Tom97, a renowned YouTuber virtually raced all the F1 championship-winning cars from the last 20 years. He took the cars from the 2004 F1 season to the latest season of 2023. Among them, Fernando Alonso’s Renault R25 emerged as the winning car, while the Red Bull RB19 finished in P11.
Alonso‘s R25 emerged victorious in a race of champion cars, while the Renault R26 finished the race in P2. In P3 was Sebastian Vettel’s 2010 championship-winning Red Bull RB6. Notably, all the cars in the race were AI-driven except one. Tom97 drove the RB19 and was given tough competition by the AI. The race took place in the Spa-Franchorchamps track and the race duration was 10 laps.
Tom97 used the 2014 game Assetto Corsa and raced using his racing simulator. Coming back to the race results, Alonso fans might rejoice this win, but there’s an underlying story behind this. The YouTuber started the race by placing the cars from the earliest to the latest order. This gave Michael Schumacher’s 2004 Ferrari and the Renault duo of Alonso a significant advantage over its rivals.
They started the race from P1, P2, and P3, respectively. While the RB19 started the race from P20. This is probably the reason why the Red Bull RB19, RB18 or Lewis Hamilton’s dominant Mercedes cars could not fare better. However, no matter what the result would have been if there was a qualification, the R25 would always stay as an iconic F1 challenger.
The light blue and yellow livery with the young Spanish driver snatching victory after victory was a joy to watch for fans. The car was designed by the likes of James Allison, Bob Bell, Tim Densham, Dino Toso, and Pat Symonds. It not only won the drivers’ championship but also won Renault the 2005 Constructors’ championship.
Importance of Fernando Alonso’s Renault R25 in F1 history
The 2005 Renault R25 will always be remembered not, just one, but for multiple reasons. Firstly, it was the car that gave Renault and Fernando Alonso their respective maiden F1 championships.
Besides, the magnificent R25 ended the dominant run of Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. Schumacher was with an unprecedented streak of wins from the 2000 F1 season. He went on to win five back-to-back world championships from 2000 to 2004.
The German former driver began his 2005 season with the same intensity. However, Alonso and his R25 had other ideas. Along with Giancarlo Fisichella, they took eight wins that season [Alonso had seven] and took home the championship with 191 points, compared to McLaren’s 182 points. Schumacher finished the season in P3.
Even the successor of R25, the R26 was equally impressive as it helped Alonso to defend his title and fend off Schumacher. It was another iconic car from Renault and was one of the last V10 engine cars in Formula 1 after the sport introduced the V8 engines in 2007.
As for Fernando Alonso, he failed to take any more championships after his Renault stint. He had good chances during his Ferrari days, but Vettel and Red Bull were too good for them. Nevertheless, Alonso is still on the hunt even at 42 years old and believes in the progress his current team Aston Martin has made off late. His hope still lies with Lawrence Stroll’s team after their rise to the top half from the bottom half in the 2023 F1 season.
