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<\/p>\nAs announced a few days ago on MotorsInside, Fernando Alonso will be behind the wheel of the R25 this weekend for three demonstration runs.<\/p>\n
After more than 40 years in the premier category of motorsport, crowned with 2 World Constructors’ Championships and 2 Drivers’ Championships, winning 35 victories in 399 Grand Prix, the Renault team will end its journey in Formula 1. At the dawn of the 2021 season, the team will be renamed Alpine.<\/p>\n
To celebrate this handover between the two entities, Renault decided to bring together the past and the future by entrusting Fernando Alonso, double world champion in 2005 and 2006 with the Diamond team and future Alpine driver, with the wheel of the single-seater with which he won his world title in 2005, the R25.<\/p>\n
Powered by a V10 engine, the R25 will run again after a restoration carried out by Renault at its factories in Enstone and Viry-Chatillon in partnership with the German company Rennwerk. The R25 last ran in 2006 before being displayed in the Renault Classic collection.<\/p>\n
This restoration project began in 2019 with Rennwerk. Initially planned to run during the French Grand Prix this year, the project was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the project was revived in October to prepare the car for this final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi under the Renault name. The French team explains that more than 50 hours of engine revision in Viry were necessary. Barely two weeks later, the V10 roared to life at the Rennwerk workshop, and by mid-November, the R25 was performing its first laps on the La Fert\u00e9-Gaucher circuit.<\/p>\n
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The Spaniard will be behind the wheel of his former single-seater throughout the weekend as he will perform three demonstrations on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.<\/p>\n
Cyril Abiteboul, the Renault team director, is delighted with the reunion between the world champion and his single-seater to celebrate the handover: \u00ab It’s very emotional to see the R25 roar its engine again, and Fernando’s presence at the wheel is the cherry on top. This association left a mark in F1 with one of Renault’s greatest achievements in motorsport. While the car symbolizes our past accomplishments, Fernando reflects our strong ambition for success to relive those incredible moments and emotions. Of course, all results will now be under the Alpine name, but our future successes will all pay tribute to this exceptional period in Renault’s F1 history. \u00bb<\/p>\n
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Renault has decided to have Fernando Alonso drive in Abu Dhabi with its world champion R25 to mark the end of Renault and the beginning of Alpine in Formula 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":36800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1749],"tags":[360,450,1341],"class_list":["post-9026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","category-news","tag-alonso","tag-grand-prix-dabu-dhabi","tag-renault"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n