The B200 was launched in January 2000 at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona, simultaneously broadcast via the team's newly launched website. Tim Densham replaced outgoing designer Nick Wirth as Chief Designer, bringing experience from the aborted Honda RA099 project. The design philosophy consciously returned to basics after the technically complex B199 had suffered frequent reliability problems.
The engine was the Playlife FB02, manufactured by Supertec and based on the Renault RS9 architecture. Unlike previous arrangements, this unit was specifically tailored for the B200 rather than being a carry-over supply. Primary sponsorship continued with the Mild Seven tobacco brand, and the car retained its sky blue livery, supplemented by D2 and new additions Marconi and MTCI.
Following the opening race of the season, Renault announced it would purchase Benetton from the Benetton family for approximately $120 million. Renault also joined as a commercial sponsor for the B200 and the planned B201, building its presence within the team before taking full operational ownership in 2002. Flavio Briatore returned to the team ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix as Team Principal, appointed by Renault to oversee the transition.
The B200 opened the year positively. Fisichella scored two points in Australia and then finished third in Brazil before being promoted to second following David Coulthard's disqualification. He followed this with back-to-back podiums at Monaco and Canada, the latter achieved through an effective one-stop pit strategy.
Wurz had a far more difficult season, failing to score points until the Italian Grand Prix, where he finished fifth. Speculation that test driver Antonio Pizzonia — recruited after the team released Hidetoshi Mitsusada in May — might replace Wurz circulated during the summer. By August, Jenson Button had been confirmed as Wurz's replacement for 2001.
Fisichella's podiums gave the team fourth place in the Constructors' Championship, level on 20 points with British American Racing but placed ahead on countback due to his superior finishing positions.
After the season concluded, Fernando Alonso — at the time a young test driver yet to enter Formula One — drove the B200, providing what would later appear as an early marker in the career of a future double world champion. Mark Webber, appointed as the team's 2001 test driver, also completed laps in the car at Estoril.
The Mild Seven livery remained the dominant visual identity, absent only at the French and British Grands Prix where tobacco advertising restrictions applied.
The B200 closed the Benetton chapter of the team's history on a note of relative recovery. Three podiums, a strengthened driver programme, and the corporate transition to Renault ownership set the stage for the eventual construction of the team that would win back-to-back championships under Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006, operating from the same Enstone facility.
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