下面是在說明2008的賽季的雷諾車隊回顧情形，有講到Fernando Alonso和
Nelsinho Piquet等兩個人的情形，以及車隊的運作情形，而且在車隊的排名拿到第四名，
而且HONDA車隊是因為財務危機退出比賽，希望明年雷諾車隊會有好的表現，
以下大家慢慢看了，謝謝。
資料來源：
http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2008/11/8717.html
2008 Team Review - Renault: A season of two halves
With just 15 points from nine races, things did not look good for Renault
midway through the 2008 season. That was until their unrelenting development
work began to pay off, rewarding them with 65 points from the next nine
rounds.
Fernando Alonso proved why he remains so highly rated, with two wins and
another six top-four finishes, while Nelson Piquet came through a trying
rookie campaign to score his first podium and keep his seat for 2009…
After a frustrating 2007 season, Renault came into 2008 with renewed
optimism. Star driver Fernando Alonso had returned to the fold following his
unhappy sojourn at McLaren, and promising tester Nelson Piquet, son of the
three-time world champion, had been promoted to a race seat.
Alonso’s talents alone were expected to bring a few tenths to the table,
while Piquet had all the hallmarks of becoming an excellent wingman. There
was a great deal of work to be done, but the French team looked set on the
road to recovery.
However, with BMW Sauber now also competing with McLaren and Ferrari for race
victories, it quickly became clear to Renault that a return to winning ways
would not be straightforward. Although the experienced Alonso capitalised on
the mistakes of others to score fourth at the season opener in Australia, his
qualifying pace - 12th - told the more complete story. As for Piquet, who
started from 21st and irretrievably damaged his car during a first-corner
crash, the Melbourne weekend was one to forget.
And there was more misery in store for the young Brazilian. Over the first
seven races he rarely qualified higher than 14th, failed to score any points
and racked up five DNFs. Alonso also endured a largely frustrating time,
despite eking out as much performance as he could from the R28, and when the
former champion did score the occasional point, he looked nearly as surprised
as everyone else.
Behind the scenes, however, Renault’s experience technical department, led
by Pat Symonds, Bob Bell and Rob White, were relentless in their development
work, even when their competitors had already refocused attentions on ’09.
From the adoption of a shark-fin engine cover to dramatically revised barge
boards, the R28 was tweaked, tweaked again - and then tweaked some more.
The first signs of the pay-off came, surprisingly, from Piquet, who scored a
shock maiden podium at July’s German Grand Prix. Alonso, meanwhile, scooped
up three further fourth-place finishes at the Hungarian, Belgian and Italian
rounds. The real breakthrough, though, came in Singapore where - after
looking genuinely quick throughout the weekend - Alonso took advantage of a
timely safety-car period and charged to victory - the first Renault had
enjoyed in two years.
True, it was to some extent a fluky win, but at the subsequent Japanese race
Alonso proved beyond doubt that the R28 had finally come of age, a superb
drive from fourth on the grid bringing him a second successive victory.
Indeed, the car had improved so much that, according to Alonso, his fourth
place at the next round in China ‘felt like a win’ too. Such was the extent
of the turnaround that, as director of engineering Symonds pointed out, had
the season started at Spa, Renault would have been leading both title fights.
Indeed over the final six races, the Enstone team scored just two points less
(49) than eventual title-holders Ferrari (51) and ended the year fourth after
pulling comfortably clear of rival manufacturers Toyota. After starting the
year ensconced in the midfield, Renault had hauled themselves back into
contention, pretty much fulfilling Symond’s prediction of having the grid’s
third fastest car. Scoring nearly 30 points more than they mustered in 2007,
it was a vintage end of season for all concerned.
It was certainly enough for Alonso to keep his faith in Renault, the Spaniard
committing for another two seasons, despite offers from other teams. And
Piquet’s improvement in the latter part of the campaign was enough to keep
him on board for 2009. Rule changes may shake up the order next season, but
if Renault can continue where they left off in ’08, the likes of BMW,
McLaren and Ferrari will need to be very much on their guard. Renault are
back.
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