Flashback: Imola 2005

The 2005 San Marino Grand Prix stands out as an example of the expertise, risk analysis and efficiency which were an integral part of the Renault F1 Team’s total commitment to winning the title last season.. The jubilant Fernando Alonso was confident in the 'all or nothing' approach adopted by the team at the beginning of the weekend, and told his engine engineer, Rémi Taffin: "Let’s keep quiet for the moment, but if I win on Sunday, it would be nice to explain how we did it!"

A bold but judicious gamble

To understand the context, it is necessary to remember that Imola came three weeks after Fernando’s win in Bahrain where Giancarlo Fisichella retired at the beginning of Lap 5. The searing heat of the desert venue asked more of the engines than usual and, although Fernando’s V10 finished the race, it did not come out of the weekend 100 per cent unscathed. "The engine suffered more than we had ever seen on the dyno," says Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Operations.

However, the newly-introduced regulations for 2005 meant it still had to cover a second Grand Prix without the team being able to work on it between the two races. Faced with this difficult situation, Viry stepped up its dyno testing programme in search of data that would either confirm or calm its concerns. "When we arrived at Imola, we were at least confident that the engine still had plenty of performance left. As a precautionary measure, however, we restricted maximum revs and decided to limit the number of laps we put in over the three days," explained Chevrier.

In Alonso's opinion, the only solution was to adopt a bold, offensive strategy: "We’re here to win, not to just pick up a few points." A 'crisis meeting' was held on the Thursday between the staff from Viry and their Enstone colleagues, with the driver also in attendance. Everyone agreed to this calculated-risk approach.

Ten decisive points

Psychologically, the team would probably have felt more comfortable had it put in a fresh V10 which would have allowed the Spaniard to drive unreservedly. But caution is not something that runs in the veins of hardened campaigners Denis Chevrier and his opposite number at Enstone Pat Symonds who, between them, boast more than forty years’ motor racing experience.

Changing Fernando’s engine would have automatically meant him losing 10 places on the grid, and that was out of the question. "It's too difficult to overtake at Imola," insisted Denis Chevrier. "Fernando needs to start from the front." Despite covering fewer laps than his rivals in free practice and despite not pushing his V10 beyond the limits set by his engineers, he still managed to pull off the second best qualifying time (behind Räikkönen) and, ten laps into the race, he was in front.

The final part of the 2005 San Marino GP – which saw the nose of Schumacher's Ferrari glued to the tail of the Alonso's R25 for eleven full laps, waiting to pounce on the Spaniard's slightest error – will remain etched in the memories of everyone in the team forever. That day, Michael met his match in Fernando. The young prince from Asturias succeeded in warding off the Ferrari driver's pressure to claim a victory he would savour in two phases: first of all that Sunday afternoon at Imola – which was the team's immediate reward for its forward thinking and daring – and then later in the year, in Shanghai, where Renault clinched the Constructors' title… beating McLaren-Mercedes by nine points. Without those ten points at Imola, the end-of-season celebrations might well have been a very different matter altogether…