François
Cevert

François Cevert was born in Paris on 25 February 1944. He began his racing career on two wheels at 16, first racing friends on his mother's scooter and later riding a Norton of his own. After national service he turned to cars. In 1966 he won the Volant Shell scholarship at the racing school in Magny-Cours, the prize being an Alpine Formula Three car. His first Formula Three season was difficult, as he lacked experience. In 1968 he switched to a Tecno and became French Formula Three champion, ahead of Jean-Pierre Jabouille. In 1969 he drove for the works Tecno team in Formula Two and finished third in the European Championship. That year he also took part in the German Grand Prix at the wheel of a Tecno Formula Two car.

After a Formula Two race at Crystal Palace, Jackie Stewart advised his team principal Ken Tyrrell to watch the young Frenchman closely. When Johnny Servoz-Gavin stepped down abruptly in 1970, Tyrrell signed Cevert as second driver alongside the reigning world champion Stewart. Cevert's first outing for Tyrrell came at Zandvoort in a March-Ford. He scored his first championship point with sixth place at Monza.

In 1971 Tyrrell began building its own cars. Cevert finished second in France and Germany, both times behind Stewart. In the season finale at Watkins Glen he won the only Grand Prix of his career, and after Maurice Trintignant he was the second Frenchman to win a World Championship race. He finished third in the standings. In 1972 he was sixth, with second places in Belgium and the United States and fourth at his home race in Clermont-Ferrand. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans he came second with Howden Ganley in a Matra-Simca. He had already won the 1000 km of Paris in 1970, and in 1972 he also won a Can-Am race at Donnybrook.

In 1973 Cevert was fourth in the championship and finished second six times. He was due to become Tyrrell's team leader in 1974. During qualifying for the season finale at Watkins Glen on the Saturday, he was killed while battling Ronnie Peterson for his first pole position. Tyrrell withdrew its entry, so Stewart, already champion, did not start what had been planned as his final race. Cevert was 29. In Formula One he made 47 starts and took 13 podium finishes, one of them a win.

Source: Wikipedia, “François Cevert”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.