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Patrick Faure, Executive President of Renault and Chairman and CEO, Renault F1 comments on the 2002 season:

"Renault F1 enters Grand Prix racing with a clear long-term ambition: to win the Formula One World Championship with a 100% Renault package. Radically innovative technological solutions, allied to a history of unprecedented excellence in Formula One, are the foundations of a daring, exciting new player on the Formula One stage.

After a difficult year of preparation and development in 2001, in which the team achieved its primary objective of seamless integration between its bases in the UK and France, 2002 will see Renault F1 build upon the momentum generated in the final races of last season. Piloting the R202, our drivers will target a competitive fourth place in the final standings before mounting a sustained championship challenge the following year."

A Sporting History

Renault first achieved success in motor racing in 1899 when brothers Louis and Marcel Renault took victory in the Paris to Trouville road race.

After this, Renault were major players in town-to-town racing in the early years of the twentieth century and Marcel Renault took victory in the 1902 Paris-Vienna race.

As racing moved to closed circuits, Renault’s success continued with an historic victory in the first ever Grand Prix, when Ferenc Szisz won in France in 1906.

Renault then withdrew from top-level motorsport and did not return until Renault Sport was established at Viry-Châtillon in 1975, two years before the first Renault Formula One car was created.

Although Formula One became the main programme, Renault Sport set up rally and sports promotions departments to handle its involvement in rallying and one-make series.

But success in Grand Prix racing was the main goal and, since joining the Formula One World Championship for the first time in 1977, Renault has left its mark on the history of the sport.

With their own team, from 1977 to 1985, Renault revolutionised engine technology with the introduction of the turbo, a design trend, which was later adopted by all rivals.

Two years after making their debut, at Silverstone, Jean-Pierre Jabouille took a memorable victory in the 1979 French Grand Prix, at Dijon. Further victories followed with Alain Prost narrowly missing out on the championship in 1983.

The Renault works team left Formula One in 1985 and the company supplied engines to customer teams before withdrawing from Formula One altogether.

In 1989, Renault returned, as a supplier to the Williams team, with a V10 unit that rapidly became the benchmark in Formula One.

Thanks to the exceptional reliability, power and driveability of the famous RS engines, Renault took six Constructors’ World Championships with Williams and Benetton between 1992 and 1997, and five Drivers’ titles with Nigel Mansell (1992), Alain Prost (1993), Michael Schumacher (1995), Damon Hill (1996) and Jacques Villeneuve (1997). Renault left the sport at the end of 1997, but continued working on the Formula One programme. In 2001, after purchasing the Benetton Formula One team the previous year, Renault made a return to the Grand Prix arena with another revolutionary engine design.

Renault’s consistent commitment to innovative technology has demonstrated an unrivalled expertise. In 2002, Renault F1 aims to build on this foundation and pursue the long-held ambition of achieving Formula One World Championship success with a 100% Renault package.

Formula One milestones

The Renault R202 car

The Renault RS22 engine

Mike Gascoyne Interview

Launched on January 27, 2002, the first Renault Formula One car for 17 years represents a landmark moment for the company and the team.

The momentum from 2001, a season of solid development, has continued to stretch the boundaries of design under the guidance of Technical Director Mike Gascoyne.

"Re-entering Formula One as a works team is a core strategic decision for the Renault-Nissan group," said Gascoyne. "We are here to deliver, but I think the senior management are also aware of the amount of time we need."

The design process for the 2002 car began when Gascoyne joined the team more than one year ago. Development from last season’s car is ongoing and the R202 is a continuation of that process.

Gascoyne believes the car has always been reliable in the mechanical areas of its design. The chassis team has therefore concentrated on aerodynamic improvements for the 2002 car.

Those improvements are set to continue throughout the year as Gascoyne and his team have set up an intensive wind-tunnel testing programme to fully develop the R202.

"We took time to put the aerodynamic and research programmes in place," said Gascoyne. "They started delivering dramatically at the end of 2001 but what you saw at the end of last year was just the start of this process, and will bring us real benefits for this year."

Jean-Jacques His

Jean-Jacques His and his engine team, based in Viry-Châtillon, Paris, have focused on lowering the centre of gravity of the power unit to improve the car’s overall performance. The concept was developed throughout 2001 and the latest evolution is part of the continuation of that initial project.

Taking technology to the highest level, the engine project continues Renault’s history of innovation. The design has led a change in Formula One engine philosophy and 2002 will be another year of progress for the team.

"This season we will have new concepts," said His. "It is not a completely new engine, and uses the same architectural philosophy as last year, but there are major improvements for 2002. Having worked on achieving a high level of reliability in 2001, this year we will concentrate on ultimate performance."

It takes more than one and a half years for a new engine to reach a good reach a satisfactory level of development and, now that we have acquired this experience, we will be more capable of responding to the needs of the chassis team by supplying them with a competent unit.

The decision to enter Formula One as a constructor has major advantages over the supplier relationships pursued in the 1990s. Where before the engine had to include compromises which allowed it to be used by different teams, Renault F1 can now actively pursue integrated long-term development of the car and engine, and the team is already working on the design for 2003.

Team Structure

Patrick Faure
Executive Vice President of Renault and Chairman and CEO, Renault F1

Date of Birth	May 12, 1946
Place of Birth	Périgueux, France
Nationality	French
Marital status	married, two children
Qualifications	Law degree, Institute of Political Studies (IED, Paris), Ecole Nationale d'Administation
Career	1972	Administrative officer with the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations.
	1975	Secretary General of the Précision Mécanique Labinal Mechanical Engineering Group.
	1977	Chairman and CEO of Gelbon.
	1979	Manager of Renault Toulouse Branch Office.
	1980	Executive Secretary of the Renault Sales Department.
	1981	Managing Director of Renault Austria.
	1982	Managing Director of Renault United Kingdom.
	1984	Director of Public Affairs at Renault.
	1985	Director of Public Affairs and Corporate Communications at Renault.
	1986	Chairman of Renault Sport.
	1988	Secretary General of the Renault Group.
	1991	Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing.
	1998	Chairman and CEO of Renault V.I (Commercial Vehicles Division); Executive Vice President of the Renault Group.
	2002	Chairman and CEO of Renault F1.

RENAULT F1 UK

RENAULT F1 FRANCE

"The primary motivation behind our return to F1 is sporting. Throughout our history, we have never won the World Championship with a complete Renault package. We don’t like unfinished business…"

Flavio Briatore
Managing Director, Renault F1 UK

Date of Birth	April 12, 1950
Place of Birth	Verzuolo, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Marital status	Single
Career	1974	Worked in the Milan Stock Exchange where he met Luciano Benetton for the first time.
	1977	Established the United Colours of Benetton in the United States.
	1988	Attended first Grand Prix, in Australia, as guest of Luciano Benetton.
	1989	Joined the Benetton Formula One team.
	1994	As Managing Director of Benetton Formula, led the team and Michael Schumacher to victory in the Drivers' World Championship.
	1995	Continued as Managing Director at Benetton and guided the Renault-powered team to a Constructors' and Drivers' Championship double.
	1998	Left Benetton to set up Supertec Sport, supplying engines to Benetton and three other teams.
	2000	Managing Director of Renault Sport UK.
	2002	Managing Director of Renault F1 UK.

"Formula One is not just about sport and technology. What attracts people is the glamour, the lifestyle, the drama…"

Jean-Jacques His
Technical Director, Renault F1 France

"Renault decided to return to Formula One because we had a number of innovative ideas which will put us ahead of our rivals."

Jarno Trulli
Renault F1 Race Driver

"For the first time, I’m in a top team which has won the championship and is clearly back to do it again. It’s a great opportunity for me and I really want to go for it!"

Jenson Button
Renault F1 race driver

"Out there, in a F1 car, going quick… you just can’t put it into words."

Fernando Alonso
Renault F1 test driver

"I have a lot of time to improve and develop myself for the future. I think all the drivers have the world championship as their objective and it’s the same for me".

Mike Gascoyne
Technical Director, Renault F1 UK

"Renault wants to win races and the World Championship. My role is to ensure we have a car capable of doing that it’s a massive responsibility, but it's a challenge I relish."