Founded by the Renault brothers – Louis, Marcel and Fernand – as Societe Renault Freres, the French company manufactured its first car, the Renault Voiturette 1CV way back in 1898. The brothers knew early on that participating in events of speed would give their company the required exposure and establish their brand in the market.

Thus Louis and Marcel began to participate in local races and the exposure thus garnered, stood the company in good stead with an increasing plethora of buyers.

In the late seventies and early eighties, Renault realized the true importance of participation in motor sport and thus began to involve itself heavily in it. Renault set up a dedicated division called Renault Sport Technologies (known usually as just Renault Sport). This division helped the company in winning titles at the Le Mans 24 Hour race besides various other rallies. However, the Renault F1 team and the Formula One teams are not part of this division.

The AK 90CV from the Renault stable won the first ever Grand Prix event in 1906. However, its foray into Formula One in 1997 raised many eyebrows. For theirs was the first car with a turbocharger. Though the turbocharged car didn’t help them win, they had to wait another couple of years before they did their first F1 event at home in Dijon.

Renault began to compete in Formula One from the 1970s as both, engine supplier and as constructor. This association was not continuous though. There were many interregnums during its foray into F1.

From thence, Renault cars won the Formula One championships in 1992, 93, 96 and 97 with Williams and in association with Benetton in 1995.

When Renault completely took over the Benetton F1 team in 2001 for $ 120 million, they were truly into the big league and took competition seriously. Renault however, continued to use the Benetton name for the 2000 and 2001 seasons. They roped in Fernando Alonso who won for them their first race at the Hungarian GP in 2003. He also guided the team to the Constructors and Drivers titles in 2005.

However, the Benetton team is better known for grand successes with the legendary Michael Schumacher who helped the team with 19 titles and two Drivers championships.

When in 1995, Schumacher moved to Ferrari, the Benetton team lost a lot of its glamour and fame. It just wasn’t what it was.

It was not all dulcet for Renault though. In 1985, Renault was plagued my massive financial problems and so sustaining the huge expenses required for Formula One team proved to be too much of a burden. This is when they decided to cut down on expenses from the racing team and instead focused only on supplying engines.

Coming to 2008, the team has shown excellent resolve in notching up two wins through Fernando Alonso. While Nelson Piquet Jr erred on the side of irresponsible throughout the season, Alonso has shown tremendous fight in improving the car. For 2009, Renault would be one of our firm favourites -- KERS or not!

Timeline:

2000: Despite Renault’s involvement, the Playlife engine continued to be used by its drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Alexander Wurz. The team managed two podiums.

2001: Wurz left for McLaren and was replaced by Jenson Button who managed a podium finish in Belgium.

2002: It happened. Benetton officially became Renault F1. Fisichella was replaced by Jarno Trulli who managed 23 points for his team.

2003: Fernando Alonso displaced Button at Renault. He went on to win the Hungarian GP, the first for Renault since the Austrian in 1983.

2004: The year was one where Renault was in serious contention for the Constructors title when Trulli won the Monaco Grand Prix. Later, Trulli’s relations with the team soured and he left to be replaced by Jacques Villeneuve.

2005: With Trulli’s exit, Giancarlo Fisichella returned only to win the Asutralian Grand Prix. Alonso, meanwhile, won the next three races of the season and was in contention for the Drivers’ Championship. This was also the year when Renault finally managed to win a title as manufacturer.

2006: Test driver Franck Montagny was replaced by Heikki Kovalainen while Alonso and Fisichella remained race drivers. Renault also unveiled their new engine, the R26. It had a seven-speed gearbox made of titanium. The team won the Baharain GP with Alonso at the wheel and went on to win the Australian Grand Prix. In Malaysia, the team had a one-two finish with Fisichella in the second spot. Renault were given their 200th GP win at Silverstone by Alonso.

2007: Another new car was unveiled for this year, the R27. It has yellow, blue, orange and white livery. It will be driven by Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen. Test drivers will be Nelson Piquet and Ricardo Zonta.

2008: Fernando Alonso returns and after extensive work, the car records two wins for Alonso making them the most improved team for the season.

2009: Alonso partners with Nelsinho Piquet Jr till the Hungarian GP, after which Piquet Jr was dropped, to be replaced by Grosjean. The team saw no note-worthy performance, recording just a third place finish in Singapore for Alonso.

The team does have potential, but the cars have been consistently underperforming. With Alonso moving on to Ferrari the team has suffered another blow and will need to put all the muscle behind the efforts this season. Robert Kubica is the only driver to be confirmed as yet, and Renault will surely hope to pull a last minute coup to complete their line up. It will be exciting to see what they can come up with this season!

Technical Specs:

Chassis: Moulded carbon fibre and aluminium honeycomb composite monocoque, manufactured by the Renault F1 Team and designed for maximum strength with minimum weight. RS27 V8 engine installed as a fully-stressed member.

Front suspension: Carbon fibre top and bottom wishbones operate an inboard rocker via a pushrod system. This is connected to a torsion bar and damper units which are mounted inside the front of the monocoque. MMC aluminium uprights and machined magnesium wheels. Rear suspension: Carbon fibre top and bottom wishbones operating angled torsion bars and transverse-mounted damper units mounted on the top of the gearbox casing. MMC aluminium uprights and machined magnesium wheels.

Transmission: Seven-speed semi-automatic carbon-titanium gearbox with reverse gear. “Quickshift” system in operation to maximise speed of gearshifts.

Fuel system: Kevlar-reinforced rubber fuel cell by ATL.

KERS: Motor generator unit driving into front of engine with batteries as an energy store.

Cooling system: Separate oil and water radiators located in the car's sidepods and cooled using airflow from the car's forward motion

Electrical: MES-Microsoft Standard Electronic Control Unit.

Magnetti-Marelli KERS control unit.

Braking system: Carbon discs and pads (Hitco); calipers and mastercylinders by AP Racing.

Cockpit: Removable driver’s seat made of anatomically formed carbon composite, with six-point harness seat belt. Steering wheel integrates gear change and clutch paddles, front flap adjuster and KERS energy release controls.