Colour Blindness

When Renault showed off their new ING colours two years ago, I honestly thought the colour scheme could not get worse.

I was wrong.

Their 2009 challenger will be easily spotted in the paddock, but for the wrong reasons. A ghastly colour palette makes the car look more like a neon sign suited more to Las Vegas than the race track.

From a creativity point of view, I think the biggest issue with the recent Renault schemes has been the desire to retain the classic Renault yellow on the car. I think the car would have looked fine if left in the white and orange of ING. But mixing the yellow in was just asking for an eyesore of the car.

This year has seen the dark navy stripe replaced with orange. The colourations match up in places to produce that of the Spanish national flag, making me wonder if this scheme is more suited to A1GP than Formula One. Topping it off is the red wing-ends for new sponsor Total.

As for the actual car shape, the car features a wider front nose that we have seen on the more recent car launches. It reminds me of the slightly chubby nose found on the Ferrari a few years back. One thing is for sure, we won’t miss this car on the grid.

Williams also launched their 2009 challenger, although will be running in an interim scheme, like last year, until their actual racing scheme will be unveiled at a later date.

Toyota launched their new racer in between that of the Ferrari and the McLaren. I just haven't had the chance to write a longer article about them.

Images of the new Renault, Williams and Toyota can be found on Autosports website. Just click on the names to link you there.