Renault R25 Championship Winning Car

Lore & Background

During the season, the car turned out to be slower than the McLaren MP4-20 at numerous points, with the win tally being 8–10. Reliability and consistency prevailed in the end, with Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella taking the car to the last win and titles for a V10 powered Formula One car, marking the end of an era. This car also claimed Michelin's first of only two titles since its return in Formula One, winning the title again with Renault (the R26 2006-spec car) in the 2006 season, the last for the French tyre maker. The R25 was the first Constructors' Championship winning car since 1991 not to have been designed by either Adrian Newey or Rory Byrne. Over 19 races, it scored 191 points, 8 wins, 15 podiums and was fully out of the points just twice in 18 starts (not counting the United States Grand Prix where both Renault drivers, in common with all their fellow Michelin tyre runners, withdrew prior to starting).

Reader's Guide

The tuned mass damper was introduced as part of the suspension system by Renault on its car the R25, at the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix. The system reportedly reduced lap times by 0.3 seconds: a phenomenal gain for a relatively simple device. The stewards of the meeting deemed it legal, but the FIA appealed against that decision. Two weeks later, the FIA International Court of Appeal deemed the mass damper illegal. It was deemed to be illegal because the mass was not rigidly attached to the chassis; the influence the damper had on the pitch attitude of the car in turn affected the gap under the car and the ground effects of the car. As such, the damper was considered to be a movable aerodynamic device and hence an illegal influence on the performance of the aerodynamics. Renault used the 'Mild Seven' logos, except at the Canadian, French, British, Turkish, Italian and Belgian Grands Prix. At these races, the team replaced the logos with Phoenix, flowers, tribals and flame graphics as well with the random text 'Team Spirit'.

Did You Know?

• The R25 was the last Renault Formula One car to use a 6-speed gearbox before the switch to a mandatory 7-speed gearbox in the following season.
• In Episode 8 of Series 10 of the BBC show Top Gear, in 2007, presenter Richard Hammond drove the R25 around the Stowe Circuit at Silverstone, completing two laps.
• On 11 December 2020 Alonso drove the car for the first time in 15 years, hours before the start of the first practice session shown on Sky Sports, and after the qualifying session for the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.