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Albert François Cevert Goldenberg (born 25 February 1944 in Paris, France – died 6 October 1973 at Watkins Glen, New York, United States) was a French racing driver who most notably drove for Tyrrell in Formula One. He died in 1973 at Watkins Glen after his car crashed into the barriers, he raced along Jackie Stewart.

Formula One Career[]

Pre-Formula One[]

Cevert's racing experience first began at the age of 16 when he began to race motorcycles against his friends. His attention towards cars did not appear until he finished his National Service. By the year 1966, Cevert had completed the training course at the Le Mans school and had enrolled in the Magny-Cours racing school.

He began his Formula Three career after winning the Volant Shell scholarship competition and winning the prize of an Alpine Formula Three car. Unfortunately, he was not successful in Formula Three when racing his Alpine car because of his lack of funds and experience. It was not until the 1968 season that Cevert was able to find sponsorship and race with a Tecno car instead of his scholarship prize. After gaining a better car, Cevert was finally able to win races and become the French Formula Three World Champion.

Winning the F3 championship gained him a position on the Tecno Formula Two team for the 1969 season. Formula One racing legend Jackie Stewart also raced in Formula Two while competing in the Formula One series. Stewart faced a serious challenge when racing against Cevert. Stewart recommended to Ken Tyrrell, the owner of the Tyrrell Formula One team, that they keep an eye on Cevert.

Cevert finally made his way into Formula One because the team needed a driver, but was given short notice. The team eventually stated that they had hired Cevert because of Stewart's recommendation.

1970[]

After the sudden retirement of Tyrrell driver Johnny Servoz-Gavin three races into the 1970 season, the team called upon Cevert to join the team as the number two driver. His teammate would be defending champion, Jackie Stewart.

Cevert began his Formula One racing career by the 5th race of the season, the Dutch Grand Prix. He was forced to retire the race after an engine failure. He would finish just out of the points until the Italian Grand Prix, when he would win the first point of his Formula One career and the only point of the 1970 season.

1971[]

Cevert's First Win

Cevert receiving his trophy for winning the 1971 United States Grand Prix.

The Tyrrell team would have a strong season in 1971, as the team began to manufacture their own racing cars. After some race retirements early in the season, Cevert would finish 2nd place in both France and Germany directly behind his teammate.

Cevert would win the first and only race of his career during the United States Grand Prix held at Watkins Glen International, that track in which he would be killed at two years later.

Cevert officially finished 3rd place in the driver's championship with 26 points. This would place him behind Ronnie Peterson and World Champion Jackie Stewart.

1972[]

For the 1972 Formula One Season, both the team and the media had high expectations for Cevert. Cevert did not manage to meet these expectations after five race retirements mostly because of mechanical issues.

Cevert only managed to collect 15 points in the season, placing him in 6th place. Unfortunately, this was not what the team and the media had wished for.

1973[]

Cevert would have the best season of his career during the 1973 season, finishing 7 out of his 14 (15 in the season) races on the podium. He would only face two race retirements and would place in a points position for all of his other races, with the exception of Brazil and South Africa.

In the season he had earned 47 points placing him in 4th place in the driver's championship. Unfortunately, Cevert would not complete the season after a fatal accident in the United States Grand Prix qualifying.

Death[]

When qualifying for the 1973 United States Grand Prix, Cevert was trying to steal pole position from Ronnie Peterson. In the section of the track called "The Esses" Cevert's car was too far to the left side of the turn which caused the car to bump onto the kerbs. It then swerved into the powder blue safety barriers causing the car to spin and crash into another set of barriers. The barriers were uprooted by the speed, killing Cevert instantly because of massive head injuries from the barrier.

Cevert had crashed violently in the uphill Esses heading onto the back of the circuit. Fighting the car as he went up the hill, he brushed the curb on the left, whipped across the track and hit the guardrail on the right. The car began to spin, and he swerved back across the track at 150 mph and hit the outside guardrail almost head-on... They had left him [in the car], because he was so clearly dead. - Jackie Stewart

As a result of the fatality of his teammate, Jackie Stewart retired from the race and the sport, one race earlier than he had planned. That would have been the 100th race for his Formula One racing career.

The following year, Formula One driver Helmuth Koinigg would be killed during the race at the opposite end of the circuit. Because of these accidents, the FIA ordered a series of safety improvements, including adding a chicane to the section where Cevert crashed.

Helmet Design[]

CevertHelmet

Cevert's helmet design.

Cevert's helmet was striped vertically down through the front with a red, blue and yellow stripe. The side of the helmet was blue with F. Cevert in white letters on either side. The remainder of the helmet was white.

Film Appearances[]

In the movie Rush, Cevert's accident is portrayed with a mixture of what is believed to be Cevert and Koinigg's accidents combined.

Cevert is also featured in the documentary The Quick and the Dead (re-released in 1978 under the name Champions Forever: The Formula One Drivers). The documentary contains some interview footage of Cevert as well as biographical information.

Formula One Statistical Overview[]

Formula One Record[]

Year Entrant Team WDC Pts. WDC Pos. Report
1969 Italy Tecno Racing Team Tecno-Ford Cosworth* 0 NC
1970 United Kingdom Tyrrell Racing Organisation March-Ford Cosworth 1 22nd Report
1971 United Kingdom Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 26 3rd Report
1972 United Kingdom Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 15 6th Report
1973 United Kingdom Elf Team Tyrrell Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth 47 4th Report

Career Statistics[]

Entries 47
Starts 46
Pole Positions 0
Sprint Poles 0
Front Row Starts 3
Race Wins 1
Sprint Wins 0
Podiums 13
Sprint Podiums 0
Fastest Laps 2
Sprint Fastest Laps 0
Points 89
Laps Raced 2370
Distance Raced 11,608 km (7,213 mi)
Races Led 5
Laps Led 129
Distance Led 560 km (350 mi)

Race Wins[]

Win Number Grand Prix
1 1971 United States Grand Prix

Career Results[]

Complete Formula One Results
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pts Pos
1969 Flag of South Africa 1928-1994 Flag of Spain 1945 1977 Flag of Monaco Flag of the Netherlands Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Italy Flag of Canada Flag of the United States Flag of Mexico 0 NC
Ret
1970 Flag of South Africa 1928-1994 Flag of Spain 1945 1977 Flag of Monaco Flag of Belgium Flag of the Netherlands Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Austria Flag of Italy Flag of Canada Flag of the United States Flag of Mexico 1 22nd
Ret 11th 7th 7th Ret 6th 9th Ret Ret
1971 Flag of South Africa 1928-1994 Flag of Spain 1945 1977 Flag of Monaco Flag of the Netherlands Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Austria Flag of Italy Flag of Canada Flag of the United States 26 3rd
Ret 7th Ret Ret 2nd 10th 2nd Ret 3rd 6th 1st
1972 Flag of Argentina Flag of South Africa 1928-1994 Flag of Spain 1945 1977 Flag of Monaco Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Austria Flag of Italy Flag of Canada Flag of the United States 15 6th
Ret 9th Ret NC 2nd 4th Ret 10th 9th Ret Ret 2nd
1973 Flag of Argentina Flag of Brazil (1968–1992) Flag of South Africa 1928-1994 Flag of Spain 1945 1977 Flag of Belgium Flag of Monaco Flag of Sweden Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of the Netherlands Flag of Germany Flag of Austria Flag of Italy Flag of Canada Flag of the United States 47 4th
2nd 10th NC 2nd 2nd 4th 3rd 2nd 5th 2nd 2nd Ret 5th Ret DNS
Key
Symbol Meaning Symbol Meaning
1st Winner Ret Retired
2nd Podium finish DSQ Disqualified
3rd DNQ Did not qualify
5th Points finish DNPQ Did not pre-qualify
14th Non-points finish TD Test driver
Italics Scored point(s) for Fastest Lap DNS Did not start
18th Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) NC Non-classified finish (<90% race distance)
4thP Qualified for pole position [+] More Symbols

External links[]


V T E F1 drivers killed while racing
1952: Cameron Earl
1953: Chet Miller
1954: Onofre Marimón
1955: Manny Ayulo
1955: Bill Vukovich
1957: Eugenio Castellotti
1957: Keith Andrews
1958: Pat O'Connor
1958: Luigi Musso
1958: Peter Collins
1958: Stuart Lewis-Evans
1959: Jerry Unser
1959: Bob Cortner
1960: Chris Bristow
1960: Alan Stacey
1961: Giulio Cabianca
1961: Wolfgang von Trips
1964: Carel Godin de Beaufort
1966: John Taylor
1967: Lorenzo Bandini
1967: Bob Anderson
1968: Jo Schlesser
1969: Gerhard Mitter
1970: Bruce McLaren
1970: Piers Courage
1970: Jochen Rindt
1971: Ignazio Giunti
1971: Pedro Rodríguez
1971: Jo Siffert
1972: Jo Bonnier
1973: Roger Williamson
1973: François Cevert
1974: Peter Revson
1974: Helmuth Koinigg
1975: Mark Donohue
1977: Tom Pryce
1978: Ronnie Peterson
1980: Patrick Depailler
1982: Gilles Villeneuve
1982: Riccardo Paletti
1986: Elio de Angelis
1994: Roland Ratzenberger
1994: Ayrton Senna
2015: Jules Bianchi
See also: List of fatal accidents
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