Jean-Pierre Jabouille, Formula 1 driver with Renault, has passed away

Jean-Pierre Jabouille was a Formula 1 driver between the years 1975 and 1981. He notably participated in 49 Grand Prix (but was entered in 61 races), won two of them, and achieved 6 pole positions.

Known for being the first driver for the French brand Renault to win a Formula 1 race, he has remained an icon for the diamond brand, even featuring in a promotional short film a few years ago for the Renault RS01.

He began his Formula 1 career in 1975 at the French Grand Prix in Le Castellet. He finished 11th behind the wheel of the Tyrrell-Ford-Cosworth in a race won by a certain Niki Lauda. Prior to that, he had attempted to compete in Grand Prix races several times in 1974, but failed to qualify for the race.

After a year of absence, Jabouille then raced for Renault in 1977 during the arrival of the French manufacturer in F1. With a lot of reliability issues, he finished very few races until Renault finally made its V6 turbo reliable. He thus won two Grand Prix with the French manufacturer: the first one during the French Grand Prix in 1979 at Dijon-Prenois and the second one in Austria in 1980.

His first steps in international renowned competition were in 1968 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He participated in the race 13 times throughout his career. On four occasions, the Parisian stepped onto the podium of the famous endurance race: 1973, 1974, 1992, and 1993.

More recently, he had participated in the filming of the mini-series available on Netflix, “The Great European Adventure” by Paul Hollywood. In the last episode dedicated to France, he had received the pilot, but also a cook on the Magny-Cours circuit. In pouring rain, they had organized a race between the RS.01, Renault’s first Formula 1 car, and a Clio.