Good reputation

While Belgian Thierry Boutsen scored no points for the Arrows team in his F1 debut (half) season in 1983, his technical feedback, his smooth racing style and his speed, compared with experienced teammate Marc Surer, allowed him for a good reputation within the team and in the paddock.

Picture above: Thierry Boutsen races to a fine seventh place in his Arrows A8-BMW, at the 1985 US Grand Prix held in the streets of Detroit (Michigan).

With backing from Barclay cigarettes he remained with Jackie Oliver’s team for a further three seasons. The first saw Arrows struggle with their complicated first turbocharged car, with the powerful BMW turbo engines, but poor handling. Boutsen did well to score points three times.

In 1985, the discreet Belgian scored his first podium (picture below) with second place at Imola. Boutsen crossed the line in third (pushing his car), behind Alain Prost (McLaren) and Elio de Angelis (Lotus), but after the race, Prost was disqualified because his car was 2 kg underweight. Three more points scores saw him 11th overall in the standings.