Despite recording three podium finishes and scoring twice as many points compared to last season, Renault remained in the same championship position. Here are the facts and statistics from Renault’s 2020 F1 season.
Renault entered the 2020 season with a refreshed line up, with Esteban Ocon replacing Nico Hulkenberg. The team scored almost double the number of points as they did in 2019, but remained fifth overall in the Constructors’ Championship. Throughout the year, Renault were embroiled in a battle for third between themselves, McLaren and Racing Point.
The Spanish Grand Prix was the only race in which the team failed to score in 2020. Ricciardo provided the team with their first Fastest Lap in over a decade, as well as their first podium finish since 2011. He finished third at the Eifel Grand Prix, and went on to finish third again at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. It was Ocon, however, who recorded Renault’s best result of the season with second place in the Sakhir Grand Prix.
Renault made their 400th appearance as a works team at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but that will be their final appearance, at least for the time being. In 2021, the team re-brands as Alpine, in promotion of Renault’s sports car brand. With Daniel Ricciardo departing, Esteban Ocon will be joined by two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso.
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RACE STATISTICS
- Championship Position: 5th
- Total Points: 181
- Points Scoring Races: 16
- Double Points Finishes: 8
- Best finish: 2nd (Ocon, Sakhir)
- Number of DNFs: 5
- Number of DNSs: 0
- Laps Led: 0
- Laps Complete: 1840
- Total Laps Raced in the Top 10: 1409
- % of Laps Complete: 88.72%
- Distance Covered: 9,347km (4th)
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QUALIFYING STATISTICS
- Both cars in Q3: 8
- Q3 Appearances: 22
- Q2 Exits: 12
- Q1 Exits: 0
- Best Qualifying Position: 4th (Ricciardo, Belgium)
- Worst Qualifying Position: 15th (Ocon, Spain)
- Average Gap to Ultimate Pace: 1.57% (2019: 1.93%, 2018: 2.20%)
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A STATISTIC FROM EVERY GRAND PRIX
Austria: On his return to Formula 1, Esteban Ocon scored his first points since the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix. His eighth place finish marked the first time that the Renault works team scored at the Austrian Grand Prix since Alain Prost won in 1983.
Styria: Renault recorded the same result in first two races of season. In both races, one Renault driver finished in eighth place, while the other failed to finish. Esteban Ocon’s retirement from this race marked Renault’s third DNF in the last four Austrian races.
Hungary: A Renault driver finished in eighth position in all of the first three races of the 2020 season. Daniel Ricciardo’s eighth place at the Hungarian Grand Prix marked the best result for a Renault driver at the event since Vitaly Petrov finished fifth in 2010.
Britain: After the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the 2019 Italian Grand Prix, the 2020 British Grand Prix was only the third time since Renault’s last victory at the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix that both Renault drivers have finished in the top six. It was the first time both Renault cars have finished in the top six at Silverstone since 2006.
70th Anniversary: The 70th Anniversary Grand Prix marked the first time only one Renault car has scored at Silverstone since the 2018 British Grand Prix. The team recorded their smallest points haul from a Silverstone race since 2016, when neither car finished the race.
Spain: For only the second time in their history that the Enstone-based team have recorded a double Q2 exit at the Spanish Grand Prix. They last did so under their Lotus guise in 2015. For the first time in 2020, Renault failed to score a point. It was the third time in the last five years that the team have left the Spanish Grand Prix without picking up a point.
Belgium: Daniel Ricciardo qualified fourth while Esteban Ocon qualified in sixth place for the Belgian Grand Prix, making this the first time since 2005 that both Renault drivers have qualified in the top six for the event. This is only the second time since the 2007 French Grand Prix that both Renault drivers have lined up in the top six on the grid. They also did so at the 2019 Italian Grand Prix. Both drivers finished in the top five in the race, marking the first time since the 1983 Belgian Grand Prix – when Alain Prost won and Eddie Cheever finished third – that both Renault drivers have finished in the top five at Spa Francorchamps. It was also only the second time since the team’s last win (at the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix) that both drivers have finished in the top five. On the final lap of the race, Ricciardo set the Fastest Lap. Ricciardo is the first Renault driver to record the Fastest Lap of a race since Robert Kubica at the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. While Renault took their largest ever points haul from a Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo scored the most points for a Renault driver at a single race since Nick Heidfeld finished third at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Italy: For a second year in a row, Renault scored points with both cars at the Italian Grand Prix. It was the first time in Renault’s history that the team has scored with both cars in successive Monza races.
Tuscany: Esteban Ocon’s retirement from the Tuscan Grand Prix was to be the first of three mechanical DNFs for the French driver in the next five races. Those three retirements were the only entries with which Renault failed to score in the seven races between the Belgian and Emilia Romagna Grands Prix.
Russia: Qualifying in fifth place, Daniel Ricciardo recorded Renault’s best Russian Grand Prix qualifying result. Their previous best qualifying result at the circuit was seventh, recorded by Nico Hulkenberg in 2019. Ricciardo finished fifth in the race, recording his best ever result at the circuit. It was also the team’s best result at the circuit. Both Renault drivers finished in the points at the Russian Grand Prix for the first time. Esteban Ocon finished seventh in the race, equalling the team’s previous best result at the circuit.
Eifel: With Daniel Ricciardo sixth and Esteban Ocon seventh, this was the first time that both Renault drivers have qualified in the top ten at the Nurburgring since 2005. Both of the Enstone team’s drivers qualified in the top five in 2013, when the team was in its Lotus guise. In the race, Ricciardo became the first Renault driver to finish on the podium since Nick Heidfeld at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. It was the Enstone team’s first podium since Romain Grosjean finished third at the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix. With Ricciardo finishing on the podium for Renault, 2020 became the first season in which seven different teams finished on the podium since 2012.
Portugal: At the Portuguese Grand Prix, Renault surpassed Brabham as the team to have made the sixth most starts in Formula 1. Brabham made their final start at the 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Emilia Romagna: Esteban Ocon recorded Renault’s 120th Q2 exit after qualifying in twelfth place for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo finished in third place, becoming the first non-Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull driver to record two podium finishes in a season since Sergio Perez in 2016. This was the third consecutive race at Imola in which Renault have finished on the podium. Fernando Alonso finished first and second for the team in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
Turkey: Daniel Ricciardo qualified in fifth position for the second race in a row. It was the Enstone team’s best qualifying result at the Turkish Grand Prix since Fernando Alonso qualified third for Renault in 2006.
Bahrain: Both Renault drivers finished in the points at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The last time both Renault drivers finished in the points at the Bahrain Grand Prix was in the inaugural race here in 2004. It was also the first time the Enstone team have had both drivers finish in the points in Bahrain since Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean both finished on the podium for Lotus in 2013.
Sakhir: Esteban Ocon finished on the podium for the first time in his Formula 1 career at the Sakhir Grand Prix. His was the 306th top three finish for a French driver and the first time that a French driver has finished on the podium with Renault since Patrick Tambay at the 1985 San Marino Grand Prix. The last French driver to finish on the podium for the Enstone team was Romain Grosjean at the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix. Ocon recorded Renault’s first podium finish in Bahrain since Fernando Alonso won the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Abu Dhabi: The 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix marked Renault’s 400th Grand Prix start as a works team. It was also their final start, at least for the time being, as the team will rebrand as Alpine in 2021. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was Daniel Ricciardo’s last race for the team, having joined at the start of 2019. He equalled Vitaly Petrov as the driver to have started the eighth most races with Renault. With Esteban Ocon eleventh and Ricciardo twelfth, neither Renault driver qualified in the top ten for the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix. Renault failed to reach Q3 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with either car for the first time since 2016. In the race, with Ricciardo seventh and Ocon ninth, both Renault drivers scored at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for the first time since 2010. The team never scored here with both cars under their Lotus guise.
