Renault Sport F1
Encyclopedia
Renault Sport F1 is the current incarnation of Renault
's involvement in Formula 1. It was born at the end of 2010, when the carmaker sold the 25 per cent final share property from its Enstone-based team, Renault F1
, to major stockholder Genii Capital
but kept for itself the control of its Viry-Châtillon engine factory
.
, Team Lotus and Red Bull Racing
). It also gives a central point of contact of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) on the engine, although integration and adequacy is left entirely to the teams.
As an engine supplier, it sends 30 people to each race. All the partner teams count with six people from Renault Sport F1 (2 engineers
, 2 technicians
, 1 support engine engineer and 1 electrician
). A total of 48 engines are supplied during the season.
, and moved all the racing activities to Viry-Châtillon, just outside Paris
. The new subsidiary resulting from the merger between Renault-Gordini
and the above-mentioned Alpine competition department was called Renault Sport
, and it would have to its charge the entry of a team into the F1. It manufactured the first turbo engine seen on the category, the Renault-Gordini-Elf Type EF1 V6
1.5 litres, at a time where the naturally aspirated 3-litre engines were predominant.
In 1983, Renault Sport became the Team Lotus
engine supplier.
In 1986, it ended the participation of the Renault team in F1 and continued as an engine supplier for Ligier
, Tyrrell
and Lotus. That season introduced the EF15 B engine, which included several innovations, like static ignition and pneumatic valve return. By the end of the year, however, Renault dropped out of the sport.
of 3.5 litres, when its rivals were V8 or V12
engines. The Williams-Renault combination scored its first victory at the 1989 Canadian Grand Prix
, with Thierry Boutsen
.
In 1992, the Renault RS4 (with a new cylinder head to increase engine speed), through Williams, won the first Constructor’s title for the carmaker. Nigel Mansell
, a Williams’ driver, also settled the Driver’s title.
Between 1992 and 1994, Ligier used the Renault engines.
In 1993, the RS5 showed a redesigned top end (intake, combustion and timing) and optimizations to boost power, allowing Alain Prost
's triumphal return.
In 1995 engine regulations reduced maximum engine displacement to three litres, so the engineers had to adapt. The RS7 maintained the same angle as previous designs, but it was lighter and mated for the first time to a fly-by-wire throttle. Benetton
joined as a client of the Renault engines and, the same year, won the two titles.
Renault left again the F1 at the end of 1997, and evolutions of its last engine, the RS9, were still used for many teams during the following seasons. Nevertheless, Renault continued working with its old partner Mecachrome
, which supplied or assisted technically to RS9 power plants with the names of Mecachrome, Supertec
and Playlife.
Mecachrome GC37-01 was the RS9 version in use by Williams in 1998.
In 1999, the Supertec FB01 was mounted by Williams and BAR
. Even in 2000 a second evolution of the Supertec (the FB02) powered the Arrows cars.
Since 2007, the FIA placed a freeze on engine improvement. That year, Renault begun a long term deal with Red Bull Racing to be its engine supplier, which would prove to be a very wise decision at the future.
In 2008, Renault was authorized to perform some updates in its engine, the RS27.
In 2009, after two difficult seasons, results start to improve for Red Bull, and it achieved (with Sebastian Vettel
) its first pole position, and a subsequent first victory, at the Chinese Grand Prix of that year
.
In 2010, the Milton Keynes
outfit and Sebastian Vettel were crowned at both championships. It was the ninth title for a Renault engine, and the first for the RS27.
It has helped to clinch the 2011 driver and constructor's titles with Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull.
For 2012, Williams will return to its historic association with Renault, receiving RS27 engines. The partnership finishes at the end of 2013, when the new engine regulations will be in effect, but there is an option for renovation.
A deal until 2016 was signed with Red Bull, which means that team will be using the new V6 turbo engine manufactured by Renault.
Team Lotus has also confirmed will be using Renault engines until the end of 2013. It will employ a KERS developed by Renault Sport F1 and Red Bull Technology
.
Lotus Renault GP's team principal, Eric Boullier
, said its structure is negotiating to continue with the French engine supplier because of the long term relationship and the related sponsorship of Total
.
Renault's CEO, Carlos Ghosn
, commented in an interview at the weekend of the first Indian Grand Prix
that there are no plans to return with a works team and the company's current role as an engine supplier will continue for a long period.
From 2012 onwards Jean-Michel Jalinier will replace the present chairman of Renault Sport F1, Bernard Rey. Jalinier is an old employee of Renault, and currently was working for its Brazilian subsidiary as president.
Configuration : 2.4L V8
RPM : 18000 (maximum allowed by the FIA)
Power output : More than 720 bhp
Weight : 95 kg (minimum allowed by the FIA)
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
's involvement in Formula 1. It was born at the end of 2010, when the carmaker sold the 25 per cent final share property from its Enstone-based team, Renault F1
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...
, to major stockholder Genii Capital
Genii Capital
Genii Capital is an international financial advisory and investment firm, which specialises in brand management, promising technologies, motorsport and a wide spectrum of venture capitalism activities. It was created in 2008, by two Luxembourger investors, Gerard Lopez and Eric Lux and has a...
but kept for itself the control of its Viry-Châtillon engine factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
.
Role in Formula One
The main activity of Renault Sport F1 is to provide engines (RS27 V8, 2.4 litres) for its partner teams ( Lotus Renault GPRenault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...
, Team Lotus and Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the...
). It also gives a central point of contact of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) on the engine, although integration and adequacy is left entirely to the teams.
As an engine supplier, it sends 30 people to each race. All the partner teams count with six people from Renault Sport F1 (2 engineers
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
, 2 technicians
Technician
A technician is a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant skills and techniques, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical principles. Experienced technicians in a specific tool domain typically have intermediate understanding of theory and expert...
, 1 support engine engineer and 1 electrician
Electrician
An electrician is a tradesman specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, stationary machines and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance and repair of existing electrical infrastructure. Electricians may also...
). A total of 48 engines are supplied during the season.
Renault as F1 engine supplier: History and development
Despite its various designations and status, Renault's Formula One engine factory has always been located at the same headquarters, deeply remodelled through the years, in Viry-Châtillon, France.Renault Sport era (1977–1986)
At the end of 1976, Renault closed down the Alpine competition department (on that moment, its main motorsport division), located at DieppeDieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...
, and moved all the racing activities to Viry-Châtillon, just outside Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The new subsidiary resulting from the merger between Renault-Gordini
Gordini
Gordini is a French sports car manufacturer. The firm was founded by Amédée Gordini nicknamed "Le Sorcier" .Gordini competed in Formula One from 1950 to 1956....
and the above-mentioned Alpine competition department was called Renault Sport
Renault Sport
Renault Sport Technologies is the France motorsport division of Renault. Renault Sport was responsible for Renault's sports car racing entries during the 1970s, including their win at the 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans race with the Renault Alpine A442.Actual Renault's Formula One team, Renault F1 in...
, and it would have to its charge the entry of a team into the F1. It manufactured the first turbo engine seen on the category, the Renault-Gordini-Elf Type EF1 V6
V6 engine
A V6 engine is a V engine with six cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of three cylinders, usually set at either a right angle or an acute angle to each other, with all six pistons driving a common crankshaft...
1.5 litres, at a time where the naturally aspirated 3-litre engines were predominant.
In 1983, Renault Sport became the Team Lotus
Team Lotus
Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar and sports car racing...
engine supplier.
In 1986, it ended the participation of the Renault team in F1 and continued as an engine supplier for Ligier
Ligier
For the related Formula One team, see Equipe LigierLigier is a French automobile maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier.-History:...
, Tyrrell
Tyrrell
Tyrrell or Tyrell may refer to:Places* Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology* Tyrrell County, North Carolina*Tyrrell Sea, prehistoric Hudson Bay*Tyrrell Middle School, a secondary school in Wolcott, ConnecticutPeople...
and Lotus. That season introduced the EF15 B engine, which included several innovations, like static ignition and pneumatic valve return. By the end of the year, however, Renault dropped out of the sport.
Renault F1 era (1989–1997)
In 1989, with the turbo’s prohibition and the imposition of atmospheric engines, the Viry factory (called in this opportunity Renault F1, as a division of Renault Sport) came back. It signed a partnership agreement with Williams, supplying it with RS1 engines. The RS1 was unique by several characteristics. It was a closed-angle (67º) V10V10 engine
A V10 engine is a V engine with 10 cylinders in two banks of five with a distinct exhaust note.- Mechanics :The V10 is essentially the result of mating two even-firing straight-5 engines together. The straight-5 engine shows first and second order rocking motion...
of 3.5 litres, when its rivals were V8 or V12
V12 engine
A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft....
engines. The Williams-Renault combination scored its first victory at the 1989 Canadian Grand Prix
1989 Canadian Grand Prix
The 1989 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 18, 1989.It was the first Formula One victory for Belgian driver Thierry Boutsen, who won three F1 races overall, all during his two-year stint with Williams-Renault.- Classification :- Notes :*Lap...
, with Thierry Boutsen
Thierry Boutsen
Thierry Marc Boutsen is a former racing driver who raced for the Arrows, Benetton, Williams, Ligier and Jordan teams in Formula One.-Career:thumb|left|Boutsen driving for [[Arrows]] at the [[1984 Dallas Grand Prix]]....
.
In 1992, the Renault RS4 (with a new cylinder head to increase engine speed), through Williams, won the first Constructor’s title for the carmaker. Nigel Mansell
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell OBE is a British racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the CART Indy Car World Series...
, a Williams’ driver, also settled the Driver’s title.
Between 1992 and 1994, Ligier used the Renault engines.
In 1993, the RS5 showed a redesigned top end (intake, combustion and timing) and optimizations to boost power, allowing Alain Prost
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur is a French racing driver. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, Prost has won more titles than any driver except for Juan Manuel Fangio , and Michael Schumacher . From 1987 until 2001 Prost held the record for most Grand Prix...
's triumphal return.
In 1995 engine regulations reduced maximum engine displacement to three litres, so the engineers had to adapt. The RS7 maintained the same angle as previous designs, but it was lighter and mated for the first time to a fly-by-wire throttle. Benetton
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...
joined as a client of the Renault engines and, the same year, won the two titles.
Renault left again the F1 at the end of 1997, and evolutions of its last engine, the RS9, were still used for many teams during the following seasons. Nevertheless, Renault continued working with its old partner Mecachrome
Mecachrome
Mecachrome SAS is a precision engineering company involved in aviation, the automotive industry, motor racing and industrial engineering, but is most famous for assembling the engines designed by Renault for the Renault Formula One team.-Formula One:...
, which supplied or assisted technically to RS9 power plants with the names of Mecachrome, Supertec
Supertec
Supertec was a Formula One engine supplier in 1999 and 2000. Supertec supplied Renault-designed, Mecachrome-built 1998 season engines updated for 1999 and 2000....
and Playlife.
Mecachrome GC37-01 was the RS9 version in use by Williams in 1998.
In 1999, the Supertec FB01 was mounted by Williams and BAR
British American Racing
British American Racing was a Formula One constructor that competed in the sport from 1999 to 2005. BAR began by acquiring Tyrrell, and used Supertec engines for their first year...
. Even in 2000 a second evolution of the Supertec (the FB02) powered the Arrows cars.
Renault F1 Team era (2002–2010)
Benetton continued with its own RS9 adaptation known as Playlife (in fact, a rebadged Supertec) until 2001, when the team started to use a Renault engine again coming from Viry. In 2002 (after the Renault purchase in 2000) the Enstone-based team and the Viry-based engine factory were combined to create the Renault F1 Team. The RS25, 3.0-litre V10 engine and the RS26, 2.4-litre V8 engine, powered the World Champion cars of it. Renault was the first mainline manufacturer to reach that milestone.Since 2007, the FIA placed a freeze on engine improvement. That year, Renault begun a long term deal with Red Bull Racing to be its engine supplier, which would prove to be a very wise decision at the future.
In 2008, Renault was authorized to perform some updates in its engine, the RS27.
In 2009, after two difficult seasons, results start to improve for Red Bull, and it achieved (with Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and ....
) its first pole position, and a subsequent first victory, at the Chinese Grand Prix of that year
2009 Chinese Grand Prix
The 2009 Chinese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on April 19, 2009 at the Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, People's Republic of China. It was the third race of the 2009 Formula One season, a change from previous years, when it took place towards the end of the season.Sebastian...
.
In 2010, the Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
outfit and Sebastian Vettel were crowned at both championships. It was the ninth title for a Renault engine, and the first for the RS27.
Renault Sport F1 era (2011–)
In 2011 Renault Sport F1 added Team Lotus to its primary engine clients, Red Bull Racing and Lotus Renault GP.It has helped to clinch the 2011 driver and constructor's titles with Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull.
For 2012, Williams will return to its historic association with Renault, receiving RS27 engines. The partnership finishes at the end of 2013, when the new engine regulations will be in effect, but there is an option for renovation.
A deal until 2016 was signed with Red Bull, which means that team will be using the new V6 turbo engine manufactured by Renault.
Team Lotus has also confirmed will be using Renault engines until the end of 2013. It will employ a KERS developed by Renault Sport F1 and Red Bull Technology
Red Bull Technology
Red Bull Technology is a subsidiary of energy drink company Red Bull relating to motor racing. It was set up by Red Bull to design, engineer and build the chassis for its Formula One racing team, Red Bull Racing....
.
Lotus Renault GP's team principal, Eric Boullier
Éric Boullier
Éric René Boullier is a French motor racing engineer and manager, currently the team principal of the Lotus Renault GP Formula One team and vice chairman of FOTA.-Career:...
, said its structure is negotiating to continue with the French engine supplier because of the long term relationship and the related sponsorship of Total
Total S.A.
Total S.A. is a French multinational oil company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world.Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and production to power generation, transportation, refining, petroleum product marketing, and...
.
Renault's CEO, Carlos Ghosn
Carlos Ghosn
Carlos Ghosn, KBE , born 9 March 1954, is a Brazilian-Lebanese-French businessman who is currently the Chairman and CEO of Yokohama, Japan-based Nissan and holds the same positions at Paris-based Renault, which together produce more than one in 10 cars worldwide...
, commented in an interview at the weekend of the first Indian Grand Prix
Indian Grand Prix
The Indian Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is currently held at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India...
that there are no plans to return with a works team and the company's current role as an engine supplier will continue for a long period.
From 2012 onwards Jean-Michel Jalinier will replace the present chairman of Renault Sport F1, Bernard Rey. Jalinier is an old employee of Renault, and currently was working for its Brazilian subsidiary as president.
RS27 specifications
Designation : RS27-2011Configuration : 2.4L V8
RPM : 18000 (maximum allowed by the FIA)
Power output : More than 720 bhp
Bhp
BHP, or bhp may refer to:*BHP Billiton, Australian based mining company renowned as being the largest mining company in the world**The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited, company name 1885-2000**BHP Limited, company name 2000-2001...
Weight : 95 kg (minimum allowed by the FIA)