Renault heads to Hockenheim with new front-wing development

The works Renault team will introduce a new front-wing concept at next week's German Grand Prix that should boost the performance of its R.S.18 chassis in medium and high-speed corners.

The French outfit's consistency has put it at the front of the tight mid-field battle this season, but with a wary eye on Haas, its closest rival, Renault felt compelled to try and improve the pace of its car to preserve its edge in the Constructors' standings.

"It will look a bit different in the cone area and flap area," Renault technical director Nick Chester said of the R.S.18's new front-wing.

"It's just got a slightly different characteristic, so it will change the bias a little bit between corner entry and in the medium-speed versus high-speed corners.

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"It's an interesting test for us. Hopefully it will bring a bit of performance to the car, but often when you're changing front wing characteristics, you can't be exactly sure until you test it."

As Formula 1 reaches the mid-season point, teams shall slowly switch their focus and resources to next year's contenders. Renault is among those for which major updates will start to subside ,says Chester.

"Just because of the lead time," he explained.

"Say we wanted to do another front wing in the tunnel, by the time we've developed it and spent time designing it, building it, it would be very late in the year.

"There may be some more tweaks to it, but probably tweaks rather than [another] brand new front wing."

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