Renault S.A.

The brothers recognised the publicity value of motor racing from the outset. Both Louis and Marcel raced company vehicles in the early city-to-city events. Marcel Renault won the 1902 Rallye Paris-Vienna but was killed in an accident during the 1903 Paris-Madrid race. Although Louis never raced again after his brother's death, Ferenc Szisz drove a Renault AK 90CV to victory in the first Grand Prix motor racing event in 1906. The company remained very involved in circuit racing throughout this period.

Marcel Renault's 1902 Paris-Vienna victory was among the first major rally wins for the marque. During the 1950s and 1960s Renault produced several rear-wheel-drive small cars — the 4CV, the R8, and the Dauphine — that were well adapted to the rallying of the time. The Renault Dauphine won the 1956 Mille Miglia and the 1958 Monte Carlo Rally.

In 1973 Renault acquired a controlling stake in Automobiles Alpine, which had already built successful rally cars such as the A110. A highly evolved A110 won the first World Rally Championship, competing as Alpine-Renault. In 1976 the Alpine competition department and the Gordini factory at Viry-Châtillon were merged into Renault Sport. The focus shifted toward Formula One, though Renault achieved notable victories including the 1981 Monte Carlo Rally with the Renault 5 Turbo before withdrawing from the world rally championship in late 1994.

Renault won the European Rally Championship four times: in 1970, 1999, 2004, and 2005.

In cross-country racing, the Marreau brothers won the 1982 Dakar Rally driving a Renault 20 Turbo 4x4 prototype. Renault later provided a Mégane platform and sponsored the Schlesser-Renault Elf buggies that won the 1999 and 2000 Dakar editions; the 1999 car was the first two-wheel-drive winner of that event.

In 1978 Renault, through Renault Sport, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Renault Alpine A442.

Renault introduced the turbocharged engine to Formula One when it debuted the Renault RS01 at Silverstone in 1977. The Renault factory team ran through 1986. From 1989 Renault supplied engines to the Williams team, powering numerous championship victories in the following years.

Renault acquired the Benetton Formula team in 2000 for the 2001 season and renamed it Renault F1 in 2002. In 2005 and 2006 the team won the Constructors' and Drivers' titles with Fernando Alonso. At the 2005 French Grand Prix, Renault's chairman Carlos Ghosn articulated the company's position: "We are not in Formula One out of habit or tradition. We're here to show our talent and that we can do it properly … Formula One is a cost if you don't get the results. Formula One is an investment if you do have them and know how to exploit them."

Renault powered the winning Red Bull Racing team in 2010. In December 2010 Renault sold its final stake in what became Lotus/Renault to investment group Genii Capital, ending its direct team ownership. Renault repurchased the Enstone-based team for the 2016 season and rebranded it Renault; in 2021 the team was renamed Alpine F1 Team as part of the new Alpine business unit. Renault's engine manufacturing at Viry-Châtillon was scheduled to cease after the 2025 season.

Renault backed one-make single-seater series including Formula Renault and the Formula Renault 3.5. These series featured in the careers of Formula One champions Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Räikkönen, and Lewis Hamilton, as well as IndyCar champion Will Power.

Renault Sport develops performance road cars including the Renault Clio RS and the Renault Mégane RS, which have held lap records at circuits such as the Nürburgring and Suzuka.

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.