“He never let go”, testifies the former pilot Jacques Laffite

“Formula 1 is going to take a big hit because it was involved a lot in what happened”, reacted, Saturday, November 28 on franceinfo Jacques Laffite, French racing driver, after the death of Briton Frank Williams, at the age of 79 years. He had inscribed his name in the history of Formula 1 with the eponymous team he founded in the 1970s.

franceinfo: What memories do you keep of him?

Jacques Laffite: It was Frank who got me started in Formula 1 in 1974. I like Frank a lot, I remember that it was thanks to him that I did all this, so I am very sad. He was a charming man, very athletic, he jogged every morning. Snarling, he never let go, he did everything to be in car racing.

He fought like hell with little money. Slowly he found the necessary funding. He owes them to his talent.

Jacques Lafitte

to franceinfo

He was a difficult but charming boy. I had a lot of fun because I played the little Frenchman who was in an English team and that amused him.

Is there a moment that stood out in your relationship?

That’s when he convinced me to do Formula 1 in 1974, in a car that wasn’t the best. I hesitated a bit, but he convinced me to do it. He told me “it’s the chance of your life to win in Formula 1”. The year before I had won in Formula 3 in Monaco and he told me “when you win in F3 in Monaco the following year you are in Formula 1”. It was my case and I did five races for him in 1974, but we always kept good relations. The proof, he called me back in 1983 and 1984 to be a teammate of Keke Rosberg. He managed to put together a great team. Formula 1 is going to take a big hit because it was involved a lot in what happened.

Frank Williams had been quadriplegic since a car accident in March 1986. What happened after?

He had courage, he continued to come to the grand prix, to lead his team and his business. I find that great.