Car · Renault · 1977–1979
Renault RS01
It was slow, it was unreliable, and rival teams called it the yellow teapot for the cloud of white smoke it produced when it let go, which was often. It never won. But by 1983 every serious car had a turbo, by 1986 there was nothing else on the grid, and the naturally aspirated 3.0-litre engine that had defined Formula One since 1966 was gone.
- Seasons
- 1977–1979
- Entries
- 19
- Wins
- 0
- Poles
- 0
- Fastest laps
- 0
Why it mattered
The idea. The rules allow 1.5 litres with a turbocharger against 3.0 without; nobody has tried it, so try it
New on this car. The first turbocharged engine in Formula One, and the first radial tyres
What it did. 25 races, no wins, one pole. The RS10 that followed it won at Dijon in 1979 - the first turbo victory.
- Designers
- André de Cortanze, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, François Castaing
- Supersedes
- —
- Design life
- 1977–1979
- Confidence
- high
Specification
- Chassis
- Aluminium monocoque
- Front suspension
- —
- Rear suspension
- —
- Brakes
- disc
- Gearbox
- Hewland FGA 400
- Gears
- 6-speed
- Tyres
- Michelin
- Fuel
- Elf
- Engine
- Renault-Gordini EF1
- Configuration
- 90° V6
- Capacity
- 1,496 cc
- Aspiration
- turbocharged
- Power
- 510 bhp
- Power note
- 510 PS @ 11,000 rpm ; 372 Nm @ 9,600 rpm
- Weight
- 699 kg
- Wheelbase
- 2,500 mm
- Track, front
- 1,540 mm
- Track, rear
- 1,520 mm
A blank is a figure nobody published for this car. Where several teams quote the same number in a season it is usually the rule they were all built to rather than a measurement, so it is kept with the regulation limits instead of here.
Every entry 19 entries
Photographs
From Wikimedia Commons, each shown with the photographer and licence its terms require.
A photograph marked unchecked has a file name that does not name the car it is shown for. Most are still the right car, filed under the driver rather than the machine — but nobody has confirmed these one by one.
Where this comes from
- Constructor
- Renault
- Predecessor
- Alpine A500
- Successor
- RS10
- Races (published)
- 25
- Wins (published)
- 0
- Poles (published)
- 1
- Confidence
- reference
- Specification source
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_RS01
- Register source
- https://github.com/f1db/f1db