Jo Siffert

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Jo Siffert

Nationality Swiss

Formula One World Championship career
Active years	1962 - 1971
Teams	privateer Lotus and Brabham, Rob Walker Racing Team, March, BRM
Races	100 (96 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	2
Podium finishes	6
Career points	68
Pole positions	2
Fastest laps	4
First race	1962 Monaco Grand Prix
First win	1968 British Grand Prix
Last win	1971 Austrian Grand Prix
Last race	1971 United States Grand Prix

Joseph Siffert (July 7, 1936 – October 24, 1971) was a Swiss racing driver.

Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and close friends, Jo Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner. He initially made his name in racing on two wheels, powering his way to the Swiss 350cc motorcycle championship in 1959, before switching to four wheels with a Formula Junior Stanguellini. Siffert graduated to Formula 1 as a privateer in 1962, with a four-cylinder Lotus-Climax. He later moved to Swiss team Scuderia Filipinetti, and in 1964 joined Rob Walker's private British Rob Walker Racing Team. Early successes included victories in the non-Championship 1964 and 1965 Mediterranean Grands Prix, both times beating Jim Clark by a very narrow margin.

Siffert at the wheel of a Porsche 906 in practice for the 1966 1000km Nürburgring race.

In 1968, Siffert drove into the F1 history books by winning the 1968 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in Rob Walker Racing Team's Lotus 49B, beating Chris Amon's Ferrari into second place after a race-long battle. This is regarded as the last GP victory by a genuine privateer.^[1]

While Siffert's status in F1 grew slowly, his fame came as a leading driver for the factory Porsche effort in its quest for the World Sportscar Championship. In 1968, Siffert and Hans Herrmann won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring in a Porsche 907, marking the first major outright wins for the company, apart from a few earlier victories on twisty tracks.

Later on, Siffert's driving displays in the Porsche 917 were legendary, earning him several major wins in Europe. In addition, Siffert was chosen by Porsche to help launch its CanAm development program, driving a Porsche 917PA spyder in 1969 and finishing fourth in the championship despite few entries.

In 1970 he teamed up with Brian Redman to drive a Porsche 908/3 to victory at the Targa Florio. That same year, Porsche bankrolled Siffert's seat in a works March Engineering F1 since the German company did not wish to lose one of their prize drivers to rival Ferrari. His association with March in F1 was disastrous, so he was delighted to join rival Porsche racer Pedro Rodriguez at BRM the following season.

Jo Siffert won the 1971 Austrian Grand Prix, but then was killed in an end-of-season non-championship F1 race at Brands Hatch, the scene of his first and greatest victory in 1968. The suspension of his BRM had been damaged in a lap 1 incident with Ronnie Peterson, and broke later. The BRM crashed and Siffert could not get out of the burning car.

This accident led to a rapid overhaul of safety, both in-car and on circuit. In the subsequent Royal Automobile Club (the UK organising and regulatory representative of the FIA at the time) investigation it was discovered that the crash itself caused non-fatal injuries but Siffert had been killed by oxygen starvation and smoke inhalation. None of the trackside fire extinguishers worked, and it was found impossible to reach the car and extract Siffert. On-board fire extinguishers (using BCF—bromochlorodifluoromethane, an aircraft product) became mandatory and piped air for the drivers, direct into their helmet. Thus, perhaps one of the sad epitaphs of Seppi, was the focus on vehicle and driver safety in Formula One and lesser formulae and far better fire retardant driving overalls.

His funeral in Switzerland was attended by 50,000 people, and a Gulf-Porsche 917 of Team John Wyer accompanied the hearse.

In 2005, a very informative 90 minute-documentary about his life was made by director Men Lareida: Jo Siffert - live fast, die young[1] "DVD"[2].

In the last round of the 2007-08 A1GP season, at Brands Hatch, the A1 Team Switzerland car carried the message:

Jo 'Seppi' Siffert

40th Anniversary

Brands Hatch

This commemorated his 1968 British Grand Prix victory at Brands Hatch.

[edit] Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	WDC	Pts
1962	Ecurie Nationale Suisse	Lotus 21	Climax Straight-4	NED	MON DNQ												-	0
	Ecurie Filipinetti	Lotus 21	Climax Straight-4			BEL 10			GER 12
	Ecurie Filipinetti	Lotus 24	BRM V8				FRA Ret	GBR		ITA DNQ	USA	RSA
1963	Siffert Racing Team	Lotus 24	BRM V8	MON Ret	BEL Ret	NED 7	FRA 6	GBR Ret	GER 9	ITA Ret	USA Ret	MEX 9	RSA				14th	1
1964	Siffert Racing Team	Lotus 24	BRM V8	MON 8													10th	7
	Siffert Racing Team	Brabham BT11			NED 13	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 11	GER 4	AUT Ret	ITA 7
	Rob Walker Racing Team	Brabham BT11										USA 3	MEX Ret
1965	Rob Walker Racing Team	Brabham BT11	BRM V8	RSA 7	MON 6	BEL 8	FRA 6	GBR 9	NED 13	GER Ret	ITA Ret	USA 11	MEX 4				12th	5
1966	Rob Walker Racing Team	Brabham BT11	BRM V8	MON Ret													14th	3
1966	Rob Walker Racing Team	Cooper T81	Maserati V12		BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR NC	NED Ret	GER	ITA Ret	USA 4	MEX Ret					14th	3
1967	Rob Walker Racing Team / Jack Durlacher	Cooper T81	Maserati V12	RSA Ret	MON Ret	NED 10	BEL 7	FRA 4	GBR Ret	GER Ret	CAN DNS	ITA Ret	USA 4	MEX 12			12th	6
1968	Rob Walker Racing Team / Jack Durlacher	Cooper T81	Maserati V12	RSA 7													8th	12
		Lotus 49	Cosworth V8		ESP Ret	MON Ret	BEL 7	NED Ret	FRA 11
		Lotus 49B	Cosworth V8							GBR 1	GER Ret	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA 5	MEX 6
1969	Rob Walker Racing Team / Jack Durlacher	Lotus 49B	Cosworth V8	RSA 4	ESP Ret	MON 3	NED 2	FRA 9	GBR 8	GER 11	ITA 8	CAN Ret	USA Ret	MEX Ret			5th	21
1970	March Engineering	March 701	Cosworth V8	RSA 10	ESP DNQ	MON 8	BEL 7	NED Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 8	AUT 9	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA 9	MEX Ret	-	0
1971	Yardley-BRM	BRM P153	BRM V12	RSA Ret													5th	19
1971	Yardley-BRM	BRM P160	BRM V12		ESP Ret	MON Ret	NED 6	FRA 4	GBR 9	GER DSQ	AUT 1	ITA 9	CAN 9	USA 2			5th	19