Alan Jones

Interesting facts

Alan Jones's career began amid financial hardship: at one point he couldn't even afford a Formula Ford drive and returned to Australia, later funding his racing back in Britain by buying and selling used cars; a testing crash at Brands Hatch broke his leg. In 1977 Shadow signed him as a replacement for the late Tom Pryce, and Jones rewarded them with his maiden victory at the Austrian Grand Prix. He joined the still-struggling Williams team in 1978; in 1979 he won four of the final five races, turning the team into a front-running force. He won the 1980 world championship, beating Nelson Piquet by 13 points, becoming Australia's first champion since Jack Brabham. He also won the 1978 Can-Am championship driving a Lola. His uncompromising, blunt personality matched his driving, consistently extracting the maximum from his car according to peers and contemporary observers. Alan Jones made his Formula 1 debut in 1975 and raced until 1986, 10 seasons in total as an Australian driver. He won the World Championship once, in 1980. He scored a total of 199 championship points over his career.