 | |
| Drivers | 32 |
|---|---|
| Grands Prix | 426 |
| Entries | 502 |
| Starts | 445 |
| Best season finish | 2nd (1974) |
| Wins | 7 |
| Podiums | 36 |
| Pole positions | 7 |
| Fastest laps | 20 |
| Points | 348 |
| First entry | 1950 British Grand Prix |
| First win | 1968 British Grand Prix |
| Latest win | 1979 British Grand Prix |
| Latest entry | 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| 2024 drivers | None |
As of 2024 [update] , there have been 32 drivers from Switzerland who have entered Formula One World Championship Grands Prix motor races, with 23 of them having started a race. [1] [2]
Switzerland's first Formula One driver was Emmanuel 'Toulo' de Graffenried who participated in 23 Grands Prix making his debut at the first Formula One Championship Grand Prix. [2] His career spanned the first 7 seasons of Formula One. [3] He managed to score points in 4 races with a best result of 4th in the 1953 Belgian Grand Prix. [3]
Toni Branca made his debut in his home Grand Prix of 1950, finishing 11th. [4] He also competed in the 1950 Belgian Grand Prix and the 1951 German Grand Prix, finishing 10th in the former and retiring with engine failure in the latter. [4] [5]
Rudi Fischer was the first Swiss driver to reach the podium in Formula One. [6] Despite only starting 7 Grands Prix he made the podium twice; with 2nd in Switzerland and 3rd in Germany, both in 1952. [7] Those were his only points finishes. [8]
Switzerland's next driver was Peter Hirt . [2] He entered five races in the early 1950s, culminating in three retirements, a 7th place and an 11th-place finish. [9]
Rudolf Schoeller participated in one race; the 1952 German Grand Prix, he retired on lap three with suspension issues. [10]
Max de Terra entered his home Grands Prix of 1952 and 1953, he retired from the former and finished 8th in the latter. [11]
Albert Scherrer also only entered one race, the 1953 Swiss Grand Prix, he finished 16 laps down and unclassified in his customer HWM. [12] [13]
A lawyer by trade, Ottorino Volonterio entered three Grands Prix between 1954 and 1957. [14] [15] His best result was 11th in the 1957 Italian Grand Prix, a drive he shared with Frenchman André Simon. [15] [16]
Michael May started two races in the 1961 season. [17] He retired in Monaco after 42 laps with oil feeder issues and managed an 11th-place finish in France, albeit four laps down. [18] [19]
Car salesman Peter Monteverdi is credited with an entry to the 1961 German Grand Prix, however withdrew before the event. [20] He later went on to purchase Onyx Grand Prix in 1990, a deal that lasted 10 races before the team collapsed. [21]
Former speedboat racer Heinz Schiller made his debut at the 1962 German Grand Prix. [22] He retired after four laps, and only went on to compete in Non-Championship races after that. [23] [24]
Heini Walter also made his sole appearance at the 1962 German Grand Prix. [25] He finished 14th and one lap down. [26]
Switzerland's first Grand Prix winner was Jo Siffert . [27] In a career spanning 10 seasons he won two races (Britain 1968 and Austria 1971) from 96 starts, with a best championship finish of 5th in 1971. [28] [29] His life was cut short following an accident at the non-championship Victory Race in October 1971. [28]
Jean-Claude Rudaz entered one race, the 1964 Italian Grand Prix. [30] [31] His engine blew up in the warm-up and as a result he failed to make the grid. [31]
Silvio Moser entered 24 races between 1966 and 1971, starting 12 times. [32] He scored points twice and only finished on three other occasions. [32] [33] Xavier Perrot entered a single race in 1969 (1969 German Grand Prix) in an F2 car.
Debuting for Ferrari in 1970, Clay Regazzoni made an instant impact in Formula One winning in Italy and finishing the year in third place. [34] [35] Switzerland's most successful racer managed 11 seasons in F1 in teams such as Ferrari, Williams and BRM, alongside drivers such as Niki Lauda and Alan Jones. [1] [35] [36] [37] He won five races and finished second in the 1974 Drivers' Championship, three points shy of Emerson Fittipaldi. [34] [35] [38]
Jo Vonlanthen 's sole Grand Prix start came at Austria 1975, but only lasted 14 laps before his engine expired. [39] [40] His entry was at Wilson Fittipaldi's expense. [41]
Loris Kessel competed in six races in 1976 and 1977. [42] He failed to qualify for half and was only a classified finisher in one: the 1976 Belgian Grand Prix. [42] He later ran a privateer GT3 team. [43]
Marc Surer 's debut was somewhat troubled. After completing the final three races of 1979 for Ensign (only making the grid once), he'd entered just two in 1980 before breaking his legs at Kyalami. [44] Following his recovery, he began a career as one of Formula One's perennial midfielders. He scored points in 11 of the 82 races he started including a best of fourth in the 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix (incl. fastest lap) and 1985 Italian Grand Prix. [44] [45] [46]
Franco Forini entered three races in 1987 for Osella, he retired from the first two and failed to qualify for the third. [47]
Gregor Foitek entered his first Grand Prix in 1989 for EuroBrun. [48] He failed to qualify for any of the 11 races he entered with the team, so he switched to Rial Racing – and quit after suffering a high-speed crash. [48] [49] He drove for Brabham in the first races of 1990 with whom he made his debut, but following two DNFs he moved to Onyx, making the finish for the first time with 7th in Monaco before the team collapsed six races later. [48]
Fondmetal entered Andrea Chiesa for the first ten races of 1992. [50] He only made the grid three times and retired from all three races. [50] He was replaced with Eric van de Poele. [51]
Jean-Denis Délétraz entered the final race of the 1994 season for the cash-strapped Larrousse team. [52] He started 26th and retired from the race after 57 laps having been lapped ten times. [53] He was later signed by Pacific for two races during their 1995 campaign, retiring in Portugal and finishing 15th, seven laps down and unclassified, at the Nürburgring. [52] [54]
Sébastien Buemi made all 55 of his starts with Scuderia Toro Rosso as a Red Bull junior driver. [55] [56] Another strong midfield contender, he finished in a best position of 7th in both his debut race and the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix. [55]
There were 4 more drivers who were entered into but did not start a race: Herbert Müller , [57] Peter Stæchelin , [58] Francis Rochat , [59] Alfred Dattner . [60]
There were also 3 drivers who participated in Friday practice only: Neel Jani , Giorgio Mondini , Fabio Leimer .
Bengt Ronnie Peterson was a Swedish racing driver. Known by the nickname 'SuperSwede', he was a two-time runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
The 1970 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza on September 6, 1970. It was race 10 of 13 in both the 1970 World Championship of Drivers and the 1970 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was marred by the death of Jochen Rindt, who died during the practice session on September 5. Rindt himself went on to become Formula One's only posthumous World Champion to date. The 68-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Clay Regazzoni for his first Grand Prix victory after starting from third position. Jackie Stewart finished second for the Tyrrell team in one of the last races the team used the March chassis and Matra driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise came in third.
The 1970 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 4, 1970 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was race 12 of 13 in both the 1970 World Championship of Drivers and the 1970 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.
The 1971 South African Grand Prix, formally the Fifth AA Grand Prix of South Africa, was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on 6 March 1971. It was race 1 of 11 in both the 1971 World Championship of Drivers and the 1971 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was won by Mario Andretti who was driving for the Ferrari team in what was his first Formula One victory, but would not win another Formula One race until 1976.
The 1971 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit Paul Ricard on 4 July 1971. It was race 5 of 11 in both the 1971 World Championship of Drivers and the 1971 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 55-lap race was won by Tyrrell driver Jackie Stewart after he started from pole position. His teammate François Cevert finished second and Lotus driver Emerson Fittipaldi came in third.
The 1971 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 17 July 1971. It was race 6 of 11 in both the 1971 World Championship of Drivers and the 1971 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 68-lap race was won by Tyrrell driver Jackie Stewart after he started from second position. Ronnie Peterson finished second for the March team and Lotus driver Emerson Fittipaldi came in third.
The 1971 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on 1 August 1971. It was race 7 of 11 in both the 1971 World Championship of Drivers and the 1971 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.
The 1971 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Österreichring on 15 August 1971. It was race 8 of 11 in both the 1971 World Championship of Drivers and the 1971 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 54-lap race was won by BRM driver Jo Siffert after he started from pole position. Emerson Fittipaldi finished second for the Lotus team and Brabham driver Tim Schenken came in third. This was the debut race of the future world champion Niki Lauda.
The 1971 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 5 September 1971. It was race 9 of 11 in both the 1971 World Championship of Drivers and the 1971 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.
The 1971 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 3, 1971, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was race 11 of 11 in both the 1971 World Championship of Drivers and the 1971 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 59-lap race was won by Tyrrell driver François Cevert after he started from fifth position. Jo Siffert finished second for the BRM team and March driver Ronnie Peterson came in third.
The 1975 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Scandinavian Raceway at Anderstorp on 8 June 1975. It was race 7 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the sixth Swedish Grand Prix after it was first held as the Swedish Summer Grand Prix in 1933, and the third to be held at Scandinavian Raceway. It was held over 80 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 322 kilometres.
The 1976 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Fuji Speedway on 24 October 1976. It was the 16th and final race of the 1976 Formula One World Championship
The 1979 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 14 July 1979. It was the ninth race of the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors.
The 1979 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 9 September 1979 at Monza. It was the thirteenth race of the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors.
The 1974 Formula One season was the 28th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1974 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, contested concurrently over a fifteen-race series which commenced on 13 January and ended on 6 October. The season also included three non-championship races.
The 1972 Formula One season was the 26th season of the FIA's Formula One motor racing. It featured the 23rd World Championship of Drivers, the 15th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and numerous non-championship Formula One races. The World Championship season commenced on 23 January and ended on 8 October after twelve races.
The 1971 Formula One season was the 25th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's Formula One motor racing. It featured the 22nd World Championship of Drivers, the 14th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and a number of non-championship races open to Formula One cars. The World Championship was contested over eleven races between 6 March and 3 October.
Gianclaudio Giuseppe "Clay" Regazzoni was a Swiss racing driver. He competed in Formula One races from 1970 to 1980, winning five Grands Prix. His first win was the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in his debut season, driving for Ferrari. He remained with the Italian team until 1972. After a single season with BRM, Regazzoni returned to Ferrari for a further three years, 1974 to 1976. After finally leaving Ferrari at the end of 1976, Regazzoni joined the Ensign and Shadow teams, before moving to Williams in 1979, where he took the British team's first ever Grand Prix victory, the 1979 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Joseph Siffert was a Swiss racing driver.
The BRM P160 was a Formula One racing car designed by Tony Southgate for the British Racing Motors team, which raced in the 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974 Formula One seasons. It was powered by a 3.0-litre V12 engine.