Interview and photos by Sergio Álvarez.
He’s a seven-time Grand Prix winner in what was one of the most dangerous, yet exciting, periods of Formula 1 history. He drove for one of the biggest names in our sport (Enzo Ferrari) and he was cool, he is still very cool indeed. He rubbed shoulders with giants. The quintessential French driver of the best and most diverse era of F1 racing.
Did I mention that René sounds a lot like Kimi on the mic? Very monosyllabic. No surprise there. These two are true and pure racers through and through. I wish we had a podcast! That’s all I can say at this stage.
In all honesty, we should have spoken to the man in his native French language to bring out the best in him. However, his kimi-esque answers in broken English were totally worth it! It was, may I say, spectacularly old-school, uncut, no-nonsense, forget about PR stuff. It also made me want to cook an ortolan for dinner, if you know what I mean (and if I had one available, but obviously I didn’t, it’s hard to catch one in Portugal and I’m not even sure it’s allowed).
Q: What would you change in today’s Formula 1 compared to when you raced?
A: It’s completely different! I don’t want to compare (different eras) because the cars are completely different (to when I drove). Now Formula 1 is completely dominated by technology. I think if you don’t have a good car, it’s impossible to win. You have to drive well, for sure. When I was driving, if the car was at 40% or 60%, it was completely different, then the driver would (compensate) 60% or 40% (I like that – ed).
Q: What if DRS existed in the 1970s and 80s or drivers being able to play with many different engine modes? To get an advantage…
A: The evolution in F1 is at a very high level. If you have a good car, you win the race. In my time, a lot of cars had the possibility to win the race. Now you have only the Red Bull, they’re very strong. McLaren is coming back, Ferrari is in difficulties (we spoke to René in July – ed). When you see Max Verstappen, he starts further back and he wins the race, he’s a very fantastic driver (‘very fantastic’ is simply lovely – ed). His team is the best at this moment.
Q: If you had a bad qualifying in the old days, it would be difficult to slice back through the field, don’t you agree?
A: You know, when I was in second or third place, or even fifth (on the grid), I had the possibility to win, except in Monaco because in Monte-Carlo it’s very difficult to pass. But I wasn’t afraid to qualify (in top 5 and race hard – ed). Now at the front it’s always the same thing. Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari.
“You must push in the race.”
— René Arnoux , F1 Driver
Q: You mentioned evolution…
A: Evolution (in F1 is evident) especially in aerodynamics and electronics. You see the car now is very complicated. The front wing, the rear wing, they’re very complicated for the aero balance. And also I think Red Bull have a strong engineer in Adrian Newey, he’s fantastic.
Q: Were you a technical driver in terms of feedback?
A: Oh, no! The driver must drive, that’s all! They must speak to the engineer and describe exactly what happened during those laps. Then decide after what are the possibilities to adjust the car and the engineers who built the car will know exactly what are those possibilities and what to do. To have a good car in each part of the track. When you have a very strong team like Red Bull, it’s difficult. You know the potential of the Red Bull now. I think Verstappen is very intelligent. With ten seconds advantage, he doesn’t go fast (thus preserving the car – ed). Because now you have five or six engines (power units – ed), 5 or six gearboxes and it’s not necessary to have big advantage during the race, asking too much of tyres or brakes, after that you’re in trouble. You must race under these conditions, (say) I’m at the front, I have ten seconds advantage, twenty seconds advantage is not necessary.
Q: Were you always flat out?
A: For me, you must push in the race.
Q: So what do you make of it?
A: For me, everybody has the same tyres, but it depends. When you use soft or hard tyre, the race strategy is really important also. If you make a mistake, you lose a race and Red Bull are very strong in this area.
Q: Did you get an advantage from any type of special treatment by Michelin or Elf, for example? Remember that Renault F1 was all about the French Revolution or Renaulution?
A: No, I don’t think so. It’s the same for everybody. When you have a good car, you use less fuel, you use less tyres, less brakes and you go faster. When I was driving, it was the same. Now it’s not like that. Big difference. You have only one team that’s competitive, Red Bull (I must try RBR’s engine oil supplier, although I don’t drive a Honda, you all know my soft spot for 1990s Twingo and Clio – ed). After them, Mercedes is coming back.
Q: And who else do you think is driving beautifully this season, apart from Max?
A: For me, I’m very happy for Norris. He’s a really good driver and I’m very happy for him that McLaren is coming back. But you see that McLaren was in very bad shape at the beginning of this year. I’m sure they found something in the aero department, their race in Silverstone was very strong, very competitive. I don’t know if they have a possibility to win.
Q: Back to special relationships with suppliers…
A: When you have a good car, you have the possibility to do more laps with your set of tyres. This is always the same. When I was driving, it was the same. If you have a bad car, then your tyres are destroyed in eight laps.
Q: What’s your first memory of the RS10 Renault F1 car?
A: When I was driving in Dijon with Villeneuve (watch it on YouTube if you’re young; if you saw it live at Dijon from a grandstand all those years ago, then you must be really old and wise – ed). It was a special Grand Prix and it was a big dingdong between Villeneuve and myself (I’m translating here – ed) but it was really interesting (it was a lot more than just ‘interesting’, no ‘he has to give the postion back’ team radio complaints – ed). This car in Dijon, it was the first victory for Renault in Formula 1, 1979. This car was really fantastic to drive.
Q: Was it track specific?
A: Nah, the car was good in Dijon but after that we continued developing. Only one thing was not so fantastic with Renault, we had a lot of problems and we broke a lot of engines. It was a new system with the turbocharger. We had to find the best way. Maybe we have a lot of power and it was a very strong car in the straight line, the speed was incredible. Maybe we had to work more on the reliability and not only on the performance. In that era it was like that. Anyway.
Q: What did you make of your experience in F1 with the original Renault F1 Team?
A: For me, it was a good experience. Because Renault, when they decided to enter F1, they decided to enter with a turbocharged engine. Only one team tried to put this type of engine in the back of the car. Everybody was smiling because they said ‘no way, it’s impossible’ to make a lot of power, to make a competitive engine. After six, seven, eight months, Renault won the first Grand Prix in Dijon. I spent a really good time with people at Renault, it was a really fantastic experience. After us, everybody built a turbocharged engine. There was only one solution to be competitive. Ferrari built the turbo (engine), Porsche, Honda, BMW.
Q: You paid the price of being the pioneers of the turbo technology in F1, no?
A: You know, afterwards we found the reliability. When I was driving for Renault, everybody was too young in the team (wet behind the ears, inexperienced – ed) to find a good way to win the championship. That’s all. After that we found the solution but not during the first few years.
Q: And what about the tail end of your career?
A: Ten years later, turbocharged engines were cancelled! Five or six years after they started in F1, Renault had a much stronger reliability but a lot of other people came in with turbo engines and knew about the problem that Renault found before that. Pistons, valves, everything. For me, my experience with Renault was a good experience, you know it was easy to add more power with a turbocharger, you turn up the boost and you have more power. But then your pistons are done, you must suddenly find a new solution for horsepower.
Q: Did you have to adapt your driving style to turbo cars, with turbo lag and all?
A: You know, when we started with Renault, we had a very big turbo. You brake, you put flat (put your foot down, stand on the loud pedal – ed) and after two seconds you have lots of power. But when we arrived in Dijon, we had two double turbos, smaller turbos and it was easier to drive. The problem was in Dijon we finished with two cars and after that many times I was in the lead and ten laps before the end bang! Engine, pistons. I remember I lost a lot of races because reliability was not very strong. It was like that anyway.
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