Lotus in 2015.
However, incorporating the Renault power unit instead of the Mercedes unit the team had used in 2015 require a lot of modification to be made to the chassis and body design.
“The RS16 builds on Enstone’s previous cars, but naturally we have had to significantly change aspects of the car to house the Renault power unit, the RE16,” said Chester.
“The major changes are at the back of the chassis, particularly how we have laid out the cooling system.
“The rest of the car is more of an evolution. We had a reasonable baseline last year and have taken the concepts further without necessarily changing the fundamental principles.
“On the aero side, for example, we have kept the characteristics that gave the drivers a stable platform and added overall downforce to give greater grip.
“Keeping an evolution of the 2015 concept has been aided by the fact there haven’t been too many changes on the regulations side.
“We have had to increase the thickness of the cockpit fins for driver safety to be able to withstand higher loadings and there is now mandatory outlets for both the wastegate pipe and tailgate pipe, but these aside, we’ve not had too much else that has made us change the layout.”
