Clay Regazzoni

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Gianclaudio Giuseppe "Clay" Regazzoni (born 5th September, 1939 in Mendrisio, Switzerland, died 15th December, 2006 in Fontevivo, Italy) was a Swiss racing driver known for his appearances in Formula One. Throughout his career he was known for his hard charging driving style - which earned him great respect amongst his peers.

Formula One

1976-1977: Williams

By 1976, Regazzoni was out of a drive in Formula One - having to wait until the fifth round of the season, where he'd replace Patrick Nève at Wolf-Williams after an underwhelming start to the season. Williams' belief in Regazzoni paid off very quickly, taking a third place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix. Unfortunately, points finishes were few and far between after this podium and he'd finish the season in 13th overall.

1977 came around and Regazzoni was still at Williams and in a much better position than before. Being joined by talented Australian Alan Jones and campaigning an upgraded FW05B, he was able to easily score points throughout the season - his best result being a second place at the Dutch Grand Prix.

1978-: McLaren

The retirement of Carlos Reutemann at the end of 1977 saw an opening at Marlboro Team McLaren become available - and as such Regazzoni signed for the Woking team for the upcoming season. Joined by Tom Sneva in his third season with the team, Regazzoni and McLaren had begun to lose some of their usual prowess - with the M23B chassis now getting long in the tooth.

Regazzoni was able to salvage a handful of points from the season - finishing the year in 14th place.

Regazzoni's lacklustre season saw him frozen out of the team ahead of 1979 in favour of Jacky Ickx - although he'd later return to the team at the Austrian Grand Prix following an injury to Ickx. He'd score three podiums in the final four races along with a win in the non-championship Gunnar Nilsson Memorial Trophy which would be enough to convince McLaren to take him on again in 1980.

Fortunes began to look up in 1981 - as a switch to Renault power saw Regazzoni get pole in the season-opening Argentine Grand Prix.

Complete Formula 1 Results

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Points WDC
1976 Wolf-Williams Racing Williams FW05 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG RSA USW ESP BEL
Ret
MON
3
SOV
Ret
FRA
5
GBR
4
GER
7
AUT
Ret
NED
Ret
ITA
Ret
CAN
Ret
USA
Ret
JPN
7
9 13th
1977 Williams Racing Williams FW05B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG
5
RSA
6
USW
3
ESP
6
BEL
8
MON
6
FRA
Ret
TUS
10†
SOV
Ret
GBR
Ret
NED
2
GER
4
AUT
11
ITA
Ret
CAN
8
USA
3
JPN
7
22 8th
1978 Marlboro Team McLaren McLaren M23C Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG
6
RSA
5
USW
Ret
ESP
18†
BEL
12
MON
12
SUI
6
TUS
16
GBR
Ret
FRA
8
NED
11
GER
13
AUT
10
ITA
Ret
CAN
Ret
USA
7
4 14th
1979 Marlboro Team McLaren McLaren M28 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA USW ESP BEL MON EUR SMR FRA GBR GER AUT
3
NED
C
ITA
3
CAN
2
USA
6
15 8th
1980 Marlboro Team McLaren McLaren M28B Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG
4
BRA
Ret
USW
Ret
ESP
9
BEL
Ret
MON
5
MEX
4†
SMR
Ret
FRA
6
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
AUT
Ret
10 10th
McLaren M28C Nissan VRT30 3.0 V12 ITA
6
CAN
Ret
CPL
7
DUB
9
1981 Marlboro McLaren International McLaren MP4/1 Renault-Gordini EF1 1.5 V6t ARG
Ret
RSA
2
BRA
1
USW
1
ESP
Ret
BEL
1
MON
Ret
SMR
1
MEX
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
1
GER
Ret
AUT
3
SUI
6
ITA
1
CAN
Ret
CPL 65 1st