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Renault R24 F1 2004 by Fernando Alonso will be auctioned next year

Car collectors and Formula 1 fanatics have a meeting scheduled in Paris on February 2, 2022, when Fernando Alonso's 2004 Renault R24 F1 will be auctioned. It is the car with which the Spanish driver competed in the last three grand prix races of the 2004 season and which was the basis on which Renault developed the R25 that won the championship for the following year.

Fernando Alonso joined the Renault F1 Team in the 2003 season. This year, the Spaniard competed driving the R23 and the later R23B. The 2004 season began with Alonso and Jarno Trulli as the team's official drivers. That year, Renault would introduce a new car, the R24, and move even closer to the long-awaited victory that would finally arrive in 2005.

The evolution of the Renault R24 F1 single-seater compared to the R23B centered primarily on the rear and was courtesy of a 72-degree V10 engine rather than the 111-degree V10 engine used the previous year. This narrower 'V' angle allowed for much more sculpted packaging of the engine tips and bonnet. Improved aerodynamic performance, new engine rigidity and rear axle grip.

The results of the R24 F1 did not take long to arrive and Renault would manage that year to take third place in the Constructors' Championship. Trulli would take an outright victory in Monaco, while Alonso would take second and third place in France and Australia respectively. That same year, Fernando would finish fourth overall in the championship and Trulli sixth. Michael Schumacher would get his seventh and final world title.

Returning to the car in the images, Renault used it as a basis to develop the R25 with which the team would win the Constructors' Championship and Fernando Alonso the Drivers' Championship in 2005. The R24-07 chassis in particular was used by the Spanish driver to participate in the 2004 China, Japan and Brazil Grand Prix. He occupied fourth, fifth and fourth place, respectively.

According to auction house RM Sotheby's, this 2004 Renault R24 F1 chassis belonged to Alpine before ending up in the hands of its current owner, who bought it in 2016. It was then repainted with the blue and yellow decoration of Mild Seven and principal sponsor Telefónica.

Fernando Alonso's 2004 Renault R24 F1 will be auctioned on February 2, 2022 at an event organized in Paris. It comes with a bespoke steering wheel to Alonso's own unique specifications. An estimated sale price has not been specified for the time being, but it should reach a million dollar figure during the auction.

Autonews