If anyone is interested here is the full story I have from Renault HQ...
08/12/2010 - Renault maintains its commitment to Formula 1 and announces the creation of Renault Sport F1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1255 WORDS
WEDNESDAY 8TH DECEMBER 2010
RENAULT MAINTAINS ITS COMMITMENT TO FORMULA 1 AND ANNOUNCES THE CREATION OF RENAULT SPORT F1
•Renault announces the creation of Renault Sport F1, the sporting division that will be responsible for Renault's involvement in Formula 1™ racing as a supplier of engines and technology for the 2011 season and beyond. Renault Sport F1 will supply three teams in 2011, which equates to 25% of the grid.
•As well as supplying engines, Renault Sport F1 will conduct advanced research studies with its partners, as well as engineering programmes in areas such as transmissions and kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS).
•The new division will put forward Renault's technological response to the challenge raised by the new F1™ regulations on engines. It will be a laboratory for developing technologies that better respect the environment, applicable to combustion and electric powertrains as well as to production models.
•Renault Sport F1 will operate from Viry-Châtillon, Renault's traditional F1™ racing base. Its Chairman will be Bernard Rey, a member of Renault's Management Committee.
•The creation of Renault Sport F1 follows Renault's decision to sell its minority stake in Renault F1 Team to Genii Capital. Renault will continue to provide strong support for the Enstone team as a supplier of engines, as well as technological and engineering expertise.
•Renault has taken part in 29 F1™ racing seasons, winning nine Constructors' world champion titles, most recently with Red Bull Racing in 2010. Renault engines secured 23 podium finishes in 2010, including a historic 1-2-3 at the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2010. Renault engines have won three of the last six world championships.
RENAULT SPORT F1 WILL BE SUPPLYING ENGINES TO THREE TEAMS IN 2011
Renault will be supplying engines to three of the teams on the grid in 2011:
•Lotus Renault GP: Renault will be supplying engines and technological support to Lotus Renault GP, the team that previously competed under the name of Renault F1 Team and with which it won two world championships in 2005 and 2006.
•Red Bull Racing Renault: the 2010 world champion has been using Renault engines for four seasons. Demonstrating its confidence in Renault, it has extended the partnership for a further two years.
•1 Malaysia Racing Team (UK) Ltd: a new customer for Renault in 2011. This team made its F1 debut in 2010. It has a sound technological base with the Renault engine and Red Bull Technology transmission.
With this decision to supply engines to three teams next season, Renault is returning to its core expertise in engine manufacturing and getting ready to meet the challenges of the future, particularly the new engine regulations to be introduced over the next few years. Although details of the regulations are still under discussion, the main lines have emerged. The aims are for F1 innovations to serve progress in production vehicles, to showcase technologies that better respect the environment, to limit budgets, and to put on as spectacular a “show†as possible.
“2011 opens a new chapter in our historical involvement in Formula 1™ racing. The victory in 2010 with Red Bull Racing showed the potential of the engine specialists at Viry-Châtillon and underlines Renault's credibility as a supplier of engines and technologies. We intend to build on this victory over the coming years and to achieve further success with our partners. Renault will adopt a proactive approach with other manufacturers and sporting bodies to meet one of the main strategic challenges of this sporting discipline: to develop an engine with technologies that will herald those applied to future production vehicles,†said Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO of Renault.
RENAULT AS AN ENGINE MANUFACTURER: TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION FIRST AND FOREMOST
Throughout Renault's long history in Formula 1, the success of its engines has been based on technical excellence, quality, a talent for innovation and the ability to adapt to the constraints, culture and environment of each partner. In Formula 1 and in production manufacturing, Renault has placed excellence in quality at the heart of all its projects. In both cases, this approach starts from the design phases and spans all areas: team organisation, supplier selection, intelligent design, production efficiency, etc.
Whether talking about the V6 turbo, the V10 or, more recently, the V8, Renault's engine specialists have shown their ability to succeed in all areas and in record time, proving the sceptics wrong in many cases. They have adapted the Renault engine to different chassis for different customers, taking account of each one's culture and requirements. Through their activities and their results, they have strengthened Renault's image internationally as a reliable, high-performance brand.
RENAULT AND F1, A TALE OF PASSION AND SUCCESS
Sport is written into Renault's DNA. One year after the brand was founded, in 1899, Louis Renault took part in the Paris-Trouville race. This was the first in a long string of motorsports events: Paris-Ostend, Paris-Bordeaux, Paris-Berlin, etc. in a variety of disciplines, including endurance, rally and speed. Renault won the very first Grand Prix, which took place in Le Mans in 1906. Sport has made a permanent mark on the company.
