Alan Jones, the 1980 champion who gave Williams its first drivers’ title, dies aged 80

Alan Jones, the Australian who secured Williams its first Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship in 1980, died on Thursday, three days after his 80th birthday.

His road to that title was anything but smooth. Jones began racing in Australia as a teenager, but a recession hit his father Stan’s motor business and kept him away from racing for several years. In 1967 he went to England with fellow racer Brian Maguire; when they returned, Jones had just £75. The pair traded vans before he resumed racing, and in 1975 he made his Formula 1 debut with Hesketh at the Spanish Grand Prix.

After Tom Pryce was killed at the 1977 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami, Shadow co-owner Jackie Oliver offered Jones a drive. Jones won the wet Austrian Grand Prix later that year, Shadow’s only major Grand Prix success, and the victory set him on course for the next step in his career. Frank Williams restarted his team at the end of 1977 and brought designer Patrick Head with him; Jones became their driver. The fit was natural: Williams and Head were hard-headed men, while Jones brought a similarly tough, self-reliant character.

Jones came close at the 1978 United States Grand Prix West, where a front wing broke. Head’s ground-effect FW07 arrived in 1979. Clay Regazzoni scored Williams’ first win at Silverstone, and Jones followed with victories in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Canada, finishing third overall.

In 1980, Jones won in Argentina, France, Britain, Canada and the US GP East. Those five victories secured the Drivers’ Championship for him, while Williams also won the Constructors’ title after a hard fight with Nelson Piquet and Brabham.

Jones retired from Formula 1 at the end of 1981, returned briefly with Arrows in 1983 and raced with Team Haas in 1985 and 1986 before retiring from F1 for good. Away from the championship, he competed in Australian V8 touring cars and worked as a Channel 9 commentator; he retired from racing in 2002.

His wife, Amanda Bulker-Davis, said in a statement issued by Motorsport Australia that Jones had devoted his life to motorsport and left a lasting mark on the sport in Australia and around the world.