A day in history - two decades on from winning the World Championship

Twenty years ago today, October 16th, 2005, Renault were celebrating their first-ever FIA Formula One Constructors’ World Championship. The Enstone-based team clinched the title with Fernando Alonso’s victory at the final race of the season in Shanghai.

After securing the drivers’ crown earlier in the year, Alonso and Renault brought to an end Ferrari’s five-year dominance of Formula One with a momentous double - winning the teams’ title by just nine points. Renault were triumphant on 191 points to McLaren’s 182.

Pole man Alonso was uncatchable in the Chinese Grand Prix, pulling away at a second per lap from the start, and maintaining his gap across his two pit stops. The win at the Shanghai International Circuit was the Spaniard’s seventh of the year and he sang ‘We Are the Champions’ on team radio as he crossed the finish line.

“I didn’t think there could be anything equal to Brazil,” said Alonso, in reference to his drivers’ title success. “But to be on the podium and look down and see the joy of the team, well, it’s the same feeling again.”

It was an excellent performance to finish the year, after early-season form had been eroded as McLaren edged ahead. Alonso’s team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella had won the opening round of the year in Melbourne but thereafter the Spaniard won a hat-trick of races in Malaysia, Bahrain and Imola. Despite the rise of McLaren in the second half of the year, consistent podiums from Alonso - including a third in Interlagos - were enough to secure him his first of two drivers’ championships.

Renault had finished runners-up in the Constructors’ Championship in 1983, but now as owners of the Enstone squad, this was the French manufacturer’s first crown - and the second for the Oxfordshire-based team, after success in 1995 as Benetton.

The entire crew gathered in the pit lane after the race with both drivers, flanked by Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore. A number of long-time Enstone employees also enjoyed the celebrations, including Managing Director Steve Nielsen.

According to former engine technical director Rob White, one of the secrets to victory in China was the fresh E-spec RS25 engine which gave both drivers a higher rev ceiling than at any other previous race that year. Both drivers had been allowed to use 19,200rpm in qualifying and the race handing Renault a key performance boost.

It was an impressive commitment, given this was the last race of the V10 era, with 2.4-litre V8s destined to power the 2006 cars. With this race being the finale for the old units, there was a special moment in the Renault garage after the race, as the engine was revved to the max one last time. Variable-length intake trumpets danced up and down as the revs slid and rose bringing an ear-splitting end to both the V10 era and a successful, title-winning campaign.