This deal is significant in that it means that not only will the team use the current V8 units with the Renault KERS system for 2012 and 2013, but is committed to the marque for the new generation of fuel efficient V6 1.6 litre turbo engines from 2014 onwards. Part of the deal is a technology collaboration between Red Bull Technology and Renault to work on innovations for the 2014 engine. These will benefit all Renault customers, which will also include Williams.

Despite occasional grumbles from Red Bull senior management about a lack of power over the last five seasons, the partnership with Renault has been very successful with both world titles last season seven victories and no engine failures in a 100% faultless record this season which is likely to lead to another clean sweep of titles.

With the Renault deal has come a technical and sponsor partnership with oil company Total. In addition to getting money from the deal, Renault also has branding on the drivers’ helmets and on the engine cover of the car. This reflects the company’s strategy for F1 to be a profit centre, rather than a cost. The Renault team, currently known as Lotus Renault GP, is owned by investment firm Genii and sponsored by Group Lotus. Renault’s only involvement is to supply engines, as it does to Red Bull. But there seems to be some activity around this team in terms of its ownership and branding moving forwards. The way is clear for it to rebrand as Lotus, if the two sides feel that this is appropriate.

Meanwhile Renault number two Carlos Tavares was asked recently by French colleagues about the possibility of Renault coming back as a team owner and he said, “Having an F1 team as a manufacturer is a double edged sword. You have to win. And if you do not win, it’s serious. The solution of being an engine supplier makes sense and is clearly more long term for a manufacturer.”

It’s clear that Renault Sport, the division of the company which runs the F1 engine programme, regards Red Bull as their number one team now, almost a works team and Christian Horner alluded to this when the announcement was made.

This is emphasised by statements from Renault about how they see the importance of the integration of the engine and the chassis aerodynamics, especially post 2014. They also couch their communications in terms of “They are world champions and we are world champions.” The evolution of the blown diffuser and Renault’s work on ignition timing to improve it are a good example of the close integration of the two sides.

There is also the Nissan/Infiniti connection, with Infiniti branding on the car and the likelihood that Red Bull will be able to benefit from Nissan/Renault battery technology in the post 2014 era, when electric becomes a more important part of the package than currently.

On a side note, young French driver Jean Eric Vergne is going to be doing some Friday driving for Toro Rosso shortly. But when it comes to the Young Guns test at Abu Dhabi, there seems to be a view that he might be given a run in the Red Bull car, as Daniel Ricciardo did last year.

This would make sense in terms of a benchmark. And as Ricciardo is now racing for HRT, he is ineligible for the Young Guns test, so they may as well turn to Vergne next.

Grosjean has had an F1 chance before, of course, in 2009 when he was drafted in by Flavio Briatore to replace Nelson Piquet Jr. It was the wrong move at the wring time, he came in with no testing, mid season and up against Fernando Alonso in the other car. He was too young, not prepared and wasn’t physically strong enough.

Now, it’s a different story. He’s regrouped, won the GP2 title at a canter and I’ve been hearing some very impressive data from engineers and tyre engineers recently about his speed and the general level he is on. It sounds like he deserves a second chance.

Watching Bruno Senna come in this weekend to the Renault team and also the ongoing discussions about F1 testing plans in 2012 has put the spotlight onto the whole idea of new blood and change and Grosjean’s name is certainly one that will figure in plans for 2012.

Grosjean was born in Switzerland, but has dual nationality and races on a French licence. There is a big push for a French driver in F1; the FIA president is French and with all its history and investment in the sport it makes no sense for the country not to be represented.

Historically French drivers have come in with support from French companies, particularly Elf. French involvement is a little thin on the ground at the moment, but Total are active in F1 and Renault supplies engines to three teams this year and four next year.

Prior to the LRGP team’s owner Genii Capital getting into business with a leading Brazilian investment firm earlier this month, it looked like Grosjean would be driving the Renault from Singapore onwards. Now Senna has his chance and the team’s intention seems to be to run him for the rest of the season, provided they can win their legal battle after Monza with sacked driver Nick Heidfeld.

The Renault Team has to play a waiting game on Robert Kubica’s fitness and the Sennas and Grosjeans will have to see how this unfolds. Williams and Team Lotus will also be using Renault engines next year so perhaps something might open up there.

“I want to go back to Formula One, of course,” said Grosjean, “But at the moment nothing has been decided. My management, LRGP or the team DAMS have been intelligent because they knew that in 2009 after the third race of the season, I was only thinking about F1. This year, I did not want to make the same mistake so I kept my focus on GP2 exclusively. I have been to the F1 paddock as little as possible to focus here. Now that we are champions, I will have a look at what is going on upstairs, but at the moment, my main concern is to find a good contract for 2012 and nothing else. At least we still have a few months to think about it. Hopefully I can get a good seat in good conditions.”

F1 isn’t well known for giving second chances, but with the opportunities for young drivers to test in F1 so limited, drivers of Grosjean’s experience are a good option.”

Another driver who needs to get into F1 now is Jules Bianchi, who hasn’t performed as expected in his two seasons in GP2. He is also French and is managed by Todt’s son Nicolas. Bianchi is Ferrari’s reserve driver and a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy.

It’s hard for a driver to come into a team mid-season, but the team has said they expect Senna to be on Petrov’s pace by Singapore. As for this weekend, I’ve commissioned some stats from the leading stats man in F1, Sean Kelly, to give an indication of the task facing Bruno Senna in qualifying in Spa and Monza, in comparison with Petrov to find a realistic expectation.

Heidfeld was on average 0.490s slower than Petrov on the occasions when he was behind, so that is the target Senna is aiming for on Saturday here in Spa and in Monza.

Heidfeld’s performance relative to his team mate compares badly with the Rosberg-Schumacher comparison and the Alonso-Massa comparison above, both of which are also one-sided qualifying situations (10-1 in both cases).

But it compares even worse to the performance of Petrov versus Kubica last season.

Kubica was on average 0.754s faster than Petrov, who was then a rookie, last season.

Speaking in the Spa paddock this afternoon, team boss Eric Boullier explained the decision for the first time, “Every session, every weekend, the media jump on me asking why Vitaly is faster than Nick,” he said. “I was not very happy with the pure speed of Nick and his global performance as an experienced driver, that is it. His leadership didn’t work in the team and when you are sometimes slower than Vitaly, in fact most of the time slower than Vitaly, it is difficult for him to push the team and to settle himself as the team leader.”

The Renault chance is his best opportunity to make his mark in F1 for several years, since he was at BMW Sauber in 2008 with Kubica in fact. The 33 year old was the most competitive driver with the right combination of technical ability and recent experience available. Here he speaks exclusively to my colleague Lawrence Barretto at the Barcelona test who has kindly forwarded it to me and I thought it worth sharing. ‘

Quick Nick’ reveals how the deal came together and what he would have done if the Renault seat had not come off.

Heidfeld: Back in business (Photo: Lotus Renault GP)

What was the sequence of events which brought you to the drive with Renault?
“Well it all happened in a short period of time, but still there were a lot of phases. I heard Robert had this accident and the first message that I got was that he maybe broke his leg. Then after that, unfortunately on the internet it started to look a lot worse. I was very happy to see that he got better quite quickly, but on the other side, I saw this might be a chance for me – and that was a very strange feeling to work with knowing that if Robert was worse, I get a bigger chance. It was a very tough situation. But now that I have the chance, I’m going to try to take it. When I signed the contract, I was very happy because less than two weeks ago, there was no seat in Formula 1, at least as a race driver. I would have had an opportunity to test again but to have a seat with such a good team was not on the list.”

What would you have done if you didn’t sign for Renault?
“I think most likely I would have been test and reserve driver with Mercedes. It wasn’t signed yet but we were in talks.”

Do you think your decision to quit the Pirelli job and race for Sauber at the end of last season was a key factor in you getting this drive?
“I think it’s not very clear. I spoke to various people in Formula 1. Some thought it would be better to keep the Pirelli job and some thought it may be better to stay racing and stay in the rhythm. I think it was quite good actually. I got to do a few tests with Pirelli and get a feel for the tyres but then still stay in the rhythm of racing doing the starts and the race weekend with Sauber. Normally I’m always quite good at the start and I hope that is the same this season but it was important for me to put myself in that situation again. If was out for one season, it might take a little bit of tie to get into the swing of things again. ”

Do you think the Pirelli tyres will be a good leveller this season?
“Firstly, I think it should be a small advantage that I know the tyres although they changed after I left. But in the end, the tyres are the same for everybody. You just have to make the most of it. At the moment, it looks like it should make things more interesting. I think degradation is bigger than in the past so we should see more pitstops. It should be interesting at the beginning of the season to see how everybody adapts. ”

Would you like to see more pitstops in a race?
“Everybody wants to have exciting races. Also me, as a Formula 1 driver, I like to fight on the circuit and overtake but this is sometimes not easy. The pitstops add a lot of thrill. The in-laps, out-laps and the pitstops themselves are very crucial and you can overtake somebody. It could be a big factor in your whole race result so yes, I think it’s a good thing.”

“Vitaly (Petrov) will drive the R31 on Thursday and Friday, as originally scheduled. For Saturday and Sunday, the team will give mileage to Bruno Senna and will also evaluate Nick Heidfeld, who is a potential replacement for Robert Kubica as a race driver. The exact running order for the weekend will be confirmed on Friday evening, ” said the statement.

Team principal Eric Boullier said yesterday that “we need to understand if we are making a choice for short or long term, but we are coming around to thinking the latter.”

Heidfeld gets ready (Darren Heath)

Kubica continues to please the medics treating him in Italy. He has moved the fingers of his right hand, partially severed in two places in the horrific crash. But it will be a week before doctors will know whether the blood supply is secure and the hand will survive. You get the feeling though that Kubica will recover as fast as it’s possible to.

As his friend and doctor Riccardo Ceccarelli said, “Two days ago we were praying for him to live, now we are beginning to dream.”

According to stories in the Gazzetta dello Sport, Kubica was joking with Boullier yesterday saying that he is indestructable, “You know I’m a robot?” he joked with his team boss. Meanwhile Petrov brought him a spring loaded hand strengthener.

It was also announced that Red Bull has renewed its deal with Renault for two more years. The team will run KERS next year, Christian Horner has confirmed.

Renault: Changes afoot (Darren Heath)

Currently Tony Fernandes’ team, Lotus Racing, is operating under a licence from Group Lotus, but that licence is being withdrawn for next year because Group Lotus want to go F1 racing themselves.

There is a great deal of activity behind the scenes with Group Lotus looking at getting involved with the Renault team, possibly being called Lotus Renault next season.

“Next year that will be a very different looking team,” I was told this morning in the paddock by a rival team principal.

There are many theories about how this has come about but I’m told by French colleagues that the man to be looking at is Tarek Obaid, a long time business partner of Renault F1 owner Gerard Lopez and the CEO of PetroSaudi International, a private Oil and Gas company, based in Saudi Arabia. I met him on the grid at Silverstone, and as with Lopez was struck by his youth.

Obaid became a partner of the Renault F1 team in May this year. He apparently has extensive connections in Malaysia, where Proton is based, the owner of Group Lotus. Last year Petro Saudi set up a US$2.5 billion joint-venture company with the Malaysian government to invest in renewable energy projects in Malaysia, a deal announced by the Malaysian prime minister. Recently Obaid has made further moves into Malaysia and certainly has very active connections with the government.

So it would make sense if that was where things started, however Genii say that as of this week, Obaid is no longer a partner of the team, so the picture isn’t clear.

French colleagues tell me that Proton and Renault have been discussing collaborations at a corporate level as well, so clearly there are a few strands coming together here. Also remember that Lopez is very active in automotive technology, particularly internet in cars. He tried to buy Saab over the winter, together with Bernie Ecclestone.

Lopez also has a strong affinity for the Lotus brand, stretching back to his childhood, apparently where he was a fan of the JPS Lotus cars.

As to where all this leaves Fernandes, he has a sound team with a strong engine and back end for next year which will move the cars forward by at least 0.5 secs to 1 secs a lap. They don’t yet have their own wind tunnel, but there are some good assets. Reliability is the main gain. Although the Cosworth has been strong this season and reliable, the same cannot be said for the Xtrac gearbox and hydraulics.

Fernandes has bought the rights to call the outfit Team Lotus next year, but there isn’t room for two teams called Lotus in F1 and the brand confusion isn’t helpful. There is a much bigger political game at play in Malaysia and it may be that Fernandes has used this situation as a bargaining tool for something else in other areas of his business.

He does have a genuine passion for Lotus and his relations with the Chapman family are sincere, but he may decide not to fight this one. Instead he might decide to call his team Air Asia F1 or something else. Fernandes is a builder of brands and although he’s invested quite a bit in building Lotus Racing over the last 12 months, F1 as a platform for business is a long term programme for him and starting again next year with a new brand isn’t the end of the world.

It’s interesting that in today’s press release neither Fernandes nor technical director Mike Gascoyne use the word “Lotus”, when eulogising about what the Renault engine deal means for the future, they speak only of “the team”.

Renault go further; in their statement they say, “The new arrival to the Renault fold will be 1Malaysia Racing Team (UK) Ltd, operating during the 2010 season as Lotus Racing and the season’s most successful start-up entrant.”

The only issue with Air Asia as the name is what message it would send out if the car were involved in a very serious and high profile accident. F1 images, both positive and negative are around the world in seconds and there may be some sensitivity there.

Renault is keen to encourage young engineers to come into F1 and three graduates of the programme have gone on to full time jobs with the team, one is still working there today. Last year’s winner was Helen Makey (pictured)

Renault’s managing director Bob Bell says that ideas from the interns are often adopted, such as a new system for designing oil tanks which one intern developed and which is now the team’s standard procedure,

“We had a problem several years ago on designing oil tanks so they can cope with the demands of corners like Eau Rouge, in Spa, where it’s very easy to get a drop out in oil pressure, “ says Bell. “We had a system in the laboratory trying to replicate those conditions and one of the young engineers came in and did a very capable job in proposing a new way of doing it using a robot arm, that is the system we now use routinely.”

This is the seventh year of the Altran programme, which typically attracts around 1,000 entries a year and the winner gets to spend six months in the R& D department at Enstone, working with head of R&D Robin Tuluie.

Entries open today and close on May 28th. Applicants must be last-year students or recent graduates of a university or prestigious school specializing in science or technology. To enter the competition, candidates must submit a project, describing in 500 words a technological innovation in one of the following eight Formula 1 areas: aerodynamics, control systems and electronics, design and analysis, performance engineering, power-train energy recovery, R&D of materials, transducers and test technology , vehicle dynamics. The winner will be selected from a field of eleven finalists from around the world who will present their projects this summer to a jury of experts chaired by Tuluie.

11 finalists will be chosen on 14 June and the winner will be announced on 13 July. He or she will join the team for a six-month placement that could open the door to a long career in F1. Included in the package is a salary of €6,500, a Renault pool vehicle with a business fuel card and accommodation. They also get a watch from Renault’s sponsor TW Steel.

The deal was done with the blessing of Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin and is more than anything else symbolic of Russian support for Vitaly Petrov and Renault F1′s programme. Renault has a 25% stake in Avtovaz, Lada’s parent company. Lada uses Renault platforms and transmissions.

Both cars will run with Lada branding and Petrov will carry the branding on his overalls. It is an important deal for the team as they rebuild after the commercial havoc wreaked by the Singapore crash scandal last year, which caused two sponsors, including title sponsor ING, to terminate their backing ahead of schedule. And let’s face it, there has been little significant new sponsorship coming into the sport over the winter.

Renault, now majority owned by Gerard Lopez, is looking to form strategic partnerships with automotive and tech companies in Russia and use F1 as the platform to grow partnerships together. Lopez going into Russia helps Bernie Ecclestone, with whom he has become close in recent months, as the F1 commercial guru has been looking for years to find a way into the Russian market and to establish the sport there.

“Through Mangrove Capital (Lopez’s investment arm) we have been actively investing in Russia over the last years, ” said Lopez. “We know the country well, we have a high degree of appreciation for it and, as such, it is an honour for our F1 team to spearhead Russia’s entry into the sport and to carry the Lada brand at the highest level of world motorsport. We look forward to an exciting and successful season together.”

Renault go into the new season unsure of where they stand in the pecking order, but satisfied that the car is a good base to work from, unlike last year’s model, which was tricky to set up and drive. Testing had gone okay up to Barcelona, but the team struggled there and it looked as though the Renault was around 7/10ths of a second off the pace.

However the team believes that it is closer than it appears to the front runners – the target for Bahrain is for Robert Kubica to get among the weaker drivers from the top four teams, but much will depend on the size of the upgrade packages each team brings. Williams and Force India looked faster in the final test and seem to be heading the group chasing the top four.

The team is being brought back up to speed on the aerodynamics side after staff cuts made by Flavio Briatore, which played a part in the difficulties of the last year’s car.

Gerard Lopez (right) with Lotus F1's Tony Fernandes

The sponsorship of the French Total oil company is also included. In return the team remains under the Renault name for at least the 2010 season. It is understood that this last point is very important to Bernie Ecclestone, who has had a hand in brokering the deal.

The Renault engine operation in Viry Chatillon in Paris is not part of the deal, it remains 100% Renault owned.

French sources say that Renault is doing the deal with Lopez because it doesn’t want to spend the money required to close the operation down, nor does it have the budget to go racing as it was before.

It will be interesting to see which team management figures Lopez takes on from Renault. Sources suggest that interim team principal Bob Bell will stay in the role and James Allison will remain as technical director. It is not clear whether Jean Francois Caubet, a Renault man, will remain as managing director of the team. Lopez told me in Monaco last week that he has no intention of running the team himself, but wants to leave it to professional management. There were concerns among some members of the Renault board that Lopez might be a front for Flavio Briatore trying to buy the team, but these were discounted when I enquired with senior team management figures.

Lopez is doing this deal as an investor, along the lines of his previous activities. He believes that he can make money in F1 using the team as a platform, but people I have spoken to, who know Lopez, say that there is a much bigger picture for him in F1 and that his horizons do not end at team ownership.
“We see the whole environment as providing an opportunity,” Lopez said last Wednesday during his appearance at the Motorsport Business Forum in Monaco. “The situation is such right now that it provides an opportunity for new teams and new investors – it’s not a time of uncertainty but a time of change. Times of change usually provide an entry point. We believe there is a chance to enter the sport and build a platform that sort of has to reinvent itself. If we were to become part of F1 we could be part of that reinvention,”

These sentiments were echoed by Richard Branson and the Virgin team today at their launch. The Resource Restriction Agreement has changed everything in F1.

Lopez is in the same business as CVC, venture capital, and it will be interesting to see how they view him as time goes on and the fact that Ecclestone is so keen to get him involved in F1 makes it even more intriguing. Having twice invested in tech companies and sold out for over a billion, he has deep pockets and a good eye for an investment.

Briatore: Not finished with F1 yet (Darren Heath)

Briatore’s case was heard by the Tribunal de Grand Instance. His lawyer argued that the FIA World Motor Sport Council was both the investigating and judging body and based much of his case on the statement by Abu Dhabi WMSC member Mohammed Bin Sulayem that the decision was made before the WMSC hearing took place.

“In 2009 there were so many problems in F1 that it was hard not to imagine a settling of scores,” said the lawyer, Philippe Ouakrat, referring to Briatore’s prominent role in the FOTA breakaway threat and calls for a change of governance at the FIA. The lawyer said that the evidence against Briatore was not conclusive spoke about the crucial role of the mysterious Witness X, believed to be one of the senior Renault engineers, in condemning Briatore. Witness X was not present in court and so could not be cross examined.

As for Renault’s own internal investigation, on the strength of which both Briatore and Symonds were dismissed, Ouakrat referred to a series of letters between the FIA and Renault in which he alleges that the FIA steered Renault into agreeing to Briatore’s involvement under pressure.

Briatore denies strenuously that he was involved in the Singapore crash plot and claims that this is a settling of scores by former FIA president Max Mosley. Since the case was heard the FIA has a new president in Jean Todt and it will be interesting to see how the FIA plays this one, given that a lot of water has passed under the bridge since the WMSC reached its decision.

For a while he and Bernie Ecclestone fell out over the matter, Briatore unhappy at the lack of support from his old friend, but things seem to be well and truly patched up now. I’m reliably informed that the pair were out together this weekend enjoying a Friday night on the town in London, dining at Cipriani restaurant in Mayfair. Ecclestone advised him not to go the legal route but to use the FIA appeal court route.

Symonds position is different from Briatore’s; he wrote a letter to the WMSC admitting his guilt, albeit saying that it was the idea of Nelson Piquet Jr at the outset and expressing his regret at ruining his reputation.

In response to Briatore’s case, the FIA lawyer said that Briatore’s right of defence had not been violated as Renault had been the defendant, not the team boss. He said that the appeal court route was open to them if they wanted to prove that they were not involved. He said that it had been an “administrative decision” by a sporting body, not a disciplinary matter.

The judge will take a month and a half to consider all of this and will publish his decision on 5 January.

Briatore is anxious to clear his name. Should he be cleared, what would his next course of action be? Renault has already said that it wants to move on, to re-establish the Renault brand in F1, which had got lost beneath Briatore’s brand. But at the same time Renault president Carlos Ghosn has been sounding a negative tone on the sport lately. A decision on its involvement is due at the end of the year. After all that has happened and the damage caused, would he sell the team to Briatore to ‘do a Brawn’ and let the team race as an independent? Surely not. Renault is apparently committed to building and supplying engines nest season, which is a relief to Red Bull.

If Briatore can clear his name this is not the moment for a man like him to walk away from F1. There is money to be made, with the prospect of teams being able to operate at a profit due to reduced costs and increased revenues. Briatore has the road map for F1 and would see the next five years as a great opportunity.

Certainly the team is a more saleable set up than Toyota, which is offering a lease deal on its facilities to a Serbian group and a sale of Renault’s Enstone operation would avoid the difficulties of the company extricating itself from its obligations under the Concorde Agreement.

Renault did not contest the charges of race fixing and is living with the collateral damage to its brand image from that admission of guilt. The difficulty of finding sponsors as a result and the ongoing difficulties in the world car market may drive them out of the sport. Also Renault’s strategy seems to be a strong move into electric vehicles and sustainable transport and F1 is not particularly well aligned with that.

Meanwhile the FIA has had some success in court already this week, winning the case brought by N Technology into the way that the new teams were selected.