<< Prev Page 2 of 2 Testing of the Renault RS 01 commenced late in 1976 with Jean-Pierre Jabouille taking up the driving duties. Many niggling issues forced the team to postpone the car's competition debut until the 1977 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Among the problems were turbo-lag that made the Renault difficult to drive and the engine's tendency to overheat. Neither were solved by the time the car debuted and it failed to reach the finish in any of the races that year. The RS 01 often ground to a halt surrounded by a cloud of steam, which earned it the nickname 'Yellow Teapot'.
Despite the difficulties, Renault's engineers continued to develop the RS 01 over the winter. Among the developments were changes to the cooling architecture to keep the engine's temperature under control. The bugs were still not ironed but in 1978 guise the car was both more competitive and reliable. Relatively speaking, that is, because Jabouille still only managed to reach the finish five times out of fourteen attempts. At one of those occasions, the US Grand Prix, he finished fourth, scoring Equipe Renault Elf's very first World Championship points.
Renault's liberating win in that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, allowed the manufacturer to focus on Formula 1 exclusively. As a result two cars were entered in 1979, and a brand new, ground effect chassis was readied. Before the RS 10 was ready, drivers Jabouille and new signing Rene Arnoux had to make do with the RS 01. First raced in Spain, the second generation Renault F1 car was an obvious improvement. In addition to the ground effect aerodynamics, the car also used a twin-turbo setup to reduce lag.
Renault's bold pioneering work finally paid off at the 1979 French Grand Prix at Dijon with Jabouille scoring a well deserved victory and Arnoux finishing third. With just a handful of points to its name and long list of retirements, the RS 01 has not gone into F1 history as one of the great cars. However, as the first turbo-charged Grand Prix racer, it started a revolution, and within a decade after its troubled debut Formula 1's grids exclusively featured turbo-charged cars. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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Testing of the Renault RS 01 commenced late in 1976 with Jean-Pierre Jabouille taking up the driving duties. Many niggling issues forced the team to postpone the car's competition debut until the 1977 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Among the problems were turbo-lag that made the Renault difficult to drive and the engine's tendency to overheat. Neither were solved by the time the car debuted and it failed to reach the finish in any of the races that year. The RS 01 often ground to a halt surrounded by a cloud of steam, which earned it the nickname 'Yellow Teapot'.