Renault F1 facts for kids

Renault
Full name	Lotus Renault GP
Base	Enstone, United Kingdom
Team principal(s)	Éric Boullier
Technical director	Bob Bell
2011 Formula One season
Race drivers	9. Nick Heidfeld; 10. Vitaly Petrov
Test drivers	Fairuz Fauzy; Bruno Senna; Romain Grosjean; Ho-Pin Tung; Jérôme d'Ambrosio; Jan Charouz
Chassis	Renault R31
Engine	Renault RS27-2011
Tyres	Pirelli
Formula One World Championship Career
Debut	1977 British Grand Prix
Latest race	2012 British Grand Prix
Races competed	295
Constructors' Championships	2 (2005 and 2006)
Drivers' Championships	2 (2005 and 2006)
Race victories	35
Pole positions	51
Fastest laps	31
2010 position	5th (163 points)

Not to be confused with Renault FR1.

"Lotus Renault GP" redirects here. For the Lotus team which competed in Formula One from 1958-1994, see Team Lotus. For the team which started racing in 2010, see Lotus Racing.

Fernando Alonso driving for Renault F1 in 2009.

Renault F1 is a Formula One racing team. It was once owned by the Renault company. In December of 2010, Renault sold their remaining part of the Formula One team. Renault has a long history in F1. Ferenc Szisz won the first French Grand Prix at the wheel of a Renault. Since then Renault has competed in Formula One as an engine supplier and as a builder from the late 1970s to the present day, with many breaks. Renault introduced the turbo engine to Formula One when they debuted their first car, the Renault RS01 at Silverstone in 1977. Although the Renault team won races and competed for world titles, it was as a supplier of engines to the Benetton and Williams teams in the 1990s that Renault first tasted world championship success. Renault Engines powered drivers such as Nigel Mansall, Damon Hill, Jacque Villeneuve and Michael Schumacer to the Drivers World Championship. Renault returned to the job of being a builder in 2001 by taking over the Benetton team, which was renamed Renault in 2002. Their first championship as a builder was achieved in 2005; the same year that they won their first drivers' championship with former test driver Fernando Alonso. They repeated their success in the following year.

The teams lowest point so far was in late 2009. at the end of the 2008 season the team saw a brief return to the podium spots, with Fernando Alonso winning 2 of the last 4 races. However, Nelson Piquet Jnr, Who had drove for Renualt throughout the 2008 season (but was sacked from the team) told the media that the team had made him cheat in order to help Alonso win.

At the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix (the first ever Grand Prix to be held at night) Nelson Piquet Jnr lost control of his car at the outside of Turn 17, sliding across the road and smashing into a wall, throwing lots of debris across the road, meaning the Safety Car had to be called out to lead the cars through the track slowly to protect the Marshalls cleaning the road. This closed the gaps between the cars, meaning they were now racing very close together. This allowed Fernando Alonso, who was in 15th place to pass the slower less experienced drivers around him. Alonso went on to win race. After Renualt fired Piquet Jnr for his poor driving in 2009, He told the FIA (the organisation that run the Formula 1 World Championship) That Flavio Briatore, the Boss of the Renualt F1 Team (Who had been the boss for 20 years, and had cheated previously) had told him over the radio to crash the car deliberately, in order to bring the safety car out and give Alonso a better chance. Alonso was not aware of this at the time, or before to the crash.

Following a meeting of the FIA Super Council in Paris, Team Principle Flavio Briatore and Chief Engineer Pat Symmonds were found guilty. Both had to leave the team and Flavio was banned from Formula 1 for life (That band has now been lifted). In connection with the event, Renault F1's main Sponsor ING Insurance (as shown in the photo above) Also left the team

On 8 December, 2010, Renault announced that they had sold their remaining ownership shares in the team to Genii Capital, a private investment group. Those shares will be purchased by Lotus Cars, which is owned by Proton. Proton owns Lotus Cars. The team will be named Lotus Renault GP for 2011. They will continue to use Renault as the chassis name. The cars will use a black and gold livery (paint scheme). It will be similar to the historic John Player Special sponsorship that Lotus had in the 1970s and 1980s.

The team has raced as a French team since Renault took over Benetton in 2002. In January 2011, it was announced that they will race under a British licence in 2011. This is the first time since 1975 that there has not been a French team in Formula One.

Formula One World Championship results

Main page: Renault Grand Prix results

Images for kids

Renault 1.5-litre turbo engine
In 1979, the Renault RS10 became the first turbocharged car to win a Grand Prix.
Derek Warwick qualified third for Renault at the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix, but spun off after 10 laps.
Members of the Renault F1 pit crew in 2002.
Jarno Trulli driving for Renault at the 2003 United States Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso driving for Renault at the 2004 United States Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso driving for Renault at the 2005 British Grand Prix.
Fisichella won the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix for Renault.
Fernando Alonso on his way to victory at the 2006 Canadian Grand Prix.
Giancarlo Fisichella driving for Renault at the 2007 British Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso driving for Renault at the 2008 French Grand Prix.
Nelson Piquet, Jr. driving for Renault at the 2009 Turkish Grand Prix.
Then rookie Romain Grosjean driving for Renault at the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix.
Robert Kubica driving for Renault at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, bearing the distinctive yellow and black livery.
Then rookie Vitaly Petrov driving for Renault at the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix.
Jolyon Palmer driving for Renault at the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix.
The logo of Renault Sport F1 the official supplier of Renault Formula One engines. (2011–2015)
Johnny Herbert's Benetton-Renault during the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix. Renault won 16 races of 17 races in the 1995 season, with Benetton and Williams. It was the record for the most wins in a year as an engine supplier.
A Renault Sport F1 truck on the A26 near Calais, France.