Gazprom Lada

**Gazprom Lada FE Team** is a Russian racing team that will debut in 2037 and is the works team of Renault. Formed after Russian oil company Gazprom, who had made multiple attempts to enter the series, took over the Renault team, who wanted an extra injection of cash. Gazprom became the main owners of the Enstone-based team with Renault maintaninig a 25% of the ownership. As a result of this Renault chose to rename the team to Gazprom Lada, as the Russian manufacturer is a subsidiary of them.

## Origins

Russian oil and natural gas giants Gazprom had expressed an interest in entering motorsport as early as 2023 following the rise in popularity of motorsport in Russia. Initially, they were tipped to sponsor a project ran by Daniil Kvyat, who had retired after a spinal injury in a race. Despite being constantly tipped to enter FE, the project fell apart and Gazprom had become a bit of a laughing stock in the padock for their multiple failures. A few years later, another Russia-based project named Team Katusha and ran by Spanish businessman Jose Azevedo attempted to make a bid to enter Formula International in 2033 and Gazprom decided to back them. The team was tipped to become the new entry of 2033, but folded before they were even ready to submit their bid and Gazprom once again failed to enter the motorsport scene.

In 2036, Renault had come in contact with Gazprom officials and Russian academy SMP Racing in order to increase their funds. After months of speculations about a merging between Renault and Gazprom/SMP, in the end the French team announced that they would sell the majority of the assets to Gazprom, and that they would keep the 25% of the team. The team became Gazprom Lada FE Team, which was the sixth renaming of what was once Toleman in the early 80s and the fifth moniker the team would adopt. Also, the team became the first Russian team in the sport since 2015 when Manor ran as Marussia and used a Russian license.. For the 2037 season, the technical board was unchanged, with team principal Noel Dellanoy staying and drivers Levi Lea'ai and Davor Dordevic remaining.

## 2037: A strong debut campaign

For their debut season under the new name, Lea'ai and Dordevic stayed and showed competitive speed, scoring wins for the team, with Lada becoming the first Russian team to win a race in FE. In the end of the season, Lea'ai finished 4th and Dordevic 7th, and Lada finished their debut season on the second place in the standings, thus making them the second-highest debuting team in the sport.

## 2038-present: In the midfield

Dordevic left the team and joined rivals McLaren. Kevin Voavy, who won the FC title in 2037 on his debut season, came in on an 1-year deal, after the team failed to sign up Russian prodigy Vasiliy Tkachenko due to him being 17 years old. The team had fallen to the midfield, with Lea'ai finishing 15th and Voavy in 17th, with the latter becoming the rookie of the year, beating Burhan Tekin. Voavy was released in the end of the year and Tkachenko was signed on an initial draft deal and was promoted immediately to the first team. Lea'ai continued in the midfield, but Tkachenko struggled on his rookie season, only beating the struggling Toyota team.

Lea'ai and Tkachenko were retained for 2040, with the team having an improved car. Lea'ai, however, had a serious injury on the 6th round, and missed other 7 races, returning in Kyalami. Voavy, who was left without a drive in 2039, filled in and scored a podium on his first race as a replacement and a total of 34 points. Tkachenko did score 54 points and Lea'ai salaved several others after his return, allowing the team to beat Haas for 7th.

## Drivers

* Levi Lea'ai (2037-present)
* Davor Dordevic (2037)
* Kevin Voavy (2038, 2040)
* Vasiliy Tkachenko (2039-present)