Test session - Renault RE40

It is not the one that revolutionized F1, but the RE40 certainly remains the most accomplished of all the Turbo single-seaters designed by Renault. In the expert hands of Alain Prost, she was crowned vice-World Champion in 1983. AH1866

Published on 02/07/2022 à 09:00

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When I enter the small, cluttered box at the Dijon-Prenois circuit, a car stripped, made of carbon and steel, clears the voice of its little V6 with blue cylinder heads. The thin fiberglass skin, in one piece, of the Renault RE40 rests in the immediate vicinity on two trestles.

Renault RE40 © Bernard Asset

Besides the yellow, white and black war paint, one detail captures my attention: a discreet “ Cheers » flanked by a tricolor flag. The exhaust fumes catch my throat, sting my eyes, my fingers buried in my ears are not enough to alleviate the pain in my eardrums and, yet, my mind is hypnotized by this decal of five letters.

Renault RE40 © Bernard Asset

The scene probably wouldn't be so fiercely ingrained in the retinas of my eyes if I wasn't in a suit and expected to pilot this same car for the next five minutes. There are experiences that shake you up, turn you upside down and mark your life with a hot iron. Take command of a Formula 1, for the first time, does not leave intact. Besides the existential questioning which consists of wondering how I could have found myself in such a situation, I doubt my abilities to tame such a machine.