Alan Jones

Alan Jones was a straight-talking, iron-willed, and hard-driving tough guy who fought to the forefront of Formula One racing. Initially considered a journeyman driver, his career took off when he teamed up with the then equally undistinguished Williams team. Together, they conquered the racing world, with Jones becoming the prototypical Williams driver.

Nationality	Australian
Born	Alan Stanley Jones 2 November 1946 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Alan’s father, Stan Jones, an affluent car dealer, was one of Australia’s top racers in the mid-1950s, good enough to be offered tryouts in Europe but chose to stay home to look after his business and family. Alan Stanley Jones, born in Melbourne on November 2, 1946, was inspired by his father’s successes and encouraged to pursue racing himself. By 15, Alan was a kart racing champion and soon excelled in a Mini and his father’s single-seater Coopers. However, progress stalled when Stan went bankrupt during an Australian economic recession. In 1967, Alan scraped together enough cash to finance a traditional Australian tour of England and Europe, deciding that his motorsport future lay abroad.

In 1970, with £50 in his pocket, Alan arrived in London and started a business serving fellow Antipodean travellers by selling well-used minivans. When his girlfriend Bev (later his wife) joined him, they rented a boarding house and hired out rooms. With meager profits, Alan raced on a shoestring budget. Stan, now divorced, came to England to provide moral support during Alan’s painfully slow progress. Alan struggled with a battered old Formula Ford and a crashed Formula Three Lotus that broke his leg. His break came with a sponsored F3 ride in a GRD, leading to his first victory at Silverstone in 1973. Sadly, just before this race, Stan died of a heart attack. Alan placed a laurel wreath in his father’s coffin and went on to finish second in the 1973 British F3 championship.

In 1974, Alan performed well enough in Formula Atlantic to be upgraded to Formula One in a Hesketh for 1975. He finished that season with Hill, Graham Hill‘s team, scoring a solid fifth at the Nurburgring, which led John Surtees to employ him for 1976. However, they did not get along, and the Surtees cars did not perform well, stalling Alan’s career until tragedy provided another opportunity.

In the 1977 South African Grand Prix, Tom Pryce was killed, and Shadow hired Alan to replace him. A plucky drive in wet/dry conditions in Austria resulted in Alan’s maiden win for both himself and Shadow. Though the team never won again, this victory led to an offer from Ferrari for 1978, which was later rescinded in favour of Gilles Villeneuve. Alan then joined Williams Grand Prix Engineering, impressed by Frank Williams’ ambition and Patrick Head’s Williams FW06 car. The team appreciated Alan’s qualities, leading to steady progress. AJ won four races and finished third in the 1979 championship.

In 1980, the Williams FW07B and AJ became the combination to beat, winning races in Argentina, France, Britain, Canada, and the USA, making Alan Jones the World Champion. Frank Williams praised AJ as a “man’s man,” admired for his determination and independence. Patrick Head lauded him as a “hard, competitive animal in a racing car,” even driving with a broken hand to finish second in a race. Alain Prost described AJ as “the most fiery, powerful, even violent driver.”

Despite his success, his reign as champion was marred by mechanical problems, leading to two wins and a third-place finish in the standings. AJ retired to Australia, bored with farming and returning to racing intermittently, including a one-off ride with Arrows in 1983 and a comeback with Beatrice Formula One in 1985, which eventually failed.

Back in Australia, AJ raced saloon cars, helped his son Christian’s driving career, and worked as a TV commentator. In 2010, he returned to the F1 paddock as an FIA steward’s advisor at select Grand Prix.

Alan Jones Formula One World Championship career

F1 Career	1975–1981, 1983, 1985–1986
Teams	Hesketh (privateer) Hill, Surtees, Shadow, Williams, Arrows, Haas Lola
Entries	117 (116 starts)
Championships	1 (1980)
Wins	12
Podiums	24
Career points	199 (206)
Pole positions	6
Fastest laps	13
First entry	1975 Spanish Grand Prix
First win	1977 Austrian Grand Prix
Last win	1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix
Last entry	1986 Australian Grand Prix

Alan Jones Teammates

14 Teammates	Involvement	First Year	Last Year
Tony Brise	4	1975
Brett Lunger	11	1976
Conny Andersson	1	1976
Noritake Takahara	1	1976
Renzo Zorzi	2	1977
Riccardo Patrese	9	1977
Jackie Oliver	1	1977
Arturo Merzario	1	1977
Jean-Pierre Jarier	1	1977
Clay Regazzoni	15	1979
Carlos Reutemann	29	1980	1981
Marc Surer	1	1983
Patrick Tambay	15	1986
Eddie Cheever	1	1986

Formula One Record

Year	Entrant	Team	WDC Points	WDC Pos.	Report
1975	Custom Made Harry Stiller Racing	Hesketh-Ford Cosworth	2	17th	Report
	Embassy Racing with Graham Hill	Hill-Ford Cosworth
1976	Durex Team Surtees	Surtees-Ford Cosworth	7	15th	Report
1977	Shadow Racing Team	Shadow-Ford Cosworth	22	7th	Report
1978	Williams Grand Prix Engineering	Williams-Ford Cosworth	11	11th	Report
1979	Albilad-Saudia Racing Team	Williams-Ford Cosworth	40 (43)	3rd	Report
1980	Albilad-Williams Racing Team	Williams-Ford Cosworth	67 (71)	1st	Report
1981	TAG Williams Racing Team	Williams-Ford Cosworth	46	3rd	Report
1982	Retired
1983	Arrows Racing Team	Arrows-Ford Cosworth	0	NC	Report
1984	Did not compete
1985	Team Haas (USA) Ltd	Lola-Hart	0	NC	Report
1986	Team Haas (USA) Ltd	Lola-Hart Lola-Ford Cosworth	4	12th	Report

Race Wins

Win Number	Grand Prix
1	1977 Austrian Grand Prix
2	1979 German Grand Prix
3	1979 Austrian Grand Prix
4	1979 Dutch Grand Prix
5	1979 Canadian Grand Prix
6	1980 Argentine Grand Prix
7	1980 French Grand Prix
8	1980 British Grand Prix
9	1980 Canadian Grand Prix
10	1980 United States Grand Prix
11	1981 United States Grand Prix West
12	1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix

Complete Formula One Results

Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Pts1
1975	Custom Made Harry Stiller Racing	Hesketh 308B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP Ret	MON Ret	BEL Ret	SWE 11											17th	2
	Embassy Racing with Graham Hill	Hill GH1									NED 13	FRA 16	GBR 10	GER 5	AUT	ITA	USA
1976	Durex Team Surtees	Surtees TS19	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	BRA	RSA	USW NC	ESP 9	BEL 5	MON Ret	SWE 13	FRA Ret	GBR 5	GER 10	AUT Ret	NED 8	ITA 12	CAN 16	USA 8	JPN 4		15th	7
1977	Shadow Racing Team	Shadow DN8	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW Ret	ESP Ret	MON 6	BEL 5	SWE 17	FRA Ret	GBR 7	GER Ret	AUT 1	NED Ret	ITA 3	USA Ret	CAN 4	JPN 4	7th	22
1978	Williams Grand Prix Engineering	Williams FW06	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG Ret	BRA 11	RSA 4	USW 7	MON Ret	BEL 10	ESP 8	SWE Ret	FRA 5	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA 13	USA 2	CAN 9		11th	11
1979	Albilad-Saudia Racing Team	Williams FW06	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 9	BRA Ret	RSA Ret	USW 3														3rd	40 (43)
		Williams FW07						ESP Ret	BEL Ret	MON Ret	FRA 4	GBR Ret	GER 1	AUT 1	NED 1	ITA 9	CAN 1	USA Ret
1980	Albilad-Williams Racing Team	Williams FW07B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 1	BRA 3	RSA Ret	USW Ret	BEL 2	MON Ret	FRA 1	GBR 1	GER 3	AUT 2	NED 11	ITA 2	CAN 1	USA 1				1st	67 (71)
1981	Albilad-Williams Racing Team	Williams FW07C	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	USW 1	BRA 2	ARG 4	SMR 12	BEL Ret	MON 2												3rd	46
	TAG Williams Team									ESP 7	FRA 17	GBR Ret	GER 11	AUT 4	NED 3	ITA 2	CAN Ret	CPL 1
1983	Arrows Racing Team	Arrows A6	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	BRA	USW Ret	FRA	SMR	MON	BEL	DET	CAN	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	EUR	RSA			NC	0
1985	Team Haas (USA) Ltd	Lola THL1	Hart 415T 1.5 L4 t	BRA	POR	SMR	MON	CAN	DET	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA Ret	BEL	EUR Ret	RSA DNS	AUS Ret		NC	0
1986	Team Haas (USA) Ltd	Lola THL1	Hart 415T 1.5 L4 t	BRA Ret	ESP Ret																12th	4
		Lola THL2	Ford Cosworth GBA 1.5 V6 t			SMR Ret	MON Ret	BEL 11	CAN 10	DET Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 9	HUN Ret	AUT 4	ITA 6	POR Ret	MEX Ret	AUS Ret

Source: Formula1.com, wikipedia.com, fandom.com, and statsf1.com