October 11, 2020: Renault releases champagne.
For the first time in nine years, a driver of the French diamond team has set foot on a Formula 1 podium. Australian Daniel Ricciardo finishes third in the Eifel Grand Prix in Germany, behind the inevitable Briton Lewis Hamilton.
On November 1, All Saints' Day, the Australian does it again in the same place at the Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna.
“We surprised ourselves.
This year, Renault has impressed everyone with its progress, ”says Ricciardo, who will race in 2021 for McLaren.
On December 6, it was Esteban Ocon who, on the Sakhir circuit (the Bahraini Grand Prix won by Mexican Sergio Pérez), in turn climbed, and for the first time, on an F1 podium, on the second walking: “Incredible!
the Norman smiled that Sunday.
I had never cried for anything before, but tears came for a reason.
“For him to line up in Formula 1, his parents had mortgaged their house.
What a long way.
Prost: "A good omen for the future"
While waiting for the last dance on Sunday in Abu Dhabi, Ricciardo will end the season in 5th place in the drivers 'standings and Ocon in 12th, while Renault will end its history in 5th place in the constructors' standings: “At the start of the season, we did not expect to be so well, explains Alain Prost, the non-executive director of the team.
All the little things we brought on the car worked well.
This bodes well and allows us to have a plan for 2021, and even more for 2022, which remains the priority objective.
This season has brought us serenity, ”confides the quadruple world champion.
“I will never forget that moment.
»
Find out what our pilots have to say about the #SakhirGP.
👉 https://t.co/qJNtorH35Z #RSspirit pic.twitter.com/UepP01Pq53
- Renault F1 Team (@ RenaultF1Team) December 6, 2020
Renault will however be absent from the paddocks in 2021. After 382 Grands Prix contested since 1977, 35 victories with a last one dating back to 2008 for Fernando Alonso, two league titles for the Spanish driver in 2005 and 2006, two constructors' titles the same years, the brand says goodbye to F1.
“No longer seeing this name in F1 does something to me, admits Alain Prost, driver of the team since 1981. Renault is the whole history of French motorsport.
And, luckily, history doesn't fade away like that.
Renault will remain associated with engines and technology.
"
# SakhirGP🇧🇭
Ocon "I cried when the line
crossed
"
▶ ️ https://t.co/7plkVVV12v pic.twitter.com/2ffF3ztkyP
- CANAL + F1® (@ CanalplusF1) December 6, 2020
The diamond team leaves the scene and will return under another name: Alpine F1 Team.
That's all that changes, because Alpine, a legendary brand especially on rallies, belongs to the French group.
Work on the cars will always be carried out jointly at Viry-Châtillon (Essonne) and Enstone (United Kingdom).
Return of Fernando Alonso
The engine will be a Renault engine.
The colors of the single-seaters, which will no longer be yellow and black, remain to be defined.
To replace Ricciardo, make way for Fernando Alonso!
Two years after retiring, the two-time world champion with Renault will be back in business in the spring: "I like motorsport too much, I can't do without it," the Iberian driver told us in September.
When I left F1 two years ago, my friends said to me:
Now you can do whatever you want
.
What I want is to drive.
It seemed like the right time to come back.
"
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Fernando Alonso: "A Frenchman can become world champion"
At 39 years old, Alonso will be the oldest of the circuit and a formidable driving force for his young teammate Esteban Ocon, fourteen years his junior: “I have a lot of respect for Fernando, for his career, what he accomplished in F1, recognizes the latter.
His battles with Michael Schumacher made me want to do Formula 1. It's special to have someone I admired as a teammate.
In 2017, I even exchanged my helmet.
He's the only pilot I have a helmet at home.
It's funny.
I look forward to working with him.
"
# SakhirGP🇧🇭
Ocon's joy for his first podium
▶ ️ https://t.co/7plkVVV12v pic.twitter.com/NvBSavo0ZL
- CANAL + F1® (@ CanalplusF1) December 6, 2020
Alain Prost also: “I have never worked with Fernando, but from what I know of him, he has an incredible commitment.
He is always checking with his engineers, which can be confusing for the pilot next to him.
Esteban will have to be fully confident to have the best possible relationship with Fernando.
"
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Having one of the best drivers in history to one day thwart the ultra-domination of Mercedes and Hamilton cannot however be a disadvantage for Renault, sorry for Alpine.
It's obvious: “Alpine is a well-known brand that will be rolled out all over the world.
Renault wants to use F1 as a marketing and image tool.
With Ferrari, we are the only manufacturer with a well-defined medium and long-term program.
We are confident for the future, even if nothing is simple.
This has not always been the case at Renault in the past.
It is Alain Prost who says it.
Esteban Ocon does not say the opposite, he who all of a sudden on Sunday became a candidate for a Grand Prix victory like Pierre Gasly, at the end of the summer: "It sure makes you want, we had he confided eight days ago.
I am a French rider in a French team: it is something strong. I am very proud to ride in such a prestigious team which wants to return to the top.
"
