Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson (born September 8, 1956) is a retired Formula One driver from Sweden. After leaving Formula One, he competed in several series, including CART, various types of sports car racing, and the Grand Prix Masters series.
| Nationality | Swedish |
|---|---|
| Born | Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson 8 September 1956 Växjö, Sweden |
Johansson’s path to Formula One began with the British Formula 3 Championship, which he won in 1980. He debuted in F1 on January 13, 1980, with the Shadow team while still competing in F3, but these initial outings were unsuccessful. His full-time F1 debut came in 1983 after a stint in Formula 2. Johansson re-entered F1 with the Spirit team and their Honda engines. Over his Grand Prix career, he participated in 103 races, secured 12 podiums, and scored a total of 88 championship points. In 1984, he joined Tyrrell as a mid-season replacement for the injured Martin Brundle and performed well enough to be signed by Ferrari in 1985 after René Arnoux was unexpectedly dismissed.
During his time at Ferrari, Johansson’s role was to support Michele Alboreto and his championship bid, but in 1986 he frequently outpaced his teammate. He moved to McLaren in 1987 as a number two to Alain Prost. Despite achieving further podium finishes, the team planned to replace him with Ayrton Senna in 1988. After 11 podiums in three seasons, Johansson remained winless and was not retained by a top team.
He joined Ligier in 1988, ironically alongside Arnoux, but the car was highly uncompetitive, scoring no points and often failing to qualify. In 1989, he led the new Onyx team, achieving a third-place finish in Portugal, his last and the team’s only podium. He fell out with new team owner Peter Monteverdi in early 1990 and was sacked, later making appearances for AGS and Footwork in 1991.
In 1992, Johansson switched to the CART Championship Car series, earning the Rookie of the Year title with two third-place finishes, outperforming Belgium’s Eric Bachelart. His first pole position came in Portland the following year, but he never won a race in CART either. From 1992 to 1996, he started 74 races, with his best overall season in 1994, finishing 11th. During this period, he competed in the 1993-1995 Indianapolis 500. In the 1996 Molson Indy Toronto race, Johansson was involved in a fatal accident that claimed the life of driver Jeff Krosnoff.
Before his F1 career, Johansson had participated in sports car races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After retiring from CART at the end of 1996, he returned to sports car racing. In 1997, he won the 12 Hours of Sebring in a Ferrari 333 SP and at Le Mans driving a Joest Porsche.
In 1998 and 1999, Johansson raced for various sports car teams, including the unreliable Audi R8C Coupé at Le Mans. In 2000, he co-founded Johansson-Matthews Racing with American businessman Jim Matthews, competing in the American Le Mans Series with a Reynard 2KQ prototype. The partnership dissolved after the car proved unsuccessful.
In 2001, Johansson campaigned an Audi R8 prototype backed by Gulf Oil and supported by Mike Earle’s Arena team, competing in the European Le Mans Series, the American Le Mans Series, and at Le Mans. His co-drivers were Guy Smith and Patrick Lemarie. In 2002, he raced an Audi R8 for the Miami-based Champion Racing team with co-driver Johnny Herbert in the American Le Mans Series.
In 2003, Johansson returned to CART as a team owner, running American Spirit Team Johansson with drivers Jimmy Vasser and Ryan Hunter-Reay. The team was under-funded, and despite a surprise win in Australia by Hunter-Reay, it folded at the end of the season, which was also CART’s last.
After sporadic races in 2004, Johansson returned to full-time racing in 2005, driving a Chip Ganassi-run Lexus Riley Daytona Prototype in the American Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. Alongside co-driver Cort Wagner, he achieved a second-place finish at Mont Tremblant, finishing fifth in the championship.
In 2006, Johansson competed in the Grand Prix Masters series, made occasional appearances in Grand-Am for the Cheever and CITGO teams, and continued his association with the works Zytek team in the Le Mans European Series.
In 2007, Johansson raced in the American Le Mans Series’ LMP2 class for Highcroft Racing, sharing a Courage-Acura with David Brabham. He was scheduled to race a Zytek at Le Mans but switched to a works Courage after a test-day accident.
Outside of racing, Johansson has been involved in various business ventures and is an accomplished artist, particularly known for his watch designs.
Stefan Johansson Formula One World Championship career
| F1 Career | 1980, 1983–1991 |
|---|---|
| Teams | Shadow, Spirit, Tyrrell, Toleman, Ferrari, McLaren, Ligier, Onyx, AGS, Footwork |
| Engines | Ford, Honda, Hart, Ferrari, TAG, Judd, Porsche |
| Entries | 103 (79 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 12 |
| Career points | 88 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1980 Argentine Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1991 British Grand Prix |
Stefan Johansson Teammates
| Teammates | Involvement | First Year | Last Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Kennedy | 2 | 1980 | |
| Derek Daly | 1 | 1981 | |
| Stefan Bellof | 5 | 1984 | 1985 |
| Mike Thackwell | 1 | 1984 | |
| Pierluigi Martini | 1 | 1984 | |
| Ayrton Senna | 2 | 1984 | |
| Martin Brundle | 1 | 1985 | |
| John Watson | 2 | 1985 | |
| Michele Alboreto | 35 | 1985 | 1991 |
| Alain Prost | 16 | 1987 | |
| Rene Arnoux | 16 | 1988 | |
| Bertrand Gachot | 12 | 1989 | |
| JJ Lehto | 6 | 1989 | 1990 |
| Gabriele Tarquini | 2 | 1991 |
Formula One Record
| Year | Entrant | Team | WDC Pts. | WDC Pos. | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Shadow Cars | Shadow-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
| 1981 | March Grand Prix Team | March-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | |
| 1982: Did not compete | |||||
| 1983 | Spirit Racing | Spirit-Honda | 0 | NC | Report |
| 1984 | Tyrrell Racing Organisation | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 3 | 17th | Report |
| Toleman Group Motorsport | Toleman-Hart | ||||
| 1985 | Tyrrell Racing Organisation | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 26 | 7th | Report |
| Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC | Ferrari | ||||
| 1986 | Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC | Ferrari | 23 | 5th | Report |
| 1987 | Marlboro McLaren International | McLaren-TAG Porsche | 30 | 6th | Report |
| 1988 | Ligier Loto | Ligier-Judd | 0 | NC | Report |
| 1989 | Moneytron Onyx Formula One | Onyx-Ford Cosworth | 6 | 12th | Report |
| 1990 | Monteverdi Onyx Formula One | Onyx-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
| 1991 | AGS Racing | AGS-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
| Footwork Grand Prix International | Footwork-Porsche | ||||
| Footwork-Ford Cosworth | |||||
Complete Formula One Results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Shadow Cars | Shadow DN11 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG DNQ | BRA DNQ | RSA | USW | BEL | MON | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | USA | NC | 0 | ||
| 1983 | Spirit Racing | Spirit 201 | Honda RA163E 1.5 V6 t | BRA | USW | FRA | SMR | MON | BEL | DET | CAN | GBR Ret | AUT 12 | ITA Ret | EUR 14 | RSA | NC | 0 | |||
| 1983 | Spirit Racing | Spirit 201C | Honda RA163E 1.5 V6 t | GER Ret | NED 7 | NC | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 1984 | Tyrrell Racing Organisation | Tyrrell 012 | Ford Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8 | BRA | RSA | BEL | SMR | FRA | MON | CAN | DET | DAL | GBR DSQ | GER DSQ | AUT DNQ | NED DSQ | 17th | 3 | |||
| 1984 | Toleman Group Motorsport | Toleman TG184 | Hart 415T 1.5 L4 t | ITA 4 | EUR Ret | POR 11 | 17th | 3 | |||||||||||||
| 1985 | Tyrrell Racing Organisation | Tyrrell 012 | Ford Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8 | BRA 7 | 7th | 26 | |||||||||||||||
| 1985 | Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC | Ferrari 156/85 | Ferrari 031 1.5 V6 t | POR 8 | SMR 6 † | MON Ret | CAN 2 | DET 2 | FRA 4 | GBR Ret | GER 9 | AUT 4 | NED Ret | ITA 5 | BEL Ret | EUR Ret | RSA 4 | AUS 5 | 7th | 26 | |
| 1986 | Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC | Ferrari F1/86 | Ferrari 032 1.5 V6 t | BRA Ret | ESP Ret | SMR 4 | MON 10 | BEL 3 | CAN Ret | DET Ret | FRA Ret | GBR Ret | GER 11 † | HUN 4 | AUT 3 | ITA 3 | POR 6 | MEX 12 † | AUS 3 | 5th | 23 |
| 1987 | Marlboro McLaren International | McLaren MP4/3 | TAG TTE PO1 1.5 V6 t | BRA 3 | SMR 4 | BEL 2 | MON Ret | DET 7 | FRA 8 | GBR Ret | GER 2 | HUN Ret | AUT 7 | ITA 6 | POR 5 | ESP 3 | MEX Ret | JPN 3 | AUS Ret | 6th | 30 |
| 1988 | Ligier Loto | Ligier JS31 | Judd CV 3.5 V8 | BRA 9 | SMR DNQ | MON Ret | MEX 10 | CAN Ret | DET Ret | FRA DNQ | GBR DNQ | GER DNQ | HUN Ret | BEL 11 † | ITA DNQ | POR Ret | ESP Ret | JPN DNQ | AUS 9 † | NC | 0 |
| 1989 | Moneytron Onyx Formula One | Onyx ORE-1 | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | BRA DNPQ | SMR DNPQ | MON DNPQ | MEX Ret | USA Ret | CAN DSQ | FRA 5 | GBR DNPQ | GER Ret | HUN Ret | BEL 8 | ITA DNPQ | POR 3 | ESP DNPQ | JPN DNPQ | AUS DNPQ | 12th | 6 |
| 1990 | Monteverdi Onyx Formula One | Onyx ORE-1 | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | USA DNQ | BRA DNQ | SMR | MON | CAN | MEX | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | NC | 0 |
| 1991 | Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives | AGS JH25B | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | USA DNQ | BRA DNQ | SMR | MON | NC | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 1991 | Footwork Grand Prix International | Footwork FA12 | Porsche 3512 3.5 V12 | CAN Ret | MEX DNQ | NC | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Footwork Grand Prix International | Footwork FA12C | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | FRA DNQ | GBR DNQ | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | NC | 0 |
Sources: Wikipedia.com, fandom.com, statsf1.com, and historicracing.com
