This is how the Renault RS18 F1 driven by Carlos Sainz could look this season

Graphic designer SeanBull offers his personal vision of what the livery of the Renault single-seater could look like for the new Formula 1 season

Carlos Sainz already defended the colours of Renault in advance at the US Grand Prix held on the weekend of 21 and 22 October last year, racing the final four events of the 2017 season with the diamond brand – which celebrated the 40th anniversary of its F1 debut last year – at the wheel of the yellow and black single-seater, with results that are promising for 2018.

Now, ahead of the new Formula 1 season that will get under way on 25 March in Melbourne, Australia, teams are putting the final touches on the preparation of their single-seaters for a championship that will bring some new features. Among them, the introduction of the Halo, the cockpit protection designed to minimise the risk of a head impact, which many drivers have criticised because it reduces visibility. New biometric gloves will also arrive, allowing drivers’ heart rates to be monitored in real time, along with regulation changes affecting the maximum number of engines that can be used without incurring a penalty – three instead of four – and the number of tyre compounds teams can choose from, which goes from five to seven.

But the biggest unknown for fans is what the new cars of each team will look like for this new season. And graphic designer SeanBull has dared to imagine a Renault RS18 F1 with the controversial Halo already integrated, which would remain faithful to the yellow and black colours of the diamond team, but with a radical twist that would make Carlos Sainz’s car one of the most eye-catching on the grid.

In SeanBull’s renders, the yellow moves to the rear of the single-seater and turns gold, while the black is “toned down” to a matt shade, a final result that in some ways recalls the single-seaters of Lotus, the team that Renault ended up buying in 2015 for its return to motorsport’s premier category from 2016, after a period as an engine supplier.

Undoubtedly, to create his designs and apply this livery, SeanBull had a clear source of inspiration: the Renault R.S. 2027 Vision, a prototype with which Renault previewed its personal vision of what Formula 1 single-seaters could look like in the future, which you can see in the following video.

Will the new Renault F1 driven by Carlos Sainz for 2018 look like this RS18? Not long to wait to find out, although many of us would like it to be so.