Jacques
Laffite

Jacques Laffite was born in Paris on 21 November 1943. In 1968 he trained as a racing driver at the Winfield Racing School at Magny-Cours. He later took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in nine editions between 1972 and 1996.

He made his Formula One debut at the 1974 German Grand Prix with Frank Williams's Iso-Marlboro team. In 1975 he drove for the team under the Williams name and finished second in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, his first podium. He moved to the French Ligier team in 1976 and took his first pole position at the Italian Grand Prix. In 1977 he won the Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp, his maiden victory.

Laffite opened the 1979 season by winning the first two races. He fought for the title until the closing rounds and finished fourth in the championship with 36 points. He was fourth again in 1980 and 1981, and won three more races across those two years. In 1982 he took only five points and ended up 17th. He drove for Williams in 1983 and 1984 without winning, then returned to Ligier in 1985 and stood on the podium three times, in Britain, Germany and Australia.

At the 1986 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch he was seriously injured in a crash and ended his Formula One career afterwards. He had started 176 races and had six wins, seven pole positions and 32 podiums to his name. Six of Ligier's nine victories came with him at the wheel. From 1988 the regulations required the driver's feet to be behind the front axle line in every car, a rule that followed his injuries.

Laffite later raced touring cars. In 1987 he finished 17th in the inaugural World Touring Car Championship for Alfa Corse, and from 1990 to 1992 he competed in the DTM. From 1997 to 2012 he worked as a presenter for the French broadcaster TF1.

Source: Wikipedia, “Jacques Laffite”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.