06 – Renault F1 Team

Credit: Andrew Ferraro/LAT Photographic

Stats

• Team Principal: Eric Boullier
• Factory: Enstone, UK
• Website: ing-renaultf1.com
• Drivers: Robert Kubica
• F1 Debut: Britain 1977
• Championships: 2 WDC, 2 WCC

Full WCC Results

• 1977 – NC
• 1978 – 12th
• 1979 – 6th
• 1980 – 4th
• 1981 – 3rd
• 1982 – 3rd
• 1983 – 2nd
• 1984 – 5th
• 1985 – 7th
• 2002 – 4th
• 2003 – 4th
• 2004 – 3rd
• 2005 – 1st
• 2006 – 1st
• 2007 – 3rd
• 2008 – 4th
• 2009 – 8th
• 2010 -

2010 Preview

From the F1 Digest 2010 Season Preview:

If ever a team was trying to shed it’s image completely from the previous year, Renault is it. All that remains from 2009 is the name, and even that is covering a change in ownership behind the scenes. Genii Capital took a majority share in Renault, although the actual amount was withheld, and that is why Mr Boullier is now in charge. Wanting to distance themselves from the Singapore scandal as much as possible, the team have lost a couple of their major sponsors, including the title sponsor of ING. Now they are just plain old Renault, and that means a return to the yellow and black livery of old. Well, yellow and black and red. I’ve made my feelings on this livery quite clear, and whilst I can see how the yellow and black is an okay look, the red spoils it completely. But hey, this is not the time for a rant.

The R30 has moved on from 2009 as well, with a lot of work around the front wing and nose area. It is one of the wider noses that we have seen, but it does sink quite low. The front wing seems quite basic and a lot flatter, particularly if you line it up side by side with the Toro Rosso or Red Bull. The sidepods are a bit smaller than we are used to, and the wing mirrors are red. Red! Hmm. Sorry.

Not only has the car and the livery changed, but it is an all new line up behind the wheel. Robert Kubica made the jump from the ailing BMW team to the, well, ailing Renault team, before both teams were saved. His manager was a little skeptical about the new owners of Renault, had some questions, but presumably he got satisfactory answers, as the Kub seems very happy in his new digs. He’s joined by the first Russian to grace the grid, in the form of Vitaly Petrov. I can’t see them being a particularly entertaining or charismatic pair, and I can’t even begin to predict how well they will do in developing the car or hustling it into the points. Whatever happens though, it can only be an upward trend for Renault now, can’t it?