The Renault R25 was the

Formula One car A Formula One car or F1 car is a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel racing car, open-wheel formula racing car used to compete in Formula One racing events. It has substantial front and rear wings, large wheels, and a turbocharged engine mid ...

entered by

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

in the 2005 season. The chassis was designed by Bob Bell,

James Allison James Allison or Jim Allison may refer to: * James Allison (pirate) (fl. 1689–1691), pirate active near Cape Verde and the Bay of Campeche * James Allison Jr. (1772–1854), member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania * James Wh ...

, Tim Densham and Dino Toso with Pat Symonds overseeing the design and production of the car as executive director of Engineering and Bernard Dudot leading the engine design. The car won both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships in 2005, the first titles for any car racing with a French licence since the Matra MS80's triumph in the 1969 season. It also secured the first championship titles for a Formula One car racing with a Renault engine since the

Williams FW19 The Williams FW19 was the car with which the Williams team competed in the 1997 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by Jacques Villeneuve, in his second year with the team, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who moved from Sauber to replace ...

in and also first

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-based Formula One car to won the world constructors' championship since the Benetton B195 in .

History

During the season, the car turned out to be slower than the McLaren MP4-20 at numerous points, with the win tally being 8–10. Reliability and consistency prevailed in the end, with

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin in Formula One, Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with ...

and

Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo "Giano" Fisichella (; born 14 January 1973), also known as Fisico or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Fisichella won three Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons. Bo ...

taking the car to the last win and titles for a V10 powered Formula One car, marking the end of an era. This car also claimed

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

's first of only two titles since its return in Formula One, winning the title again with Renault (the R26 2006-spec car) in the 2006 season, the last for the French tyre maker. The R25 was the first Constructors' Championship winning car since 1991 not to have been designed by either

Adrian Newey Adrian Martin Newey (born 26 December 1958) is a British engineer, aerodynamicist, automotive designer and motorsport executive. Since 2025, Newey has served as technical director and co-owner of Aston Martin in Formula One; he previously serv ...

or Rory Byrne. Over 19 races, it scored 191 points, 8 wins, 15 podiums and was fully out of the points just twice in 18 starts (not counting the

United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

where both Renault drivers, in common with all their fellow

tyre runners, withdrew prior to starting). The R25 was also the last Renault Formula One car to use a 6-speed gearbox before the switch to a mandatory 7-speed gearbox in the following season.

Sponsorship and livery

Renault used the '

Mild Seven , previously called , is a Japanese brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Japan Tobacco. History Mevius was launched in 1977 under the name Mild Seven and was intended to be a mild version of the Seven Stars brand. It was la ...

' logos, except at the Canadian, French, British, Turkish, Italian and Belgian Grands Prix. At these races, the team replaced the logos with flowers, tribals and flame graphics as well with the random text "Team Spirit".

Gallery

Renault R25 front-left 2017 Museo Fernando Alonso

Later uses

In Episode 8 of Series 10 of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

show ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...

'', in 2007, presenter

Richard Hammond Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, and author. He co-hosted the BBC Two motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and James Ma ...

drove the R25 around the Stowe Circuit at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

, completing two laps. On 11 December 2020 Alonso drove the car for the first time in 15 years, hours before the start of the first practice session shown on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

,Fernando Alonso returns to his 2005 V10 Renault at Abu Dhabi
and after the qualifying session for the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The car used

Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...

demo slick tyres, rather than the original

grooved tyres.

Complete Formula One results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest laps)

References

{{F1 cars 2005 R25 2005 Formula One season cars Formula One championship–winning cars