Joseph "Jo" Siffert (July 7, 1936 – October 24, 1971) was a Swiss racing driver.
Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and close friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner. He initially made his name in racing on two wheels, powering his way to the Swiss 350 cc motorcycle championship in 1959, before switching to four wheels with a Formula Junior Stanguellini. Siffert graduated to Formula One as a privateer in 1962, with a four-cylinder Lotus-Climax. He later moved to Swiss team Scuderia Filipinetti, and in 1964 joined Rob Walker's private British Rob Walker Racing Team. Early successes included victories in the non-Championship 1964 and 1965 Mediterranean Grands Prix, both times beating Jim Clark by a very narrow margin. Siffert was married twice and to his second wife Simone during the height of his career in the late 1960s and at the time of his death in 1971. They had two children together, Véronique and Philippe.
His death was caused by the suspension of his BRM (Jo's car), which had been damaged in a lap one incident with Ronnie Peterson, and broke later. This was not admitted by BRM Team until much later when it was accidentally divulged by a BRM ex-mechanic. The BRM crashed and immediately caught fire. Siffert could not free himself from the burning car and died shortly after.
Formula One Statistical Overview[]
Formula One Record[]
| Year | Entrant | Team | WDC Points | WDC Pos. | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 |  Ecurie Nationale Suisse Ecurie Filipinetti
|
Lotus-Climax Lotus-BRM |
0 | NC | Report |
| 1963 | Ecurie Filipinetti
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Lotus-BRM | 1 | 14th | Report |
| Siffert Racing Team
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| 1964 | Siffert Racing Team R.R.C. Walker Racing Team
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Lotus-BRM Brabham-BRM |
7 | 10th | Report |
| 1965 | R.R.C. Walker Racing Team
|
Brabham-BRM | 5 | 12th | Report |
| 1966 | R.R.C. Walker Racing Team
|
Brabham-BRM | 3 | 14th | Report |
| Cooper-Maserati | |||||
| 1967 | Rob Walker Racing Team
|
Cooper-Maserati | 6 | 12th | Report |
 Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
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Lola-BMW* | ||||
| 1968 | Rob Walker Racing Team
|
Cooper-Maserati | 12 | 7th | Report |
| Lotus-Ford Cosworth | |||||
| 1969 | Rob Walker Racing Team
|
Lotus-Ford Cosworth | 15 | 9th | Report |
| 1970 | March Engineering
|
March-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
| 1971 | Jo Siffert Automobiles
|
March-Ford Cosworth | 19 | 5th | Report |
| Yardley Team BRM
|
BRM |
- Italic donate as non-championship entries.
- * Classified as a Formula Two entry.
Race Wins[]
| Win Number | Grand Prix |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1968 British Grand Prix |
| 2 | 1971 Austrian Grand Prix |
Career Results[]
| Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Pts | Pos | ||||||||||
| 1962 | 
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| DNQ | 10th | Ret | 12th | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1963 |
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1 | 14th | |||||||||||||
| Ret | Ret | 7th | 6th | Ret | 9th | Ret | Ret | 9th | |||||||||||||||||
| 1964 |
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7 | 10th | |||||||||||||
| 8th | 13th | Ret | Ret | 11th | 4th | Ret | 7th | 3rd | Ret | ||||||||||||||||
| 1965 |
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5 | 12th | |||||||||||||
| 7th | 6th | 8th | 6th | 9th | 13th | Ret | Ret | 11th | 4th | ||||||||||||||||
| 1966 |
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3 | 14th | ||||||||||||||
| Ret | Ret | Ret | NC | Ret | Ret | 4th | Ret | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1967 |
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6 | 12th | ||||||||||||
| Ret | Ret | 10th | 7th | 4th | Ret | Ret | DNS | Ret | 4th | 12th | |||||||||||||||
| 1968 |
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12 | 7th | |||||||||||
| 7th | Ret | Ret | 7th | Ret | 11th | 1st | Ret | Ret | Ret | 5th | 6th | ||||||||||||||
| 1969 |
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15 | 9th | ||||||||||||
| 4th | Ret | 3rd | 2nd | 9th | 8th | 11th[1] | 8th | Ret | Ret | Ret | |||||||||||||||
| 1970 |
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0 | NC | ||||||||||
| 10th | DNQ | 8th | 7th | Ret | Ret | Ret | 8th | 9th | Ret | Ret | 9th | Ret | |||||||||||||
| 1971 |
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19 | 5th | ||||||||||||
| Ret | Ret | Ret | 6th | 4th | 9th | DSQ | 1st | 9th | 9th | 2nd | |||||||||||||||
| 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 | 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 | |||
Notes[]
- ↑ Scored two points as Siffert finished behind six Formula Two drivers.