Williams won the next two seasons in both the drivers' and Constructors' Championship with Damon Hill winning the title in 1996 and Jacques Villeneuve in 1997. Daniel Ricciardo stays in the saddle at Renault, while after a year on the side lines as Mercedes’ reserve driver in 2019, Esteban Ocon returns to the F1 grid to partner the Australian. Read about the latest developments on the 2017 F1 driver market here: The Court ruled that use of the device known as a Tuned Mass Damper is an infringement of Article 3.15 of the Formula One Technical Regulations. Engines: … The issue surrounded Nelson Piquet Jr.'s crash during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix which Renault teammate Fernando Alonso went on to win. Fernando is one of the most experienced and successful drivers in Formula 1 history, with 311 Grands Prix starts and 32 race wins to his name. Lotus F1 was named after its branding partner Group Lotus.The team achieved a race victory and fourth position in the Formula One Constructors' … 1993 Williams [34] It was speculated that F1 veteran Alain Prost, who drove for Renault from 1981–83, could take a senior role in the team. After this, Renault did not travel to the season finale in Japan. Latest News and Updates on the Renault F1 team. Hill was 37 points behind Championship leader Michael Schumacher by the French Grand Prix, but had managed to close the gap down to 1 point before the last race in Adelaide. After his first podium of the year in Singapore, Fernando Alonso confirmed that he would be leaving Renault, moving to Ferrari in 2010. Reduced: US$26.00. The team did not enter the first two races of 1978, in Argentina and Brazil, but returned for the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami. The team which raced in the 2010 season as Lotus Racing (using a licence from Group Lotus which was later terminated by Group Lotus) rebranded itself as "Team Lotus" for the 2011 season after purchasing the privately owned rights to the historic name.[23]. The Spanish driver is synonymous with the team’s history in Formula 1. Alonso won the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix, the first time Renault had won a Grand Prix since the 1983 Austrian Grand Prix. New restrictions over the use of off-throttle blown diffusers were introduced for the British Grand Prix, and the team was badly affected having designed their car around the system. A podium in Singapore was little consolation in what had been a frustrating and controversial season for the team. At the French Grand Prix, Renault were expected to be faster than Ferrari, but Ferrari again had the advantage. Renault Sport stopped its engine program at the end of the year, having scored 19 pole positions and 5 Grand Prix victories with customer teams. Renault F1 statement, 16 September 2009[12]. Renault confirmed Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen as their race drivers for 2007 with Nelson Piquet Jr. and Ricardo Zonta as test drivers. After Piquet Jr. left the Renault team in August 2009, allegations surfaced that this crash had been deliberate, to give an advantage to Alonso. Renault returned to Formula One in 1989 as an engine manufacturer. Renault's first involvement in Formula One was made by the Renault Sport subsidiary. The German Grand Prix heralded a change in the team's fortune. [54] At the Eifel Grand Prix raced on the Nürburgring circuit, Ricciardo scored a third place finish, the team's first podium since Malaysia 2011. After the San Marino Grand Prix, Renault and Alonso's championship leads came under attack from a fast-but-fragile McLaren-Mercedes team and Kimi Räikkönen respectively for the Drivers' Championship. Results did not improve until the start of the European season, although both drivers finished in the points in the next race at Malaysia. During the 2009 season, the actions of Renault F1 during the 2008 season were examined over alleged race fixing. [22] Renault continued to support the team by supplying engines and its expertise. This eventually proved too unreliable and heavy, so Renault returned to a more conventional development route. Renault was innovative during this period producing non-standard designs such as the 111° 10-cylinder engine for the 2003 RS23 which was designed to effectively lower the center of gravity of the engine and thus improve the car's handling. Alonso won the opening Bahrain Grand Prix as well as the Australian Grand Prix and finished second in Malaysia behind teammate Fisichella to claim Renault's first one-two finish since René Arnoux and Alain Prost in 1982. [36], On 3 February 2016, Renault unveiled the testing livery for their 2016 car, the Renault R.S.16, and confirmed Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer as its two race drivers, 2015 GP3 champion Esteban Ocon as its reserve driver, Carmen Jordá as its development driver, and that multiple drivers, including 2015 Formula Renault 3.5 champion Oliver Rowland, Jack Aitken, Louis Delétraz and Kevin Jorg are a part of its driver academy. Renault entered the season with high hopes of challenging for both world titles. At the same meeting, Briatore was banned from FIA events for life, while Symonds received a five-year ban. The company’s new CEO Luca de Meo wants to use … Mia Sharizman, Renault Sport Academy Director: “The tests in Bahrain are part of a planned programme that the Academy has delivered every year for the past three years. Arnoux left for rival Ferrari after 1982 and was replaced by American Eddie Cheever. Trulli won the Monaco Grand Prix, but his relationship with Renault (particularly with team principal and Trulli's ex-manager Flavio Briatore) deteriorated after he was consistently off the pace in the latter half of the year, and made claims of favouritism in the team towards Alonso (though the two teammates themselves remained friendly). At the time, Piquet Jr. had characterised the incident as a simple mistake. Jabouille ran well in the race, running as high as 16th before the car's turbo failed on lap 17. The Alpine Academy – formerly known as the RF1 Driver Programme, Renault Driver Development and Renault Sport Academy – is a program to support young racing drivers through their careers. Renault DP World F1 Team 2020 T-Shirt - Black. Alonso ran third for most of the race, unable to challenge the Ferraris of Schumacher and Massa. Renault war bereits von 1977 bis 1985 als Équipe Renault und von 2001 bis 2009 als Renault F1 werksseitig in der Formel 1 engagiert; Fernando Alonso wurde 2005 und 2006 mit dem Werksteam Weltmeister. 2019 Mercedes, Renault Sport Formula One Team and Renault F1 Team (2016–2020), Naturally aspirated engines (1990s and 2000s). However, form was still short of 2006 by a large de… Sergio Perez - Red Bull Racing. [59] Renault continued working with Mecachrome, which paid for development of the engines,[62] and supplied them to Williams under the Mecachrome name. [69], At the end of 2010, when Renault sold their remaining stake in the Enstone-based Formula One team, the engine operations at Viry-Châtillon were formed into a subsidiary known as Renault Sport F1. The team started 2008 in a similar manner as the year before; Fernando Alonso managed to garner fourth at the opening Australian Grand Prix as a result of a mistake from previous Renault employee Heikki Kovalainen. Drivers. Nelson Piquet Jnr. On 5 January, Éric Boullier was announced as the new team principal at Renault, replacing Bob Bell, who would return to his former role as Technical Director.[19]. A profile of the Renault F1 team, giving its current driver lineup, latest results and points scored plus current position in the constructors championship standings. [56], Renault began manufacturing engines at the Viry-Châtillon factory in 1976, after closing the former Alpine competition department,[57][58] which was run in conjunction with the Formula One team under the Renault Sport division. This saw to it that Lotus could not sustain a season long challenge to leading teams McLaren and Williams. From there it was a short step to Formula 1 – at Renault. Fisichella took 8th, 6th and 3rd-place finishes in the San Marino Grand Prix, European Grand Prix and the Spanish Grand Prix. [65] Benetton continued to use the engines under the Playlife brand until 2000, although only achieved several podiums during this time. In 1983, Renault and Prost came very close to winning the drivers' title but were edged out by Nelson Piquet (Brabham-BMW) at the last race of the season in South Africa. Neither Piquet nor Grosjean managed to score a point. [46] The team finished the season in sixth place with 57 points. The two Renaults were on the front row in qualifying, and pole-sitter Jabouille won the race, the first driver in a turbo-charged car to do so, while Arnoux and Gilles Villeneuve were involved in an extremely competitive duel for second, Arnoux narrowly getting beaten to the line. 1987 Williams 2012 Red Bull 2003 Ferrari In 1985, major financial problems emerged at Renault and the company could no longer justify the large expenses needed to maintain the racing team's competitiveness. It’s a good opportunity for us to show the progression … Flavio Briatore's company Supertec distributed the engines from 1999,[66] with Williams and BAR using them under the Supertec name that year, and the Arrows cars using them in 2000. Full team name: Renault F1 Team. This victory made Alonso and Renault the first ever winners of a Formula One race held under floodlights. [17] However, in the new year, clarification was sought and Kubica was ready to commit to the outfit.