Renault is predicting far quicker yet far safer F1 cars to better motorsport entertainment.
RENAULT’S FUTURISTIC F1 racing car concept has been revealed at the Shanghai motor show and still appears somewhat conceivable as a conservative prediction of what future F1 cars may look like, even if its power figures are ridiculously high.
Autonomous driving technology is set to evolve to provide far superior safety than now, such as car-to-car GPS tracking to ensure contact and collisions are prevented and autonomous driving during safety periods to maintain safe, legal distances.
Keeping things futuristic are LEDs inside the wheels that display data such as the driver’s position and the car’s remaining energy reserves so that spectators can be more involved with the action as it plays out. Other aspects of the car’s telemetry will be made available for fans to follow either in the crowd on their mobile devices or when watching from home.
Perhaps a little too distracting is the steering wheel display which shows the driver’s ‘fan ranking’ position, determined by social media activity, however it can also show instructions given by the race director, such as yellow or blue flags.
The RS 2027 Vision is powered by a hybrid drivetrain configuration which consists of a V6 turbocharged petrol engine and two 250kW electric motors which provides up to 500kW to all four wheels. The RS’ battery provides twice the capacity of current F1 batteries and borrows that technology from current Formula E cars. The combined power output is 1000kW, or 1MW – crazy stuff considering it weighs even less than today’s F1 cars.
Weighing just 600kg the RS, in combination with its 1MW of power, gets a power-to-weight ratio of 1.67kW/kg, which is almost twice as much as a current F1 car’s figure of 0.89kW/kg or four times more than the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport’s 0.47kW/kg.
Some of that weight saving comes from its transparent and eco-friendly 3D printed recycled body and a smaller 60kg (compared to 105kg) fuel tank. Renault says that because the races will be shorter not as large a fuel tank is required.
Overall the aim of the Renault RS 2027 is to provide a better connection with the spectators and a more entertaining sport, but keeping the drivers even safer.
Why will the races be shorter?