Nationality French Wins 6 Active years 1974 - 1986 Name Jacques Laffite | Entries 180 (176 starts) Role Racing driver Championships 0 Spouse Florence Laffite | |
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Born 21 November 1943 (age 81) Paris, France ( 1943-11-21 ) Children Margot Laffite, Camille Laffite Similar People Patrick Depailler, Rene Arnoux, Margot Laffite, Didier Pironi, Alan Jones | ||
F1 jacques laffite tribute
Jacques-Henri Laffite (born in Paris, 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from 1974 to 1986. He achieved six grand prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. From 1997 to 2013, Laffite was a presenter for TF1.
Contents
- F1 jacques laffite tribute
- Tribute to jacques laffite
- Early years
- Formula One career
- Post Formula One career
- Complete European Formula Two Championship results
- Complete Formula One World Championship results
- Complete World Touring Car Championship results
- Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results
- References
Tribute to jacques laffite
Early years
Jacques-Henri Laffite was born in Paris on 21 November 1943, He attended the Cours Hattemer, a private school.
Formula One career
Laffite debuted in Formula One in 1974 for Frank Williams' Iso-Marlboro team. The following year he raced for the same team, now named Williams, scoring a 2nd place in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.
In 1976 Laffite moved to the French Ligier team, scoring 20 points and a pole position at the Italian Grand Prix. The next two seasons were transitional, although he managed to win his first Grand Prix at Anderstorp in the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix.
The 1979 season opened with Laffite winning the first two races. He fought for the World Championship title until the last races, but eventually placed only 4th, with 36 points. The following two seasons were similar, with two more 4th places in the Championship and a further 3 victories. In 1982, however, Laffite finished only 17th in the final classification, with only 5 points scored.
During the early 1980s, Laffite also made three end of season trips to Australia to race in the non-championship Australian Grand Prix. He failed to finish his first race 'Down Under' in 1981 (he was lucky to start after his car hit the wall on the outside of the last turn of the short (1.609 km (1.000 mi)) Calder Park Raceway in qualifying, but his local crew were able to repair it for the race). He finished second to fellow Frenchman Alain Prost in 1982, and third behind Brazilian Roberto Moreno and Australian John Smith in 1983. In all of his pre-F1 AGP drives, Laffite drove a Formula Pacific or Formula Mondial Ralt RT4 powered by a 1.6 litre Ford l4 engine.
Results in the next two seasons weren't much better, when he moved back to England, again to race for Williams (11 and 5 points, respectively). Now in his forties, Laffite returned to Ligier in 1985: in that season he was on the podium three times (Great Britain, Germany and Australia), for a total of 16 points. In 1986 he scored 14 points including two more podium finishes in the first half of the season, but he broke both legs in a crash at the start of the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, and thereafter retired from Formula One. The race was stopped and restarted without Laffite, who was thus classified as a non-starter and ended his career tied with Graham Hill for the most Grand Prix starts. He was the most successful driver in Ligier's history, having taken six of their nine wins.
As a result of Laffite's injuries, new safety rules were enforced from the 1988 season that stated that in all cars the driver's feet must be behind the front axle line.
Post-Formula One career
Laffite recovered from his injuries and later raced in touring cars, finishing 17th in the inaugural World Touring Car Championship driving an Alfa Romeo 75 for Alfa Corse as well as racing three seasons in the German based DTM series.
He is now a television commentator for the French network TF1, best known for his reaction to the incident at the 1997 European Grand Prix in which Michael Schumacher collided with Jacques Villeneuve, and Laffite reacted with curse words on live television.
In October 2008, at the age of 64, he tested a Renault R27 F1 car at the Paul Ricard circuit.
Jacques Laffite, golf enthusiast, is a shareholder of Dijon-Bourgogne Golf.
Deeply attached to the Creuse for Golf Fisheries and nature. It has a property in Creuse near Aubusson
Complete European Formula Two Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
‡ Graded drivers not eligible for European Formula Two Championship points
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete World Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
* Overall race position shown. Registered WTCC points paying position may differ.
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)