Symonds lauds R24 design

Technical director Bob Bell, who headed up the design of the new machine, added that the close integration of the chassis and engine has allowed the team to optimise the aerodynamics of the R24.

"I must say I have never seen as well-designed a car as the R24," said Symonds. "Our sights are set high, but we have the means to achieve them."

Bell said: "The engine/chassis integration is extremely good. Thanks to optimised communication between Enstone and Viry-Chatillon, the overall package is very compact. This characteristic has allowed us to sculpt the bodywork exactly as we wanted to: the new 'v' angle permitted much narrower, tighter sidepods at the rear."

The car features a distinctive-looking rear wing which, to meet new regulations, is limited to two upper elements. "In theory, this configuration brings with it a loss of aerodynamic efficiency close to six percent," explained Bell. "However, hard work in the windtunnel has allowed us to overcome this deficit: the R24 already has more downforce than the R23B."

Last season, Renault was one of the teams that signed up to the 'Heathrow' agreement, which allowed it to run a third car on Friday morning at races so long as it limited testing elsewhere. Although this rule has been scrapped for this year, Symonds explained that the team would still be limiting its testing.

"We have decided upon a programme of 36 days of testing, with sessions between each race, with two cars for the majority of the time," he said. "The rules allow 48 days, but last year taught us to get the best value for money for our time on track: why waste the testing budget if we can use this money better elsewhere?"