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First French Car/Driver to win a modern F1 Race

Started by MarkWill , Oct 11 2002 00:40

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6 replies to this topic

#1 MarkWill

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Posted 11 October 2002 - 00:40

Hi,

Can anyone identify who was the first french f1 driver in a french car to win a modern F1 race (which race and when?). Also was there a french-speaking driver/car team which won before that (Belgian, for instance)? Information needed to once more settle a pointy issue.

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#2 jmp85

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Posted 11 October 2002 - 00:54

jabouille in the renault? if you're talking about post-1950...

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#3 FEV

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Posted 11 October 2002 - 02:42

The first French driver to win a WDC F1 race in a French car ws Jacques Laffite and his Ligier at the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp. But Jabouille's win was a real 100% French one : driver-chassis-engine-tires (and a French circuit

). Previous French winners of WDC rounds were Maurice Trintignant (Monaco '55 & '58), François Cevert (US Grand Prix '71) and Jean-Pierre Beltoise (Monaco '72). Unless I am very much mistaken, the first French speaking winner of a WDC event has to be Pétoulet. First French make to score a win was Matra.
Hope this hepls.

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#4 Rob G

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Posted 11 October 2002 - 03:44

Were there any French winners of non-championship F1 races before Trintignant's first Monaco win?

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#5 MarkWill

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Posted 11 October 2002 - 05:03

Darn!! I had thought that Lafitte's Swedish victory was the first all-french affair. (tyres excluded). I keep on forgetting that all french can mean different things to different people, and of course Jabouille's win eclipses the Ligier one in that it was a complete french victory - in every sense. Didn't Ligier have the best wing car of the day (only let down by the motor)?

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#6 FEV

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Posted 11 October 2002 - 08:00

Originally posted by Rob G
Were there any French winners of non-championship F1 races before Trintignant's first Monaco win?

Quite a few, yes, and Trintignant was one of them ! In the early days of Formula I/1, races were regularly held in France (Montlhéry, Pau, Albi, Comminges, Strasbourg, Nice, Bordeaux, etc.), some with light fields to say the least. And many of these races were won by French drivers who often made most of the starting field, particularly in the late 40s. So I guess that between Raymond Sommer, Louis Rosier, Pétoulet, Yves Giraud-Cabantous, Eugène Chaboud, Pierre Levegh, Guy Mairesse, Robert Manzon and Jean Behra, we must have quite a few drivers who won F1 races before 1955...