Little glitz and glamour was apparent as the covers were whipped off the brand new car, which featured the ugly wings that now characterise the sport, along with one of the most shockingly messed-up liveries seen in recent times, with a mish-mash of white, yellow, red and orange be-decking the chassis.
The car also featured a heavily pronounced "anvil wing", completing Renault's victory in the "ugliest 2009 car to date" award, and scaring the life out of anyone clicking on F1 news sites over their morning cornflakes.
The R29 is the car that Fernando Alonso believes will allow him to challenge for this year's title, following his strong end to 2008, but the new car has been beset with teething problems already, most notably when it initially failed the stringent F1 crash tests earlier in the month, although the team is naturally confident that has all been sorted.
The new car will go straight into action, with the Algarve circuit hosting the first "proper" test of 2009. The newly launched cars from Renault and Williams, along with those of McLaren and Toyota, will go head-to-head for the first time, while Toro Rosso and Red Bull will test interim cars. Ferrari, meanwhile, will keep their ultimate pace secret for a while longer, as they test privately at Mugello.
Speaking at the launch, Fernando Alonso again had to deflect quiestions away from his mooted move to Ferrari. "Hopefully this year I can be more relaxed about this question if we are winning races and fighting for the championship we'll forget Ferrari. That's my aim, because I'm really concentrated in 2009 and more motivated and more prepared than ever." He lied convincingly.
Meanwhile, despite all the evidence, Nelson Piquet Jr believes he'll be in a position to challenge Alonso on an even footing this year. "Last year was my first year and I was learning, and obviously once in a while we would give priority to Fernando because he had a better chance of winning the race or being more in front." He added that "Now I think the team will have to play on both sides and try to give both cars exactly the same conditions. The second year is going to be tougher." And if he's right about that last bit, he really is going to struggle.
Meanwhile, in an almost newsworthy footnote to the day's excitement, the Renault team confirmed that GP2 frontrunner Romain Grosjean would be their main test driver for the season.
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