René Arnoux

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René Arnoux
Nationality	French
World Championship Career
Active years	1978 - 1989
Team(s)	Martini, Surtees, Renault, Ferrari, Ligier
Races	165
Championships	0
Wins	7
Podium finishes	22
Pole positions	18
Fastest laps	12
First race	1978 South African Grand Prix
First win	1980 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last win	1983 Dutch Grand Prix
Last race	1989 Australian Grand Prix

René Alexandre Arnoux (born July 4, 1948) is a retired French race car driver who is a veteran of 12 Formula One seasons (1978 to 1989). In 2006 he raced in the inaugural season of the Grand Prix Masters formula for retired F1 drivers.

[edit] Biography

Arnoux was born in Grenoble, France.

He joined the Renault factory team in 1979, where he stayed for three years. Highlights of his Renault years included a fierce but good-natured wheel-banging battle with Gilles Villeneuve for second place in the last few laps of the 1979 French Grand Prix, a fight so spectacular it overshadowed Renault earning its first Formula One victory as a constructor, by Arnoux's teammate Jean-Pierre Jabouille. Arnoux was clearly the number two driver to rising star teammate Alain Prost in 1982, but managed to take several victories, as well as luckily walk away from a high speed crash after brake failure at the end of the long straight in the Dutch Grand Prix. In 1983 he joined then-struggling Ferrari, and in that same year he won the Canadian, German, and Dutch Grands Prix. He stayed with Ferrari but was again eclipsed by a rising star teammate, this time Michele Alboreto, and continued to have some success until, in mysterious circumstances, he was replaced following the 1985 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Sitting out the rest of the 1985 season, he returned in 1986 for Ligier, where he continued to perform until his retirement in 1989. Towards the end of his career Arnoux attracted some controversy; he was frequently accused of blocking faster cars in qualifying and when being lapped. He finished his career with 181 Grand Prix points.

[edit] Complete Formula One Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Team	WDC	Points
1978	Martini	ARG	BRA	SAF DNQ	USAW	MON DNPQ	BEL 9	ESP	SWE	FRA 14	GBR DNP	GER DNPQ	AUT 9	DUT Ret	ITA	USA 9	CAN Ret	Surtees	-	0
1979	Renault	ARG Ret	BRA Ret	SAF Ret	USAW DNS	ESP 9	BEL Ret	MON Ret	FRA 3	GBR 2	GER Ret	AUT 6	DUT Ret	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA 2		Renault	8th	17
1980	Renault	ARG Ret	BRA 1	SAF 1	USAW 9	BEL 4	MON Ret	FRA 5	GBR NC	GER Ret	AUT 9	DUT 2	ITA 10	CAN Ret	USA 7			Renault	6th	29
1981	Renault	USAW 8	BRA Ret	ARG 5	SMR 8	BEL DNQ	MON Ret	ESP 9	FRA 4	GBR 9	GER 13	AUT 2	DUT Ret	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	LAS Ret		Renault	9th	11
1982	Renault	RSA 3	BRA Ret	USAW Ret	SMR Ret	BEL Ret	MON Ret	USAE 10	CAN Ret	DUT Ret	GBR Ret	FRA 1	GER 2	AUT Ret	SWI Ret	ITA 1	LAS Ret	Renault	6th	28
1983	Ferrari	BRA 10	USAW 3	FRA 7	SMR 3	MON Ret	BEL Ret	USAE Ret	CAN 1	GBR 5	GER 1	AUT 2	DUT 1	ITA 2	EUR 9	RSA Ret		Ferrari	3rd	49
1984	Ferrari	BRA Ret	RSA Ret	BEL 3	SMR 2	FRA 4	MON 3	CAN 5	USAE Ret	USA 2	GBR 6	GER 6	AUT 7	DUT 11	ITA Ret	EUR 5	POR 9	Ferrari	6th	27
1985	Ferrari	BRA 4	POR	SMR	MON	CAN	USA	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	DUT	ITA	BEL	EUR	RSA	AUS	Ferrari	17th	3
1986	Ligier	BRA 4	ESP Ret	SMR Ret	MON 5	BEL Ret	CAN 6	USA Ret	FRA 5	GBR 4	GER 4	HUN Ret	AUT 10	ITA Ret	POR 7	MEX 15	AUS 7	Ligier	10th	14
1987	Ligier	BRA	SMR Ret	BEL 6	MON 11	USA 10	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	AUT 10	ITA 10	POR Ret	ESP Ret	MEX Ret	JPN Ret	AUS Ret	Ligier	19th	1
1988	Ligier	BRA Ret	SMR DNQ	MON Ret	MEX Ret	CAN Ret	USA Ret	FRA DNQ	GBR 18	GER 17	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA 13	POR 10	ESP Ret	JPN 17	AUS Ret	Ligier	-	0
1989	Ligier	BRA DNQ	SMR DNQ	MON 12	MEX 14	USA DNQ	CAN 5	FRA Ret	GBR DNQ	GER 11	HUN DNQ	BEL Ret	ITA 9	POR 13	ESP DNQ	JPN DNQ	AUS Ret	Ligier	23rd	2