Double podium for Renault engines in Hungarian Grand Prix

The Lotus F1 Team, powered by the Renault RS27 V8 engine, secured a double podium in today’s Hungarian Grand Prix. Kimi Raikkonen finished in second position, less than one second from race winner Lewis Hamilton, with team-mate Romain Grosjean bringing home the sister Lotus in third. Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel made it three Renault engines in the top four with fourth position.

Completing a positive day for Renault Sport F1, Williams F1 Team’s Bruno Senna passed the flag in seventh position ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber, making 50% of the top ten Renault powered.

Pastor Maldonado (Williams F1 Team) finished in 13th position with Caterham F1 Team’s Heikki Kovalainen 17th and Vitaly Petrov 19th.

Red Bull Racing retains the lead of the championship, with McLaren second. Lotus F1 Team is just one point behind. Williams is seventh with Caterham 10th. In the drivers’ race Alonso stays on top, with Webber second and Vettel third. Raikkonen is now fifth, just behind Lewis Hamilton.

Rémi Taffin, Renault Sport F1 head of track operations

A double podium here, three of the top four positions and 50% of the top ten is a great result to take us into the summer break. The Hungaroring is relatively low speed and the flowing sequences of corners demand good driveability and torque response from the engine, plus the ability to manage tyre wear effectively. For these reasons it is just as much of a challenge as the more power sensitive circuits we will visit in the second part of the year, and just as satisfying to help our partners get some decent points.

The technical clarifications issued mid-week have not caused us to significantly change our operations across our teams, but it has increased the workload. To leave Hungary with so many points shows the depth of our resources, but also our ability to adapt to the changes given at very short notice and to remain competitive. A big well done to all the hard work at the track and back at Viry in what has been a very intense first part of the season.

We’ve now got a bit of a break, which will be very welcome, before we come back with the big ‘engine’ tracks, Spa and Monza. We’ve got some records to uphold now; the result is the ninth time a Renault engine has finished on the podium this season, we are just four wins from the 150th Renault-powered victory and just two from the 200th pole position.