Renault R31

Lotus Renault GP

Company type	Racing team
Industry	Formula One racing
Founded	2011
Headquarters	Enstone , United Kingdom
Area served	Formula One World Championship
Key people	James Allison (Technical Director), Naoki Tokunaga, Tim Densham, Dirk de Beer, Rob White
Products	Formula One cars (R31)
Owner	Renault
Parent	Renault

The Renault R31—also referred to as the Lotus Renault R31—was a Formula One vehicle engineered by Lotus Renault GP for competition during the 2011 season. The chassis design was directed by Technical Director James Allison, supported by prominent designers such as Naoki Tokunaga, Tim Densham, and aerodynamics leader Dirk de Beer. Engine development responsibilities were managed by Rob White. Initially, the car was piloted by Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld, with Bruno Senna stepping in to replace Heidfeld partway through the season.

Significantly, the R31 was the first Formula One car from the Enstone factory to utilize Pirelli tyres since the Benetton B191 in 1991, coinciding with Pirelli's return as the official F1 tyre supplier.

Design

The R31 made its public debut on 31 January 2011 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain, with Vitaly Petrov being the first driver to take it out on track. Renault had originally intended for Robert Kubica to partner Petrov, but following Kubica's rally accident, former BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld was signed instead. The car attracted considerable attention due to its unconventional forward-facing exhaust system, which was believed to channel gases beneath the floor aiming to produce a "forward blown diffuser" effect. Renault confirmed only that this design resulted from an extensive twelve-month development process. This exhaust concept was soon emulated by several other teams during subsequent testing sessions.

While promising substantial aerodynamic advantages, implementing this system demanded intricate rearrangement of internal electronics and passing stringent side-impact crash tests for homologation. Nevertheless, some industry experts, including Mercedes' Ross Brawn, minimized its significance.

As the season unfolded, the forward exhaust became more of a liability than an asset. The R31 struggled with insufficient downforce on slower circuits such as Singapore and proved challenging to evolve further. After the conclusion of the 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, James Allison described the forward exhaust as a "failed experiment," highlighting its persistent shortcomings in low-speed corners:

Motorsport commentator Martin Brundle likened the exhaust note to "a bag of nails," a claim humorously contested by David Coulthard, who reportedly bought an actual bag of nails to disprove it.

Controversy

The car’s striking black and gold livery paid homage to the 1980s Team Lotus cars and their famous John Player Special design, which also featured Renault engines. There was speculation that this design might resemble cigarette packaging and thus violate Canada's stringent anti-tobacco advertising laws ahead of the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix. However, senior members of the team dismissed these concerns, pointing out that similar liveries had previously competed in Canada without incident. Consequently, no alterations were made to the livery during the Canadian event.

Season review

The R31 had a promising start when Vitaly Petrov qualified sixth and achieved his inaugural Formula One podium at the opening round in Australia. Meanwhile, Nick Heidfeld matched this qualifying performance in Malaysia; however, Petrov encountered a high kerb incident late in that race. The Renault drivers donned golden race suits in Malaysia, marking their final podium appearance that year. They retained fourth place in the Constructors' Championship following Petrov’s ninth-place finish in China and recorded their first double points haul in Turkey with seventh and eighth places. In Spain, Heidfeld experienced a fire during Saturday practice that forced him to start from 24th on the grid; he recovered impressively to finish eighth but pushed Petrov outside of points contention.

In Monaco, Petrov crashed out while running sixth, causing a red flag and briefly losing consciousness; Heidfeld still managed eighth place. At a wet Canadian Grand Prix, Heidfeld crashed from fourth position while Petrov secured fifth place. Heidfeld continued scoring points at Valencia and Britain, helping Renault maintain its lead over Mercedes until Silverstone, after which they slipped down to fifth. Two retirements for Heidfeld in Germany and Hungary severely affected the team's results; with only a ninth place from Petrov in Germany and no points scored in Hungary, it became evident that development had stalled and performance declined.

Following the summer break, qualifying performances showed improvement: Bruno Senna—Heidfeld’s replacement—qualified seventh at Spa and tenth at Monza, swapping grid positions with Petrov. However, race results remained modest with two ninth-place finishes and Senna scoring his first points for Renault. The Singapore Grand Prix highlighted ongoing difficulties; Petrov failed to progress beyond Q1 while Senna qualified fifteenth. Renault’s hold on fifth place weakened as sixth-placed Force India amassed 36 points over four races compared to just four for Renault.

Both drivers returned to top-ten qualifying positions in Japan; Petrov finished ninth after a close fight for points while Senna ended nineteenth. The next three races—Korea, India, and Abu Dhabi—yielded no points for either driver. At Brazil—the final race for the R31—Petrov scored one point with tenth place while Senna finished seventeenth. Renault concluded the season fifth in the Constructors' Championship with a best race result of third but trailed Mercedes by 95 points overall.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (bold signifies pole position; italics denotes fastest lap)

Year	Team	Power Unit	Tyre Supplier	Competitors	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Points Scored	Constructors' Championship Position
Template:F1	Lotus Renault GP	Renault RS27 V8	Template:Pirelli		AUS	MAL	CHN	TUR	ESP	MON	CAN	EUR	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN	KOR	IND	ABU	BRA	73	5th
				Nick Heidfeld	12	3	12	7	8	8	Ret	10	8	Ret
				Bruno Senna												13	9	15	16	13	12

Driver did not complete the race but was classified as over 90% of the distance was covered.