FORMULA ONE

Let’s start with the facts and move on to the why. Renault’s racer of the future is a real thing. Not real as in Nico Hülkenberg could sneak of in it for a hot lap anytime soon, but it’s a physical model with a bevy of theoretical numbers attached. Utilising hybrid power, the Vision concept has a turbocharged V6 as well as a KERS system running 500kW (nearly fve times current cars) thanks to not one, but two KERS-K units, at the front and the rear.

These feed high-capacity batteries, which are twice as dense as those currently in F1 cars and power two 250kW electric motors on the front axle. Yep, this Formula One car is 4WD, and has 4WS. It’s also mighty powerful, as in 1,340bhp powerful, and thanks to a 3D-printed bodyshell made from advanced composites, a smaller fuel tank (capable of carrying 60kg of fuel, compared to 105kg today) and a refreshing lack of aero addenda, it weighs a mere 600kg. Should be quite a handful to drive, then, which is precisely what Cyril Abiteboul, MD of Renault Sport Racing was after.

“We’ve started to lose a bit of interest and respect for the driver because people think they can do what F1 drivers are doing. We need to change the perception of how difcult it is to drive these cars. We must have respect for what the driver is doing and when you look at them you must think to yourself, ‘Wow, I couldn’t do that.’”

That’s the thinking behind the see-through, honeycomb-patterned closed cockpit – reducing drag down the straights, improving safety (the canopy is framed by two titanium pop-up roll-over bars that fre up in milliseconds should the car capsize), and placing the driver where the fans can see them – recasting them, not the tech, as the hero. By 3D-printing the entire fuselage, the seat can also