Alan Jones, Williams’ first F1 drivers’ champion, dies aged 80

Alan Jones, the Australian who won the 1980 Formula 1 drivers’ championship with Williams, has died aged 80. Formula 1 and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest confirmed his death on 5 November, with tributes recognising both his championship success and his wider contribution to motor racing.

Jones gave Williams its first drivers’ title. In its statement reproduced by Formula 1, the team recalled his partnership with Frank Williams and Patrick Head and the competitive standard he established. F1 president Stefano Domenicali also paid tribute to his achievements and offered condolences to his family.

A career beyond one title

Jones made his F1 debut in 1975 and won his first Grand Prix with Shadow in Austria in 1977. Eleven of his 12 F1 victories subsequently came with Williams. His 1980 championship made him Australia’s second world champion after Jack Brabham, a milestone that remains central to his sporting legacy.

His career also extended to endurance racing. The ACO recalled his sixth-place finish at Le Mans in 1984, sharing a Kremer Porsche 956 with Vern Schuppan and Jean-Pierre Jarier. He returned in 1987 with Toyota, although that entry retired early. These appearances form another part of a career remembered across several racing disciplines.

Tributes from the racing community

Speedcafe’s Ben Waterworth reported the family statement and tributes from Australian motorsport figures. His report described messages from Mark Webber, Motorsport Australia and the Australian Grand Prix organisation, reflecting Jones’s influence beyond the team with which he won the world championship.

The accompanying photograph is an archival portrait from practice for the 1980 Dutch Grand Prix, taken on 29 August that year. It illustrates the championship period of Jones’s career; it is not a photograph from today’s tributes.