How it unfolded
Renault locked out the front row at home with two turbocharged RS10s. Dijon's altitude favoured the boosted engines, and Jabouille led from the start to win by more than 14 seconds — less than two years after the 'yellow teapot' mockery at Silverstone, the first grand prix win for a turbo car. What people remember came behind him. Villeneuve's Ferrari 312T4, leading early, lost grip and was caught by Arnoux; over the final three laps the two went side by side into corners with room for one car, both running off track several times as the order swapped two or three times per lap. Villeneuve reclaimed the lead before the last corner and held second by 0.24 seconds. Neither driver protested, stewards took no action, and the two embraced afterwards.
Why it still matters
Two things happened at once. The turbo era opened — every winning car in the 1980s would run forced induction — and the last-lap battle remains among the greatest in F1 history, setting an informal standard for how much contact racing craft would tolerate. Today's track limits and penalty system are far stricter; a fight like this is hard to imagine now.