F1: Williams to reunite with Renault!

Williams F1 has just announced that they will be ditching current engine-supplier Cosworth in favour of Renault engines from as early as the 2012 season. The partnership will revive some of Formula 1’s most glorious moments from over two decades ago. Speaking about the deal Team Principal Frank Williams said, “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.”

The late 1980s and 90s saw a massive domination of the sport by a blue and white liveried team with Sir Frank Williams at its helm. The team was his very own – Williams and ran French engines from Renault. With 63 race wins under their belt and some of the most memorable F1 cars and battles to its credit, the Williams-Renault F1 Team was one of the most iconic figures in motorsport with Nigel Mansell’s British Grand Prix win, Alain Prost’s fourth World Title and some really intense battles between Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher in his Ferrari. Between 1989 and 1997 Williams-Renault won four drivers’ and five constructors’ titles.

The agreement between Williams and Renault extends beyond the track and will encompass other business and marketing opportunities and will continue after the introduction of the new, energy efficient, turbocharged V6 era of F1 in 2014. Williams  has also had a partnership with Jaguar and Williams believes that the new deal compliments the Jaguar partnership well. “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,” commented Renault Sport F1 president, Bernard Rey. “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.”

With the Williams deal in 2012, Renault will be providing engines to three other F1 teams on next year’s grid – Red Bull Racing, Renault and Team Lotus.