René Alexandre Arnoux (; born 4 July 1948) is a French former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . 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, Arnoux 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. In 1975, he moved to Formule Super Renault and won the title. 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.
In , 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, 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 to be on par with Ferrari (and considerably more powerful than the 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.
thumb|right|Arnoux survived a high-speed crash at the [[1982 Dutch Grand Prix]]
Arnoux's situation was complicated in 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 championship. 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.
thumb|left|Arnoux started at the back of the field for the [[1984 Dallas Grand Prix, but climbed to second by the finish.]]
With the McLarens of Prost and Niki Lauda dominating , 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. As the season progressed, Arnoux appeared to lack motivation, 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 . Arnoux scored the team's only point during the season with a sixth place in Belgium. The race at Spa also saw the best finish for his teammate Piercarlo Ghinzani who finished seventh.
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 tenth 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, 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. 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.
thumb|right|Arnoux driving at the [[1994 24 Hours of Le Mans]]
In , 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, World Champion James Hunt said "And all I can say to that is bullshit". 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.
Arnoux finished his career with 181 World Championship points, with his last points coming from a fifth 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
thumb|right|Arnoux demonstrating the [[Alpine A442|Alpine A442B at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed]]
After retiring from driving, Arnoux started an indoor karting business, consisting of four tracks in France. He also owns and manages two factories, and frequently appears and drives in historical events on behalf of Renault.
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.
Racing record
Career summary
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%; text-align:center"
!Season
!Series
!Team
!Races
!Wins
!Poles
!F/Laps
!Podiums
!Points
!Position
|-
!rowspan=3| 1974
|align=left| European Formula 5000
|align=left| Tony Kitchiner
|1
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|NC
|-
|align=left| European Formula Two
|align=left| Écurie Elf
|1
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|NC
|-
|align=left| World Sportscar Championship
|align=left| Michel Dupont
|1
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|NC
|-
! 1976
|align=left| European Formula Two
|align=left| Automobiles Martini
|12
|3
|1
|6
|6
|52
|style="background:#DFDFDF"|2nd
|-
!rowspan=2| 1977
|align=left| European Formula Two
|align=left| Equipe Renault Elf
|13
|3
|1
|0
|6
|52
|style="background:#FFFFBF"|1st
|-
|align=left| 24 Hours of Le Mans
|align=left| J. Haran de Chaunac
|1
|0
|0
|0
|0
|N/A
|DNF
|-
!rowspan=2| 1978
|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"| Formula One
|align=left| Automobiles Martini
|4
|0
|0
|0
|0
|rowspan=2|0
|rowspan=2|NC
|-
|align=left| Durex Team Surtees
|2
|0
|0
|0
|0
|-
! 1979
|align=left| Formula One
|align=left| Équipe Renault Elf
|14
|0
|2
|2
|3
|17
|8th
|-
! 1980
|align=left| Formula One
|align=left| Équipe Renault Elf
|14
|2
|3
|4
|3
|29
|6th
|-
! 1981
|align=left| Formula One
|align=left| Équipe Renault Elf
|14
|0
|4
|1
|1
|11
|9th
|-
! 1982
|align=left| Formula One
|align=left| Équipe Renault Elf
|16
|2
|5
|1
|4
|28
|6th
|-
! 1983
|align=left| Formula One
|align=left| Ferrari
|15
|3
|4
|2
|7
|49
|style="background:#FFDF9F"|3rd
|-
! 1984
|align=left| Formula One
|align=left| Ferrari
|16
|0
|0
|2
|4
|27
|6th
|-
! 1985
|align=left| Formula One
|align=left| Ferrari
|1
|0
|0
|0
|0
|3
|17th
|-
! 1986
|align=left| Formula One
|align=left| Équipe Ligier
|16
|0
|0
|0
|0
|14
|10th
|-
! 1987
|align=left| Formula One
|align=left| Ligier Loto
|14
|0
|0
|0
|0
|1
|19th
|-
! 1988
|align=left| Formula One
|align=left| Ligier Loto
|14
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|NC
|-
! 1989
|align=left| Formula One
|align=left| Ligier Loto
|9
|0
|0
|0
|0
|2
|23rd
|-
! 1994
|align=left| 24 Hours of Le Mans
|align=left| Rent-a-Car Racing Team
|1
|0
|0
|0
|0
|N/A
|12th
|-
! 1995
|align=left| 24 Hours of Le Mans
|align=left nowrap| Euromotorsport Racing Inc.
|1
|0
|0
|0
|0
|N/A
|DNF
|-
! 2021
|align=left nowrap| Historic Grand Prix of Monaco - Series F
|align=left| Scuderia Ferrari
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|N/A
|DNS
|-
!colspan="10"|
|}
Complete European F5000 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"
|-
! Year
! Entrant
! Chassis
! Engine
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! 10
! 11
! 12
! 13
! 14
! 15
! 16
! 17
! 18
!
! Pts
|-
| 1974
! nowrap| Tony Kitchiner
! nowrap| McLaren M19A
! nowrap| Chevrolet 5.0 V8
| BRH
| MAL
| SIL
| OUL
| BRH
| ZOL
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| THR<br/>
| ZAN
| MUG
| MNZ
| MAL
| MON
| THR
| BRH
| OUL
| SNE
| MAL
| BRH
! NC
! 0
|-
!colspan="24"|
|}
- 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)
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"
! Year
! Entrant
! Chassis
! Engine
! 1
|-
|
! nowrap| Automobiles Martini
! nowrap| Martini MK23
! nowrap| Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8
| INT<br />
|-
|
! nowrap| Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC
! nowrap| Ferrari 126C2B
! nowrap| Ferrari 021 1.5 V6t
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ROC <br />
|-
!colspan="5"|
|}
24 Hours of Le Mans results
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
|-
! Year
! Team
! Co-Drivers
! Car
! Class
! Laps
!
!
|-
!
|align="left" nowrap| J. Haran de Chaunac
|align="left" nowrap| Didier Pironi<br> Guy Fréquelin
|align="left" nowrap| Renault Alpine A442
| S<br>+2.0
| 0
| DNF
| DNF
|-
!
|align="left" nowrap| Rent-a-Car Racing Team
|align="left" nowrap| Justin Bell<br> Bertrand Balas
|align="left" nowrap| Dodge Viper RT/10
| GT1
| 273
| 12th
|style="background:#FFDF9F;" |3rd
|-
!
|align="left" nowrap| Euromotorsport Racing Inc.
|align="left" nowrap| Massimo Sigala<br> Jay Cochran
|align="left" nowrap| Ferrari 333 SP
| WSC
| 7
| DNF
| DNF
|-
!colspan="8"|
|}
Complete Grand Prix Masters results
(key) Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"
|-
! Year
! Team
! Chassis
! Engine
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
|-
| 2005
! nowrap| Team Golden Palace
! nowrap| Delta Motorsport GPM
! nowrap| Nicholson McLaren 3.5 V8
|style="background:#efcfff;"| RSA<br />
|colspan=4|
|-
| 2006
! nowrap| Team Golden Palace
! nowrap| Delta Motorsport GPM
! nowrap| Nicholson McLaren 3.5 V8
|style="background:#cfcfff;"| QAT<br />
|style="background:#ffffff;"| ITA<br />
|style="background:#cfcfff;"| GBR<br />
|style="background:#ffffff;"| MAL<br />
|style="background:#ffffff;"| RSA<br />
|-
!colspan="9"|