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.
Giancarlo Fisichella, also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1996 to 2009. Fisichella won three Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons.
Heikki Johannes Kovalainen is a Finnish racing and rally driver, who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2013. Kovalainen won the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix with McLaren. In sportscar racing, Kovalainen won Super GT in 2016 with SARD.
The 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 61st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, which began on 18 March and ended on 21 October after seventeen events. The Drivers' Championship was won by Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen by one point at the final race of the season, making Räikkönen the third Finnish driver to take the title. An appeal by McLaren regarding the legality of some cars in the final race could have altered the championship standings, but on 16 November, the appeal was rejected by the International Court of Appeal, confirming the championship results. Räikkönen entered the final race in third position in the drivers' standings, but emerged as champion after the chequered flag, a feat first accomplished by Giuseppe Farina in 1950.
The 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 62nd season of Formula One motor racing, recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) – the governing body of motorsport – as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship was contested over eighteen races commencing in Australia on 16 March and ending in Brazil on 2 November. The 2008 season saw the debut of the Singapore Grand Prix, which was held at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Marina Bay, Singapore and was the first Formula One race held at night. The European Grand Prix moved to a new venue at the Valencia Street Circuit, in Valencia, Spain.
The Ferrari 248 F1 is a Formula One car, used by Ferrari for the 2006 season. The chassis was designed by Rory Byrne, Simone Resta, Aldo Costa, Tiziano Battistini, Marco Fainello, John Iley and Marco de Luca with Ross Brawn playing a vital role in leading the production of the car as the team's Technical Director and Paolo Martinelli assisted by Giles Simon leading the engine design and operations.
The Renault R26 is a Formula One racing car, used by the Renault F1 team in the 2006 Formula One season. The chassis was designed by Bob Bell, James Allison, Tim Densham and Dino Toso with Pat Symonds overseeing the design and production of the car as executive director of Engineering and Rob White leading the engine design. The car was driven by Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella.
The 2007 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 18 March 2007 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia. It was the first race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship. The 58 lap race was won by Kimi Räikkönen for the Ferrari team after starting from pole position. Fernando Alonso finished second in a McLaren car, with teammate and future 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton third on his Grand Prix debut.
The 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held on 8 April 2007 at the Sepang International Circuit and the second race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship. Reigning world champion Fernando Alonso won the race from second on the grid, with McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton finishing second. This marked McLaren's first one-two finish since the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix. Previous race winner Kimi Räikkönen finished third. Räikkönen's Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa started the race from pole position, but was passed by both McLarens in the first two corners of the first lap, eventually finishing in fifth place behind BMW's Nick Heidfeld.
The 2007 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, the fourth race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, won by Felipe Massa. It was held on 13 May 2007 at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain.
The 2007 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 27 May 2007 at the Circuit de Monaco. It was the fifth race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship.
The 2007 Belgian Grand Prix was the fourteenth race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, returning to the Formula One calendar after a year's absence. It was held on 16 September at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, near the village of Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium.
The 2007 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, in the United States on 17 June 2007. The 73-lap race was the seventh race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship and was won by McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. His teammate, Fernando Alonso, finished the race in second position whilst Ferrari driver, Felipe Massa, completed the podium by finishing third. This was the debut race of the future four time world champion Sebastian Vettel with BMW Sauber F1 Team.
The 2007 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 1 July 2007 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours, France. It was the eighth race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship. Kimi Räikkönen for the Ferrari team won the 70-lap race starting from third position. Felipe Massa, who started the race from pole position, finished second in the latter Ferrari, with Lewis Hamilton third in a McLaren car.
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, e.g. cars entered by Italian teams were rosso corsa red, cars entered by French teams were bleu de France blue, and cars entered by British teams were British racing green. 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.
The McLaren MP4-23 was a Formula One racing car that was constructed by the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team to compete in the 2008 Formula One World Championship. The chassis was designed by Paddy Lowe, Neil Oatley, Tim Goss, Andrew Bailey and Simon Lacey, with Mario Illien and Andy Cowell designing the Mercedes-Benz engine. It was revealed at Mercedes-Benz's motor sport museum in Stuttgart on 7 January 2008, and it had its first on-track appearance at Circuito Permanente de Jerez in Spain on 9 January. The car won the 2008 World Drivers' Championship in the hands of Lewis Hamilton, but finished second in the Constructors' Championship, which was won by Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. The car, along with its rivals during the season, marked the end of an era of complex aerodynamic appendages on the bodywork, which would be banned for 2009.
The 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 3 August 2008, at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, near Budapest. It was the 11th race of the 2008 Formula One World Championship. Contested over 70 laps, the race was won by Heikki Kovalainen for the McLaren team, from a second position start. Timo Glock finished second in a Toyota car, with Kimi Räikkönen third in a Ferrari. It was Kovalainen's first Formula One victory, which made him the sport's 100th driver to win a World Championship race, and it was Glock's first podium finish. It also turned out to be the only F1 race Kovalainen ever won.
The 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo, Brazil on 18 October 2009. It was the sixteenth race of the 2009 Formula One World Championship.
The 2009 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 30 August 2009 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, near the village of Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium. It was the 12th race of the 2009 Formula One season. The race was contested over 44 laps, with an overall race distance of 308.052 km (191.415 mi). The race was won by Kimi Räikkönen of Ferrari after starting from sixth on the grid. Giancarlo Fisichella of Force India came second after starting from the team's first and only pole position. Sebastian Vettel came third after starting from eighth on the grid.
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.
Giancarlo Fisichella 
Heikki Kovalainen 
