Editing Renault in Formula One (section)

=== Original turbo era (1983–1986) ===
{{See also|Renault EF-Type engine}}
Renault began [[Formula One French engine manufacturers|manufacturing engines]] at the Viry-Châtillon factory in 1976, after closing the former [[Alpine (car maker)|Alpine]] competition department,<ref name="RS2">{{cite web|url=http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns19525.html |title=Jean Redele |work=Grandprix.com|publisher=Inside F1|date=15 August 2007 |access-date=17 October 2011}}</ref><ref name="RS3">{{cite web|url=http://www.pitpass.com/30067/Viry-Chtillon-30-years-of-innovation-and-expertise |title=Viry-Châtillon: 30 years of innovation and expertise |work=Pitpass.com |date=12 December 2006 |access-date=17 October 2011}}</ref> which was run in conjunction with the Formula One team under the [[Renault Sport]] division.<ref name=RS2 /><ref name=RS3 /> It manufactured the first [[turbocharged]] engine seen on the category,<ref name="RS4">{{cite web |url=http://www.renault.com/en/PassionSport/sport-automobile/Documents_Without_Moderation/saga-f1-en.pdf |title=Renault and F1 |publisher=Renault |access-date=17 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106012633/http://www.renault.com/en/PassionSport/sport-automobile/Documents_Without_Moderation/saga-f1-en.pdf |archive-date=6 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the [[Renault EF-Type engine|Renault-Gordini EF1]] 1.5 litres [[V6 engine|V6]],<ref name=RS4 /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.renault.com/en/passionsport/les-vehicules-historiques/pages/formule-1-rs-01.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529142847/http://www.renault.com/en/PassionSport/les-vehicules-historiques/Pages/formule-1-rs-01.aspx|archive-date=29 May 2013 |title= RS01 |publisher=Renault |access-date=17 October 2011}}</ref> at a time where the naturally aspirated 3-litre engines were predominant.<ref name=RS4 /> Initially only supplying engines to the works team, Renault began a customer programme in 1983 when it became [[Team Lotus]]' engine supplier.<ref name="RS1">{{cite web|url=http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/con-renau.html|title=Constructors: Renault F1|work=Grandprix.com|publisher=Inside F1|access-date=17 October 2011}}</ref> [[Mecachrome]], a precision engineering company, prepared the engines for the customer teams.<ref name="Mec">{{cite web|title=Mecachrome|url=http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/eng-mecac.html|work=Grandprix.com|publisher=Inside F1|access-date=3 February 2012}}</ref>

Though not competitive initially, with the recruitment of designer [[Gérard Ducarouge]] the marque gained competitiveness towards the later part of the 1983 season into 1984, with [[Nigel Mansell]] and [[Elio de Angelis]] scoring regular podiums. That year, Renault also began supplying engines to the [[Équipe Ligier|Ligier]] team,<ref name="LP">{{cite web|title=Ligier Profile|url=http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/con-ligie.html|work=Grandprix.com|publisher=Inside F1|access-date=3 February 2012}}</ref> which scored three points in 1984, an improvement over not being classified in the 1983 championship. [[Ayrton Senna]] joined [[Team Lotus]] in 1985 and the combination of his talent and the fast, but fuel-inefficient [[Lotus 97T]] gained eight pole positions and three wins (two to Senna, one to de Angelis), but unreliability prevented a sustained attempt at either title. The Tyrrell team started using the Renault engine from the seventh Grand Prix of the year, while Ligier gained three podiums in the [[Ligier JS25]]. In 1986, [[Aristocracy (class)|aristocrat]] [[John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute|Johnny Dumfries]] was chosen to be Senna's new partner at Lotus after Senna vetoed the original choice of [[Derek Warwick]]. More pole positions and two wins for the Brazilian followed with the [[Lotus 98T]], but the car followed similar problems as its predecessor with reliability problems and poor fuel consumption. This saw to it that Lotus could not sustain a season-long challenge to leading teams [[McLaren]] and [[Williams Racing|Williams]].

After the 1985 season, the Renault works team ended participation in Formula One but continued as an engine supplier for [[Équipe Ligier|Ligier]], [[Tyrrell Racing|Tyrrell]] and Lotus. 1986 saw the introduction of the EF15B engine, which included several innovations, like static ignition and pneumatic valve return. Renault Sport stopped its engine program at the end of the year, having scored 19 pole positions and 5 Grand Prix victories with customer teams.<ref name=RS4 />