2007 F1 Preview: Renault
February 18th 2007 03:49
Car Number 3:
Make or break year
Stats
D.O.B: 14 January 1973
Debut: Australia 1994, Minardi-Ford
Starts: 177
Wins: 3
Fastest Laps: 2
Poles: 3
Points: 246
With world champ, Alonso’s departure, the hopes for a Renault title hat-trick rest with Fisichella. The Italian never quite looked to be on terms with Alonso during their time together, but was never terrible either. This is definitely the most crucial year in Fisi’s professional racing career. He has assumed the unofficial leadership of the team, but has a new challenge in Heikki to contend with. If Giancarlo can pull his undounted talent together, and not get rattled by his Finnish teammate, Fisi might be in with a shot for the 2007 crown – with plenty of luck of course.
Car Number 4:
Fast rookie
Stats
D.O.B: 19 October 1981
Debut: Australia 2007, Renault
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Fastest Laps 0:
Poles: 0
Points: 0
A Briatore protégé who has been lurking in F1’s test driver ranks for several years, Kovalainen’s biggest claim to fame so far, is his defeat of Michael Schumacher in the 2004 Race of Champions. Although the Race of Champions event is not much more than a fun publicity stunt, his defeats of Schumacher and rally ace, Sebastian Loeb in the final shot the previously unknown Finn into racing fame. Now he has graduated into F1, Kovalainen must prove himself to be the genuine article – and impress in a grid that consists of many young-guns like Lewis Hamilton, Robert Kubica and the man you pipped him to the 2005 GP2 title, Nico Rosberg. He is quick, no question, but as a rookie racer briefed with the mission of defending a title, Heikki will have to withstand tremendous pressure.
The Team:
Debut: Great Britain 1977.
Starts: 210
Wins: 33
Fastest Laps: 27
Poles: 50
Points: 925
WDC: 2
WCC:2
Test Drivers: Nelson Piquet Jnr (Bra), Ricardo Zonta (Bra)
Signs are that the pendulum of winning momentum is beginning to drift away from Renault. In
The R27 in new ING livery
Now, their biggest asset, Fernando Alonso has jumped ship to the H.M.S. McLaren, and left Renault with the fast but unconvincing Giancarlo Fisichella, and the promising, but untried Heikki Kovalainen. But Renault has still managed to retain key personnel outside of the cars. Bob Bell still controls the development side, Pat Symonds is still in command of the race engineering, and Flavio Briatore is still the ringmaster. These three figures were key components of Renault’s rise to championship-winning form, and are working heroically to maintain that form.
Will engine reliability equal results?
Renault are unlikely to do the championship treble, but they cannot be written off. If they manage to come to terms with Bridgestone rubber, and maintain their usual reliability, then they will definitely be capable of wins. How many however, may well be up to the likes of McLaren, Ferrari and BMW.
In a nutshell:
Strengths: A solid and reliable chassis/engine package; a solid driver line-up; the canny Flavio Briatore in command.
Weaknesses: Uncomfortable on Bridgestone’s; unconvincing in testing, no megastar driver.
Scorecard:
Drivers: 7/10
Engine: 8/10
Chassis: 7/10
Resources: 9/10
Personnel: 9/10
Total: 40/50
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