Jonathan Williams (26 October 1942 – 31 August 2014) was a British

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

. Born in Cairo, Egypt, he participated in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, on 22 October 1967. He finished 8th, scoring no World Championship points. His racing career began in the early 1960s, competing in saloons and various junior formulae, graduating to Formula Three in 1963 and in 1966 drove for the de Sanctis team.Jonathan Williams
f1rejects.com During this time he worked with the young

Sir Frank Williams Sir Francis Owen Garbett Williams (16 April 1942 – 28 November 2021) was a British businessman, racing car driver, and the founder of the Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Williams Formula One team. He was the team principal from its foundati ...

, Sheridan Thynne and Piers Courage.F1 Rejects Interview with Jonathan Williams
f1rejects.com In 1967, he was signed by

Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Società per Azioni, S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in refere ...

, initially competing in sports car racing. That year, Ferrari lost several drivers, including team leader Lorenzo Bandini who died from injuries sustained at that year's

Monaco Grand Prix The Monaco Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Monaco) is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigiou ...

and Williams' sports car co-driver,

Günter Klass Günter "Bobby" Klass (13 June 1936 in Stuttgart – 22 July 1967 near Florence) was a versatile German racing driver, competing in hillclimbing, rallying, and the World Sportscar Championship as factory driver for Porsche and the Scude ...

, killed during practice at the Mugello Circuit in July. Later that year, Williams was offered a drive in F1, but after only one Grand Prix he was dropped by Ferrari and a subsequent F1 project with Abarth did not come to fruition. However, he did compete in some Formula Two events in 1968 winning the Rhine Cup race in a car entered by

, before driving the works Serenissima. In 1969 he helped develop the De Tomaso F1 car for Frank Williams as well as continuing to compete in F2. He continued also to be active in sports car racing. At the

1970 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 38th Grand Prix of Endurance and took place on 13 and 14 June 1970. It was the 8th stage of the 1970 World Sportscar Championship season. Once again Porsche had a dominant year in the championship and arrived ...

, he co-drove the

Porsche 908/02 The Porsche 908 was a racing car from Porsche, introduced in 1968 to continue the Porsche 906-Porsche 910-Porsche 907 series of models designed by Helmuth Bott (chassis) and Hans Mezger (engine) under the leadership of racing chief Ferdinand Piëc ...

which carried cameras for the Steve McQueen movie ''

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

''. Williams retired from racing in 1972 and became a pilot, (initially for Alessandro de Tomaso) an occupation he claimed to dislike and subsequently a writer and photographer. Williams died on 31 August 2014, aged 71. He appeared in the documentary film '' Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans'', released nine months after his death and which closes with a clip of Williams driving in the 1971 film ''

''.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

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References

External links

1942 births 2014 deaths English racing drivers English Formula One drivers Ferrari Formula One drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Sportspeople from Cairo {{England-autoracing-bio-stub