Formula 1 Team Blog

Midland F1 Racing

2006-06-11T23:04:00.000-07:00

Although the Midland name and its MF1 Racing livery are new to Formula One this season, the team is not, having already contested the 2005 championship under the Jordan name after purchasing the team from Eddie Jordan.Jordan, who only entered the unforgiving world of F1 in 1991, had always been regarded as a stepping-stone outfit, with the likes of Michael and Ralf Schumacher, Eddie Irvine, Johnny Herbert and Rubens Barrichello all driving for the team early in their careers.

But over time the team became much more of a force to be reckoned with and, for a brief few years, it was even a team that drivers aspired to. In their first season in 1991 Jordan did surprisingly well despite initial problems which saw them fail to get a car on the grid for the first three races.The team picked up their first points at the Canadian GP with a fourth and fifth place for de Cesaris and Gachot respectively, going on to finish fifth in that year's constructors' championship.

Their second season though was the worst to date as the team picked up just one championship point, which was largely due to an underpowered Yamaha engine. A partnership with the Hart V10 for the next two years and the signing of up-and-coming drivers Eddie Irvine and Rubens Barrichello helped Jordan re-establish some degree of form, and in 1994 they returned to the fifth spot they'd occupied in 1991. A year later the team gained their first podium spots when Barrichello and Irvine finished second and third at Montreal. But that didn't stop the team dropping to sixth place in the championship.

Two years of hard work followed before Jordan succeeded in moving into the premier league of teams despite encountering a few problems along the way. Despite a dreadful start to the 1998 season, by the time of the British GP, Jordan were a force to be reckoned with. The hard work was rewarded at Spa when Damon Hill won the team's first GP after 259 attempts. Their fourth place in the constructors' championship indicated that they'd finally arrived.

For 1999 Hill was retained, whilst Heinz-Harald Frentzen took over the second car and whereas Hill seemed unmotivated and disinterested, Frentzen was a revelation.Fine wins at Magny-Cours and Monza saw the German fighting for the title and third place in the constructors' championship showed the team was still improving. Jordan therefore approached the 2000 season, confident that they were in a position to take on the 'big two' of Ferrari and McLaren.

However, other than a strong performance in Brazil, it was a nightmare season for the Silverstone-based outfit. But in 2001 the team took a major step forward by partnering with the Honda Motor Company, and moved up to fifth in the world championship.The next year though, was a small disaster as with funds rapidly running out, Eddie Jordan had to announce redundancies at HQ and declared he would take a more hands-on approach.

Honda-backed Takuma Sato proved to have little input in setting the car up and the tone of the year was set when he collided with team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella in Malaysia after crashing out in Australia. Added to that the Honda engine unit was dreadfully unreliable. Eddie Jordan was relieved to pick up a Ford deal for 2003, especially after losing title sponsor Deutschepost.Yet he could do nothing to arrest Jordan's slide down the grid.

Although Fisichella won the Brazilian GP, the result was essentially a fluke and a rare bright spot for a team now struggling both on and off the track. 2004 was much of the same ending with Jordan yet again ninth in the championship with eight points less than they'd scored the previous season. There was also personal embarrassment for the team's owner when they lost a court case against Vodafone in which the judge delivered a devastating verdict against the Irishman, describing him, amongst other things, as an 'unreliable witness'.

The debacle merely highlighted the difficulties the team were enduring, and such was their financial woe that there were fears they might not make the grid for the first grand prix of 2005.But January's confirmation that part of the team had been sold to the Midland group shelved those fears. Having purchased a majority stake in Jordan, Russian-born Canadian billionaire businessman, Alex Schnaider (Midland chief), opted to retain the Jordan name and its canary-yellow livery for 2005.

But while the public image stayed the same, the internal set-up did not. Schnaider's arrival saw Colin Kolles instilled as the new top dog, Tiago Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan confirmed as the team's new 2005 drivers, former F1 driver Johnny Herbert join as the new sporting director and Toyota become the team's new engine supplier. But - for the third consecutive season - the team finished second to last in the championship, bagging just 12 points. And 11 of those were scored at the six-car United States GP where they only had to beat the Minardi to claim third and fourth.

Clearly Schnaider's changes hadn't worked but that hasn't stopped him ringing in the changes in the build-up to the 2006 season. However this time Christijan Albers is the only notable change in the personnel department, while the team's public image has been given a makeover.Not only will the Silverstone squad sport a brand-new red-black-and-silvery livery in 2006, but it will also race under the Midland name. Unfortunately for Midland, someone should have told them a new coat of paint won't cover the cracks for very long.

BMW-Sauber

2006-06-11T22:56:00.000-07:00

Ever since he started his own Formula One team back in 1993, Peter Sauber had resisted the lure of teaming up with a big manufacturer.But all that changed in 2005 when the stoggy-smoking Swiss went one better and instead of partnering sold to BMW. With the benefit of hindsight, the demise of one of the sport's most renowned privateer teams competing in F1 was inevitable. Forever fighting an uphill battle with meagre resources, the team consistently punched above their weight.

But, as with any boxer on the ropes, there was a limit to how much 'punishment' they could take. The 2005 season, the team's final one as a private outfit, was a disappointing affair which summed up the need for greater financial muscle. With former world champion Jacques Villeneuve and Ferrari-bound Felipe Massa in the driving seats for 2005, Sauber had hoped for a repeat of their 2004 improvement. It didn't happen.

To start with, Villeneuve's arrival at the team caused a few headaches because even before his first race the media questioned the wisdom in signing the French/Canadian, who'd only contested (and not very well at that) three GPs the previous year. However, his fourth place at the San Marino GP went some way towards silencing his critics and the press left the Swiss team alone to get on with what was a mediocre campaign.

So mediocre even their tradition of having an encouraging start to the season, a gradual dip and then finally a disappointing decline was abandoned - there was never any high to come down from. And when Sauber's final grand prix as a F1 team boss ended with the last lap of the Chinese GP, his squad was down in eighth place on the constructors' log, having been overhauled by both Toyota and Red Bull.

2005 wasn't a total loss though, as midway through the year he sold his team to BMW, who officially took over the reigns on January 1, 2006. BMW were quick to sign Nick Heidfeld, who they'd worked with at Williams, as one of their 2006 drivers, although they were somewhat reluctant to honour Villeneuve's two-year Sauber deal. In the end they did.

In its two new German additions Sauber, now rebranded as BMW-Sauber, have the perfect recipe for success.While Heidfeld brings speed, talent and relative youth to the mix BMW have the financial backing and motor racing knowhow the team needs to move up the grid. That though may not happen in BMW's first year as a team owner. But it will in the future.

Red Bull

2006-06-11T22:21:00.000-07:00

The new boys on the grid, Red Bull didn't just gain respectability and more than a handful of points in 2005.
They also bagged another team and design guru Adrian Newey - all of which points towards future success for what started out as one of F1's more troubled teams.
Red Bull is in effect Jaguar Racing rebranded, with the energy-drinks company buying the Milton Keynes-based team in November after Ford had put Jag on sale at the end of the 2004 campaign.

However, before they'd even competed in their first grand prix Red Bull Racing had already courted controversy by sacking former bosses David Pitchforth and Tony Purnell when the pair apparently disagreed with the Red Bull hierarchy over the appointment of David Coulthard.
Bereft of preparation time, Red Bull were also forced to use a car inherited from Jaguar and expectations were low ahead of their debut season.
New team boss Christian Horner was merely aiming to "lay solid foundations for the future." And what a foundation it was!

Coulthard's arrival evidently proved to be what the team needed to give them wings (sorry!) and, together with team-mates Christian Klien and Tonio Liuzzi ensured RBR began the 2005 championship by scoring points in seven of the first eight races.
The team scored points in a further five races and finished seventh in the constructors' championship on 34 points - only four behind BAR.

DC's influence was also felt away from the track as he played an integral role in convincing design guru Adrian Newey to leave McLaren and head to RBR.
It was the coup of the season and bodes well for Red Bull's 2006 campaign, which will once again see Coulthard partnering Klien.
The two will also have use of Ferrari power as they bid for a maiden podium result.

Honda

2006-06-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

Honda isn’t just the world’s biggest engine manufacturer; it’s also the motor company with the most prolific involvement in all forms of international motor sport. Whether it’s on two-wheels or four-wheels, Honda views its participation at the forefront of competition as the ultimate proving ground for its high-tech products. It’s a deep-seated philosophy that dates right back to the mid-1950s, when company founder Soichiro Honda announced his decision to enter the famous Isle of Man TT races. He believed the challenge of competing against the world’s best would enhance Honda’s technology and engineering skills, while giving it the opportunity to demonstrate its capabilities to the world.

Mr Honda's belief in motor sport has become a fundamental part of Honda’s DNA. Over the years its cars and bikes have won record numbers of Grands Prix. Although many of its initial successes came with bikes, Honda also spearheaded Japan’s involvement in Formula One. Its first Grand Prix victory came as long ago as 1965 and, to date, the company has no fewer than 11 World Championship crowns. After a well-earned break, Honda returned to F1 in 2000 and, after enjoying increasing success through its partnership with B.A.R Honda, emphasised its commitment to win races and titles by acquiring a full 100 per cent shareholding in the newly renamed Honda Racing F1 Team during October 2005.

The Chinese Grand Prix at the end of the 2005 season concluded B.A.R Honda’s final year of participation in the FIA Formula One World Championship. In the seven years since its F1 debut, the last six of which were powered by Honda, the team reached some momentous milestones including first race finish, first points, first podium and first pole and there is no doubt that the rite of passage has been an eventful one. In this section you will find a chronology of the team's achievements.

British American Racing made its debut in the 1999 Australian Grand Prix with Jacques Villeneuve and Ricardo Zonta racing a pair of new BAR cars powered by Supertec V10 engines. The following season witnessed the start of an exciting new partnership with Honda. By 2001 Olivier Panis had replaced Zonta and Villeneuve underlined the team’s increasing competitiveness with podiums in Spain and Germany.

Jenson Button filled Panis’ hot seat from the start of 2003 with Takuma Sato replacing Villeneuve for the final race of the season, thus setting the scene for what was B.A.R Honda’s best season. Many new milestones were set during 2004, Button scoring no fewer than 10 podiums on his way to third place in the Drivers’ Championship. He also scored the team’s first-ever pole position. In addition, Sato stood on an F1 podium for the first time in his career when finishing third at Indianapolis. Another important landmark came at Suzuka when the team contested its 100th Grand Prix.

Though Button took pole position in Canada and added two more podiums to his personal portfolio, 2005 failed to live up to the high standards set the previous year. The season, however, ended on a high note with Honda underlining its determination to win the Formula One World Championship with its acquisition of the full shareholding in the B.A.R Honda F1 team – a move that not only guarantees the team’s future but also results in it being renamed as the Honda Racing F1 Team.

Williams

2006-06-11T21:20:00.000-07:00

Widely accepted as be a member of Formula One's 'Big Three', Williams are currently apparently caught in a malaise that saw the team slip to fifth in the 2005 constructors' championship and there's little indication that Frank Williams' outfit will be capable of arresting their decline in 2006.The team will undoubtedly go down as the team of the '90s, winning five constructors' titles between 1992 and 1997 along with four drivers' titles. However, life for Williams was not always so rosy.

After their creation in 1968, the Williams team struggled for the next 11 years and it was not until the 1979 season, with a car designed by Patrick Head, that they began to establish themselves as one of the top F1 teams of the modern era.In that season they secured their first win (Silverstone) and went on to record four further wins to finish second behind Ferrari on the constructors' table.

The team went one better in 1980 as the constructors' championship duly arrived and they won it again in 1981. The team also had success with a drivers' championship in 1980 for Alan Jones and 1982 for Keke Rosberg - a strange season in which the Finn managed only one win. In 1985 Williams signed a deal with Honda, a partnership that would take them to the 1986 and 1987 constructors' titles.

However, the defection of Honda to rivals McLaren in 1988 was a huge blow to Williams, resulting in them having to use the Judd engine for a singularly dreadful season and losing Nigel Mansell to Ferrari. In 1989 Williams secured a deal with French company Renault and slowly began to recover their form, although it was not until 1991 that they mounted another serious attempt on the championship. In 1992 and 1993 Williams stamped their authority on the F1 in emphatic style as they took the constructors' and drivers' championships with Mansell and Prost on the grid.

Another constructors' win followed in 1994 despite the death of Ayrton Senna after just three races. 1995 proved a change from the norm as they lost out to the Benetton team but normality, and the constructors' title, was restored in 1996 and 1997. However, the end of the association with Renault before the 1998 season heralded a difficult year with an unreliable and under-powered Mecachrome engine.

In 1998 and 1999 Williams struggled with the Mecachrome/Supertec, but it was a losing battle. Despite heroic performances from Ralf Schumacher the team suffered two of the worst seasons in its history. For 2000 they had a new engine, courtesy of BMW, and the new package was competitive virtually out of the box with Ralf taking a fine third in Australia.

Although the Williams was no match for the Ferrari or McLaren, it was definitely the best of the rest courtesy of some fine performances from Ralf and youngest-ever points scorer Jenson Button. For 2001 Williams retained Ralf and partnered him with Colombian CART champion Juan Pablo Montoya. Sir Frank has never been afraid to go against public opinion as he proved when he controversially dropped both Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill after their championship-winning seasons.

Button was loaned out to Benetton in favour of Montoya, and the decision proved a good one. JPM immediately turned on the speed and made his name with an overtaking move on Michael Schumacher in Brazil.The success graph was in an upwards curve in 2001 as Ralf won three races and Montoya one. Surely they would challenge more in 2002? Sadly not.Aero faults with the FW24 were put down to a lack of attention from the departing aerodynamicist Geoff Willis and despite still having the most powerful engine on the grid, the team only came good for one race win.

Montoya made seven poles (including five in a row) but was denied a win in Malaysia by Michael Schumacher understeering into him at the first corner. Thus brother Ralf picked up the team's only victory by default. Despite finishing second in the constructors' championship, running an engine that could produce 19,000+ revs and Juan setting a new fastest-ever lap at Monza, it was a disappointing season.

2003 though was a much better season for the team, who came close to overthrowing Ferrari in the constructors' battle, thanks to four victories and numerous podium finishes.A late spurt from Ferrari though saw Williams finish 14 points adrift. The team unveiled a radical car for the 2004 season, sporting 'tusks' on its unique front wing.

It proved to be a mistake, however: the results were as ugly as the car. By the end of the season, the tusks had been ditched, replaced with a conventional single-keel front-wing.Out too went Patrick Head, the long-standing technical director to be replaced by Australian Sam Michael.

The state of flux was exacerbated by disappointing performances of Montoya, who had already signed for McLaren, and Ralf who announced in August that he was departing to Toyota.As expected the team signed Mark Webber as a replacement, but were foiled in their attempts to re-sign Jenson Button - although he did agree to join the team the following year.

Not until 20 minutes before the launch of their 2005 charger in January was test driver Antonio Pizzonia informed that Nick Heidfeld had beaten him in the fight for the second seat.It was a remarkable state of affairs, symbolic of the paralysis that has apparently seeped into the management of a team struggling to retain its status as one of F1's big guns.

That status was further damaged in 2005 when instead of fighting back the team sank even deeper. Third-choice driver Heidfeld was the only bright light in a dreadful season.He began the year with three podiums in six races, while first-choice Webber netted just one.

But despite introducing improvements to the FW27 in the hope of winning a race, the car went backwards with Heidfeld and Webber finding themselves trapped in the middle of the pack. However the team still managed to finish the campaign in the top half on the teams' log, albeit in fifth place. Williams' woes though weren't restricted to the track only as when the engines quieted down the real drama began.

As a consequence of their dismal season, a blame game between themselves and BMW began which resulted in the car manufacturer ending their relationship with Williams in favour of buying the Sauber team.Major sponsor HP also withdrew their backing, while Button, who had been so keen to join Williams a year previously, decided Honda could offer him a better chance of winning the drivers' title and bought his way out of his contract.

For 2006 Sir Frank Williams has signed Cosworth as his team's engine supplier - a move that could go either way for his team - while the loss of Heidfeld to BMW, means Nico Rosberg has been given his big break - another questionable move. Only time will tell whether the 2006 season is one of magic or misery for Williams.

Toyota

2006-06-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

Having been accused of failing to return value for money, Toyota, who reputedly have the biggest budget of any team in the sport, finally reaped rewards in 2005 by finishing fourth place in the constructors' championship.But whether the team falters or flies from now on will depend largely on their determination and focus.

While this is their first foray in Formula One, Toyota nonetheless have had a long history in motorsport, with much of their success coming in the World Rally Championship in which they have won seven titles.They also entered the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1998 and 1999, finishing in second place in 1999 and have had a strong CART presence for a number of years.

2002, their first year in Formula One, was closely watched but yielded no points - a lot of the blame for this was placed on drivers Mika Salo and Allan McNish.But given the huge budget at their disposal and the limitless testing they did - in 2001 they ran a whole shadow season - there was no doubt that the team as a whole should have done so much better.

Given the potential power of Toyota, rival teams still feared they would be at the front of the grid in just a few years' time, and the 2003 season saw that threat begin to materialise.Both Olivier Panis and Cristiano da Matta put in some impressive performances, although there were more disappointments than celebrations.

Yet that improvement was reversed in 2004. Panis and da Matta failed to inspire while the team was left to rue the boast of boss Tsutomu Tomita that they would score points at every race. In all, a paltry nine were forthcoming - even Jaguar scored more. Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher replaced Panis and da Matta for the 2005 campaign which finally saw Toyota's hard work and financial input begin to pay off.

The year couldn't have started better with Trulli grabbing three podiums in the opening four races.And although their first race victory remained elusive, the Cologne outfit claimed further top-three results courtesy of Ralf, which helped elevate them to fourth in the constructors' battle. Now having tasted the podium champagne, Toyota are keen to discover the sweet taste of victory.

McLaren

2006-06-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

McLaren began life in the mid-1960s competing in their first race in 1966 and securing their first win at Spa in 1968 with founder, Bruce McLaren, at the wheel.Tragically he was to die in a testing accident in 1970, though his racing team went on to make steady progress. Denny Hulme helped the team to five wins and Peter Revson to two between 1968 and 1973, which laid the foundations for success the following year as McLaren secured their first drivers' and constructors' championships.

The young Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi edged out Clay Regazzoni for the drivers' title by three points, with three wins in the season and, while with team-mate Hulme grabbing another the constructors' was won too. There was more success for McLaren in 1976 when James Hunt won the drivers' championship in teeming rain at the final race at Mount Fiji, beating Ferrari's Niki Lauda by a single point.

Ferrari, however, would hold onto the constructors' title that year. The team then suffered a lapse in form with no GP wins between October 1977 and July 1981 when John Watson finally ended the drought at Silverstone. Under new administration (Ron Dennis and Mansour Ojjeh), the renamed McLaren International team went on to dominate much of the 1980s and early 1990s.

After ending their long association with Ford, which dated back to 1970, McLaren were now powered by the TAG-Porsche engine and they went on to win the 1984 and 1985 constructors' championship with drivers Niki Lauda and Alain Prost winning the drivers' championship in the respective years.Although they lost constructors' honours to Williams in 1986 and 1987, Alain Prost still took the drivers' championship in 1986.

However, the best was still to come for McLaren. 1988 was the zenith of their power, as the team, now with the Honda engine, won all but one of the races that season and stormed to the championship.Only the Italian GP at Monza eluded them after drivers' champion-elect Ayrton Senna crashed with just two laps to go.

The team went on to record another three consecutive constructors' championships to make it four in a row between 1988 and 1991 with Senna and Prost securing the respective drivers' titles.This is the best ever run for one team in F1 history. However, their dominance was brought to an end by Williams as they won both the 1992 constructors' and drivers' championships with Nigel Mansell the star.

Soon McLaren were struggling to find any form and after Senna's win at Adelaide in 1993, the team did not record a GP win for three consecutive seasons.After a series of uncompetitive Peugeot and Ford engines, in 1995 McLaren signed a deal with Mercedes and it proved the beginning of a revival.Yet they would have to wait until the start of the 1997 season for David Coulthard to end the drought at Melbourne.

In 1998 all the pieces fell into place for McLaren as they secured the constructors' championship with nine wins and the drivers' championship for Mika Hakkinen.Whilst in 1999, despite some rare moments of madness from the flying Finn, McLaren won the drivers' championship yet again, though arch rivals Ferrari took the constructors' honours.

With Daimler-Chrysler having purchased 40 percent of the company, McLaren were odds-on favourites to take their third successive drivers' title in 2000, as well as reclaiming the constructors' championship lost to Ferrari in 1999. However from the outset of the 2000 season it was clear that Ferrari meant business. Poor reliability and indifferent performances from Hakkinen left McLaren trailing the Italian team by almost 30 points after just three rounds but as the season progressed, the Woking team fought back with Hakkinen and Coulthard grabbing a string of mid-season victories.

The strength of the Ferrari effort together with a pair of questionable decisions by the sport's governing body meant McLaren could only manage the runners-up spot in both championships.In 2001, McLaren retained Hakkinen and Coulthard for a record sixth successive season, but once again they failed to set the track ablaze. The relative failure of 2000 continued in 2001, with the team only managing four victories - two for DC and two for Hakkinen, who announced during the season that he would not be returning to the team in 2002 (his sabbatical subsequently turned into retirement).

Hakkinen, like Coulthard, performed well during qualifying but couldn't convert good grid positions into race victories.McLaren's season was perhaps best exemplified by Coulthard's launch-control stall on the start line at Monte Carlo after qualifying in pole position. 2002 was even worse than the previous two years - the Mercedes engine was down on power and the lack of engine development was put down to the tragic death of Ilmor founder Paul Morgan in a 2001 plane crash.

Coulthard won in Monaco courtesy of some nifty pits-to-car telemetry and Raikkonen was very unlucky not to get a maiden win in France, spinning on oil with just two laps to go.But the significant moves of the year were technical. The team signed up BMW's Werner Laurenz, Arrows' Mike Coughlan and Ferrari's John Sutton to create a formidable technical team for the 2003 season, a campaign they planned to start with the MP4-17D before swapping to the MP4-18 when the European leg began.

However the MP4-18, hit by a series of technical failures, never made its debut, and Raikkonen and Coulthard were forced to contend the entire season with the previous year's car. Despite this Raikkonen posed the strongest challenge to Schumacher for the drivers' title, but had to settle for second place, two points behind the Ferrari driver.Hopes were high that the introduction of the MP4-19 would enable Kimi to take the fight to Michael in 2004, but it quickly emerged that it was one of the worst cars in the team's history.

Indeed, the start to the season, in which they struggled to score a handful of points in the wretched MP4-19, was statistically their worst since the 1970s. The introduction of MP4-19B was a blessed relief and propelled Kimi to a fabulous win at Spa, but it was too little, too late. The next season Coulthard was replaced by the volatile and hard-charging Juan-Pablo Montoya, giving McLaren arguably their most exciting driver line-up since the days of Senna and Prost.

Or so we thought.

Injured in a "tennis accident" (as the world was told) Montoya missed the Bahrain and San Marino GPs and when he made his return the Colombian struggled to find his feet. It wasn't until race 11, the British GP, that he finally claimed his first podium finish as a Woking driver.And he did it in style by winning McLaren's home race.

However, by then Montoya was too far behind Raikkonen to challenge him and he was forced to play a supporting role.But even his support couldn't help the Finn, who was dogged by reliability issues. Although McLaren's MP4-20 was the quickest car on the grid its Mercedes engine was one of the most unreliable, failing Kimi four times during grands prix weekends.

He had to settle for runner-up to Fernando Alonso in the drivers' championship, while McLaren had to contend with P2 in the teams' battle.Both titles, though, they should have won. Now in 2006 McLaren and Mercedes have a lot to prove and a lot riding on their success.Not only does the team need to show Fernando Alonso that he's made the right decision in opting to sign with McLaren for 2007 but they also have to find a way to keep Raikkonen, who is reportedly on his way to Ferrari.And they can only achieve those two aims with a championship title.

Renault

2006-06-11T20:40:00.000-07:00

Having beaten the likes of McLaren and Williams - members of the so-called 'Big Three' - in recent years, Renault went on better in 2005 and beat the 'Big One' Ferrari to take both the drivers' and constructors' world titles.And whether you believe Renault won the titles or Ferrari and McLaren lost them, it makes no difference... Renault and Fernando Alonso are the reigning Formula One Champions.

Much of the infrastructure of Renault was laid by the Toleman team, which Italian clothing company Benetton took over in 1986.The move immediately sparked some life back into the organisation, making an immediate impact with their first GP win in their first full season in Mexico City with Austrian driver Gerhard Berger.

They soon cemented their position as an F1 contender, always finishing in the top five, including a third place in 1988. They had to wait until 1989 to get their second GP win which duly arrived at Suzuka - Italian Alessandro Nannini profiting from the infamous Prost-Senna clash. The signing of Michael Schumacher for the 1992 season proved a masterstroke and the team gradually moved towards becoming a true championship outfit.

In 1994 the German took the drivers' title although Renault missed out on the constructors championship which remained with the dominant Williams set-up.However, the following year Renault finally secured the double as they racked up 11 wins from 17 races.

The loss of Michael Schumacher to Ferrari for 1996 season and the withdrawal of their engine supplier Renault in 1997 signaled a downturn in the team's fortune and for several years they fulfilled the role of midfield runners. For 2000 they retained Giancarlo Fisichella and Alex Wurz.Pre-season tests and strong finishes in Australia and Brazil gave the impression that Renault were going to be a force to be reckoned with again.

However, indifferent performances from both drivers saw the team struggle to hold onto fourth position in the constructors' championship. The purchase of the team by Renault in early 2000 gave the team some much-needed stability, though the full effect was not to be felt until Renault took total control in 2002.

Within weeks of purchasing the team, Renault had re-recruited Flavio Briatore whilst several other top F1 names have been brought on board since. 2001 was a poor season for the team with an under-powered engine for new boy Jenson Button who joined Giancarlo Fisichella from Williams.

Things improved in 2002 when the Renault name disappeared and the team's revolutionary wide V-angle engine finally produced some revs - though not nearly enough to match BMW, Ferrari or Mercedes. The car was immensely driveable because of its low centre of gravity and thoroughly unreliable to boot.

Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella did a team swap in 2002 with Fisi getting the worst of the deal by going to Jordan just as they took a performance lurch backwards. Jenson Button looked to score a podium in the second race, but his car slowed and he was caught on the final lap.Mike Gascoyne's technical team managed to improve the car throughout the season and married with lightning-fast launch control the team picked up points.

Button was dispensed with so that Flavio Briatore could have two of his personally-managed drivers in his team for 2003.Jenson outraced Jarno Trulli all season but failed to outqualify him and was replaced by Spanish test driver Fernando Alonso. Alonso proved to be 2003's great surprise and pressed Trulli all the way.

The Spaniard also clinched the team's debut victory and firmly established himself alongside the likes of Raikkonen and Montoya as a contender to be Michael Schumacher's heir apparent. Yet the roles were largely reversed in the first half of the 2004 season, with Trulli enjoying a rich vein of form. It culminated in the Italian securing his first grand prix victory at Monaco in May.

However, with Trulli refusing to extend a management deal with Briatore, his place in the team was already under threat.Relations between the two parties disintegrated and so did Jarno's performances. The Italian claimed his car had been sabotaged. The team said the only problem was in his head.

A split was inevitable, and with three races remaining he was replaced by Jacques Villeneuve.Alonso had rediscovered his 2003 form by this stage and the Renault team were striving to take second place in the constructors' championship from BAR.But with Villeneuve unable to immediately get to grips with the R24 and F1's increased speeds, it wasn't to be.

Having lost their way towards the end of 2004, few expected Renault to win even one, never mind both, world titles in 2005.But win them they did with Alonso ending Schumacher's five-year reign and Renault taking the constructors' title away from Ferrari, who had held it ever since 1999, at the season-ending Chinese GP.

Reliability was the key for Alonso, who claimed seven wins, eight podium finishes and the ultimate prize, the drivers' championship title at the Brazilian Grand Prix.Together with team-mate Fisichella, who won just one race and was dogged with reliability problems, he also clinched the teams' trophy for Renault as they beat McLaren by nine points.

And although everyone at the team will be out to retain the double in 2006, the season could be a tricky one as Alonso is off to McLaren at the end of the campaign. Therefore the big question at Renault for 2006 is: Will the team's alleged favouritism swing towards Fisichella or will the team back Alonso knowing he'll take the No. 1 with him to McLaren?

Ferrari

2006-06-11T01:58:00.000-07:00

The most famous name in F1 and the most successful.Few would write off the Italian team fighting back in 2006 and regaining the titles that they lost last season.

An ever-present since the first GP back in 1950, Ferrari is as much an F1 racing institution as it is a world institution. Their F1 story started at Silverstone in 1951 when Froilan Gonzalez recorded their first GP win.

The following year the legendary Alberto Ascari won the first of his two consecutive drivers' titles in a Ferrari.The 1952 and 1953 seasons were two of their most successful ever with seven wins coming in each.

Though the 1950's and 1960's success came at regular intervals with a number of the great Champions such as Fangio, Hawthorn Phil Hill and John Surtees. In addition, the team secured constructors' titles in 1961 and 1964. However, the apogee of their power would come in the 1970's, winning the constructors' championship four times, including a hat-trick through 1975, 1976 and 1977.

Niki Lauda took the drivers' title in '75 and '77 and but for a horrendous accident at Nurburgring in which he almost lost his life, the little Austrian would have prevailed in 1976 as well.Ferrari finished the decade in style with Jody Scheckter winning the 1979 drivers' championship and helping them to the constructors' title the same year.

After that however, the team struggled, with just three titles (constructors' in 1982, '83 and '99), as rivals McLaren and Williams established themselves. They also suffered terrible misfortune, the tragic death of Gilles Villeneuve in 1982 probably denied him and the team the title and Alain Prost was denied the drivers' crown in 1990 after Ayrton Senna took him out of the final race at Suzuka.

In fact Ferrari's win at Jerez in September 1990 turned out to be their last GP win until July 1994 as they struggled with an uncompetitive and unreliable car.However, the arrival of Jean Todt as team boss and designer John Barnard began a slow revival in the team's fortune.The signing of Michael Schumacher from Benetton before the start of the 1996 season brought them success on a more regular basis.

In 1999, having taken the title to the wire for the third successive season, Ferrari were rewarded with the constructors' title.But when Schumacher crashed out of the British GP (subsequently missing the next six races), it was left to Eddie Irvine to take up the fight.

The Ulsterman gave it his best shot, but it was not to be. For 2000 Rubens Barrichello joined Michael Schumacher as Ferrari tried to end a 21- year drought.Following a tremendous start to the season when the German won three successive GPs, McLaren began to gain the upper hand.

However, a string of great performances at the end of the season saw Schumacher claim his third (and Ferrari's 10th) drivers' title. 2001 was another triumph for the Scuderia.Williams were fast and McLaren were consistent, but neither were fast and consistent and Ferrari eventually won both drivers' and constructors' titles at a canter.

In 2002 Schumacher's dominance reached epic proportions.Barrichello took all the bad luck as Schumacher went on to finish every race of 17 on the podium, winning 11 times.Ferrari won 15 out of 17 races, narrowly failing to beat McLaren's 15-from-16 win percentage of 1988.

Though the F2002 was a truly remarkable race car, the team personnel were criticised for their blinkered view of the sport by imposing team orders at only the sixth race of the year in Austria when Rubens Barrichello was asked to give up the win.At Indianapolis, Schumacher eased up just short of the line and accidentally handed him a race win back, which prompted renewed criticism.

Team orders were gone for 2003, but that did little to stop Schumacher from winning his sixth title.He claimed six wins, while team-mate Barrichello won a further two, handing Ferrari their fifth successive teams' title.

Remarkably, 2004 proved to be an even more comfortable stroll for the team as Schumacher notched 13 wins, including the first five of the campaign, and by the halfway stage the incredible German had yet another title in the bag.A few races later Ferrari also successfully defended the constructors' crown - aided by two Barrichello victories.

But nothing lasts forever and in 2006 Ferrari and Schumacher's success story came to a crashing end as they lost both titles to Renault.The defeat, though, wasn't Schumacher's fault and it was only partly Ferrari's.The general consensus in the paddock was that the blame rested squarely with Bridgestone - the tyre manufacturer struggling to come up with a product hardy enough to last qualifying's three laps as well as Sunday's entire grand-prix distance. And last the required distance with speed.

As a result was the F2005 seldom kept pace with the Renaults and McLarens and while new champion Fernando Alonso and runner-up Kimi Raikkonen claimed seven wins apiece, Schumacher managed just one.And that came at the controversial United States GP which took place sans the Michelin runners who were withdrawn on safety grounds. It was also Ferrari's sole victory of the year.

But as quickly and dramatically as the Italian team's performances nosedived, few would bet against them rebounding.And with the changes to tyre regulations expected to favour Bridgestone in 2006, Schumacher, his new team-mate Felipe Massa and the legendary Prancing Horse have every reason to believe success is only a chequered flag away.