Renault’s Formula 1 car thankfully won’t risk being mistaken for a McLaren anymore, as its new, and final, livery will be ready on March 16.
When the French team unveiled the RS16, they used a temporary livery, something managing director Cyril Abiteboul described as “a show car”.
While predominantly black with hints of yellow here and there, the RS16 can easily be mistaken for a McLaren-Honda MP4-31 from afar – not good for the company, of course. Thus, Renault will arrive in Melbourne with colors allegedly influenced by the RS01 race car.
According to a recent report, the race-ready RS16 will feature a matte gold/yellow body with matte black front and rear wings, which could in theory shave almost half a kg (1.1 lbs) compared to regular glossy liveries.
As far as F1 is concerned, Renault race cars have been predominantly either yellow & blue, yellow & white or yellow & black throughout their recent history. The yellow & black cars were actually the ones that Renault used during their final year in 2010, before pulling out.
Story references: autosport