René
Arnoux

René Arnoux was born in Pontcharra on 4 July 1948. In 1973 he graduated from the Winfield racing school as its top student, which earned him a Shell-sponsored scholarship for a season of Formule Renault. He stepped up to Formula Two in 1974 and won the Formula Super Renault title in 1975. In 1976 he returned to Formula Two with the works Martini-Renault, won three races and lost the championship narrowly to Jean-Pierre Jabouille. In 1977 he took the European Formula Two title in a Martini-Renault.

Arnoux made his Formula One debut with Martini in 1978, but the team withdrew during the season after running out of money. He drove the last two races for Surtees and finished ninth at Watkins Glen on his debut for the team. He joined Renault for 1979 and took three podium finishes in the second half of the season. In 1980 he won in Brazil and South Africa, his first two victories, and led the world championship for the first time until the Monaco race. The season was hampered by reliability problems with the turbo engine, and he finished sixth in the championship.

Alain Prost joined Renault in 1981, and relations between the two team-mates worsened. At the 1982 French Grand Prix Renault took a one-two with Arnoux ahead of Prost. Prost accused him of ignoring team orders agreed before the race, while Arnoux said that no orders had been given. He also won the Italian Grand Prix that season. For 1983 he moved to Ferrari, alongside Patrick Tambay. With wins in Canada, Germany and the Netherlands, he was in contention for the title until the final round in South Africa, where he retired with engine failure. He finished third in the championship behind Nelson Piquet and Prost, and Ferrari won the constructors' title.

Arnoux won no races and took no pole positions in 1984 and finished sixth in the championship. He was second at Imola and in Dallas, where he achieved his last Formula One podium. After finishing fourth in the opening 1985 race in Brazil, he left Ferrari by mutual consent. In 1986 he returned to Formula One with Ligier, who used Renault turbo engines. In 1987 he scored the team's only point, with sixth place in Belgium. He scored no points in 1988 and failed to qualify twice. In 1989 he finished fifth in Canada, his last points, and ended his career at the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide.

Arnoux started 149 Grands Prix, won seven, took 22 podiums and 18 pole positions. He later competed in Grand Prix Masters, a series for former Formula One drivers. In 2007 and 2008 he drove for the Renault H&C Classic Team at World Series by Renault events, in the Formula One car Prost had driven in 1983.

Source: Wikipedia, “René Arnoux”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.