Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRenault

New Renault RS16 unveiled at testing

Renault unveiled its 2016 car - the RS16 - at the start of pre-season testing in Barcelona.

The team held a launch event in Paris early in February which saw the testing livery unveiled on an old car, but Monday morning saw the 2016 car displayed for the first time. The car is similar to its predecessor following Renault's late takeover of the Lotus team, though it features a wider nose design.

GALLERY: Renault RS16

Jolyon Palmer is behind the wheel of the RS16 on the opening day of testing in Barcelona, with team-mate Kevin Magnussen not set to drive until the final two days of running.

While returning to F1 as a constructor, Renault is expecting a difficult season in 2016 as it rebuilds the team following the loss of personnel during the latter years as Lotus. The manufacturer's power unit will also be a focus for this season after last year's was uncompetitive and often unreliable.

Renault is set to change its livery in time for the first race of the season in Australia on March 20.

Follow live coverage and timing from pre-season testing here

GALLERY: Mercedes W07

GALLERY: McLaren-Honda MP4-31

GALLERY: Ferrari's new SF16-H

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.