(born in
Clermont-Ferrand ,
9 August 1944 - died
1 August 1980 ) was a
Formula One driver from
France . He participated in 95 grands prix, debuting on
July 2 ,
1972 .
As a child, he was inspired by
Jean Behra . Talented and charismatic, Depailler never quite drove the kind of machinery his talent deserved, joining a Tyrrell team that was beginning a long, slow decline, eventually moving to the erratic
Ligier team before finally ending up with the revivied
Alfa Romeo squad in 1980. It was for this final team, which Depailler was helping to advance up the grid, for which he was driving at a private test session at
Hockenheim on August 1st, 1980, when a suspension failure pitched his car into the armco at the high-speed Ostkurve, inflicting fatal head injuries when the vehicle overturned and vaulted the barrier.
He won 2 races, secured 1
Pole Position s, achieved 19 podiums, and scored a total of 141 championship points.
(Note: grands prix in denote race '''victories'''.)
