F1 legend Alain Prost has been appointed special advisor to the Renault team.

The Frenchman, who was runner-up in the 1983 world championship season with Renault, went on to win three titles with McLaren before returning to claim his fourth with the Renault-powered Williams team in 1993.

He subsequently returned to F1 as a team owner having bought the Ligier team, withdrawing from the sport after just five seasons.

"He will bring to the team his great experience, great network, and also an ability to talk with the drivers, and having a specific network for that," said Renault Sport Racing president Jerome Stoll as he announced the move at today's unveiling of the R.S.17 in London.

"What is important is that Renault can be competitive and win as soon as possible," said Prost. "It is not the first time I am involved in Renault, but to be clear I will not have a day to day role, it will be more behind.

"Sometimes it is good to have this kind of situation," he continued, "being on committees is important, important to give the best decision and best strategy to be a winning team in the future."

Revealing he would be present at Barcelona next week to witness the opening test, the French legend admitted he was excited at the prospect.

"As you can imagine, looking at the size of the car, it looks like the old days when we had the big tyres," he said. "I am going on Monday to Barcelona, and will be curious to see what they say. With the fast corners it will be tough for them physically.

"It will be good for F1," he said of the regulation changes, "you need a new cycle, I hope we can bring new followers and new spectators, and I hope young spectators."

Check out our Renault R.S. 17 gallery, here.