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Renault Sport F1
and Williams F1 are delighted to announce a long-term chassis‐engine
partnership. Renault Sport F1, the F1 division of Renault, will supply AT&T
Williams with its championship‐winning V8 power units for the 2012 and 2013
seasons. In addition to the supply of its Formula One engines, the
newly‐formed alliance includes several other exciting business and marketing
opportunities, with a view to continuing after the introduction of the new,
energy efficient, turbocharged V6 engines arrive in the sport in 2014.
The partnership is an exciting opportunity for both Renault Sport F1 and
AT&T Williams. The original Anglo-French alliance enjoyed a hugely
successful association between 1989 and 1997, yielding four Drivers' and
five Constructors' titles and 63 race wins. It also produced some of the
most evocative images of the 1990s, including Nigel Mansell's British Grand
Prix win in 1992; Alain Prost's fourth world title and the classic duels
between Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher.
Renault Sport F1 president, Bernard Rey, commented, "Renault remains in
Formula One to achieve success in a cost efficient way and the partnership
with Williams has great potential to add to the results we have notched up
over recent years with our other partner teams. Williams has recently taken
several important steps, both commercially and technically, to update its
operations and we feel that this partnership is another important step in
its rigorous plan. It reiterates how determined the team is to achieve
results, which matches perfectly with our own objectives.
From 2012 onwards the fact that we will have four partners puts us ahead of
other engine manufacturers in terms of market share, but off track it will
also enable us to further use Formula One as a marketing platform for our
parent company, Renault, to try to bring a bit of this association to our
fans and our customers worldwide.
Of course there's also a great pride in reviving the Williams-Renault name.
Together, we produced racing cars that are recognised for their technical
innovation and it is still Renault's most successful period in F1 to date.
It's a hugely exciting opportunity for both Renault and Williams.”
Frank Williams, Team Principal of AT&T Williams, added, "We are delighted
and excited by our new partnership with Renault. This reunites the F1 team
with a leading car manufacturer and complements our new relationship with
Jaguar. At the same time, we are grateful to Cosworth: they have been a fair
and reliable partner both on and off the track for the past two years and we
look forward to working with them across our business in the future.
"Our previous relationship with Renault was one of the most successful in
Williams’ history but we will not allow ourselves to dwell too much on the
past. We must look to the future and continue to re‐build our on‐track
reputation, which I am hopeful that today’s announcement will help us to
do." |
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About the Williams‐Renault partnership
Williams and Renault launched
their first challenger in 1989 with Renault developing a brand new 3.5l
normally aspirated V10 engine for the changed engine regulations. In its
first year of competition, the partnership won two Grands Prix and laid the
foundations for the following year’s car, the FW14, which was to go down in
F1 legend as one of the greatest ever chassis‐engine packages. So successful
in fact that three iterations of the chassis were made, including the FW14B
that dominated F1 in 1992, winning 10 of the 16 races and powering Nigel
Mansell to the championship title as early as the mid‐season Hungarian Grand
Prix.
Mansell's was to be the first of the partnership's four drivers' titles, the
others coming in 1993 (Prost) and then 1996 (Hill) and 1997 (Villeneuve),
and five constructors' titles (1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997).
Outside F1,
Williams and Renault also collaborated on a touring car project in which
Renault Lagunas were developed and raced in the British Touring Car
Championship. Again, success came quickly and the partnership won all three
Championships in 1997: the Drivers', Manufacturers' and Team Trophies.
The partnership also designed and built the iconic Renault Clio Williams,
one of the most prized hot‐hatches of a generation.
About Renault Sport F1
Renault Sport F1 is the Formula One division of Renault that has been set up
to oversee F1 technical and sporting activities. The main thrust of its work
takes place at Viry-Châtillon, traditionally the technical hub of Renault's
F1 activities, in the south of Paris. The RS27 V8 engines and future engine
projects are designed, developed and tested using its state of the art
facilities. This season, Renault Sport F1 supplies three teams in the FIA
Formula One World Championship; Red Bull Racing, Lotus Renault GP and Team
Lotus. Each team receives identical engines that are maintained by a bespoke
group of six engine specialists and technicians. This ability to adapt to
the demands, cultures and ambience of different partner teams has been a key
factor behind the success of Renault's engines throughout the company’s long
F1 history. To date, this approach has been rewarded with nine world titles
in the Constructors' World Championship and eight titles in the Drivers’
World Championship.
About Williams Grand Prix Holdings PLC
Williams Grand Prix Holdings PLC is the holding company of the Williams
group of companies (“Group”) which includes Williams Grand Prix Engineering
Limited and Williams Hybrid Power Limited. The Group has established the
Williams Technology Centre in Qatar which is a branch of Williams Grand Prix
Engineering Limited.
The Group employs approximately 500 personnel throughout its business. Its
revenues are currently derived almost exclusively from its Formula One
business, including commercial sponsorships and the team's share of the
Formula One commercial rights income. The Group’s aim is to be a
Championship‐winning Formula One team and a worldclass technology business
generating steady returns for shareholders through the economic cycle.
Williams Grand
Prix Engineering Limited Formed in 1977 by Frank Williams and Patrick Head,
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited’s core competencies are the design
and manufacture of Formula One race cars, and the deployment of this
expertise in running the team’s entries in each season’s Grands Prix. As one
of the world’s leading Formula One teams, the company has secured 16 FIA
Formula One World Championship titles in the past thirty years. Nine of
these titles have been won in the Constructors’ Championship in association
with Cosworth, Honda and Renault. The remaining seven titles are Drivers’
Championships, won with Alan Jones, Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Nigel
Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve.
The AT&T Williams team is one of the most vertically‐integrated of Formula
One teams with first‐class design and manufacturing facilities on its 33
hectare site in Oxfordshire, England. Williams Grand Prix Engineering
Limited aims to develop substantial revenues from exploiting its brand,
intellectual property and rapid development skills in projects outside
Formula One.
Williams Technology Centre, Qatar
The Williams Technology Centre in Qatar’s Science and Technology Park is
developing large magnetically loaded composite flywheels (for use in trains
or static applications such as grid stabilisation) and commercial
applications of the Group’s motorsport simulation technology.
Williams Hybrid Power Limited
Williams Hybrid Power Limited is a company specialising in
magnetically‐loaded composite flywheels which are used as an energy storage
device in small and medium sized applications such as automobiles, buses,
trams and light rail. Williams Hybrid Power technology recently helped power
the hybrid Porsche 911 GT3 R to victory in the Nürburgring 4‐hour endurance
race. |