Jody David Scheckter (born January 29, 1950 in East London, South Africa) is a former racing driver who raced in Formula One, winning the World Championship with Ferrari in 1979.
Formula One Career[]
After moving to Britain in 1970, Scheckter quickly progressed up to F1, making his début with McLaren in the final race of the 1972 season, in which he finished ninth. He continued to drive for McLaren, albeit sparingly and without any success, in 1973.
In 1974, Scheckter was given his first full-time drive, with the Tyrrell team. After a slow start, Scheckter scored points in eight consectutive races, including two wins. With one more podium to come, Scheckter came an impressive third.
1975 was a season of ups and downs. Scheckter notched up many non-pointscoring finishes, but despite this, he managed to win a race and score two other podiums.
After a decent start to 1976, Tyrrell introduced one of F1's most iconic cars, the six wheeled P34. The car was quick and reliable, and Scheckter constantly scored points, mostly second places, and even headed a Tyrrell one-two at the Swedish Grand Prix. Scheckter came third in the championship for the second time in three years.
For 1977, Scheckter moved to the new Wolf team, which was the surpise package of the season. Scheckter was the team's only driver, and amazingly, he won the the first race of the season. Scheckter continued to finish races on the podium, and finished the season as runner-up to Niki Lauda despite Scheckter's three wins.
Unfortuanately, Wolf's 1978 car was not as good as the 1977 one, and Scheckter had a winless year, although he managed to finish on the podium four times.
Scheckter moved to Ferrari in 1979, with instant success. The car was always near the front, and very reliable. Scheckter scored three wins, like his team mate Gilles Villeneuve, and with three second places and many points finishes, Scheckter took the title by four points over his team mate.
Despite upgrading the 1979 car, the Ferrari driven by both Scheckter and Villeneuve in 1980 was awful, the team coming in tenth place in the championship. Scheckter's season was the worse of the two, only scoring two points at the United States Grand Prix West, and even failing to qualify at the penultimate race. Scheckter retired at the end of the season.
After Formula One[]
In 1981, Scheckter won the World Superstars Championships, defeating many top-class athletes.
He later set up a business which made products used for firearms training.
Scheckter currently runs an organic farm.
Formula One Statistical Overview[]
Formula One Record[]
Year | Entrant | Team | WDC Points | WDC Pos. | Report |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1972 | Yardley Team McLaren | McLaren-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
1973 | Yardley Team McLaren | McLaren-Ford Cosworth | 0 | NC | Report |
1974 | Elf Team Tyrrell | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 45 | 3rd | Report |
1975 | Elf Team Tyrrell | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 20 | 7th | Report |
1976 | Elf Team Tyrrell | Tyrrell-Ford Cosworth | 49 | 3rd | Report |
1977 | Walter Wolf Racing | Wolf-Ford Cosworth | 55 | 2nd | Report |
1978 | Walter Wolf Racing | Wolf-Ford Cosworth | 24 | 7th | Report |
1979 | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | 51 (60) | 1st | Report |
1980 | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | 2 | 19th | Report |
Career Statistics[]
Entries | 114 |
Starts | 110 |
Pole Positions | 3 |
Front Row Starts | 13 |
Race Wins | 10 |
Podiums | 33 |
Fastest Laps | 5 |
Points | 255 |
Laps Raced | 6035 |
Distance Raced | 28,101 km (17,461 mi) |
Races Led | 23 |
Laps Led | 675 |
Distance Led | 2,855 km (1,774 mi) |
Doubles | 2 |
Race Wins[]
Career Results[]
Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pts | Pos | ||||||
1972 | 0 | NC | |||||||||||||||||||||||
9th | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
1973 | 0 | NC | |||||||||||||||||||||||
9th | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | |||||||||||||||||||||
1974 | 45 | 3rd | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Ret | 13th | 8th | 5th | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 5th | 4th | 1st | 2nd | Ret | 3rd | Ret | Ret | |||||||||||
1975 | 20 | 7th | |||||||||||||||||||||||
11th | Ret | 1st | Ret [1] |
7th | 2nd | 7th | 16th | 9th | 3rd | Ret | 8th [2] |
8th | 6th | ||||||||||||
1976 | 49 | 3rd | |||||||||||||||||||||||
5th | 4th | Ret | Ret | 4th | 2nd | 1st | 6th | 2nd | 2nd | Ret | 5th | 5th | 4th | 2nd | Ret | ||||||||||
1977 | 55 | 2nd | |||||||||||||||||||||||
1st | Ret | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 1st | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 2nd | Ret | 3rd | Ret | 3rd | 1st | 10th | |||||||||
1978 | 24 | 7th | |||||||||||||||||||||||
10th | Ret | Ret | Ret | 3rd | Ret | 4th | Ret | 6th | Ret | 2nd | Ret | 12th | 12th | 3rd | 2nd | ||||||||||
1979 | 51 (60) | 1st | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Ret | 6th | 2nd | 2nd | 4th | 1st | 1st | C | 7th | 5th | 4th | 4th | 2nd | 1st | 4th | Ret | ||||||||||
1980 | 2 | 19th | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Ret | Ret | Ret | 5th | 8th | Ret | 12th | 10th | 13th | 13th | 9th | 8th | DNQ | 11th |
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[]
External links[]
V T E | Grand Prix Drivers' Association | |
---|---|---|
Chairman Moss • Bonnier • Stewart • Scheckter • Pironi • Senna • M. Schumacher • Coulthard • R. Schumacher • De la Rosa • Heidfeld • Barrichello • Wurz | ||
Directors M. Schumacher • Berger • Brundle • D. Hill • Coulthard • Wurz • Trulli • Webber • R. Schumacher • Alonso • De la Rosa • Heidfeld • Massa • Vettel • Barrichello • Button • Grosjean | ||
Affected races 1969 Belgian Grand Prix • 1970 German Grand Prix • 1982 South African Grand Prix • 1994 San Marino Grand Prix | ||
Related Professional Racing Drivers Assocation |
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