Jacques-Henri Laffite (born November 21, 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula 1 from 1974 to 1986.
Born in Paris, Laffite started in Formula 1 in 1974 for Frank Williams' Iso Marlboro team. The following year he raced for the same team, now named Williams, reaching a 2nd place in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.
In 1976 Laffite moved to the French Ligier team, scoring 20 points and a pole position at the Italian Grand Prix. The next two seasons were transitional, although he managed to win his first Grand Prix at Anderstorp in the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix.
The 1979 season started with Laffite winning the first two races. He fought for the World Championship title until the last races, but he finally only reached the 4th place, with 36 points. The following two seasons were similar, with two more 4th places in the Championship and a further 3 victories. In 1982, however, Laffite finished only 17th in the final classification, with only 5 points scored.
Results in the next two seasons were not much better, when he moved back to England, again to race for Williams (11th and 5 points, respectively). Now in his forties, Laffite went back to Ligier in 1985: in that season he was on the podium three times (Great Britain, Germany and Australia), for a total of 16 points. In 1986 he scored 14 points with three results in the first three races, but he broke both legs in a crash during the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, and therefore retired from Formula 1.
Laffite recovered from his injuries and later raced in touring cars. He is now a TV commentator.
Jacques Laffite was one of the three people (along with Jacky Ickx and Johnny Servoz-Gavin) believed most likely to be the unidentified driver in director Claude Lelouch's classic 1976 short film C'était un rendez-vous. It has since emerged that the driver was in fact Lelouch himself.
Victories
- 1977: Sweden
- 1979: Argentina, Brazil
- 1980: Germany
- 1981: Austria, Canadian
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