René Arnoux

Interesting facts

René Arnoux came up through the Winfield racing school scholarship and won the European Formula Two Championship in 1977, twelve points clear of Eddie Cheever. He became a key figure in Renault's turbo pioneering effort from 1979, taking his first two wins in 1980 in Brazil and South Africa. His most famous moment came at the 1979 French Grand Prix in Dijon, where he fought a fierce wheel-banging battle with Gilles Villeneuve's Ferrari for second place, a duel still remembered as one of F1's iconic on-track battles. At the 1982 French Grand Prix he clashed with teammate Alain Prost after winning despite alleged team orders in Prost's favour, later insisting no such order had been given before the race. In 1983 with Ferrari he achieved his best championship finish, third place, contributing three wins to the team's Constructors' Championship. In his later years at Ligier he was criticised for defensive driving, and at the 1989 Monaco Grand Prix BBC commentator James Hunt famously responded to his excuses on air with a single blunt word. René Arnoux made his Formula 1 debut in 1978 and raced until 1989, 12 seasons in total as a French driver. He scored a total of 181 championship points over his career.