Jacques-Henri Laffite (; born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship ...

from to . He achieved six Grand Prix wins, all while driving for the

Ligier Ligier (() is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Champ ...

team. From 1997 to 2013, Laffite was a presenter for

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is pa ...

Early years

Jacques-Henri Laffite was born in Paris on 21 November 1943. He attended the

Cours Hattemer Cours Hattemer is a French private, secular school. It is independent of the state, and can follow its own teaching approach, which is structured and places great stress on repetition to drive home what has been learned. The school has many well-kn ...

, a private school.

Formula One career

Laffite debuted in Formula One in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

for Frank Williams'

Iso–Marlboro Frank Williams Racing Cars was a British Formula One team and constructor. Early years Frank Williams had been a motor-racing enthusiast since a young age, and after a career in saloon cars and Formula Three, backed by Williams's shrewd i ...

team. The following year he raced for the same team, now named Williams, scoring a second place in the

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in Rh ...

at the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around the village a ...

In Laffite moved to the French

team, scoring 20 points and a

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

at the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921. In 2013 it ...

. The next two seasons were transitional, although he managed to win his first Grand Prix at

Anderstorp Anderstorp () is a locality situated in Gislaved Municipality, Jönköping County, Sweden with 4,965 inhabitants in 2010. Scandinavian Raceway, which hosted the Swedish Grand Prix Formula One races in 1973–1978, is situated here. Anderstorp ...

in the

1977 Swedish Grand Prix The 1977 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Scandinavian Raceway on 19 June 1977. It was the eighth race of the 1977 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1977 International Cup for F1 Constructors. The 72-lap race was ...

. 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 fourth, with 36 points. The following two seasons were similar, with two more fourth places in the Championship and a further three victories. In

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

, 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 The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...

. He failed to finish his first race in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

(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 Calder Park Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The complex includes a dragstrip, a road circuit with several possible configurations, and the "Thunderdome", a high-speed banked oval equipped to race either c ...

in qualifying, but his local crew were able to repair it for the race). He finished second to fellow Frenchman

Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing ...

, and third behind Brazilian

Roberto Moreno Roberto Pupo Moreno (born 11 February 1959), usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 championship p ...

and Australian John Smith in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

. In all of his pre-Formula One AGP drives, Laffite drove a

Formula Pacific Formula Pacific was a motor racing category which was used in the Pacific Basin area from 1977 to 1982. It specified a single-seat, open-wheeler chassis powered by a production-based four-cylinder engine of under 1600cc capacity. The formula was ba ...

Formula Mondial Formula Mondial was an international motor racing category which was introduced to replace both Formula Atlantic and the similar Formula Pacific''The Macquarie Dictionary of Motoring'', 1986, page 171 in 1983.''Australian Motor Racing Yearbook, 1982 ...

Ralt RT4 The Ralt RT4 is an open-wheel formula racing car, designed, developed and built by Ralt, for Formula Atlantic (and was also occasionally raced in Formula Two categories), in 1980. It was later converted into a closed-wheel prototype, and used in ...

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

l4 engine. Results in the next two seasons were not 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 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

: in that season he was on the podium three times (

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

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 The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World C ...

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hos ...

, 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 Norman Graham Hill (15 February 1929 – 29 November 1975) was a British racing driver and team owner, who was the Formula One World Champion twice, winning in and as well as being runner up on three occasions (1963, 1964 and 1965). Despite ...

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 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 Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move ...

, finishing 17th in the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaug ...

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a s ...

driving an

Alfa Romeo 75 The Alfa Romeo 75 (Type 161, 162B), sold in North America as the Milano, is a compact executive car produced by the Italian automaker Alfa Romeo between 1985 and 1992. The Alfa 75 was commercially quite successful: in only three years, 236,907 ...

for

Alfa Corse Alfa Corse is Alfa Romeo's factory racing team. Throughout the years, Alfa Corse has competed in various forms of motorsport, from Grand Prix motor racing to touring car racing. Alfa Corse was officially formed in the beginning of 1938, after th ...

as well as racing three seasons in the German-based

DTM DTM may refer to: Sport * Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, a motor-racing series staged annually in Germany since 2000 * Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, a motor-racing championship staged in Germany from 1984 to 1995 Computing * Deterministic ...

series. He is now a television commentator for the French network

, best known for his reaction to the incident at the

1997 European Grand Prix The 1997 European Grand Prix (formally the XLII European Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 26 October 1997 at the Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Spain. Originally scheduled as the Grand Prix of Portugal at the Estoril circuit, it ...

in which

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

collided with

Jacques Villeneuve Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve ( born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian professional racing driver and amateur musician who won the 1997 Formula One World Championship with Williams. In addition to Formula One (F1) he has competed in various o ...

, and Laffite reacted with curse words on live television. Laffite made his 2007 FIA GT3 European Championship debut at the 2008 Bucharest City Challenge, driving for AutoGT Racing Team. In October 2008, at the age of 64, he tested a

Renault R27 The Renault R27 is a Formula One racing car designed and produced by Renault for the 2007 Formula One season. The chassis was designed by Bob Bell, James Allison, Tim Densham and Dino Toso with Pat Symonds overseeing the design and production of ...

F1 car at the

Paul Ricard Paul Louis Marius Ricard (; July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and ...

circuit. Laffite has two daughters: Camille and

Margot Margot (; ) is a feminine French given name, a variant of Marguerite. It is also occasionally a surname. Persons named Margot include the following: People with the given name Margot * Margot Asquith, countess of Oxford and Asquith * Marguerite ...

, a sports journalist of Formula One on Canal+. He is also golf enthusiast, is a shareholder of Dijon-Bourgogne Golf. Also deeply attached to the

Creuse Creuse (; oc, Cruesa or ) is a department in central France named after the river Creuse. After Lozère, it is the second least populated department in France. It is bordered by Indre and Cher to the north, Allier and Puy-de-Dôme to the ea ...

for Golf Fisheries and nature, he has a property in Creuse near Aubusson.

Racing record

Career summary

Graded drivers not eligible for European Formula Two Championship points

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

) (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

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(

) (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

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Grand Prix Masters results

(

) Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.

Other results

* 800 km of Dijon: 1st, 1975 * 1000 km of Monza: 1st, 1975 * 1000 km of Nürburgring: 1st, 1975 * 500 km of Monza: 1st, 1988 (class win) * 500 km of Nürburgring: 1st, 1988 (class win) * 3 hours of Zhuhai: 1st, 1994

Notes

* The fastest lap at the

1976 Japanese Grand Prix The 1976 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Fuji Speedway on 24 October 1976. It was the 16th and final race of the 1976 Formula One World Championship The 1976 World Championship was to be decided at the Mount Fuji circui ...

was initially credited to

Masahiro Hasemi is a former racing driver and team owner from Japan. He started racing motocross when he was 15 years old. In 1964 he signed to drive for Nissan. After establishing himself in saloon car and GT races in Japan, he participated in his only Formula ...

. This was a measurement mistake, and, several days later, the circuit issued a press release to correct the fastest lap holder of the race to Laffite. This press release was promptly made known in Japan, and the

Japan Automobile Federation The is an automobile association based in Minato, Tokyo. Founded in 1963, the main purpose of the organization is to handle various businesses related to automobiles, and to protect the interests of owners and drivers in Japan. , the organizatio ...

(JAF) and Japanese media corrected the record. But this correction was not made well known outside Japan, thus, Hasemi is credited with the fastest lap of the race in many record books.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laffite, Jacques French racing drivers French Formula Renault 2.0 drivers French Formula One drivers Ligier Formula One drivers Williams Formula One drivers Formula One race winners European Formula Two Championship drivers French Formula Three Championship drivers Racing drivers from Paris 1943 births Living people Grand Prix Masters drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Touring Car Championship drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Oreca drivers Team Joest drivers Larbre Compétition drivers BMW M drivers