Joseph Vonlanthen (born 31 May 1942) is a former Swiss racing driver. He participated in the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix with Frank Williams Racing Cars. He also raced in the non-championship Swiss Grand Prix a week later. He scored no championship points.
Vonlanthen began his racing career in Formula Vee before advancing to Formula 3 and later Formula 2. In his first season of the European Formula Two championship in 1973 as a privateer, he scored a 3rd place podium at the season finale. He continued in Formula Two the following year, still as a privateer.
In 1975, his Formula Two season started strong with a 2nd place finish at the season opener at the Autódromo do Estoril in Portugal.
That year, Frank Williams' team began to run into financial trouble. One of their drivers Arturo Merzario left the team after the 1975 Belgian Grand Prix, leaving the team to give random drivers opportunities in the team's second car.
Vonlanthen was given the chance to race the second Williams car at the Austrian Grand Prix that year. It was a race weekend marred by serious accidents, including a fatal practice accident involving Mark Donohue. Although Vonlanthen did not originally qualify for the race, he was allowed to take part in the race after Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior crashing practice, breaking two bones. Vonlanthen lined up last on the grid, completing 14 laps before retiring due to an engine failure.
The following week, the team entered him in the non-championship Swiss Grand Prix, where he finished in 14th position, although he failed to complete enough of the race distance to officially be classified in the results. He made no further appearances with the team.
He returned to the European Formula Two championship the following year, but only participated in four of the races throughout that season. He retired from motorsport at the end of the year.
Formula One Statistical Overview[]
Formula One Record[]
| Year | Entrant | Team | WDC Points | WDC Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 |  Frank Williams Racing Cars
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Williams-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC |
Career Statistics[]
| Entries | 1 |
| Starts | 1 |
| Pole Positions | 0 |
| Race Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Fastest Laps | 0 |
| Points | 0 |
| Laps Raced | 14 |
| Distance Raced | 83 km (52 mi) |
Career Results[]
| Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Pts | Pos | |||||||||
| 1975 | 
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0 | NC | |||||||||
[1] |
Ret [2] |
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| 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[]
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