F1'S GREATEST DRIVERS - AUTOSPORT persuaded 217 world championship Formula 1 heroes to vote for the all-time greates driver

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ALAN JONES

AUSTRALIA

Alan Jones

SOCIALISE - TELL THE WORLD ABOUT THIS

It might seem paradoxical that a character so stereotypically Australian as Alan Jones remains the driver by which a team so stereotypically British as Williams has come to measure all others.

But in their shared no-nonsense, tough love approach, they couldn't have been more compatible. The fact that Jones was the driver who turned Williams from middling privateers into world champions didn't hurt, either. Four wins in 1979 with the FW07 gave the team a kick-start, and set the scene for the five victories in 1980 that put Jones 13 points clear of Nelson Piquet to give him the title.

A fierce intra-team rivalry with Carlos Reutemann helped deny him back-to-back championships and he retired at the end of the year, notwithstanding a couple of fruitless comebacks with Arrows and Team Haas.

Alan Jones

YOUR SAY

Should Alan Jones be higher or lower in F1's greatest drivers?

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STATISTICS

Born2 Nov 1946
Age77
Active years1975 - 1986
Champion1980
Presences117
Starts116
Wins12
Podiums24
Poles6
Front row13
Fastest laps13
Races led24

More stats on FORIX