Renault sees more power, less weight, and an increased focus on safety.At this week's Auto Shanghai, French automaker and Formula 1 factory team Renault revealed their idea of Formula 1's future, the R.S. 2027 Vision. It takes the three main focus points of modern Formula 1 development - safety, driver engagement, and entertainment - and distills it into what Renault believes cars may look like in 10 years.
Despite the heavily stylized, futuristic appearance, there's no mistaking the yellow and black R.S. 2027 Vision for anything other than a Renault F1 car. The automaker thinks F1 cars of the future will be far lighter and faster than today's racers. The quoted specs are 1 megawatt of power and a weight of 600 kilos, or just over 1,300 horsepower and 1,300 lbs. Power will still come from a turbocharged hybrid V6. For reference, current F1 cars weight 1,548 lbs and are hovering around 950 horsepower.
The kinetic energy recovery system, or KERS, output would be increased to a total of 500 kW, up from 120 kW in today's cars. The R.S. 2027 Vision would have all all-wheel drive thanks to an electric motor at the front. Current packaging and power issues prevent this on cars today. In addition to sending power to all four wheels, the R.S. 2027 Vision would have four-wheel steering.
A larger battery would allow the cars to drive in pure electric mode during certain parts of the race. It would be needed to save fuel, since the R.S. 2027 Vision only has a 60 kg tank, down from 105 in current cars. The batteries would have roughly the same output as today's Formula E cars.
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