(born
October 1 ,
1942 ) is a former
Formula 1 racing driver from
France .
A native of
Paris , Jabouille was one of the last of a breed of
Formula One drivers who were also engineers.
He first made his mark in French
Formula Three in 1967, and continued in 1968, maintaining the car himself on his way to the runner's up spot behind
François Cevert . For 1969 he was contracted as a development driver by
Alpine , having several disjointed runs in
Formula Two and
Sports Car s. In 1973 he co-drove a
Matra to 3rd at the
Le Mans 24 Hours , and repeated this feat in 1974, when he also won the Formula Two race at Hockenheim, and finished as runner-up in the European 2-litre series for
Alpine . He also made his first appearances in
Formula One , failing to qualify a
Williams at the
French Grand Prix , and a
Surtees at the
Austrian Grand Prix .
1975 saw Jabouille sever his ties with
Alpine , and gain Elf backing to make his own
Formula Two chassis. He finished runner-up to
Jacques Laffite , but finally made his full Grand Prix debut, finishing 12th in a works
Tyrrell at the
French Grand Prix . For 1976 he concentrated on
Formula Two , finally winning the title, and for 1977 was signed up by
Renault to develop their new
Formula One 1.5l turbocharged engine. The RS01 car debuted at the
1977 British Grand Prix , but initially the turbo engine (a first for
Formula One ) was fragile and suffered from severe turbo lag, making it difficult to drive on tight circuits. However, Jabouille persevered, recording several notable qualifying positions in 1978, and landed the marque's first pointswith 4th place at the
United States East Grand Prix .
1979 saw Renault expand to run a second car for
René Arnoux , and Jabouille was generally outpaced. However, he would secure Renault's first Formula One pole at the
South African Grand Prix , and then won their first victory, fittingly at the
French Grand Prix , and from pole to boot. He took a third pole at the
Italian Grand Prix , but poor reliability meant the win was his only score.
Arnoux was very much team leader by 1980, but Jabouille took two more poles, and another win at the
Austrian Grand Prix . However, a suspension failure in the
Canadian Grand Prix left him with a broken leg, just after he had signed with
Ligier for 1981.
His injuries saw him sit out the first two races of the 1981 season, but it soon became clear he wasn't fully fit, failing to qualify for two of his four attempts, at which point he decided to retire. He would return in the mid-1980s to drive in the French Supertourisme series, before joining
Peugeot to help develop their sports car programme, culminating in a third place at the 1993 Le Mans 24 Hours. In 1994 he succeeded
Jean Todt as director of
Peugeot Sport, but unsuccessful seasons for the marque in association with
McLaren and
Jordan saw him sacked in 1995. Since then he has ran his own sports car team in the ISRS.
(Note: grands prix in denote race '''victories''' or '''poles'''.)
