RM Sotheby’s will auction a Renault R24 single-seater on February 2, 2022 in Paris. Fernando Alonso, the two-time F1 world champion, took the wheel of this chassis during the last three Grand Prix of the 2004 season in China, Japan and Brazil.
It’s official, the International Automobile Festival which was to be held from January 26 to 30, 2022 is postponed to spring (May or June). As an extension of this event, deployed in Place Vauban under an ephemeral structure, an auction organized by RM Sotheby’s was to be held on Wednesday February 2, 2022. Contacted by us, the house assured us that the auctions would still be held at this date and location (to be confirmed). Among the exceptional lots offered, we find a Bugatti EB110 GT, a Ferrari 550 GTC, a BMW Z8 Alpina or even the Renault R24 single-seater driven by Fernando Alonso during the 2004 season. It is undoubtedly one of the centerpieces.
The last chassis of the season
The single-seater offered for sale is the R24-07 chassis, which the Spaniard has driven during the last three Grands Prix in China, Japan and Brazil where he finished respectively 4e, 5e and 4e. According to the auction house L’écurie, Renault has become Alpine would have taken care of it until its takeover in 2016 by Memento Exclusives, a site dedicated to the purchase and sale of Formula 1 parts or accessories for fans. The proud owner of the single-seater will get back the steering wheel specially designed for Alonso, future two-time world champion.
Calm…
The F1 R24 succeeds the R23 and R23B. Its 3.0 l V10, which develops 900 hp at 19,000 rpm (!), Sees its opening angle go from 110 ° to 72 °. This narrower architecture notably made it possible to reshape the rear of the single-seater. at the level of the side pontoons and the engine cover. Enough to significantly improve its aerodynamic efficiency. In the end, Fernando Alonso and his teammate Jarno Trulli signed six podiums: two for the Italian (including a victory at the Monaco Grand Prix), and four for the Iberian driver. At the end of the season, and after the ousting of Trulli in favor of Jacques Villeneuve in China, Renault took third place in the constructors’ championship.
…Before the storm
The R24 will subsequently give birth to the R25, the last F1 with a V10 engine before the switch to the V8 (R26). It is with these two single-seaters that Fernando Alonso will write the history of the team by becoming double world champion in 2005 and 2006.
TO READ. F1. Alonso on track with the Renault R25 in Abu Dhabi
