[5] Coming off a resurgent second half of the previous year, the team expected to be fighting for both the drivers and constructors titles.

In the hands of either of Alonso's team mates, the car was often towards the back of the field with Nelson Piquet Jr. and Romain Grosjean often failing to reach Q2.

Unlike many other 2009 cars that began the year uncompetitively, such as the McLaren MP4-24, the R29 showed no sign of improvement throughout the season, and arguably became less competitive over the course of the year, despite Alonso's third place in Singapore Grand Prix, which was Renault's only podium finish of the season.

However, in the wake of the "Crashgate", ING terminated their contract with immediate effect - the company had been due to end their sponsorship of the team after the season.

[6] Their logo on the car was simply replaced by the word Renault from the Singapore Grand Prix onwards.