Jacques Laffite

Jacques Laffite is a French former racing driver and broadcaster who competed in Formula One from 1974 to 1986. Born and raised in Paris, he trained at the Winfield Racing School in 1968, made his Formula One debut at the 1974 German Grand Prix with Frank Williams, and won the European Formula Two Championship with Martini in 1975. He moved to Ligier in 1976 and won his first Grand Prix at the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix. In 1979 he won the first two races of the season, including a grand slam in Brazil, and finished fourth in the championship, as he did again in 1980 and in 1981, when he lost third place to Nelson Piquet by six points. A multi-car collision at the 1986 British Grand Prix broke both his legs and ended his Formula One career with six wins, seven pole positions and 32 podiums. He also raced in the World Sportscar Championship, the BMW M1 Procar Championship and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, and presented for TF1 from 1997 to 2012.