1980 Renault RE20 Formula One

The Renault RE20 represents the moment Renault’s turbo Formula One experiment began producing repeat victories. It belongs to the 1980 works campaign, with Jean-Pierre Jabouille and René Arnoux, and deserves a programme identity separate from both the RS10 that preceded it and the interim cars that followed.

Programme history and its place in Formula One

Renault’s turbo effort had broken through with a victory in 1979. The RE20 carried that approach into the following season, when turbocharging was still a distinctive alternative to the established naturally aspirated engines. The manufacturer’s historical account records three victories in 1980. This profile follows that season-level identity and does not turn a particular museum repaint or a later demonstration appearance into an additional original works car.

FIA: 2025 São Paulo historical results

Engineering in its regulatory setting

The FIA’s historical Brazilian Grand Prix table identifies Arnoux’s winning 1980 car as an RE20 with Renault’s EF1 1.5-litre turbocharged V6. The engine designation belongs beside the chassis name: modern Renault power-unit names can resemble old chassis labels. A period race specification is also a safer reference than an unqualified horsepower claim, because boost settings, operating conditions and later rebuilds can materially alter the output of a turbo racing engine.

Competition results need a season and a chassis

Arnoux’s Brazilian victory supplies a clearly dated example of the RE20’s success. It is evidence for the model at that event, not proof that any RE20 bearing the same driver’s number is the winning chassis. A proper event history should connect the works entry, chassis allocation and subsequent tub changes. The distinction is especially important where a later car carries commemorative livery chosen for its recognisability rather than exact period continuity.

FIA: 2025 São Paulo historical results

What makes the programme collectible

The RE20 is interesting as an engineering stage in a changing sport. Its identity rests on specialised works development and the small physical population inherent to a Grand Prix programme, rather than a retail edition plaque. For a collector, the quality of the surviving record can matter more than an unsupported claim of ultimate rarity. A well-described static chassis and a running demonstrator also represent different conservation commitments.

Renault: thirty years of Formula One

Identification and provenance

Check the stamped identity, works build records, engine history and restoration documentation together. The RE20B and other interim developments should be recorded by their actual designation and season, not treated automatically as unmodified 1980 cars. Photographs can confirm visible bodywork and contemporary race use, but they cannot reveal every replaced tub, gearbox or engine. Preserve the distinction between the physical chassis and the programme history it illustrates.

Specifications and identity reference

Rarity and production scope

This Archive record covers the RE20 works programme. No exact chassis census is entered because the linked primary evidence does not establish a complete total. Competition starts, engines, replacement parts and later exhibition cars are not added together as production. The 1980 period photograph illustrates the programme without claiming that the pictured vehicle won a different event.

This is an Archive record. Concepts, restored heritage vehicles, works cars and competition programmes are not added to customer road-production totals. A programme profile does not establish how many physical chassis were made, and repeated exhibition appearances do not create additional vehicles.

What the photograph represents

René Arnoux in a Renault RE20 during the 1980 Dutch Grand Prix. Period programme illustration, without assigning the photographed car the identity of the chassis that won in Brazil or another event.

Related Renault heritage profiles

• 1981 Renault RE30 Formula One
• 1983 Renault RE40 Formula One

Frequently asked questions

Is an RE20B simply the same dated identity?

It is a later development and should retain its own season and chassis documentation. This profile centres on the RE20’s 1980 works campaign.

Does a period race photograph prove a winning chassis?

Only for a fully identified event and car. It does not transfer a victory from another race to an unidentified surviving chassis.

What is the production-count boundary for this profile?

This Archive record covers the RE20 works programme. No exact chassis census is entered because the linked primary evidence does not establish a complete total. Competition starts, engines, replacement parts and later exhibition cars are not added together as production. The 1980 period photograph illustrates the programme without claiming that the pictured vehicle won a different event.

Sources and further reading

1. FIA: 2025 São Paulo historical results
2. Renault: thirty years of Formula One
3. Renault: Goodwood heritage programme

Research checked 17 October 2026. Linked factory announcements and heritage records support the specifically attributed claims. Photographic descriptions identify the illustrated subject. Design analysis and suggested authentication steps are editorial interpretation.