Renault in Formula One

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.

Renault

File:Renault F1 Team logo 2019.svg
Full name	Renault Formula 1 Team
Base	Viry-Châtillon, Essonne, France (1977–1985) Enstone, Oxfordshire, England, UK (2002–2011, 2016–2020)
Noted staff	Bernard Dudot Jean Sage Patrick Faure Bob Bell Éric Boullier Alain Dassas Alan Permane James Allison Flavio Briatore Mike Gascoyne John Iley Steve Nielsen Pat Symonds Dino Toso Dirk de Beer Frédéric Vasseur Rob White Cyril Abiteboul Nick Chester Pat Fry
Noted drivers	Fernando Alonso Alain Prost René Arnoux Giancarlo Fisichella Jean-Pierre Jabouille Jarno Trulli
Previous name	Benetton Formula (1986–2001) Lotus F1 Team (2012–2015)
Next name	Alpine F1 Team
Formula One World Championship career
First entry	1977 British Grand Prix
Last entry	2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Races entered	403 (400 starts)
Engines	Renault
Constructors' Championships	2 (2005, 2006)
Drivers' Championships	2 (2005, 2006)
Race victories	35
Podiums	103
Points	1777
Pole positions	51
Fastest laps	33

Renault as a Formula One engine manufacturer

Formula One World Championship career
First entry	1977 British Grand Prix
Last entry	2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Races entered	774 (771 starts)
Chassis	Renault, Lotus (1983–1986), Ligier, Tyrrell, Williams, Benetton, Red Bull, Lotus (2011), Lotus (2012–2014), Caterham, Toro Rosso, McLaren, Alpine
Constructors' Championships	12 (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Drivers' Championships	11 (1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Race victories	169
Podiums	465
Points	8228.5
Pole positions	213
Fastest laps	177

Fernando Alonso driving for Renault F1 in 2009.

Renault F1 was a Formula One racing team 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 using a Renault. Since then Renault has competed in Formula One as an engine supplier and as a car builder from the late 1970s to 2021, 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 had 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 drove for Renualt throughout the 2008 season told the media that the team had made him cheat in a race in order to help Alonso win.

At the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix (the first ever Grand Prix to be held at night) Nelson Piquet Jr lost control of his car at the outside of Turn 17, sliding across the road and smashing into a wall, throwing debris across the road, meaning the Safety Car had to be called out to lead the cars through the track slowly to protect the marshals 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 the race. After Renault fired Piquet Jnr for his poor driving in 2009, he told the FIA (the organization that run the Formula 1 World Championship) that Flavio Briatore, the boss of the Renault F1 Team (who had been the team manager for 20 years, and had cheated previously) had told him over the radio to crash his 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 even before the crash.

Following a meeting of the FIA Super Council in Paris, Team Principal 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 ban has now been lifted). In connection with the event, Renault F1's main sponsor, ING Insurance, 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 were then purchased by Lotus Cars, which is owned by Proton. The team was named Lotus Renault GP since 2011. They continued to use Renault as the chassis name. The cars had a black and gold paint scheme, 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.

In 2015, Lotus was sold back to Renault, and in 2021, it was renamed to Alpine F1 Team, as a way to promote Renault's reborn Alpine car brand. In 2022, it was renamed to BWT Alpine F1 Team after water technology company BWT took title sponsorship after moving from Aston Martin.

Formula One World Championship results

Main article: Renault Grand Prix results