The chassis was designed by Nick Chester, Chris Cooney, Martin Tolliday, Simon Virrill, Matt Harman, Pierre Genon, and Pete Machin. Marcin Budkowski oversaw the design and production of the car as executive technical director, while Rémi Taffin led the powertrain design. Renault's managing director, Cyril Abiteboul, stated that the engine gains made were the largest since 2016. The R.S.19 has a length of 5,480 mm and a width of 2,000 mm.
Despite the engine's strong performance at power-sensitive circuits, such as the Italian Grand Prix, the R.S.19 was hindered by poor aerodynamics and reliability issues, preventing the team from consistently escaping the midfield. This resulted in eight races where neither driver scored points. The team introduced updates throughout the season, including a significant package for the French Grand Prix, which did not deliver the anticipated performance improvement. At the end of the season, Renault F1 Team announced changes to its aerodynamic department. Chassis Technical Director Nick Chester departed, and former Ferrari and McLaren chassis engineer Pat Fry, along with former Williams and Ferrari aerodynamicist Dirk de Beer, joined the team.
For the 2019 season, Renault signed Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull, where he partnered Nico Hülkenberg, who was in his third season with the team. The first half of the season was challenging, with Renault scoring only 39 points in the initial 12 rounds, 43 fewer than in the same period in 2018. This placed them 6th in the Constructors' Championship at the mid-season break. Renault was disqualified from the Japanese Grand Prix results after Racing Point protested the team's brake balance adjustment system. Although the system did not violate technical regulations, it failed to comply with a sporting regulation stating, "Driver must drive the car alone and unaided." The system automatically adjusted the brake balance as the car moved around the track. Renault ultimately finished 5th in the Constructors' Championship.
The R.S.19 performed particularly well on power circuits. In Canada, the team secured sixth and seventh places, with Daniel Ricciardo briefly holding off Valtteri Bottas in a faster Mercedes. At the Italian Grand Prix, Renault finished 4th and 5th, outperforming both Red Bulls and Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel, who spun early in the race.
The R.S.19's livery was similar to the previous season's design, with subtle modifications. The team honored Anthoine Hubert, who died during the Formula 2 championship in Belgium, by displaying his name on the rear wing endplate.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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