1/43 Model Review: 2019 Renault RS19 (Spark)

Renault came into 2019 having made a big statement in signing Daniel Ricciardo, that they were putting the resources in to be successful, their intent was serious. Having just missed out on fourth in the Championship in 2018, Renault's goals were to establish themselves ahead of the midfield and start to make inroads towards the top three.

The car clearly is a quick car, but not at every track. Though they are generally near the top end of the midfield, they are struggling with qualifying which makes extracting their race pace difficult. They have also continued to struggle with reliability, when in Bahrain, both cars retired at the same corner on the same lap due to car failures.

The battle between Ricciardo and Hulkenberg has generally been quite close, but Ricciardo has the upper hand in qualifying, whilst the two are often found together during races.

Hulkenberg crashed out of his best race of the season at the German GP where a podium finish was on the cards, but he slid off and into the barriers. It would be a shame for the German if Renault choose to replace him at the end of the season, he deserves a crack in a top end car.

The team's main rivals are customers McLaren, who have looking more and more secure for that fourth placed finish, so Renault have their work cut out to improve and consistently finish 'best of the rest' if they are to salvage their scrappy season.

Spark S6076

Spark S6075

I'm personally partial to a black car with yellow trim, but last season's car had too much yellow for me. The yellow has scaled back in 2019, and I think it's a great livery, more from the side than from the front though. One of the clever things on the Renault is that the main planes of the rear wing don't join straight onto the endplate, but there's a series of small multi-element winglets that are perhaps millimeters wide. It was never possible to include that onto a 1/43 scale model, but the curve in the endplate is also shaped as a mini aerofoil, which is nicely modelled on this car.

I still don't understand how Renault can run such a bulky engine cover and have it be aerodynamically efficient as other smoother versions of their opposition. Spark have done a great job on the proportions of the model, and their detail is pretty good too. You get the vented mirrors, and a complicated bargeboard set up, the rear wing as mentioned above and diffuser region are all very nicely done. The driver helmet is better with a dark visor.

So overall, another good car from Spark, both based on the Australian GP.
Score: 8/10