Clay Regazzoni

Interesting facts

Regazzoni did not start racing until he was 24, and even then he had to cross into Italy in his own Austin-Healey Sprite, because Switzerland had banned motorsport after the 1955 Le Mans disaster. In a 1968 Formula Three support race at Monaco, his car slid under an Armco barrier and the sharp edge passed right over his open cockpit, missing him only because he ducked down in time. That same year, in a Formula Two race in the Netherlands, he collided with young British driver Chris Lambert, who died in the crash; an inquest cleared Regazzoni, but Lambert's father pursued a private legal case against him for five years before dropping it. Racing for BRM in 1973, Regazzoni crashed heavily and caught fire at the South African Grand Prix, and it was Mike Hailwood who pulled him from the wreckage, an act that earned Hailwood the George Medal and sparked a lasting friendship between Regazzoni and his young teammate Niki Lauda. A failing shock absorber cost him the 1974 title: he needed only to finish ahead of Emerson Fittipaldi at the season-ending US Grand Prix but limped home 11th, losing the championship by three points. At forty years old, Regazzoni delivered Williams its first Grand Prix win at Silverstone in 1979, and because of the team's Saudi sponsor he celebrated on the podium with the soft drink Lilt instead of champagne. On March 23, 1980, a brake failure sent him into a parked Brabham and then the barrier at Long Beach, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down, yet he refused to quit racing, winning back his license to compete in the Dakar Rally and the Sebring 12 Hours in a hand-controlled car. Clay Regazzoni made his Formula 1 debut in 1970 and raced until 1980, 11 seasons in total as a Swiss driver. He scored a total of 209 championship points over his career.