Car Articles

In his next start, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Scheckter was involved in a big accident which took nearly a dozen cars out of the race. Scheckter's McLaren M23 bore the number zero during the American and Canadian Grand Prix of 1973. Scheckter is one of only two F1 drivers to compete under this number, the other being Damon Hill.

Jody Scheckter's consistent finishes, with three wins among them, gave him the driver's championship in 1979. However, he struggled very badly in his 1980 title defense, even failing to qualify for one race. After only managing 2 points, Scheckter retired from the team and the sport.

Alan Stanley Jones was the first driver to win a F1 World Championship with the Williams team, becoming the 1980 World Drivers' Champion. He is Jones is also the last Australian driver to win the Australian GP, winning the 1980 event at Calder Park Raceway, having lapped the field.

He has 116 GP entries, won 12 GP and holds 6 Pole Positions in his racing career. He earned his first full-time F1 drive in 1976, in John Surtees' racing team. Surtees dropped him after that year and Alan Jones was racing in America when the Shadow team named him as a replacement for Tom Pryce, who had been killed in a freak racing accident in South Africa. He made the most of the opportunity and won at the Österreichring for his maiden victory, finishing seventh in the championship.

Jones won seven races in 1980, although the Spanish GP was later removed from the championship and the Australian GP was a non-championship race, so only five counted towards the Championship. Throughout the season he had a car which consistently made the podium, and he achieved ten during the year.

Keijo Erik Rosberg nicknamed "Keke", is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the 1982 F1 World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series.

Keke Rosberg had a relatively late start to his F1 career, debuting at the age of 29. Rosberg earned his first victory in the Swiss GP in 1982. Rosberg's first memorable season came in a year where no driver won more than two races and consistency won Rosberg the Drivers' Championship. Keke Rosberg's pole position-winning lap at that year's British Grand Prix stood as the fastest (highest average speed) single lap in F1 history until 2001. Keke holds 5 Pole Positions, 128 GP entries to his credit and won 5 GP.

Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda is a three-time F1 World Champion. Niki Lauda has the reputation of 173 GP entries, won 25 GP and has 24 Pole Positions.

Niki Lauda bought his way into F1 racing and very nearly paid for it with his life. He recovered from a fatal accident to what the medical profession called sheer force of will. His astonishingly quick return to the cockpit was called the most courageous comeback in sporting history. After winning two championships in 1975 and 1977, he got bored and left the sport, only to return again and win another in 1984. During his remarkable career he was called both a hero and a villain. The battle-scarred champion who defied both the odds and convention remains a living legend.

Nelson Piquet Souto Maior was F1 world champion in 1981, 1983 and 1987. He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.

On the advice of Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet heralded the start of a long and successful career in F1. He was never a dominant driver but a crafty expert in winning by stealth, according to his detractors. Together with the Brabham team, including team boss Bernie Ecclestone and chief designer Gordon Murray, he became a consistent challenger for the world title, and was the first driver to win the F1 title with a turbo engine in 1983. Nelson Piquet has to his credit 207 GP entries, 23 GP wins and 24 Pole Positions. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2000.