Renault F1Renault was thought of by a young Frenchman named Louis Renault. He had ambition and wanted his cars top be seen and known all around the world. He had racing experience winning the first ever French grand prix in 1906. He had an idea of creating a team that would gradually win him world championship. At the turn of the seventies he ordered a team of people including engine designer Amédée Gordini and Bernard Dudot was in charge of the turbocharger design. By 1977 Louis Renault had a car and entered it in the 1977 British grand prix. (They had success in F2 and F3 series before entering) The car was called an RS01 and it had a 1.6 litre turbocharged engine which produced nearly 500 bhp when the turbo was running, when it wasn’t it produced a mere 160 bhp. Finally Renault had carved its way into F1. First F1 Title Renault did not win a title with their own car over the years. They tried numerous times and in 1983 prost was two points away from their first world title. During the race prost retired leaving Nelson Piquet to cruise home in second place therefore winning him the world title by two points (Piquet - 59, Prost – 57). But after the race Renault had found out that the Brabham-BMW had been using illegal fuel during the race therefore disqualifying them. But Renault did not want to make a formal allegation as winning the title by default would falter the public’s opinion towards them. But their first title came with the Williams team, who they supplied their engine to. Williams won but 7 of the 16 races and both world titles (manufacturers and drivers titles). They continued their domination through the next 3 years. The Last Season Renault had a mediocre season in 2007 with some decent performance from drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella. While the rookie Kovalainen impressed in his debut season, his performances were outshone by the exploits of fellow rookie Lewis Hamilton. In the constructors championship they managed a third position, although as McLaren were docked of all their points their true standing was fourth behind rival team BMW. Their best performance came in the carnage of the rain lashed Japanese Grand Prix through steady driving and cautious racing. Widely believed to be the third best team in Formula 1 their standing was somewhat disappointing; realistically however, finishing above McLaren and Ferrari was never going to happen. New Season This year sees the return of former champion Fernando Alonso to Renault. As the team that brought Alonso two world championships, Renault will be hoping for success with such a talent at the wheel of their lead car. Renault have lost rookie Kovalainen as well as Fisichella in favour of Nelson Piquet Jnr. The son of legendary Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet, his past position has been as test driver for Renault, his long wait for a seat in a race car has arisen in 2008 and he should prove to be an exciting prospect. As McLaren and Ferrari are so far away from the rest of the pack, Renault’s main rivals this year will be BMW and a resurgent Red Bull team. |
