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87-510: In September 2017, McLaren Honda announced they were terminating their partnership with effect from the close of the 2017 season. During negotiations to secure a new supplier, Renault disclosed that they did not have the capacity to supply McLaren whilst meeting their commitments to customer teams Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso. As part of a discussion between Renault, McLaren, Toro Rosso and Red Bull, Toro Rosso announced it would end their customer relationship with Renault and instead form

174-408: A 25% share in the team and continued as an engine supplier. Red Bull Racing confirmed they would be using Renault engines for 2010 . Robert Kubica was signed as Alonso's replacement on 7 October 2009, but following the shareholding deal, Kubica and his manager Daniel Morelli asked for clarification on the management structure before committing to the outfit. However, in the new year, clarification

261-618: A Grand Prix weekend, replacing Fernando Alonso during the first practice session. The race was won by Scuderia Ferrari 's Sebastian Vettel ahead of Mercedes ' Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing 's Max Verstappen . With the win Vettel took his 52nd and overtook Alain Prost for third in the ranking of drivers with the most Formula One wins . The race featured a first lap crash involving Fernando Alonso, Nico Hülkenberg, and Charles Leclerc. Hülkenberg misjudged his braking before ramming into

348-468: A factory works partnership with Honda in a deal lasting through to 2021. In a departure from the last three seasons with McLaren, at pre-season testing in Barcelona, Honda showed significant progress with its power unit completing the second highest lap tally of 93 in the first day without any issue with Brendon Hartley at the helm. The second day of testing went just as well, with STR completing 82 laps,

435-704: A few miles to a new base in Enstone . Renault continued to use the Benetton constructor name for the 2000 and the 2001 seasons, with the Renault name returning in 2001 as an engine brand. When reporting the purchase the International Herald Tribune commented that "the team will not race under the Renault name until it is ready to win and reap the marketing benefits". It was not until 2002 that this name change occurred. In 2002 , Benetton

522-527: A fix to the issue making note that both drivers were still using the flawed 2017 MGU-H as the brand new system they had developed for the 2018 power unit was not going to be ready in time for the first round. In Bahrain , both drivers took the new MGU-H specification, however Gasly required an entire new PU due to collateral damage caused from the MGU-H failure in Australia. After making significant progress with

609-467: A light fuel load. However, Alonso was forced to retire early in Hungary due to a fuel pump failure, after a front wheel came loose as it was incorrectly fitted at his first pit stop. At Belgium Alonso again looked like scoring a podium for the team but had to retire with another problem with one of his wheels which was damaged as a result of a first-lap clash with Adrian Sutil . Piquet performed poorly in

696-554: A more conventional development route. In 2004 , the team were contenders for second place in the Constructors' Championship. 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

783-578: A prelude to the Singapore Grand Prix , in which Alonso profited from the early crash of his teammate (later revealed to be a deliberate crash to aid the Spaniard. See: Renault Formula One crash controversy ) to claim his first victory of the season, and Renault's first since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix . This victory made Alonso and Renault the first-ever winners of a Formula One race held under floodlights. Renault underlined their return to

870-721: A redesigned MGU-K and battery, with a tentative debut around the Russian Grand Prix . After showing promising pace amongst the midfield with strong finishes at both the Belgian and the Hungarian Grand Prix , while also demonstrating relative strength at power sensitive circuits such as Spa and Monza Circuit where the team believed they may struggle, following the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, German publication Auto Motor und Sport released

957-491: A report claiming they had calculated an estimate for the power figures of each manufacturer using the latest GPS data gathered from Monza. The data revealed Honda's Spec 2 PU, which debuted in Canada, to produce 715 hp without electrical assistance, which put it ahead of Renault's Spec B used by the Renault works team and McLaren, however behind by a margin of 15 hp to Renault's newly introduced Spec C PU (Italian GP) which

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1044-459: A row. In Singapore , Petrov was running seventh before being pushed off by Nico Hülkenberg , whilst Kubica was forced to make an unscheduled stop late in the race with a puncture, before going on to recover almost every place he had lost. Rumours had tipped 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen to replace Petrov for 2011 , but the Finn angrily rejected claims he would join the team, stating that he

1131-411: A sponsorship deal signed with Lotus Cars until 2017. Renault continued to support the team by supplying engines and its expertise and thus Red Bull Racing was promoted to Renault's full-works partnership team. The Renault chassis name continued to be used, with Renault branding featuring in the new black and gold livery that was last used when Renault and Lotus joined forces in the 1980s, harking back to

1218-576: A success, and Jabouille qualified 21st out of the 30 runners and 26 starters, 1.62 seconds behind pole sitter James Hunt in the McLaren . Jabouille ran well in the race, running as high as 16th before the car's turbo failed on lap 17. The team missed the German and Austrian Grands Prix as the car was being improved after its British disappointment. They returned for the Dutch Grand Prix , and

1305-467: A team entered three cars for a race). 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. CEO Georges Besse pared down the company's involvement in F1 from full-fledged racing team to engine supplier for the 1986 season before taking it entirely out of F1 at the end of that year. On 16 March 2000,

1392-471: A test driver the previous year. Alonso won the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix , the first time Renault had won a Grand Prix since the 1983 Austrian Grand Prix . 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 centre of gravity of the engine and thus improve the car's handling. This eventually proved too unreliable and heavy, so Renault returned to

1479-506: A year until the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix . After going into administration during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, Force India arrived in Belgium under new ownership. A consortium led by Lawrence Stroll purchased the racing assets and operations of Force India through a company named Racing Point UK Ltd . The original team, Sahara Force India, was excluded from the Constructors' Championship due to their inability to participate in

1566-493: Is believed the area of improvement was around the cylinder head, specifically the combustion chamber design. The update was praised by driver Gasly who noted it was immediately more driveable and punchier than the previous iteration. Comparisons in lap times during practice between the previous unit and the updated unit were showing a near 0.5-second improvement at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve . Honda claimed

1653-523: Is only utilised by Red Bull Racing. However AMuS also reported that Honda had made great strides with the development of their Spec 3 PU with initial tests suggesting a power output of around 750 hp and that it may be ready for introduction at the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi , two race weekends earlier than planned. At the Russian Grand Prix, Honda debuted their much-anticipated Spec 3 PU in

1740-563: The 2008 Singapore Grand Prix which Renault teammate Fernando Alonso went on to win. At the time, Piquet Jr. had characterised the incident as a simple mistake. After Piquet Jr. left the Renault team in August 2009, allegations surfaced that this crash had been deliberate, to give an advantage to Alonso. Following a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) investigation in which Piquet Jr. stated he had been asked by Renault team principal Flavio Briatore and engineer Pat Symonds to stage

1827-585: The 2009 season as "the worst period of my career" and had criticised team boss Flavio Briatore . He was replaced by test driver Romain Grosjean as of the European Grand Prix . After his first podium of the year in Singapore, Fernando Alonso confirmed that he would be leaving Renault, moving to Ferrari in 2010. The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by

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1914-475: The 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix , however, this has been overturned on appeal following a decision from the FIA on 17 August 2009. On 4 August, Nelson Piquet Jr. was told by Renault he would not continue driving for them for the rest of the season. "I have received notice from Renault of its intention to stop me from driving for them in the current F1 season", read a statement on Piquet's website. Piquet had described

2001-562: The Enstone-based Benetton Formula team (formerly Toleman ). Renault became a works engine manufacturer again in 2001, and in 2002 the Enstone-based team was re-branded as Renault. The team won the drivers' and constructors' championships in 2005 and 2006 . By 2011, Renault had sold its shares in the Enstone-based team, though it continued to use the Renault chassis name in 2011. Renault remained in

2088-603: The FIA accused Renault F1 of having McLaren F1 technical information in their possession. According to the charge, the information in hand " included the layout and critical dimensions of the McLaren car as well as details of McLaren's fuelling system, gear assembly, hydraulic control system and suspension ". The hearing on this matter took place in Monaco on 6 December 2007. The charge faced by Renault F1 – breaching of article 151c of

2175-421: The FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix . It also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds , have left the team. Renault F1 statement, 16 September 2009 During the 2009 season, the actions of Renault F1 during the 2008 season were examined over alleged race-fixing. The issue surrounded Nelson Piquet Jr. 's crash during

2262-637: The French Grand Prix , Renault was expected to be faster than Ferrari, but Ferrari again had the advantage. Alonso ran third for most of the race, unable to challenge the Ferraris of Schumacher and Massa. However, a tactical switch to a two-stop strategy enabled him to pass Massa and finish second. On 21 July 2006, the FIA banned the use of mass damper systems, developed and first used by Renault and subsequently used by 7 other teams, including Ferrari. Flavio Briatore claimed that McLaren had raised

2349-584: The Hesketh . After this, Renault did not travel to the season finale in Japan. The following year was hardly better, characterised by four consecutive retirements caused by blown engines, but near the end of the year, the team showed signs of success. Twice, the RS01 qualified 3rd on the grid and while finishing was still something of an issue, it managed to finish its first race on the lead lap at Watkins Glen near

2436-517: The Japanese Grand Prix , STR made the competitive debut with the brand new Spec 3 unit. Honda claimed to of made even further improvements since the last GP after spending much of the time between refining the unit on the dyno. The results on track reflected the claims, with qualifying proving to be one of Honda's best results since returning to F1, both cars making it to Q3 to place 6th and 7th respectively. Toro Rosso finished ninth in

2523-685: The R27 , was unveiled on 24 January 2007 in Amsterdam and bore a new yellow, blue, orange and white livery in deference to the corporate colours of ING, the Dutch financial group based in Amsterdam. Renault engines were also supplied to the Red Bull Racing team for the 2007 season. Renault struggled in comparison to their form in previous seasons in Australia , with Giancarlo Fisichella finishing

2610-655: The Renault-Nissan Alliance through the Renault brand purchased Benetton Formula Limited for $ 120 million, to return to Formula One. The history of the team acquired by Renault started in 1981 as the Toleman Motorsport team, based in Witney , Oxfordshire, England. In 1986, the team was renamed to Benetton Formula , following its purchase in 1985 by the Benetton family . In 1992/3 the team moved

2697-600: 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. McLaren took the lead of the Constructors' World Championship by securing a one-two finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix , but that was to be the race in which Alonso secured the Drivers' title, becoming

Scuderia Toro Rosso STR13 - Misplaced Pages Continue

2784-686: The Spanish Grand Prix . The team celebrated its 200th Grand Prix at Silverstone, which was won by Alonso. As the season progressed to its North American stint, Alonso won the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, Canada. At the U.S Grand Prix , Ferrari had a distinct performance advantage over the whole weekend. However, Renault were the fastest of all the Michelin runners. Fisichella finished 3rd, while Alonso finished 5th. At

2871-469: The "Shark-fin", similar to the one introduced by Red Bull on their RB4 . Alonso managed to qualify on the front row for that race on a light fuel-load, yet retired with an engine failure halfway through. Alonso's front row qualifying performance in Spain was a rare moment of achievement from the former World Champion. Both cars retired at the Canadian Grand Prix and Nelson Piquet Jr. , who retired from six of

2958-498: The 1983 championship. He subsequently joined McLaren , while Cheever left to join Alfa Romeo . The team turned to Frenchman Patrick Tambay (who had left Ferrari) and Englishman Derek Warwick (formerly of Toleman ) to bring them back to prominence. Despite a few good results, including Tambay giving the team its last pole position at the 1984 French Grand Prix at Dijon, the team was not as competitive in 1984 and 1985 as in

3045-531: The Constructors' Championship, scoring just 33 points throughout the whole season - the team's worst season since 2012 . In January 2018, the team announced that their Head of Aerodynamics, Brendon Gilhorne, would be leaving the team. Much like with its predecessor, the STR13 sported a similar blue livery with red accents across the side of the car. At the United States Grand Prix , the team

3132-595: The Honda and Renault PU were within 1% of each other in race trim. Honda's F1 Technical Director, Toyoharu Tanabe, made mention that Honda's PU upgrade plan for 2018 was on track and going well and that with the introduction of Spec 2 in Canada and its subsequent improvements in the following races they were focused sharply on the Spec 3 upgrade which has since been revealed to be a brand new combustion process in which Honda plans to patent (further details Honda refuses to divulge),

3219-692: The John Player Special livery of the time. Despite being rebranded to Lotus, Renault still supplied free engines for the Lotus team until 2014. 2018 Belgian Grand Prix The 2018 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 2018 Johnnie Walker Belgian Grand Prix ) was a Formula One motor race held on 26 August 2018 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot , Belgium . The race

3306-539: The PU mapping during the practice sessions at Bahrain, Pierre Gasly managed a 6th place during qualifying which he was able to turn into a 4th-place result during the race. This was the highest finishing position for Honda since returning to F1 in 2015. At the Canadian Grand Prix , Honda debuted its Spec 2 PU which they revealed was focused on developments to the ICE with the aim of improving power without compromising reliability, it

3393-524: The Sporting Regulations – was the same as that faced by McLaren earlier on in 2007 in the espionage controversy involving Ferrari & McLaren . The FIA found Renault F1 in breach of article 151c but did not penalise the team. It was announced on 10 December 2007 that Fernando Alonso had signed with Renault F1 for 2008 . Alonso drove alongside promoted test driver Nelson Piquet Jr. and was believed to have secured number one status within

3480-520: The Toyota in the last two races of the 2004 season. Hoping to secure second place in the Constructors' Championship, Renault replaced Trulli with 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve for the final three races. However, Villeneuve – away from F1 racing for almost an entire season and struggling to acclimatise quickly to racing at the premier level – did not impress, and the team finished third behind Villeneuve's former team BAR . Giancarlo Fisichella

3567-439: The aero updates and even Honda's upgraded unit and what its actual potential could be as it seemed to run reliably but was sensitive to conditions and track layout. Red Bull's race director Christian Horner , who announced that Red Bull Racing had signed a 2-year engine supply deal with Honda starting from 2019 to replace Renault, citing Honda's enormous improvement in Canada showing great potential in their development pace, claimed

Scuderia Toro Rosso STR13 - Misplaced Pages Continue

3654-596: The close of testing, Hartley claimed the Honda PU was easier to drive and felt more powerful than the units supplied by Renault at the end of last season. Following a PU failure in Gasly's car during the Australian Grand Prix following a hit from a curb, Honda revealed he had suffered from an MGU-H failure, an issue which was well known to be Honda's Achilles heel for the last few years. Honda responded with

3741-554: The closest challenger to the domination of the sport by Ferrari and McLaren. Renault entered the season with high hopes of challenging both world titles. Although Alonso managed four points finishes in the first six races, it was soon clear that this target was unrealistic. By mid-season, it appeared as though Renault were making progress, with Alonso setting the fastest lap in Germany and securing pole position in Hungary , albeit on

3828-634: The company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine to Formula One with its EF1 engine. In 1983, Renault began supplying engines to other teams. Although the Renault team had won races, it withdrew at the end of 1985 . Renault engines continued to be raced until 1986. Renault returned to Formula One in 1989 as an engine manufacturer. It won five drivers' titles and six constructors' titles between 1992 and 1997 with Williams and Benetton , before ending its works involvement after 1997, though their engines continued to be used without works backing until 2000. In 2000, Renault acquired

3915-545: The crash, on 4 September 2009 Renault were charged with conspiracy and race-fixing and were due to face the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 21 September 2009. Initially, Renault and Briatore stated they would take legal action against Piquet Jr. for making false allegations, however, before the meeting, Renault announced they would not contest the charges, and that Briatore and Symonds had left

4002-586: The end of 1978 , giving the team a fourth-place finish and its first Formula One points. 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 . Jabouille secured Renault's best qualifying position to date, with sixth place, just 0.71 seconds behind polesitter Niki Lauda in the Brabham . He dropped out of

4089-459: The end of the race was not as great as was seen at Melbourne, with Fisichella finishing only 8th. The team's pace began to pick up in Barcelona, with both drivers making it into Q3, setting competitive lap times in the race (4th fastest lap for Kovalainen) and looking set for 5th and 8th, only to be hampered by an identical problem on both fuel rigs, forcing both drivers to make extra pitstops which dropped them back to 7th and 9th. On 8 November 2007,

4176-626: The end of the year, Jabouille crashed heavily at the Canadian GP and suffered serious leg injuries, which effectively ended his career as a Grand Prix driver. Alain Prost was signed up for 1981 . In his three years with the team, Prost showed the form that would make him a Formula One legend and the Renaults were among the best in Formula One, twice finishing third in the Constructors' Championships and once second. Prost won nine races with

4263-467: The engine had provided more power than originally expected so early on; however this had a knock-on effect when paired to the STR gearbox in the car. Honda then opted to revert to the Spec 2 units for the rest of the weekend while engineers from Toro Rosso and Honda made further refinements to the Spec 3 at Milton Keynes in order to have the engine competition ready by next round in Japan (Honda's home race). At

4350-494: The fastest time in Saturday's practice session, followed by 2nd place in qualifying, Kubica finished in 3rd place in Monaco , just 1.6 seconds behind the winner. Petrov retired in the closing laps of the race but was still classified 13th. Vitaly Petrov was out-qualified and out-raced by Robert Kubica at almost every race. However, Petrov did find considerable form at the Hungarian Grand Prix when he out-qualified Kubica for

4437-485: The first half of the season and was replaced by Romain Grosjean for the last third of the season. Neither Piquet nor Grosjean managed to score a point. A podium in Singapore was little consolation in what had been a frustrating and controversial season for the team. Renault had been suspended for one race (the 2009 European Grand Prix) due to the incident involving Fernando Alonso 's wheel not being fitted properly in

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4524-429: The first nine races, failed to score until the French Grand Prix . The German Grand Prix heralded a change in the team's fortune. Piquet Jr. benefited from the deployment of the safety car to secure Renault's first podium of the year with a second. Both drivers scored at the Hungarian Grand Prix although they failed to pick up anything at Valencia two weeks later. Two fourth places for Alonso in Belgium and Italy were

4611-555: The first time and finished the race 5th. However, in Belgium , Petrov made a mistake that ended with a crash in the first session of qualifying when he explored the kerbs at Liege corner, claiming he was testing to see how wet they were and if they were usable on his flying lap. His failure to set a time placed him 24th on the grid, though a gearbox penalty to Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa promoted him to 23rd. However, he went on to finish ninth, resulting in three consecutive points finishes in

4698-498: The front at the subsequent Japanese Grand Prix , in which Alonso steered clear of Lewis Hamilton 's first-corner mistake to record another win. Piquet Jr. finished fourth in the team's best performance of the season. Further double points finish in China was followed by Alonso's second-place finish at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix . The Renault R28 was believed by many insiders to have overtaken BMW Sauber by season's end as

4785-520: The good pace from Zandvoort seemed to be gone as he once again ran outside the top 10 before retiring with yet another reliability problem, this time the alternator, on lap 31. Jabouille failed to qualify in Canada ; as 27 drivers entered the race, only one would not qualify, and this was Jabouille as he ended up last, over 7.5 seconds behind the fastest qualifier Mario Andretti of Lotus , and almost two seconds behind his nearest rival, Rupert Keegan , in

4872-545: The issue of the system's legality with the FIA. The system used a spring-mounted mass in the nose cone to reduce the sensitivity of the car to vibration. This was particularly effective in corners and over kerbs to keep the tyres in closer contact to the track surface than they would otherwise be. However race stewards at the German Grand Prix deemed the system legal. The FIA announced its intention to appeal that decision and Renault announced they would not race with

4959-622: The line. While Jabouille ran into hard times after that race, Arnoux finished second at Silverstone in the following race and then repeated that at the Glen, proving it was not a fluke. Arnoux furthered this in 1980 with consecutive wins in Brazil and South Africa , both on high altitude circuits where the Renaults were dominant. Jabouille continued to have problems with retirements, but in his only points finish he emerged victorious in Austria . At

5046-465: The maximum Research Octane Number of 102 permitted under the Formula One regulations. BMW said that this was incorrect and FISA released a dossier supporting their stance. No action was taken. Prost was fired two days after the 1983 season following his public comments about the team's lack of development of the Renault RE40 which resulted in his loss to Piquet and the team's loss to Ferrari in

5133-467: The nickname of "Yellow Teapot" and failing to finish any of its races despite being comparatively powerful. The first race the team, under the name Equipe Renault Elf, entered was the 1977 French Grand Prix , the ninth round of the season, but the car was not yet ready. The team's début was delayed until the following round, the British Grand Prix . The car's first qualifying session was not

5220-442: 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. Alonso took two more second places, and then wins at his home Grand Prix in Spain , and at the Monaco Grand Prix . Fisichella took 8th, 6th and 3rd-place finishes in the San Marino Grand Prix , European Grand Prix and

5307-454: The past, with other teams doing a better job with turbo engines, or more specifically Lotus and to a lesser extent Ligier . 1985 provided another F1 first, as the team ran a third car in Germany at the new Nürburgring that featured the first in-car camera which could be viewed live by a television audience. Driven by Frenchman François Hesnault , the car only lasted 8 laps before a clutch problem forced it to retire (the last race on which

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5394-580: The pit lane on lap 14, and Kubica finished in eleventh place. Kubica took his first podium with the team, with a second-place finish in Australia . Petrov retired from the race, after spinning off the circuit. Kubica finished the next 3 races in the points, a 4th place in Malaysia , 5th place in Shanghai , and 8th place in Barcelona . Petrov meanwhile scored his first points in Formula 1 in China with his 7th place, it could have been more, but he spun off whilst in fourth, yet he still recovered to bring some points home. After setting fast times on Thursday and

5481-448: The points early in the race before retiring with electrical problems on lap 39. At Long Beach , Jabouille qualified 13th but retired as the turbo failed again on lap 44. He was twelfth in qualifying for the team's first Monaco Grand Prix , and gave the team their first finish in Formula One, finishing in tenth place four laps down on race-winner Tyrrell 's Patrick Depailler . Expanding to two drivers with René Arnoux joining Jabouille,

5568-470: The practice sessions. Initial comments from the drivers were highly promising, both describing a noticeable jump in outright power. As the practice sessions progressed, Honda kept improving the mapping, finding more power each outing. Towards the end, the drivers noted that there were some fairly prominent vibrations on upshift with the new unit and despite the power increase, was disconcerting to continue driving it. Post-practice, Honda told media representatives

5655-449: The qualifying performance was much improved as Jabouille qualified tenth. He had a poor start but ran as high as sixth before the suspension failed on lap 40. The team's poor qualifying form returned in Italy , as Jabouille qualified 20th. He ran outside the top 10 until his engine failed on lap 24, continuing their awful run of reliability. Things improved at Watkins Glen for the United States Grand Prix as Jabouille qualified 14th, but

5742-413: The race in 5th place. Rookie Heikki Kovalainen struggled even more than the Italian, spinning his car as he chased Toyota's Ralf Schumacher and ending up in 10th place. Results did not improve until the start of the European season, although both drivers finished in the points in the next race at Malaysia . Heikki Kovalainen struggled in Bahrain too, although the gap between himself and Fisichella at

5829-447: The remaining races, allowing the new team known as Racing Point Force India to apply for a late entry and start their participation in the championship in Belgium. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton entered the round with a 24-point lead over Sebastian Vettel in the Drivers' Championship. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes led Ferrari by 10 points. McLaren reserve driver Lando Norris made his first appearance at

5916-418: The second French constructor (after the triumph of Matra in 1969 ) and the first French-licensed team to win the title. Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella were retained for 2006, while test driver Franck Montagny was replaced by Heikki Kovalainen . The team's 2006 contender, the R26 – featuring a seven-speed gearbox made of titanium , was unveiled at a launch event on 31 January. Alonso won

6003-671: The sport as an engine manufacturer, winning four drivers' and constructors' titles with Red Bull Racing between 2010 and 2013. The company bought the Enstone-based team again in 2016 and re-branded it as Renault. The team did not win in the following five seasons and was re-branded as Alpine in 2021 with the Renault marque remaining as engine manufacturer. As a team owner, Renault has won two constructors' and drivers' championships, while as an engine manufacturer it has 12 constructors' and 11 drivers' championships. It has collected over 160 wins as engine supplier, ranking fourth in Formula One history. Renault's first involvement in Formula One

6090-451: The system for fear of retrospective punishment if the appeal was upheld. Renault's performance at the German Grand Prix was one of their worst of the season; however, the team blamed blistering of their Michelin tyres rather than the loss of the mass damper system. The FIA International Court of Appeal met in Paris on 22 August 2006, to examine the appeal made by the FIA against the decision of the German Grand Prix stewards. The Court ruled that

6177-554: The team continued to struggle although Jabouille earned a pole position in South Africa . By mid-season, both drivers had a new ground-effect car, the RS10, and at Dijon for the French Grand Prix the team legitimised itself with a brilliant performance in a classic race. The two Renaults were on the front row in qualifying, and pole-sitter Jabouille won the race, the first driver in a turbocharged car to do so, while Arnoux and Gilles Villeneuve were involved in an extremely competitive duel for second, Arnoux narrowly getting beaten to

6264-623: The team, while Arnoux added two more in 1982 . Arnoux left for rival Ferrari after 1982 and was replaced by American Eddie Cheever . 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 . After the end of the season, a rival fuel company said that the fuel used by the Brabham-BMWs in South Africa had exceeded

6351-469: The team. At the meeting, the Council banned Renault from Formula One, but suspended this sanction for two years, meaning Renault would have been thrown out of Formula One if a similar incident occurred before the end of the 2011 season. FIA stated that Renault would have likely been thrown out of Formula One if it had not taken swift action in pushing out Briatore and Symonds. At the same meeting, Briatore

6438-414: The team. The team similarly started in 2008 as the year before; Fernando Alonso managed to garner fourth at the opening Australian Grand Prix as a result of a mistake from a previous Renault employee Heikki Kovalainen. However, the form was still short of 2006 by a large degree over the first half of the 2008 season. The team brought new parts to the Spanish Grand Prix , including a new engine-cover, dubbed

6525-401: The third highest tally again with no issue, this time with Pierre Gasly in the driver's seat. At the close of the first test, Toro Rosso topped the total mileage charts finishing off with Pierre Gasly completing 147 laps on the final day, this showed that Honda with Toro Rosso, had completed more laps in week one than Honda had completed with McLaren in the entire test fortnight in 2017. Following

6612-407: The two teammates themselves remained friendly). Commentators regularly point to the French Grand Prix as the final straw for Briatore, where Trulli was overtaken by Rubens Barrichello in the final stages of the last lap, costing Renault a double podium finish at their home Grand Prix. He subsequently announced he was joining Toyota for the following year and in fact left Renault early, driving

6699-492: The unit should only improve with further analysis and adjustments made to the mapping as the season progresses, however after an initially strong debut for the upgrade, reliability issues appeared on Pierre Gasly's PU which Honda remarked seemed to be isolated issues not related to the upgrade and would investigate further. After several lacklustre performances at a variety of track layouts, Toro Rosso said they were trying to figure out their entire package with correlation issues on

6786-656: The use of the device known as a Tuned Mass Damper is an infringement of Article 3.15 of the Formula One Technical Regulations. Points scored in the Brazilian Grand Prix secured the Constructors' Championship for Renault in 2006. On 16 October 2006, Renault announced that the Dutch banking giant ING would replace Mild Seven as title sponsor for three years starting in 2007 . Renault confirmed Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen as their race drivers for 2007 with Nelson Piquet Jr. and Ricardo Zonta as test drivers. The car for 2007,

6873-404: The youngest ever driver to do so. This achievement was followed by a win in China to secure the Constructors' World Championship for Renault after McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya 's car was badly damaged by a drain cover coming loose on the track. This broke Ferrari 's six-year stranglehold on that title. It was the first time Renault had won the title as a manufacturer, and Renault became only

6960-412: Was Trulli's replacement for the 2005 season. He took advantage of a rain-affected qualifying session to win the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix . Fernando Alonso then won the next three races to build a considerable lead in the Drivers' World Championship, thereby doing the same for Renault in the Constructors' Championship. Meanwhile, Fisichella failed to finish several races. After

7047-447: Was banned from FIA events for life, while Symonds received a five-year ban. The bans on Briatore and Symonds were subsequently overturned by a French court in 2010. FIA, Briatore and Symonds reached a settlement that allowed Briatore and Symonds to return to FIA in 2011 and to Formula One in 2013. In 2010, Renault sold a majority stake in the team to Genii Capital , a Luxembourg based investment company. However Renault still retained

7134-470: Was made by the Renault Sport subsidiary. Renault entered the last five races of 1977 with Jean-Pierre Jabouille in its only car. The Renault RS01 was well known for its Renault- Gordini V6 1.5 L turbocharged engine , the first regularly used turbo engine in Formula One history. Jabouille's car and engine proved highly unreliable and became something of a joke during its first races, earning

7221-412: Was rebranded as Renault F1 and contested the season with drivers Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button who scored 23 points during the season. As a result of rebranding, Renault received a French nationality license instead of Italian . Despite outscoring his teammate during 2002, Button was dropped by Renault in 2003 . His replacement was Spain's Fernando Alonso , who had been considered impressive as

7308-474: Was sought and Kubica was ready to commit to the outfit. On 31 January, Vitaly Petrov was signed to be Kubica's teammate, becoming Russia 's first Formula One driver. 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. At the opening round in Bahrain , Petrov retired with broken suspension while in

7395-620: Was sponsored by the fast food chain restaurant KFC , later the team was trolled as Pollo Rosso ("Red Chicken") on Twitter . ( key ) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as they had completed over 90% of the winner's race distance. Renault in Formula One Renault , a French automobile manufacturer, has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977,

7482-639: Was the thirteenth round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship and marked the 74th running of the Belgian Grand Prix and the 61st time the race was held at Spa-Francorchamps and 51st time as a round of the World Championship. The race was won by Scuderia Ferrari 's Sebastian Vettel ahead of Mercedes ' Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing 's Max Verstappen . The victory moved Vettel ahead of Alain Prost in all-time career Formula One victories and would be his last win for over

7569-449: Was upset Renault was using his name for their image and that their actions meant he would not race for them. On 5 November 2010, Autosport reported that Renault was poised to scale back its involvement in 2011 and become only an engine supplier, with the team closing in on a tie-up with Lotus Cars to buy its 25% stake in the team. The deal was finalised in early December 2010, with the team to be renamed Lotus Renault GP for 2011, under

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