Renault RE30

1981

The RE30 was an entirely different design from its predecessor, the RE20. It incorporated carbon fibre into parts of its construction, a material which was becoming more and more commonplace in F1 at the time, and featured distinctive aerodynamic kick-ups ahead of the rear wheels. The initial version featured a full span front wing. The turbocharged engine was developed further and produced around 540 bhp, with twin KKK turbochargers. Renault was joined by Ferrari in developing turbo engines for their cars, with the Ferrari 126 C. The car had advanced ground effect technology, with concessions given to the new rules which banned sliding skirts. The car made its debut at the Monaco Grand Prix in 1981, with Renault using a B-spec. RE20 for the first 5 races in the Americas, Belgium and Imola; Renault did not compete at what was supposed to be the first round at Kyalami in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Renault replaced Jean-Pierre Jabouille with promising young Alain Prost to partner René Arnoux for the season. After a slow start to the year, in which Prost gained only one podium finish, he broke his duck with a home win at the French Grand Prix at Dijon in changeable weather, and followed up with wins at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort and the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, which gave him an outside chance at the world championship. Unreliability cost him his chance, but he finished a respectable fourth in the final standings. Arnoux had a very unlucky season and bore the brunt of most of the mechanical trouble that affected the RE30's development, most of which was done by Prost. The RE30 didn't suit Arnoux's aggressive, over-steering driving style as opposed to Prost's smooth, under-steering driving style which may have caused some of the problems with Arnoux's performance that year.

1982

For 1982, the car was updated and modified with a redesigned nose section that featured separate left and right front wings, and new rear wing. Advances in ground effect meant that the cars frequently ran without the front wings attached. The engine was further developed to give around 590 bhp. Prost made a strong start to the season and won in Brazil and South Africa to underline his intention to win the championship that season. However, those would be his only victories of the year, as Ferrari, Williams and McLaren overtook Renault in the technology race. The RE30B was a formidable qualifying car, with Prost or Arnoux on pole for the majority of the races, but reliability was suspect for both drivers, mostly due to problems with the new and rather experimental electronic fuel injection which failed repeatedly during the races proper. It was a shame, because the RE30B was probably the most competitive car that year, having the best compromise on outright performance- with a good chassis and aerodynamics, and a powerful enough engine. The car was quick around all kinds of different circuits- even around even tight, slow circuits like Monaco, Detroit, Zolder and Long Beach; circuits where the other cars with turbo-charged engines (Ferrari, Brabham-BMW, and less competitively Toleman-Hart) lacked in performance thanks to the heavier weight and poor engine pickup thanks to massive turbo lag, so the cars with the less powerful naturally aspirated engines were able to capitalize by being able to get more power more quickly out of slow corners. Arnoux took two wins during the latter half of the year, but only finished four races during the whole season. Prost was in sight of victory at Monaco, Austria and Dijon but had problems during the final laps of all three races. He eventually salvaged fourth in the championship, whilst Renault finished third in the constructors' championship.

1983

The RE30 was further updated to "C" specification for the early races of the 1983 season, until the new RE40 was available. Eddie Cheever drove the RE30C for 2 races and team leader Prost drove the RE30C for one race. The RE30C complied with the "flat bottom" rules enacted that year with a much larger rear wing and revised from wings.

With seven wins and sixteen pole positions, the RE30 was Renault's most successful car until Fernando Alonso's world championships of 2005 and 2006.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

* 6 points scored using the Renault RE20
** All 79 points scored using the Renault RE40