Vettel seals 150th win for Renault engines

28/10/2012

Sebastian Vettel's win for Red Bull at the Indian Grand Prix brought the total of Renault-engined wins in F1 to 150, leaving the French manufacturer third in the overall standings, only 16 behind Ford/Cosworth.

Renault entered F1 in 1977 as a constructor and has achieved success in both this capacity and as an engine supplier. After making its debut at Silverstone in July 1977, it secured its first win in France in 1979, and has achieved wins with every type of engine fielded, with wins shared by the 1.5-litre V6 turbo, the 3.5 and 3.0-litre V10s, and the current 2.4-litre V8.

"With this win we reach the second milestone in two races," said Jean-François Caubet, managing director of Renault Sport F1. "After securing our 200th pole in Korea we now have a total of 150 wins from a little over 500 GP starts. That's a hit rate of 30% of all races entered.

"Everyone at Viry can take pride in the fact that every engine type we have entered - from the V6 to the open V10 and back to the current V8s has won multiple races and, in most cases, championships. It shows the strength and depth of the resources we have and our ability to adapt. We'd like to thank, once more, all our teams and drivers who have given us the opportunity to shine like this."

Renault Wins 1979 - 2012

Engine Type:

1.5 V6 Turbo: 20

3.5 V10: 38

3.0 V10: 47

2.4 V8: 45

Drivers:

Vettel: 25, Hill: 21, Alonso: 17, Prost: 16, Mansell: 15, Villeneuve: 11, Schumacher: 9, Webber: 9, Arnoux: 4, Senna: 4, Patrese: 4, Boutsen: 3, Jabouille: 2, Herbert: 2, Fisichella 2, de Angelis: 1, Coulthard: 1, Frentzen: 1, Berger: 1, Trulli: 1 and Maldonado: 1.

Teams:

Williams: 64. Red Bull: 33, Renault (Enstone): 20, Renault (France): 15, Benetton: 12 and Lotus: 5

On a historic day for the French manufacturer, Renault Sport F1 personnel shared their memories of their personal favourite Renault-engined victories:

Jean-Pierre Menrath, head of dyno testing:

Jean-Pierre Jabouille, France 1979

The first races of 1979 had been disastrous for Renault: in seven races with two cars we had had 12 DNFs and zero points. This is why our management at the time, Gerard Larousse, managing director, and François Castaing, technical director, ordered two test sessions at Dijon. They wanted to create a winning mentality in a company that doubted its own ability.

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