Jean Sage (c. 1941 – 8 October 2009) was the sporting director at the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

team

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

between 1977 and 1985.

Early life and career

Sage came from a wealthy background and was a collector of

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

s, making his competition debut at the age of just 20 years old co-driving a Ferrari 250 with André Simon. He also co-drove for Jean-Pierre Hanrioud and Gérard Larrousse while competing in Formula Three through the early 1960s. Jean Sage Obituary
/ref> Then in 1973 along with Larrousse and Paul Archambeaud, they established the

Écurie Elf Elf Aquitaine is a French brand of oils and other motor products (such as brake fluids) for automobiles and trucks. Elf is a former petroleum company which merged with TotalFina to form "TotalFinaElf". The new company changed its name to Total in ...

team Switzerland. Archambeaud was a Swiss

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

dealer at the time. They began work building sportscars, but soon switched focus to the European Formula Two Championship series where they guided Jean-Pierre Jabouille to the championship.

Renault F1

When Larrousse was recruited by

, he hired Sage to run the newly forming F1 team in 1977. He oversaw the running of the team right from its debut at the

1977 British Grand Prix The 1977 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 16 July 1977. It was the tenth race of the 1977 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1977 International Cup for F1 Constructors. The 68-lap race was won from po ...

, through the first win at the

1979 French Grand Prix The 1979 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 1 July 1979 at Dijon. It marked not just the first victory of a forced-induction car in Formula One since the Alfa Romeo 159's victory at the Spanish Grand Prix in 1951, but also the ...

, the glory years of Alain Prost and

René Arnoux René Alexandre Arnoux (; born 4 July 1948) is a French former racing driver who competed in 12 Formula One seasons (1978 to 1989). He participated in 165 World Championship Grands Prix (149 starts) winning seven of them, achieving 22 podium fi ...

—when the French squad was fought for the World Championships in and —and its withdrawal at the end of the 1985 season. Sage stayed with Renault until the end of 1987, when it stopped supplying its

turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

engines to other teams. During qualifying for the

1986 Monaco Grand Prix The 1986 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on 11 May 1986. It was the fourth race of the 1986 Formula One World Championship. The Monaco circuit had been modified from the year before: the chicane after the tunnel now ...

, Sage was run over by the

Stefan Johansson Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson (born 8 September 1956) is a Swedish racing driver who drove in Formula One for both Ferrari and McLaren, among other teams. Since leaving Formula One he has won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and raced in a number o ...

in the pitlane in an incident that was caught on TV cameras.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

Later life

After Renault, Sage went to manage the running of Ferrari F40's in the IMSA GT series through 1989 and 1990 with even Jean Alesi racing for the team. Into his later life he remained an active Ferrari collector and competitor in classic racing events, before his death on October 8, 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sage, Jean 1941 births 2009 deaths Renault people Formula One people French motorsport people French racing drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers