This is a sound we will soon no longer hear. There are still six Grand Prix races remaining in 2025, including the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, October 19, before the sound of the Renault engine disappears from Formula 1 (F1) circuits. Next season, the Alpine cars—the team of the French manufacturer—will be equipped with a power unit developed by Mercedes. The end of an era and a saga of nearly half a century, which began amid the taunts of the British, but was also marked by successes.
It must be said that the first laps on the track for the diamond-branded company were far from successful. Between 1977 and 1978, its single-seaters finished most races in a cloud of smoke, with a broken engine. The British press had a field day: the RS01 was nicknamed “The Yellow Teapot”.
A newcomer to F1, the Renault team made a bold bet: the turbo. On paper, the idea was appealing: the turbocharger recovers some of the energy from the exhaust gases to compress the air feeding the engine, boosting its performance. However, the device was so powerful that the transmissions, valves, and other pistons gave way under the pressure. Another problem was that the car proved extremely difficult to drive. In the late 1970s, gearboxes were still manual, and the turbo’s response delay, close to two seconds, forced drivers to constantly anticipate. At the wheel, drivers were pushed to perform miracles.