Renault, a French automobile manufacturer, has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine to Formula One with its EF1 engine. In 1983, Renault began supplying engines to other teams. Although the Renault team had won races, it withdrew at the end of 1985. Renault engines continued to be raced until 1986.
Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from 1986 to 2001. The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000, the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for the 2000 and 2001 seasons. In 2002, the team became Renault. The Benetton Formula team was chaired by Alessandro Benetton from 1988 to 1998.
Formula One automobile racing has its roots in the European Grand Prix championships of the 1920s and 1930s, though the foundation of the modern Formula One began in 1946 with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's (FIA) standardisation of rules, which was followed by a World Championship of Drivers in 1950.
The 1995 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 26 March 1995 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo, Brazil. It was the first round of the 1995 Formula One World Championship. Michael Schumacher of the Benetton team won the 71-lap race from second position. David Coulthard finished second in a Williams car, with Gerhard Berger third in a Ferrari. Damon Hill, who started the race from pole position, spun out while leading on lap 30 with an apparent gearbox problem, which was later found to be a suspension failure. Schumacher's win came despite Benetton encountering steering problems with his car during Friday practice, leading to him crashing heavily and necessitating steering component changes for the rest of the event. Despite Schumacher's victory, Hill proved to be faster during the race and seemed to be on course for a comfortable victory before his sudden retirement.
The 1995 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 12 November 1995 at the Adelaide Street Circuit, Adelaide. The race, contested over 81 laps, was the seventeenth and final race of the 1995 Formula One season, and the eleventh and last Australian Grand Prix to be held at Adelaide before the event moved to Melbourne the following year. This would also prove to be the last Grand Prix for Mark Blundell, Bertrand Gachot, Roberto Moreno, Taki Inoue and Karl Wendlinger.
The 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 52nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1998 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1998 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 8 March and ended on 1 November. Finland's Mika Häkkinen won his first Drivers' Championship, and McLaren-Mercedes won the Constructors' Championship, the first for the McLaren team since 1991.
The 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 51st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It commenced on 9 March and ended on 26 October after seventeen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Jacques Villeneuve and the Constructors' Championship was awarded to Williams-Renault.
The 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 50th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. The championship commenced on 10 March and ended on 13 October after sixteen races. Two World Championship titles were awarded, one for Drivers and one for Constructors.
The 1995 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 49th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1995 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1995 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a seventeen-race series that commenced on 26 March and ended on 12 November. Michael Schumacher won his second consecutive Drivers' Championship, and Benetton won the Constructors' Championship, the first and only Constructors' title for the Benetton team.
The 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 48th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1994 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 27 March and ended on 13 November. Michael Schumacher won his first Drivers' Championship driving for Benetton, while Williams-Renault won their third consecutive Constructors' Championship, the seventh in all for Williams.
Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. More than ten years after its last race, Team Lotus remained one of the most successful racing teams of all time, winning seven Formula One Constructors' titles, six Drivers' Championships, and the Indianapolis 500 in the United States between 1962 and 1978. Under the direction of founder and chief designer Colin Chapman, Lotus was responsible for many innovative and experimental developments in critical motorsport, in both technical and commercial arenas.
The Williams FW18, also known as the Williams-Renault FW18, is one of the most successful Formula One car designs of all time. It was designed by Adrian Newey and Patrick Head for the Williams F1 team for the 1996 Formula One season.
The Benetton B194 is a Formula One racing car designed by Rory Byrne for use by the Benetton team in the 1994 Formula One World Championship.
The Williams FW19 was the car with which the Williams team competed in the 1997 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by Jacques Villeneuve, in his second year with the team, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who moved from Sauber to replace the dropped 1996 champion, Damon Hill. Williams also employed test drivers Jean-Christophe Boullion and Juan Pablo Montoya.
The Williams FW17 is a Formula One racing car designed by Adrian Newey, with which the Williams team competed in the 1995 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by Damon Hill, who was in his third year with the team, and David Coulthard, who was in his first full season after a part-time role in 1994.
Formula One sponsorship liveries have been used since the 1968 season. Before the arrival of sponsorship liveries in 1968 the nationality of the team determined the colour of a car entered by the team. Major sponsors such as BP, Shell, and Firestone had pulled out of the sport ahead of this season, prompting the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile to allow unrestricted sponsorship. Team Gunston became the first Formula One team to implement sponsorship brands as a livery on their Brabham car, which privately entered for John Love in orange, brown and gold colours of Gunston cigarettes in the first race of the 1968 season, the 1968 South African Grand Prix, on 1 January 1968. In the next race, the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix, Team Lotus became the first works team to follow this example, with Graham Hill's Lotus 49B entered in the red, gold and white colors of Imperial Tobacco's Gold Leaf brand. With rising costs in Formula One, sponsors becoming more important and thus liveries reflected the teams' sponsors.
The RS series is a family of naturally-aspirated Grand Prix racing engines, designed, developed and manufactured jointly by Mecachrome and Renault Sport for use in Formula One, and used by Arrows, BAR, Williams, Ligier, Lotus, Caterham, Benetton, Renault, and Red Bull, from 1989 until 2013. The engines came in both the original V10, and later V8 configurations, and engine displacement ranged from 2.4 L (150 cu in) to 3.5 L (210 cu in) over the years. Power figures varied; from 650 hp (480 kW) @ 12,500 rpm, to later over 900 hp (670 kW) @ 19,000 rpm. The 2.4-litre RS26 V8 engine, used in 2006, is one of the highest revving Formula One engines in history, at 20,500 rpm. Between 1998 and 2000, the RS9 engines were badged as Mecachrome, Supertec, and Playlife.
The HB is a series of 3.5-litre, naturally-aspirated V8 Formula One racing engines, designed, developed and produced by Cosworth, in partnership with Ford; and used between 1989 and 1994. The customer engines were used by Benetton, Fondmetal, McLaren, Lotus, Minardi, Footwork, Simtek, and Larrousse.
The EC and ED family are a series of 3.0-litre and 3.5-litre, naturally-aspirated, V8, Formula One racing engines, designed, developed and produced by Cosworth, in partnership with Ford; and used between 1994 and 1997. The customer engines were used by Benetton, Sauber, Forti, Lola, Simtek, Pacific, Minardi, and Tyrrell.
Michael Schumacher 
Johnny Herbert 
