René Arnoux

René Alexandre Arnoux (Template:IPA; born 4 July 1948) is a French former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from Template:F1 to Template:F1. Arnoux won seven Formula One Grands Prix across 12 seasons.

In 1977, Arnoux won the European Formula Two Championship. His best finish in the World Drivers' Championship was third in 1983 for Ferrari. Arnoux achieved seven wins, 12 fastest laps and 22 podiums in Formula One. His 18 pole positions is the third most for a non-World Champion.

Outside Formula One, he competed in the inaugural season of Grand Prix Masters in 2005.

Early life and career

In 1973, Arnoux enrolled in Winfield Racing School and graduated as the top student with the prestigious Volant Shell Competition Scholarship, sponsored by Shell Oil for a free Formule Renault season. He moved into Formula Two in 1974 with Elf, taking fourth place on his debut at Nogaro.<ref name="ReferenceA">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1975, he moved to Formule Super Renault and won the title.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> For 1976, Arnoux moved back to Formula Two with an Elf-sponsored, works Martini-Renault, winning three races and narrowly losing the title to Jean-Pierre Jabouille.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> However, he won the Template:F2 European Championship, again driving a Martini-Renault.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Arnoux won races at Silverstone, Hockenheim, Pau and Nogaro, which along with second places at Enna-Pergusa and Estoril saw him finish 12 points clear of American Eddie Cheever who was driving for Ron Dennis' Project Four Racing, and 14 points clear of teammate Didier Pironi.

Formula One

Martini and Surtees

Arnoux continued with the Martini team when it made the transition to Formula One in Template:F1. However, in an organisation with insufficient means to compete in the highest echelon of the sport, he was unable to demonstrate his abilities and Martini abandoned Formula One during the season, having run short of money. Arnoux's best finishes for Martini were two ninth places in Belgium and Austria. He failed to qualify in South Africa, and failed to pre-qualify in Monaco and Germany.

Arnoux moved to Surtees for the last two races of the season, but once again found himself in a team on the edge of failure. In his two races for the team, his best finish was his debut where he placed ninth at Watkins Glen for the United States Grand Prix. He qualified the Surtees TS20 in 21st place at Watkins Glen, while teammate Beppe Gabbiani failed to qualify. His last race for the team in Canada saw him qualify 16th but retire just after half distance when the Ford DFV engine failed. Surtees wanted to sign Arnoux on a permanent basis, but he secured a seat with Renault for Template:F1.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Jean-Pierre Jabouille's Renault RS01 of 1979 being demonstrated by René Arnoux in 2007.

Renault

In the Template:F1 season, the factory Renault team entered two cars for the first time since its debut in 1977. The team's only victory of the year was taken by Arnoux's teammate Jean-Pierre Jabouille at the French Grand Prix at the Dijon-Prenois circuit,<ref name="Jabouille">Template:Cite book</ref> but Arnoux took the headlines due to a fierce wheel-banging battle with the Flat-12 Ferrari of Gilles Villeneuve for second place, which Villeneuve won. In the second half of the season, Arnoux took four top-six finishes, including three podium places; Jabouille's Dijon victory was his only points finish of the year.<ref name="Jabouille"/><ref name="ReferenceB">Template:Cite book</ref>

In Template:F1, Arnoux took his first two Formula One victories, the first being at Interlagos circuit in Brazil. His second win came in the very next race at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa,<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref>Winner's Circle South African Grand Prix, John Blakemore Photograph Collection, Revs Institute, Revs Digital Library.</ref> where the thinner air at high altitude gave the turbocharged Renault RE20 a power advantage over its mostly Cosworth-powered rivals. Following this race, Arnoux was leading the World Championship for the first time. He would not lose the championship lead until Round 6 in Monaco. The season though was punctuated by unreliability from the turbocharged Renault V6 engine. The unit was powerful, producing approximately Template:ConvertTemplate:Citation needed to be on par with Ferrari (and considerably more powerful than the Template:ConvertTemplate:Citation needed Ford DFV), but fragile, and the Renaults also lacked ground effects. Although he would later finish second in the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, he would finish the season in 6th place with 29 points, 38 points behind World Champion Alan Jones.

Arnoux survived a high-speed crash at the 1982 Dutch Grand Prix

Arnoux's situation was complicated in Template:F1 by the arrival of Alain Prost at Renault. Their rivalry on-track flared up off the track and relations between the two men deteriorated. The conflict reached its peak at the 1982 French Grand Prix at the Circuit Paul Ricard. The drivers took Renault's first one-two in Formula One, Arnoux finishing ahead of Prost. Prost was furious, considering that his teammate had not kept to the team orders agreed before the race, according to which he should have ceded the win to Prost, who was better placed in the Template:F1 championship.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Arnoux replied that no orders had been given before the race and that he was free to drive his own race. He took one other win at the Italian Grand Prix at the end of the season. He suffered a high speed crash after losing a wheel going into the banked Tarzan corner at the end of the long straight in the 1982 Dutch Grand Prix, though his car's momentum was largely stopped by a sand trap and tyre barrier.

Arnoux started at the back of the field for the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix, but climbed to second by the finish.

Ferrari

The pairing of Prost and Arnoux having become unsustainable, Arnoux left Renault at the end of 1982 to join Ferrari in Template:F1, joining another French driver Patrick Tambay. With three victories, at the Canadian, German, and Dutch Grands Prix, Arnoux was in contention for the world title until the final race of the season, the South African Grand Prix. He retired from that race with engine failure, and finished the season third, behind Nelson Piquet and Prost.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Both Arnoux and Tambay became favourites with the Tifosi for their hard-charging styles, and their conjuncted results saw Ferrari win the 1983 Constructors' Championship. Arnoux's win at Zandvoort turned out to be the seventh and final win of his Formula One career.

With the McLarens of Prost and Niki Lauda dominating Template:F1, Arnoux had a less successful second season at Ferrari, only finishing sixth with 27 points, with his new teammate Michele Alboreto progressively taking the initiative and team leadership from him. After three wins and four pole positions in 1983, Arnoux failed to win or claim a pole position in 1984 (Alboreto won the Belgian Grand Prix from pole with Arnoux starting second and finishing third), though he finished second in San Marino and Dallas where he was forced to start from the pits due to an electrical fault on the warm-up lap and managed to keep his car out of trouble on the crumbling track. The only Grand Prix ever held in Dallas was also the last time Arnoux achieved a Formula One podium finish.<ref>Dallas Grand Prix, John Blakemore Photograph Collection, Revs Institute, Revs Digital Library.</ref> As the season progressed, Arnoux appeared to lack motivation,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> and after finishing 4th in the opening race of the Template:F1 championship in Brazil, he left Ferrari by mutual consent.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> His place in the team was taken by Swedish driver Stefan Johansson. He was seen in the Brabham pits at Imola in Round 3, sparking rumours that he would join the team then owned by Bernie Ecclestone, but nothing came of it and he was rarely seen at races for the rest of the season.

Ligier

Without a drive for the rest of the 1985 season, Arnoux made his return to Formula One in Template:F1 for the French Ligier team who were using turbocharged Renault engines. The Pirelli-tyred Ligiers proved uncompetitive as the season progressed. Arnoux had two teammates in 1986. For the first half of the season his teammate was French driver Jacques Laffite. However, Laffite's career ended when he broke both of his legs in a first corner crash at Brands Hatch in the British Grand Prix. From the following race Laffite was replaced with another French driver, Philippe Alliot.

For Template:F1, Ligier were to have exclusive use of a new, Template:Convert four-cylinder turbocharged Alfa Romeo engine in the new Ligier JS29.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, after Arnoux compared the engine to "used food" during pre-season testing, Alfa's parent company Fiat pulled the plug on the project and Ligier were forced into using the four-cylinder Megatron engines for the season, which produced around Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Arnoux scored the team's only point during the season with a 6th place in Belgium. The race at Spa also saw the best finish for his teammate Piercarlo Ghinzani who finished 7th.

Template:F1 was to prove the final year for turbos in Formula One and Ligier took the chance to race the new, 3.5-litre Judd V8 engine. The Ligier JS31 proved to be uncompetitive, with both Arnoux and new teammate Stefan Johansson failing to qualify several times. Both drivers complained that even in dry conditions the lack of grip saw them forced to drive with a wet weather technique. Arnoux failed to qualify twice during the season (San Marino and France, while Johansson failed to make the grid six times. Arnoux's best finish of the year was 10th place in the Portuguese Grand Prix. It was the first time since his debut season in 1978 that he had failed to score a World Championship point. His DNQ at Imola was the first time he had failed to qualify for a race since the 1981 Belgian Grand Prix. In the final race of the season in Adelaide, he took out race leader Gerhard Berger while being lapped at the 1988 Australian Grand Prix. Arnoux was criticised,Template:Citation needed but Berger said that he was experiencing a "very long" brake pedal which meant he could not stop to avoid Arnoux, nor pass him as easily as he normally would have.Template:Citation needed He also said that with his turbo boost turned up to full, the Ferrari would have run out of fuel long before the race ended.Template:Citation needed

In Template:F1, the new Ford DFR powered Ligier JS33 showed promise. Arnoux's driving had attracted some criticism, and he was frequently accused of not using his mirrors and blocking faster cars in qualifying and when being lapped. During the 1989 Monaco Grand Prix, BBC commentator Murray Walker remarked that Arnoux's claimed reason for going so slow at that stage of his career was that he was used to turbo powered cars and that the naturally aspirated cars were "a completely different kettle of fish to drive — he says". Walker's co-commentator, Template:F1 World Champion James Hunt said "And all I can say to that is bullshit".<ref name=wendler>Template:Cite web</ref> Arnoux received criticism after the race for holding up faster cars, with former Renault teammate Prost in particular held up by the Ligier which refused to let the McLaren past for a number of laps. This cost Prost some 20 seconds in his pursuit of teammate Ayrton Senna.<ref>Template:YouTube</ref>

Arnoux finished his career with 181 World Championship points, with his last points coming from a 5th place at the 1989 Canadian Grand Prix. His last race was the very wet 1989 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide. He was second fastest to the McLaren-Honda of outgoing World Champion and pole-sitter Ayrton Senna in the extra half-hour warm-up that was scheduled to let drivers and teams set up their cars for wet conditions after three days of sunny weather, but in the race, his Ligier was pushed into retirement by the Arrows of Eddie Cheever after four laps.

Post-racing career

After retiring from driving, Arnoux started an indoor karting business, consisting of four tracks in France.Template:Citation needed He also owns and manages two factories, and frequently appears and drives in historical events on behalf of Renault.Template:Citation needed

Arnoux was one of the drivers invited to take part in the Grand Prix Masters championship in 2006 and 2007, restricted to former Formula One drivers. In 2007 and 2008 he drove for the Renault H&C Classic Team, when he presented and drove Alain Prost's F1 car from 1983 at World Series by Renault events.Template:Citation needed

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1974	European Formula 5000	Tony Kitchiner	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	European Formula Two	Écurie Elf	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	World Sportscar Championship	Michel Dupont	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1976	European Formula Two	Automobiles Martini	12	3	1	6	6	52	2nd
1977	European Formula Two	Equipe Renault Elf	13	3	1	0	6	52	1st
	24 Hours of Le Mans	J. Haran de Chaunac	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
1978	Formula One	Automobiles Martini	4	0	0	0	0	0	NC
		Durex Team Surtees	2	0	0	0	0
1979	Formula One	Équipe Renault Elf	14	0	2	2	3	17	8th
1980	Formula One	Équipe Renault Elf	14	2	3	4	3	29	6th
1981	Formula One	Équipe Renault Elf	14	0	4	1	1	11	9th
1982	Formula One	Équipe Renault Elf	16	2	5	1	4	28	6th
1983	Formula One	Ferrari	15	3	4	2	7	49	3rd
1984	Formula One	Ferrari	16	0	0	2	4	27	6th
1985	Formula One	Ferrari	1	0	0	0	0	3	17th
1986	Formula One	Équipe Ligier	16	0	0	0	0	14	10th
1987	Formula One	Ligier Loto	14	0	0	0	0	1	19th
1988	Formula One	Ligier Loto	14	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1989	Formula One	Ligier Loto	9	0	0	0	0	2	23rd
1994	24 Hours of Le Mans	Rent-a-Car Racing Team	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	12th
1995	24 Hours of Le Mans	Euromotorsport Racing Inc.	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2021	Historic Grand Prix of Monaco - Series F	Scuderia Ferrari	0	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNS
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Complete European F5000 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Template:Tooltip	Pts
1974	Tony Kitchiner	McLaren M19A	Chevrolet 5.0 V8	BRH	MAL	SIL	OUL	BRH	ZOL	THR Template:Small	ZAN	MUG	MNZ	MAL	MON	THR	BRH	OUL	SNE	MAL	BRH	NC	0
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Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Template:Tooltip	Pts
Template:F2	Ecurie Elf	Alpine A367	BMW	BAR	HOC	PAU	SAL	HOC	MUG	KAR	PER	HOC	VLL Template:Small				NC	0
Template:F2	Automobiles Martini	Martini Mk 16	Renault	HOC Template:Tooltip	THR Template:Small												2nd	52
		Martini Mk 19				VLL Template:Small	SAL Template:Small	PAU Template:Small	HOC Template:Tooltip	ROU Template:Small	MUG Template:Small	PER Template:Small	EST Template:Small	NOG Template:Small	HOC Template:Small
Template:F2	Equipe Renault Elf	Martini Mk 22	Renault	SIL Template:Small	THR Template:Small	HOC Template:Tooltip	NÜR Template:Tooltip	VLL Template:Small	PAU Template:Small	MUG Template:Small	ROU Template:Small	NOG Template:Small	PER Template:Small	MIS Template:Small	EST Template:Small	DON Template:Small	1st	52
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Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Template:Tooltip	Pts
Template:F1	Automobiles Martini	Martini MK23	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA Template:Small	USW	MON Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	ESP	SWE	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	NED Template:Small	ITA			NC	0
	Durex Team Surtees	Surtees TS20																USA Template:Small	CAN Template:Small
Template:F1	Équipe Renault Elf	Renault RS01	Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6t	ARG Template:Small	BRA Template:Small	RSA Template:Small	USW Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	BEL Template:Small											8th	17
		Renault RS10								MON Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	NED Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	USA Template:Small
Template:F1	Équipe Renault Elf	Renault RE20	Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6t	ARG Template:Small	BRA Template:Small	RSA Template:Small	USW Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	MON Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	NED Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	USA Template:Small			6th	29
Template:F1	Équipe Renault Elf	Renault RE20B	Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6t	USW Template:Small	BRA Template:Small	ARG Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	BEL Template:Small												9th	11
		Renault RE30							MON Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	NED Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	CPL Template:Small
Template:F1	Équipe Renault Elf	Renault RE30B	Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6t	RSA Template:Small	BRA Template:Small	USW Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	MON Template:Small	DET Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	NED Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GER Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	SUI Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	CPL Template:Small	6th	28
Template:F1	Ferrari	Ferrari 126C2B	Ferrari 021 1.5 V6t	BRA Template:Small	USW Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	MON Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	GBR Template:Small								3rd	49
		Ferrari 126C3											GER Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	NED Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	EUR Template:Small	RSA Template:Small
Template:F1	Ferrari	Ferrari 126C4	Ferrari 031 1.5 V6t	BRA Template:Small	RSA Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	MON 3Template:Sup	CAN Template:Small	DET Template:Small	DAL Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	NED Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	EUR Template:Small	POR Template:Small	6th	27
Template:F1	Ferrari	Ferrari 156/85	Ferrari 031 1.5 V6t	BRA Template:Small	POR	SMR	MON	CAN	DET	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	BEL	EUR	RSA	AUS	17th	3
Template:F1	Équipe Ligier	Ligier JS27	Renault EF4B 1.5 V6t	BRA Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	MON Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	DET Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	POR Template:Small	MEX Template:Small	AUS Template:Small	10th	14
Template:F1	Ligier Loto	Ligier JS29B	Megatron M12/13 1.5 L4t	BRA	SMR Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	MON Template:Small	DET Template:Small												19th	1
		Ligier JS29C							FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	POR Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	MEX Template:Small	JPN Template:Small	AUS Template:Small
Template:F1	Ligier Loto	Ligier JS31	Judd CV 3.5 V8	BRA Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	MON Template:Small	MEX Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	DET Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	POR Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	JPN Template:Small	AUS Template:Small	NC	0
Template:F1	Ligier Loto	Ligier JS33	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	BRA Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	MON Template:Small	MEX Template:Small	USA Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	POR Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	JPN Template:Small	AUS Template:Small	23rd	2
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• Template:Sup Race was stopped with less than 75% of laps completed, half points awarded.

Complete Formula One Non-Championship results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1
Template:F1	Automobiles Martini	Martini MK23	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	INT Template:Small
Template:F1	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 126C2B	Ferrari 021 1.5 V6t	ROC Template:Small
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24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon J. Haran de Chaunac	Template:Flagicon Didier Pironi Template:Flagicon Guy Fréquelin	Renault Alpine A442	S +2.0	0	DNF	DNF
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Rent-a-Car Racing Team	Template:Flagicon Justin Bell Template:Flagicon Bertrand Balas	Dodge Viper RT/10	GT1	273	12th	3rd
Template:24hLM	Template:Flagicon Euromotorsport Racing Inc.	Template:Flagicon Massimo Sigala Template:Flagicon Jay Cochran	Ferrari 333 SP	WSC	7	DNF	DNF
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Complete Grand Prix Masters results

(key) Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap.

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5
2005	Team Golden Palace	Delta Motorsport GPM	Nicholson McLaren 3.5 V8	RSA Template:Small
2006	Team Golden Palace	Delta Motorsport GPM	Nicholson McLaren 3.5 V8	QAT Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	MAL Template:Small	RSA Template:Small
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Sources

• Profile at GrandPrix.com