My greatest racecar has to come from my Formula One experience. Every part of an F1 car is designed to go very, very fast and each car is specifically made for maximum speed. From the start of my motor racing career, I had many good experiences in other cars of different formulas. For me, Formula Renault was particularly very good. When I arrived in F1 though, it provided me with the maximum sensations of speed. An F1 car is really interesting because you brake when you turn into a corner, you use the aerodynamic forces of the car, the suspension too, and you control the car on the exit with the power of the engine.
Driving for the Ferrari team, especially in F1—but with sports cars, too—the fans soon know your name, and your name is soon known all around the world because of the many fans, or the “tifosi.” Winning for Ferrari in F1, Le Mans, or sports prototype is a worldwide story. You could say that Ferrari is a major part of the world. I remember when I first went to Ferrari, and had a nice lunch with Enzo. He was a nice and interesting man; all his life was given to preparing special cars for the road and for the racing circuits. When I won for Renault, it was good, and I had many good experiences with the team; but when I won for Ferrari, the whole world knew what I had done—and that was very special for me.
My first Ferrari win came in my first racing season for them, in 1983. I like to have a good relationship with all my mechanics and engineers in the teams I have driven for. It is very important to be a team no matter if you win or lose. The first few races of 1983 did not work out very well for me at Ferrari, driving the 126 C2. I would be in a good position in the race, but would develop an engine or brake problem and struggle or retire. Developing a car at Ferrari was good, too. At their test circuit, we would have the track to ourselves and were able to try many different settings, engine, suspensions, body types, and things that help the driver, mechanics, and engineers to have a relationship with the car.
In Montreal, Canada, it all came good. The car worked very well and was really quick. I was on pole position, I had made the best times on the Friday and Saturday qualifying; I was quicker on full tanks in the Sunday morning warm-up. In the race, I led most of the laps and I was sure I had the likelihood of winning. I knew there was a chance of losing, too, because of reliability issues I have already mentioned. I was so very happy, as I crossed the line and took the checkered flag; everything I and the team had worked for had come very good.
Perhaps most famous for his amazing last-lap barging match with Gilles Villeneuve for 2nd place in the 1979 French GP at Dijon, Arnoux was the 1977 European Formula 2 champion and raced in Formula 1 for a dozen seasons. He broke in with Martini and Surtees before being snapped up by Renault. Four seasons with the Regie produced an equal number of wins, and during his three years as a front-runner at Ferrari he scored three more. He closed out his F1 career with Ligier, retiring in 1988.
