Top 5 Worst Performing Renault F1 Team Drivers


Top 5 Worst Performing Renault F1 Team Drivers
An Article by Brian Cotnoir

I had never heard of a Renault vehicle until I started watching Formula 1, and still to this date I’ve never seen an actual Renault vehicle in person, but from what I’ve gathered, the Renault F1 team is the only presently operating French based team on the Formula 1 grid.  They’ve had periods of great success, and they’ve had periods where they struggle to finish races.  As of the typing of this article (they’re presently) ranked in the “Best of the Rest Category”; behind the big three teams of Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull.  They may have helped launch the careers of two of the most successful drivers—Alain Prost and Fernando Alonso—into super stardom, but they’ve also had their fair share of duds, and it is those duds we’ve come to talk about, so without further ado, here are the 5 worst performing Renault F1 Team drivers.

5.)  Derek Warwick, 2 Seasons, 28 Total Points Scored, Average Points finish of 11th.

Derek Warwick scored 4 podiums with the team in his first season in 1984, however when he wasn’t finishing on the podium he just wasn’t finishing the race.  His sophomore season with team saw him finish more races, but he only finished in the points 3 times.


4.)  Jean-Pierre Jabouillie, 3 Seasons, 21 Total Points Scored, 2 WINS! Average Points finish of 9th

This is the first time I’ve featured a Grand Prix winning drivers on my Worst Performing F1 Drivers list.  He was the first driver ever signed to driver for Renault F1 Team, and so he had to deal with those uncompetitive growing pains years.  He did however help score Renault F1 Team’s first ever victory at the 1979 French Grand Prix, making it the first time in F1 History that a French Driver won his home Grand Prix, for a French Team (with French Tires, Michelin, too).  His only other win with the team came at the 1980 Austrian Grand Prix.

First time we've had a Winner on our Worst F1 drivers list

3.)  Nelson Piquet Jr. 1.5 Seasons, 19 Total Points Scored, Average Point Finish of 16th

A lot of you were probably expecting Piquet Jr. to be number one on my list, but I always felt like he got a bad rap in F1.  His best finish was  2nd at the 2008 German Grand Prix, he was let go from the team halfway through the 2009 season and that’s when he admitted that his team ordered him crash his race car on purpose at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to help his teammate Fernando Alonso win, and then Crash-gate happened and well… you all know the rest.


2.) Kevin Magnussen, 1 Season, 7 Total Points Scored, Final Points Standing finish of 16th

Kevin Magnussen makes his 2nd appearance on my Worst Performing F1 drivers lists, but I swear we’re not picking on him.   I think he’s a decent driver at Haas, but his time at Renault was much worse than his time when he drove for McLaren, in fact the only reason why he’s not number one on this list was because of his teammate in 2016…

Sorry Kevin

1.)  Jolyon Palmer, 1.75 Seasons, 9 Total Points Scored, Average Points Finish of 18th

Jolyon Palmer’s father, Jonathan, was also a Formula 1 driver, whose career never really panned out, and unfortunately for Jolyon, neither did his career.  Palmer spent almost 2 seasons at Renault, and in his first season he managed to score only 1 point.  His second season with the team he improved to score 8 points, but he was still let go from the team with 4 races left in the 2017 season and replaced by Carlos Sainz Jr.  Palmer also had 2 DNS’s in his time at Renault F1.

 


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