Renault in Formula One

Sergio Perez celebrated Sunday his first-ever Formula 1 victory at the Sakhir GP. Renault's Esteban Ocon and Racing Point's Lance Stroll completed the podium on a wild evening in Bahrain.

Carlos Sainz finished fourth, ahead of Renault's Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull's Alex Albon.

Hamilton, who celebrated his seventh title two weeks ago, had a comfortable 0.289 seconds lead to Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas and collected the 98th pole of his Formula 1 career.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon were third and fourth, with Sergio Perez in the fifth position.

Renault's Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon were sixth and seventh, separated by just 0.002secs, ahead of Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly and McLaren's Lando Norris.

Racing Point's Lance Stroll beat Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 0.290 seconds and took the pole position for the Turkish Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton, on the verge of his seventh title, could manage only a sixth place.

Stroll's pole came completely out of the blue on a day when his Racing Point team clearly had their car set up just so to work the tyres effectively on a treacherously slippery track in challenging conditions.

Stroll's team-mate Sergio Perez was third ahead of Red Bull's Alexander Albon and Renault's Daniel Ricciardo.

With 4 races to go in the 2020 calendar, Mercedes celebrated this weekend a new record. The team achieved their 7th consecutive championship in Formula One.

Lewis Hamilton claimed his 93rd race victory despite falling from 2nd to 3rd position in the opening laps of the race. Daniel Ricciardo achieved his second podium with Renault, finishing 3rd behind Valtteri Bottas.

Valtteri Bottas beat Mercedes team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, to take the pole position for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola. The Finn was 0.097 seconds quicker than Hamilton, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen starting in third.

The top five are complete with Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly taking a surprise fourth position followed by Renault's Daniel Ricciardo in fifth.

With another solid performance at Nürburgring, Hamilton overtook Bottas, who eventually retired with power issues. Mick Schumacher, himself currently a championship leader in F2, surprised Hamilton with the gift of one of his celebrated father's helmets after the race.

Verstappen took 2nd place and the fastest lap, however Ricciardo's 3rd place was even more celebrated in the paddock as it awarded Renault their first podium in years, which Ricciardo had vowed to achieve before his move to McLaren next season.

The Racing Point team also had reasons to celebrate as they rose to 3rd in the season standings behind Red Bull, following strong performances from drivers Perez and Hülkenberg, the latter having replaced Stroll at the last minute for this weekend's event.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso will return to Formula 1 next year with Renault, after two seasons out of the sport. Renault is the team Alonso won his titles with, in 2005 and 2006.

Earlier Wednesday, the team tweeted a message from Alonso: "Renault is my family, my fondest memories in Formula One with my two World Championship titles, but I'm now looking ahead. It's a great source of pride and with an immense emotion I’m returning to the team [...]".

Following the announcement of 4-time world champion Sebastian Vettel leaving Ferrari by the end of the 2020 season, the Ferrari and McLaren Formula 1 teams have now announced hiring Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo for their 2021 vacant seats. The Renault F1 team is now looking for a replacement for Ricciardo at the end of the current season, with the return of Nico Hulkenberg rumoured to be a possibility.