 |
| Base: |
Enstone, UK |
|
| Drivers: |
F Alonso |
|
N Piquet |
|
| Test Drivers: |
L di Grassi, R Grosjean, S Yamamoto |
| Chassis: |
R28 |
| Engine: |
Renault RS27 |
| Tyres: |
Bridgestone Potenza |
| First Season: |
1977 |
| World Championships: |
2 |
| Total Wins |
33 |
| Pole Positions: |
50 |
| Fastest Laps: |
27 |
|
History
After back-to-back drivers' and constructors' titles in 2005-6, Renault's 2007 slump came as a painful shock.
A single podium finish was far less than expected after 16 wins in two years.
But the team is confident it has addressed the deficiencies in last year's car, and with its talismanic champion driver Fernando Alonso back on board, Renault is determined to prove that last year was merely a fleeting ‘blip' rather than the start of a decline.
There is good reason to believe that Renault will bounce back in 2008.
Last year it was weakened by its tyre partner Michelin's departure, and because it had poured resources into the ultra-close 2006 title fight at the expense of 2007 preparations – a problem that most notably manifested itself in some aerodynamic flaws.
But the team has now had a year to get to grips with the Bridgestone control tyres, and was able to make a more concerted early effort with its 2008 design.
The dramatic collapse of his relationship with McLaren has left Alonso more fired up than ever, while his team-mate Nelson Piquet Jr is keen to prove that he can emulate his sometime GP2 title rival Lewis Hamilton's sensational rookie form.
Still fundamentally the same team that swept to the 2005/6 titles, Renault has all the ingredients in place for a comeback.
F1 track record
Renault became synonymous with success as an engine supplier in the 1990s, when it powered Williams to four world championships and Benetton to the 1995 titles, but until 2005 it had never won the crown as a constructor.
In 1977 its first works programme had changed the face of F1, as Renault introduced 1.5-litre turbocharged engines.
It was initially the butt of derision - but soon the entire grid was jumping on the turbo bandwagon, and Renault found itself overhauled by rivals.
The closest it came to a championship was in 1983, when Alain Prost narrowly lost out to Nelson Piquet and Brabham-BMW.
After two further, less productive seasons, Renault closed its works team altogether.
The modern Renault squad has little in common with that troubled operation.
This time the company purchased an existing team - 1994-5 title winner Benetton - to form the basis of its factory outfit.
Times were hard at first, as the radical 2001 car initially proved embarrassingly uncompetitive.
But Renault methodically worked forward, and by 2003 it was a regular frontrunner again, with Alonso taking the works team's first win in 20 years in Hungary.
Jarno Trulli's glorious Monaco victory aside, Renault spent 2004 watching from the lower steps of the podium as Ferrari blitzed F1, but the following two years were a different story.
The team began both 2005 and 2006 in dominant form, allowing Alonso to build substantial points leads by the middle of each season.
In 2005 it was Kimi Raikkonen's faster but more fragile McLaren that bore down on Alonso in the second half of the year, but the Spaniard had enough in hand to claim the title for Renault.
Schumacher and Ferrari proved tougher still in 2006, and even briefly sneaked into the championship lead in the closing stages, before Alonso and Renault prevailed again.
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