Jody Scheckter

Jody Scheckter is a South African former F1 driver who competed in Formula One from 1972 to 1980. Scheckter secured the 1979 Drivers’ Championship with Ferrari, making him the only African driver to win either a Formula One Grand Prix or the World Championship.

Nationality	South African
Born	Jody David Scheckter 29 January 1950 East London, Cape Province, Union of South Africa

Scheckter’s career took off after relocating to the United Kingdom in 1970. He made his Formula One debut two years later at the 1972 United States Grand Prix, driving for McLaren, a team he had also raced for in British and European Formula Two. In 1973, while winning the SCCA Continental Championship in Formula 5000, he raced in five more Grand Prix with McLaren, finally securing a full-time seat with Tyrrell in 1974, earning his first win at the 1974 Swedish Grand Prix and finishing third in the 1973 Drivers’ Championship. In 1975, he won his home race in South Africa and again finished third in 1976.

Scheckter moved to Wolf Racing in 1977, claiming several wins, including the prestigious 1977 Monaco Grand Prix, and finishing runner-up to Niki Lauda in the 1977 Drivers’ Championship. After a winless 1978 season, he switched to Ferrari, partnering with Gilles Villeneuve. In his debut season with Ferrari, Scheckter won three Grand Prix and clinched the World Championship after winning the 1979 Italian Grand Prix, becoming the first—and so far only—African Formula One World Champion. He retired at the end of the 1980 season, having achieved 10 race wins, three pole positions, five fastest laps, and 33 podiums in his Formula One career.

Post-retirement, Scheckter worked as a broadcaster for CBS, ABC, and ITV. He later moved into organic farming, establishing Laverstoke Park Farm in England. Scheckter’s sons, Toby and Tomas, followed in his footsteps and became racing drivers.

Jody Scheckter Formula One World Championship career

F1 Career	1972 – 1980
Teams	McLaren, Tyrrell, Wolf, Ferrari
Entries	113 (112 starts)
Championships	1 (1979)
Wins	10
Podiums	33
Career points	246 (255)
Pole positions	3
Fastest laps	5
First entry	1972 United States Grand Prix
First win	1974 Swedish Grand Prix
Last win	1979 Italian Grand Prix
Last entry	1980 United States Grand Prix

Jody Scheckter Teammates

8 Teammates	Involvement	First Year	Last Year
Peter Revson	6	1972	1973
Denny Hulme	7	1972	1973
Patrick Depailler	45	1974	1976
Jean-Pierre Jabouille	1	1975
Michel Leclere	1	1975
Otto Stuppacher	1	1976
Bobby Rahal	2	1978
Gilles Villeneuve	29	1979	1980

Race Wins

Win Number	Grand Prix
1	1974 Swedish Grand Prix
2	1974 British Grand Prix
3	1975 South African Grand Prix
4	1976 Swedish Grand Prix
5	1977 Argentine Grand Prix
6	1977 Monaco Grand Prix
7	1977 Canadian Grand Prix
8	1979 Belgian Grand Prix
9	1979 Monaco Grand Prix
10	1979 Italian Grand Prix

Complete Formula One results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points1
1972	Yardley Team McLaren	McLaren M19A	Cosworth V8	ARG	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA 9						NC	0
1973	Yardley Team McLaren	McLaren M19A	Cosworth V8	ARG	BRA	RSA 9	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE
		McLaren M23	Cosworth V8								FRA Ret	GBR Ret	NED	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN Ret	USA Ret
1974	Elf Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 006	Cosworth V8	ARG Ret	BRA 13	RSA 8															3rd	45
		Tyrrell 007	Cosworth V8				ESP 5	BEL 3	MON 2	SWE 1	NED 5	FRA 4	GBR 1	GER 2	AUT Ret	ITA 3	CAN Ret	USA Ret
1975	Elf Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 007	Cosworth V8	ARG 11	BRA Ret	RSA 1	ESP Ret	MON 7	BEL 2	SWE 7	NED 16	FRA 9	GBR 3	GER Ret	AUT 8	ITA 8	USA 6				7th	20
1976	Elf Team Tyrrell	Tyrrell 007	Cosworth V8	BRA 5	RSA 4	USW Ret	ESP Ret														3rd	49
		Tyrrell P34	Cosworth V8					BEL 4	MON 2	SWE 1	FRA 6	GBR 2	GER 2	AUT Ret	NED 5	ITA 5	CAN 4	USA 2	JPN Ret
1977	Walter Wolf Racing	Wolf WR1	Cosworth V8	ARG 1	BRA Ret	RSA 2	USW 3		MON 1		SWE Ret		GBR Ret				ITA Ret		CAN 1		2nd	55
		Wolf WR2	Cosworth V8					ESP 3						GER 2		NED 3		USA 3
		Wolf WR3	Cosworth V8							BEL Ret		FRA Ret			AUT Ret					JPN 10
1978	Walter Wolf Racing	Wolf WR4	Cosworth V8	ARG 10																	7th	24
		Wolf WR1	Cosworth V8		BRA Ret	RSA Ret		MON 3	BEL Ret
		Wolf WR3	Cosworth V8				USW Ret
		Wolf WR5	Cosworth V8							ESP 4	SWE Ret	FRA 6	GBR Ret	GER 2	AUT Ret		ITA 12
		Wolf WR6	Cosworth V8													NED 12		USA 3	CAN 2
1979	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312T3	Ferrari Flat-12	ARG Ret	BRA 6																1st	51 (60)
		Ferrari 312T4	Ferrari Flat-12			RSA 2	USW 2	ESP 4	BEL 1	MON 1	FRA 7	GBR 5	GER 4	AUT 4	NED 2	ITA 1	CAN 4	USA Ret
1980	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312T5	Ferrari Flat-12	ARG Ret	BRA Ret	RSA Ret	USW 5	BEL 8	MON Ret	FRA 12	GBR 10	GER 13	AUT 13	NED 9	ITA 8	CAN DNQ	USA 11				19th	2