Jacques Laffite

Jacques-Henri Laffite ( French pronunciation: [ʒakɑ̃ʁi lafit]; born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from 1974 to 1986. Laffite won six Formula One Grands Prix across 13 seasons.

Born and raised in Paris, Laffite trained as a racing driver with the Winfield Racing School at Magny-Cours in 1968. Laffite twice entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Ligier before making his Formula One debut at the 1974 German Grand Prix with Frank Williams. Laffite remained at Frank Williams through the 1975 season, scoring his maiden podium at the German Grand Prix and winning the European Formula Two Championship with Martini. He moved to Ligier in 1976, taking several podiums amongst his maiden pole position in Italy. Laffite retained his seat the following season, taking his maiden win at the Swedish Grand Prix. After a winless season in 1978, Ligier constructed the highly-competitive JS11 in response to the ground effect era. Laffite won the opening two rounds of the 1979 season—including a grand slam at the Brazilian Grand Prix—but ultimately finished the championship in fourth after suffering eight retirements. Laffite again finished fourth in the 1980 and 1981 championships, losing out on the latter by six points to Nelson Piquet and taking several wins across both. Laffite failed to finish 11 of 15 Grands Prix in 1982, leaving for Williams at the end of the season. After two winless seasons with Williams, amongst further reliability issues, Laffite returned to Ligier in 1985, scoring several podiums. At the 1986 British Grand Prix, Laffite was seriously injured in a multi-car collision that broke both of his legs. He subsequently retired from Formula One, having achieved six wins, seven pole positions, seven fastest laps and 32 podiums.