Alan Jones, 1980 Formula 1 champion, dies aged 80

Alan Jones, the 1980 Formula 1 world champion, has died aged 80. His wife Amanda said in a statement issued to Motorsport Australia that he died on 5 November after a short illness.

Jones made his F1 debut at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix and scored his first win for Shadow at the 1977 Austrian Grand Prix. He joined Williams in 1978. He won five championship Grands Prix in 1980 on his way to the drivers’ title, becoming Williams’ first world champion. Jones added five further podiums that year, and Williams also won the constructors’ championship.

Across 116 starts, Jones won 12 grands prix, took 24 podiums, six pole positions and 13 fastest laps. He became the first Australian since Jack Brabham in 1966 to win Formula 1’s drivers’ title—and remains the last.