F1 archives: Reliving One of the Finest Duels Ever

It was the 1979 French Grand Prix which saw one of the most exciting duels in the history of F1, a dream come true for France. The French team, Renault, backed up by French fuel supplier Elf and tyre supplier Michelin, was on the first grid after Saturday. When the race started, the two Renaults were moving slowly and the Ferrari driven by Gilles Villeneuve quickly overtook them. It was Jean-Pierre Jabouille, the pole sitter for the race, who took the lead back from the Canadian racing just ahead of the other Renault driver, Rene Arnoux. Nothing stopped Jabouille thereafter; he secured the first win for Renault and becoming the first Frenchman since 1948 to win the French Grand Prix.

While it was an easy victory for Jabouille from there on, the situation got pretty exciting for the second position. With three laps still to go, Arnoux overtook Villeneuve and was racing in the second position. Villeneuve’s tyres were completely worn out and it looked like a Renault one-two. What followed in the next three laps, was one of the finest duels in Formula One. Villeneuve refused to give up, despite troubles with his tyres and brakes. No one can possibly remember the times they banged wheels, went off the track or interchanged positions. As much as it was heroic, it was ballsy on the part of both of the drivers, simply refusing to give the position. Villeneuve produced a stunner before the last lap, overtaking the French man on the inside by braking very late which resulted in locking all of his tyres and producing smoke from all four of them. His tyres went from bad to worse, but the fight was still on. The two continued their dramatic battle for the second place till the very last corner of the last lap, where Villeneuve inched away to take away second. The heroics of the two drivers had stunned everyone. Jabouille and Renault’s victory was overshadowed by the driving of the two, Villeneuve and Arnoux; pure display of racing skills.

Both men hailed it as their greatest F1 race and more than the race victory.

On the warm-down lap the two waved at each other in mutual admiration. “”He beat me, yes, and in France…” said Arnoux, “but it didn’t worry me. I knew I’d been beaten by the best driver in the world.”