99. Jean-Pierre Jarier

99. Jean-Pierre Jarier (1971, 1973-1983): 134 Race Starts, 0 Race Wins, 41.8 Points

Jean-Pierre Jarier is one of ten drivers who never won a Grand Prix to have made this list, and while there is argument to say that he was one of the best victory-virgins to have raced in F1, Jarier’s time in the sport was not without controversy.

Jean-Pierre originally began racing motorbikes, but after concerns from his mother moved into Formula France. He started to impress and climb his way up the motoring tree, from French Formula Three to Formula Two. It was during his first F2 season driving for the Shell Arnold Team that Jarier got his F1 debut, as they decided to rent a March engine and enter the Italian Grand Prix of 1971.

Things started to look bleak after this early high though. Money ran short in 1972 and the team was only able to enter a small amount of races, dropping out altogether halfway through the year. Jarier continued to look fast when he was given the chance to compete, which was fortunately noted by March-BMW, who signed him for their 1973 F2 campaign.

Jarier capitalised on this new opportunity, scoring eight race victories in F2 and finishing 1^st in the Championship. March were also able to offer Jarier a frequent F1 seat during the season, although his first classified race finish didn’t actually happen until the final Grand Prix of the season in the USA, where he came 11^th.

Jarier decided to concentrate his career on F1 for 1974, moving to Shadow alongside Peter Revson. This got off to a bad start when Jarier collided with Revson during the first race of the season. His partnership with Revson would only last two races as the American was killed during practice at the South African Grand Prix. This meant Jarier became team leader, and he stepped up with some solid results that included a podium in Monaco and a fifth in Sweden.

1975 got off to a flying start for Jarier, as he took pole position for the season’s opener in Argentina. However, mechanical problems hit him during the warm-up lap and the Frenchman was unable to even begin the Grand Prix. Undeterred, he then went and scored another pole position in the next race at Interlagos. This time he did get off the starting line and was leading the race for a long time. However, on lap 32 of 40, the car suffered more mechanical mishaps, and Jarier was left to curse his rotten luck.

The car was a mechanical travesty for the rest of the season. In 1976 the Shadow showed a great deal more reliability, but ultimately it simply wasn’t fast enough to achieve any race results and Jarier scored no points during that season. With his career stumbling to another halt, Jarier looked to compensate by journeying all over the place for the remainder of his racing days. He joined a new team called ATS in 1977, scoring a point for them on their debut GP. Despite this, the car was once again not up to scratch and Jarier found himself drifting, competing in Le Mans 24 hours and entering a few sports car races.

Jarier’s time in F1 looked to have come to a shuddering halt in 1978. A mid-season argument with ATS team principal Gunther Schmidt (described by Jarier as “the craziest man I ever met in racing) led to the Frenchman being fired, and his career in the sport seemed to be over. In a tragic twist of fate, however, Ronnie Peterson was killed in the Italian Grand Prix, and the spare Lotus seat was given to Jarier for the final two races of the season. He scored a Pole Position in the latter of those Grands Prix, Canada, and was leading the race by twenty seconds with an eye on his first race win.

It simply wasn’t to be. Jarier’s Lotus began to lose oil pressure and the car came to a stop on the 38^th lap. It was defeat snatched from the jaws of victory once again.

Jarier’s short time in Chapman’s Lotus team was not enough to convince the legendary boss to sign him, but it did give Tyrrell enough encouragement to snap him up for a couple of years. Jarier scored solid points for the two years he spent at the team, with a brace of podiums to add to his collection. He then stood in for the injured Jabouille in the Ligier team for the start of 1981, before moving to the uncompetitive Osella outfit that would carry him through to the end of 1982.

Indeed, it did seem that Jarier’s career had petered out after his time at Tyrrell. A final season at Ligier in 1983 was enough to convince everyone that Jarier was finished. Spending the year as a backmarker, the Frenchman left his peers incensed with poor behaviour and blocking whilst being lapped. Famously during the Austrian Grand Prix, Jarier backed up race leader Patrick Tambay, allowing Rene Arnoux and Nelson Piquet to go past him. This led to a quite furious rant from BBC commentator James Hunt:

“Jarier really is completely out of order, he really shouldn't be allowed to drive in Grand Prix racing. He's got a mental age of 10 in the first place, and that was an absolutely disgraceful bit of driving for a driver of his experience...the authorities have to crack down on driving like that...he should certainly receive a short suspension, and for being himself, he should receive a permanent suspension”

Jarier’s F1 career was finished. He became a stuntman, at one point doubling for Robert De Niro (True story).

More info on Jean-Pierre Jarier's career

100. Gunnar Nilsson

It’s not easy making a list of the best drivers in Formula One. An aspect of all the greats can be called into question, and priorities can be difficult to sort. How does Ayrton Senna’s occasional poor sportsmanship affect his greatness? Should Stirling Moss be considered less for the fact that he never won a title? Is Schumacher really a worthy contender given the dominance of the Ferrari during his career? It’s a near impossible task.

One thing that cannot be doubted, however, is the statistical records and achievements of these drivers. Though this is not at all a way to sort the drivers from best to worst, it does provide an interesting list of those who achieved the most during their F1 careers. With this in mind, I’ve chosen to cast aside all subjectivity and knock up a list that is based purely on the race results and honours of every driver to have started a Formula One race.

What I came up with is a ranking system that I think fairly depicts the relative accomplishments each driver has fulfilled. The main difficulty is allowing the drivers from an earlier era to be up there with those from the modern day, given the enormous difference between the amount of races the two had within a season. I’ve added an element to temper that somewhat, but it is only right to admit that this list will give those drivers with fairly long careers and extra kick.

Nevertheless, it’s the stories behind these 100 drivers that I hope will make this an interesting feature (for myself included – as I write this I am only two drivers in, and already finding interesting tales behind drivers I’d not known of before). With this in mind, let’s kick off with Numbers 100.

Boring ranking information: Drivers Championship - 120 points, Race Win - 18 points, Second - 7 points, Third - 5 points, Fourth - 2.5 points, Fifth - 2 points, Sixth - 1.5 points, Seventh - 1 point, Eighth - 0.5 points, Pole Position - 2 points, Fastest Lap - 1 point, Race Starts - -0.1 points

100. Gunnar Nilsson (1976-1977): 31 Race Starts, 1 Race Win, 41.4 Points

We begin the list with a talent that may well have gone further had tragic circumstances not befallen him. Gunnar Nilsson grew up in Sweden and began racing at the age of twenty. After several years of competing at national levels, Nilsson moved to Great Britain where he entered Formula Super Vee, before transferring to Formula 3 with the March team.

Nilsson established himself as an individual with bundles of potential by winning the 1975 F3 series. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, as an agreed driver swap between Lotus and March saw Ronnie Peterson move to the March team, with Nilsson now free to take the vacated Lotus seat.

Alongside Mario Andretti, Nilsson worked hard to pull around a car that was beset by mechanical problems. Many retirements meant that Nilsson could only finish six races in the 1976 season, scoring a podium on two occasions. Things improved in 1977, in which Nilsson was able to finish 8^th in the Championship and take his only race victory at a wet Belgian Grand Prix. After losing positions during the pitstop phase, Nilsson kept his cool on track while others spun off, and was able to catch and pass Niki Lauda’s Ferrari to take a hard-fought win.

Sadly, 1977 was to be Nilsson’s last season in F1. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer towards the end of the year, and though Lotus kept his seat open to him, Nilsson’s condition was too severe for him to continue racing. He died on October 20^th 1978, having made plans to create the Gunnar Nilsson Cancer Foundation. The charity was then created and fronted by his Mother.


The Gunnar Nilsson Cancer Foundation