 The car also featured a new gearbox developed by Ricardo and a Drag Reduction System similar to the one first used in the 2011 Formula One season.The series' organising committee has also announced that the series' sporting regulations were set to remain unchanged.Robin Frijns won the championship in his first season of competition, becoming the first driver (since Robert Kubica in 2005) to win the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in his debut year.