(born '''Gianclaudio Regazzoni''',
September 5 ,
1939 in
Lugano ,
Switzerland ) was a
Swiss Formula One Racing Car Driver .
Having been raised in Switzerland's predominantly Italian-speaking area bordering
Italy , he was effectively considered to be an Italian by Italians, which was a point of great pride during his years with
Ferrari in the mid-1970s. However, he holds a Swiss passport and also the official Formula One records register Regazzoni as being Swiss. Regazzoni's first victory came during his first season in Formula 1, when he won the Italian Grand Prix at
Monza . Although he only competed in eight of the 13 races that year, he finished third in the championship, behind team-mate
Jacky Ickx and the late
Jochen Rindt , who posthumously won the world championship that year.
After a couple of seasons at Ferrari Regazzoni moved to
BRM , where he teamed-up with
Jean Pierre Beltoise and
Niki Lauda . In 1974 Ferrari decided to call Regazzoni back. He promptly agreed and suggested to
Enzo Ferrari to bring Niki Lauda along. Regazzoni and Lauda, together with team manager
Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo and technical director
Mauro Forghieri , formed a very successful partnership that generated 15 wins, two constructors titles, and one drivers championship (Lauda in 1975).
Regazzoni's best season was 1974, when he lost the championship to
Emerson Fittipaldi by only three points. In the second part of the 1970s Regazzoni participated in the
Indianapolis 500 Miles with
McLaren and drove for mid-field Formula One teams like
Ensign and
Shadow , until
Sir Frank Williams offered him a competitive seat again in one of his cars in 1979. Regazzoni paid him back by giving the team its maiden win at
Silverstone , but he was replaced by
Carlos Reutemann at the end of the season.
In
1980 he crashed during the
United States Grand Prix West, held at
Long Beach , when his brakes failed at the end of a long high-speed straight. His car crashed at unabated speed into a previously retired car that was parked in an escape road past a corner. The crash left Regazzoni paralyzed from the waist down and since then he's been very active in helping disable people getting equal opportunities.
A moving account of his life can be found in his autobiography "E' questione di cuore" ("It's a matter of heart") published in the mid-80s. Currently
Regazzoni shares his time between
Monaco and
Lugano , and he occasionally does commentaries for Swiss and Italian TV channels.
