Renault's involvement in Formula One was made through the Renault Sport subsidiary. The company entered the last five races of 1977 with Jean-Pierre Jabouille as its sole driver. The Renault RS01 carried a Renault-Gordini V6 1.5-litre turbocharged engine — the first regularly used turbo engine in Formula One history. Jabouille's car proved highly unreliable and earned the nickname "Yellow Teapot," failing to finish any of its races.
The team, entered as Équipe Renault Elf, made its début at the 1977 British Grand Prix, having intended to race at the French Grand Prix but found the car not yet ready. Jabouille qualified 21st out of 30 runners, 1.62 seconds behind pole-sitter James Hunt in the McLaren. He ran as high as 16th before the turbo failed on lap 17. The team missed the German and Austrian rounds; on returning for the Dutch Grand Prix Jabouille qualified tenth and ran as high as sixth before suspension failure on lap 40. He failed to qualify in Canada, ending over 7.5 seconds behind fastest qualifier Mario Andretti of Lotus.
In 1978 four consecutive engine blow-ups characterised the season, but signs of progress appeared late in the year. The RS01 twice qualified third on the grid, and at Watkins Glen it finished on the lead lap for the first time — Jabouille taking fourth place and the team's first Formula One points.
Expanding to two cars with René Arnoux joining Jabouille, the team introduced the ground-effect RS10 mid-season. At Dijon for the French Grand Prix both Renaults lined up on the front row; Jabouille won — the first driver in a turbocharged car to do so — while Arnoux and Gilles Villeneuve fought a celebrated battle for second, with Arnoux narrowly beaten to the line. Arnoux then finished second at Silverstone and again at Watkins Glen.
Arnoux won consecutively in Brazil and South Africa in 1980 — both high-altitude circuits where the turbo cars dominated. Jabouille won in Austria but crashed heavily at the Canadian Grand Prix, suffering serious leg injuries that effectively ended his Grand Prix career. Alain Prost was signed for 1981. In three years with the team Prost won nine races; Arnoux added two more in 1982 before leaving for Ferrari. American Eddie Cheever replaced Arnoux. In 1983 Renault and Prost came very close to the drivers' title, being edged out by Nelson Piquet in a Brabham-BMW at the final race in South Africa. After that season a rival fuel company alleged that the Brabham-BMWs had exceeded the maximum Research Octane Number of 102 permitted under the regulations; BMW denied the charge and FISA released a dossier supporting their stance, and no action was taken.
Prost was fired two days after the 1983 season ended following public criticism of the team's development of the Renault RE40. He joined McLaren; Cheever moved to Alfa Romeo. The team turned to Patrick Tambay and Derek Warwick. Despite Tambay taking the team's last pole position at the 1984 French Grand Prix at Dijon, other teams — particularly Lotus and Ligier — extracted more from the turbo formula. In 1985 the team ran a third car at the new Nürburgring in Germany, the first to carry an in-car camera viewable live by television audiences; driven by François Hesnault, it retired after eight laps with a clutch problem. Major financial problems caused CEO Georges Besse to pare back from full constructor to engine supplier for 1986, before withdrawing entirely at the end of that year.
Renault began manufacturing engines at its Viry-Châtillon factory in 1976. In 1983 it started a customer programme, initially supplying engines to Team Lotus. With designer Gérard Ducarouge, Team Lotus gained competitiveness in late 1983 and 1984, with Nigel Mansell and Elio de Angelis scoring regular podiums. Renault also began supplying Ligier in 1984. Ayrton Senna joined Team Lotus in 1985; the fast but fuel-inefficient Lotus 97T secured eight pole positions and three wins (two to Senna, one to de Angelis), though unreliability prevented a sustained title challenge. The Tyrrell team joined from the seventh race of 1985. In 1986, under the Renault EF15B engine — which featured static ignition and pneumatic valve return — customer teams scored 19 pole positions and 5 Grand Prix victories before Renault Sport ended the programme.
Renault returned as a Formula One engine supplier in 1989 with the banning of turbocharged engines, partnering Williams. The Viry factory produced the first pneumatic-valved 3.5-litre V10, the RS1. Thierry Boutsen gave the Williams-Renault partnership its first win in the wet 1989 Canadian Grand Prix and followed with victory at the wet 1989 Australian Grand Prix.
By 1992, with active suspension and improved engines, the Williams-Renault was dominant — Mansell won the drivers' title by winning over half the season's races. Williams and Prost won again in 1993 with the Williams FW15C, which incorporated anti-lock brakes, traction control, and power steering; Prost won seven of the sixteen rounds. In 1994 Ayrton Senna was killed at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, leaving Damon Hill as team leader. Hill closed a 37-point gap to Michael Schumacher to just 1 point before the final round in Adelaide, where the two drivers collided and retired, handing Schumacher the title while Williams retained the constructors' championship.
For 1995 Benetton acquired Renault engines, and Schumacher successfully defended his drivers' title by 33 points from Hill; Benetton won the constructors' title by 29 points, winning 11 races. Williams won both the drivers' and constructors' championships in each of the next two seasons — Hill in 1996 and Jacques Villeneuve in 1997. Gerhard Berger scored pole and victory at the 1997 German Grand Prix for Benetton, and Jean Alesi took pole at the 1997 Italian Grand Prix.
Renault left Formula One after 1997. Evolutions of its final engine, the RS9, were marketed as Mecachrome for Williams and Playlife for Benetton until 2000; the Supertec brand was used by Williams and BAR in 1999, and by Arrows in 2000.
On 16 March 2000, the Renault-Nissan Alliance purchased Benetton Formula Limited for $120 million to return to Formula One. The Enstone-based team — formerly Toleman Motorsport — had been renamed Benetton Formula following its purchase in 1985 by the Benetton family and had moved from Witney, Oxfordshire, to Enstone in 1992/3. Renault continued to use the Benetton constructor name for 2000 and 2001, then rebranded the operation as Renault F1 in 2002.
In 2002 the team raced with Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button, scoring 23 points. Button was dropped for 2003 and replaced by Fernando Alonso, who had impressed as test driver. Alonso won the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix — the first Renault win since the 1983 Austrian Grand Prix. The team was innovative in this period, developing a 111-degree 10-cylinder engine for the 2003 RS23 to lower the car's centre of gravity, though it proved too unreliable and heavy. Jarno Trulli won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix but his relationship with team principal Flavio Briatore broke down; he was replaced by 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve for the final three races, though Villeneuve did not impress and the team finished third in the constructors' championship.
Giancarlo Fisichella replaced Trulli for 2005. He won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in rain-affected qualifying conditions; Alonso then won the next three races. Alonso secured the drivers' title at the Brazilian Grand Prix, becoming the youngest ever drivers' champion. A subsequent win in China secured the constructors' championship, breaking Ferrari's six-year stranglehold and making Renault the second French constructor to win the title after Matra in 1969 and the first French-licensed team to do so.
Both drivers were retained for 2006. The R26 featured a seven-speed titanium gearbox and was unveiled on 31 January. Alonso won in Bahrain, Australia, Spain, Monaco, at Silverstone (the team's 200th Grand Prix), Canada, and Japan. Fisichella scored Renault's first one-two finish since Arnoux and Prost in 1982 with second place in Malaysia. On 21 July 2006 the FIA banned Renault's tuned mass damper system — a spring-mounted mass in the nose cone that kept tyres in closer contact with the track — ruling it a breach of Article 3.15 of the Technical Regulations. Points at the Brazilian Grand Prix secured the 2006 constructors' championship. ING replaced Mild Seven as title sponsor from 2007.
Renault confirmed Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen for 2007. The R27 was unveiled on 24 January 2007 in Amsterdam in ING's corporate colours. The team finished a distant third in the constructors' standings with 51 points. In November 2007 the FIA accused Renault of possessing McLaren technical data including details of their fuelling system, gear assembly, hydraulic control system, and suspension; Renault was found in breach of the sporting regulations but received no penalty.
Alonso rejoined for 2008 alongside promoted test driver Nelson Piquet Jr. The season became deeply controversial: at Singapore, Piquet Jr. crashed in a move later revealed to be deliberate, enabling Alonso to win — the first Formula One victory under floodlights. Renault also won the subsequent Japanese Grand Prix. After Piquet Jr. was dismissed in August 2009, he alleged that Briatore and engineer Pat Symonds had ordered the crash. At the World Motor Sport Council on 21 September 2009, Renault received a suspended ban; Briatore was banned from FIA events for life and Symonds received a five-year ban. Both bans were later overturned by a French court in 2010, and a settlement allowed their return to FIA in 2011 and to Formula One in 2013.
In 2010, Renault sold a majority stake to Genii Capital, a Luxembourg-based investment company, retaining a 25% share and continuing as engine supplier. Robert Kubica was signed, with Vitaly Petrov becoming Russia's first Formula One driver. Éric Boullier became team principal. Kubica took the team's first podium of the new era with second place in Australia and third in Monaco. In November 2010 the remaining Renault stake was sold, and the team was renamed Lotus Renault GP for 2011 under a sponsorship deal with Lotus Cars until 2017. Kubica suffered severe injuries in a rally accident in February 2011; Nick Heidfeld replaced him, later giving way to Bruno Senna from Belgium. Kimi Räikkönen was confirmed for 2012, alongside Romain Grosjean; from 2012 the team raced as the Lotus F1 Team.
On 15 September 2006, Renault signed an engine supply agreement with Red Bull Racing. Red Bull were a midfield team initially; with the 2009 regulation changes they claimed their first victory at the Chinese Grand Prix, and Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber took five further wins that year for second in the constructors' championship. In 2010 Vettel and Red Bull won both championships — the ninth title for a Renault engine. Red Bull won both titles again in 2011, 2012, and 2013, Vettel securing his fourth consecutive title at the 2013 Indian Grand Prix. In 2012 Williams also returned to Renault power.
Renault developed a new 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged hybrid engine, the Renault Energy F1-2014, unveiled at the 2013 Paris Air Show. The engine faced criticism from Red Bull's boss Christian Horner, who called performance "unacceptable." In 2015 Red Bull unilaterally terminated their 2016 contract over performance concerns but later renegotiated; for 2016 and 2017 the Red Bull units were badged as TAG Heuer. In 2018 Red Bull and Toro Rosso both switched to Honda power. McLaren used Renault customer engines from 2018 to 2020 before switching to Mercedes, leaving Renault in single-team engine supply from 2021.
On 29 September 2024, Renault announced it would end its works engine programme after 2025, with Alpine switching to Mercedes power units from the 2026 season. Financial reasons — cited by Groupe Renault CEO Luca de Meo — were the primary cause. Data from qualifying at the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka showed the Alpine losing 0.6 seconds in the two-straight second sector, underlining the power unit's shortcomings.
On 3 December 2015, Renault purchased the Lotus F1 Team and returned as a full-works constructor. Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer were confirmed as drivers for the 2016 Renault R.S.16; Esteban Ocon was reserve and Frédéric Vasseur served as racing director. The team finished ninth with 8 points in 2016. Vasseur departed in January 2017; Nico Hülkenberg joined for 2017, with Palmer replaced by Carlos Sainz Jr. from the United States Grand Prix onwards after only one points finish. The team finished sixth with 57 points. Hülkenberg and Sainz continued in 2018, finishing fourth with 122 points. Daniel Ricciardo joined on a two-year deal for 2019, the team finishing fifth. Esteban Ocon replaced Hülkenberg for 2020. That year Ricciardo scored a podium at the Eifel Grand Prix at the Nürburgring and at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix; Ocon scored second at the Sakhir Grand Prix — three podiums in total, and the team's first since Malaysia 2011. Renault was rebranded as Alpine for the 2021 season.
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.
Gallery · 4 related images
