Innovation
Renault Sport - 40 Years of Passion, The Yellow Teapot
Renault Sport
Issue 45 | December 2017
Background
When Renault started in Formula One in 1977, 40 years ago, they equipped their car, the RS01, with a revolutionary turbo-charged engine. As is often the way with new technologies, there were a few technical difficulties and the car was not completely reliable. It often came back to the pits streaming white smoke.
Ken Tyrrell, then boss of the Formula One team that bore his name, saw the smoking car one-day and yelled out, "yellow teapot".
From then on the RS01 was known as the yellow teapot. But within two years it had won its first Grand Prix and won the respect of its competitors.