Alonso to be reunited with R25 in Abu Dhabi demos
Fernando Alonso will take his World Championship-winning R25 out on some very special demonstration runs ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Alonso, who will be returning to the grid with the newly rebranded Alpine team in 2021, will help mark the final chapter for Renault in Abu Dhabi by giving us all another look at those striking blue and yellow colours and another listen to the screaming V10 engine.
The Spaniard won the first of his two World Championships in this car all the way back in 2005 and will head out on track in it on Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week.
Renault team boss, Cyril Abiteboul, has said it will be an emotional moment to see Alonso and the R25 back out on track again.
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“It’s very emotional to see the R25 run in anger once again, and having Fernando at the wheel is the cherry on the cake,” Abiteboul said.
“The car-driver partnership was a classic time in F1 and remains one of Renault’s proudest achievements in motorsport.
“While the car is a symbol of our past achievements, Fernando reflects our strong ambition to keep pushing for more success and recapture those incredible moments and emotions.
“Of course, any results will now be under the Alpine name but our future success will all be homage to this amazing time in Renault’s F1 history.”
The R25 demo runs in Abu Dhabi concludes a restoration project on the car’s chassis which began in 2019 and restarted in October 2020 with over 50 man hours needed to revise the engine. After two weeks of strenuous work, the V10 engine came roaring back to life and the R25 completed its first successful run at the La Ferte Gaucher circuit just outside Paris in mid-November.
The R25 won eight races during the 2005 season with Alonso winning seven of those. A total of seven pole and 18 podiums also helped Renault to their first World Championship double.
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