Clay Regazzoni

Born Gianclaudio Regazzoni, he was raised in Ticino, the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland near the Italian border. Although Italians often regarded him as one of their own—a sentiment that brought him pride during his years with Ferrari—he was officially Swiss, holding a Swiss passport, and recognised as such in Formula One records.

Nationality	Swiss
Born	Gianclaudio Giuseppe “Clay” Regazzoni 5 September 1939 Mendrisio, Switzerland
Died	15 December 2006 (aged 67) Fontevivo, Italy

Regazzoni’s racing career began in the late 1960s, competing in Formula 3 and Formula 2. Known for his assertive style, he was involved in several accidents, including a notable incident in 1968 during the European F2 Trophy at Zandvoort, which resulted in the fatal crash of English driver Chris Lambert. Though initially implicated, Regazzoni was cleared of responsibility, and the episode did not hinder his progression to Formula One, where he joined Ferrari sporadically in 1970.

His debut season in Formula One was marked by victory at the 1970 Italian Grand Prix in Monza, helping him to finish third in the championship despite participating in only eight of the thirteen races. His success at Monza solidified his role as a regular teammate to Jacky Ickx for the subsequent seasons. Regazzoni’s uncompromising racing approach was evident in incidents like the 1972 German Grand Prix at Nurburgring, where he clashed with Jackie Stewart.

After a less successful stint with BRM in 1973, Regazzoni returned to Ferrari in 1974, recommending that Niki Lauda join the team as well. Together, they achieved significant success, including two constructors’ titles and a drivers’ championship for Lauda in 1975. Regazzoni nearly won the drivers’ title himself in 1974, narrowly losing to Emerson Fittipaldi by just three points.

Following his departure from Ferrari in 1976, Regazzoni drove for smaller teams like Ensign and Shadow, and enjoyed a stint with Williams in 1979, where he achieved the team’s first win at Silverstone for the 1979 British Grand Prix. However, his Formula One career ended tragically in 1980 during the Long Beach Grand Prix, where a brake failure led to a crash that paralyzed him from the waist down.

Despite his disability, Regazzoni continued to be involved in motorsports, participating in the Paris-Dakar Rally and sports car events with specially adapted vehicles. He was also active in promoting equal opportunities for disabled individuals, though his application for an FIA international license was declined in 1996.

Regazzoni spent his later years between Monaco and Lugano, occasionally providing TV commentary for Swiss and Italian television. His life tragically ended in a high-speed collision on the A1 Milan-Bologna motorway, where an autopsy revealed he likely died of natural causes immediately before or after the crash.

Clay Regazzoni Formula One World Championship career

F1 Career	1970–1980
Teams	Ferrari, BRM, Ensign, Shadow, Williams
Entries	139 (132 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	5
Podiums	28
Career points	209 (212)[1]
Pole positions	5
Fastest laps	15
First entry	1970 Dutch Grand Prix
First win	1970 Italian Grand Prix
Last win	1979 British Grand Prix
Last entry	1980 United States Grand Prix West

Clay Regazzoni Teammates

9 Teammates	Involvement	First Year	Last Year
Jacky Ickx	32	1970	1977
Ignazio Giunti	3	1970
Mario Andretti	16	1971	1972
Arturo Merzario	2	1972
Jean-Pierre Beltoise	14	1973
Niki Lauda	59	1973	1976
Carlos Reutemann	2	1976
Hans Joachim Stuck	16	1978
Alan Jones	15	1979

Race Wins

Win Number	Grand Prix
1	1970 Italian Grand Prix
2	1974 German Grand Prix
3	1974 Italian Grand Prix
4	1976 United States Grand Prix West
5	1979 British Grand Prix

Complete Formula One Results

Up until 1990, not all points scored by a driver contributed to their final World Championship tally. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Pts
1970	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312B	Ferrari 001 3.0 F12	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	NED 4	FRA	GBR 4	GER Ret	AUT 2	ITA 1	CAN 2	USA 13	MEX 2					3rd	33
1971	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312B	Ferrari 001 3.0 F12	RSA 3	ESP Ret																7th	13
		Ferrari 312B2	Ferrari 001/1 3.0 F12			MON Ret	NED 3	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 3	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA 6
1972	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312B2	Ferrari 001/1 3.0 F12	ARG 4	RSA 12	ESP 3	MON Ret	BEL Ret	FRA	GBR	GER 2	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	CAN 5	USA 8						7th	15
1973	Marlboro BRM	BRM P160D	BRMP142 3.0 V12	ARG 7	BRA 6	RSA Ret															17th	2
		BRM P160E	BRM P142 3.0 V12				ESP 9	BEL 10	MON Ret	SWE 9	FRA 12	GBR 7	NED 8	GER Ret	AUT 6	ITA Ret	CAN	USA 8
1974	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312B3	Ferrari 001/11 3.0 F12	ARG 3	BRA 2	RSA Ret	ESP 2	BEL 4	MON 4	SWE Ret	NED 2	FRA 3	GBR 4	GER 1	AUT 5	ITA Ret	CAN 2	USA 11			2nd	52
1975	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312B3	Ferrari 001/11 3.0 F12	ARG 4	BRA 4																5th	25
		Ferrari 312T	Ferrari 015 3.0 F12			RSA 16	ESP NC	MON Ret	BEL 5	SWE 3	NED 3	FRA Ret	GBR 13	GER Ret	AUT 7	ITA 1	USA Ret
1976	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312T	Ferrari 015 3.0 F12	BRA 7	RSA Ret	USW 1															5th	31
		Ferrari 312T2	Ferrari 015 3.0 F12				ESP 11	BEL 2	MON 14	SWE 6	FRA Ret	GBR DSQ	GER 9	AUT	NED 2	ITA 2	CAN 6	USA 7	JPN 5
1977	Team Tissot Ensign with Castrol	Ensign N177	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 6	BRA Ret	RSA 9	USW Ret	ESP Ret	MON DNQ	BEL Ret	SWE 7	FRA 7	GBR DNQ	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA 5	USA 5	CAN Ret	JPN Ret	17th	5
1978	Shadow Racing Team	Shadow DN8	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 15	BRA 5	RSA DNQ	USW 10														16th	4
		Shadow DN9	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8					MON DNQ	BEL Ret	ESP 15	SWE 5	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER DNQ	AUT NC	NED DNQ	ITA NC	USA 14	CAN DNQ
1979	Albilad-Saudi Racing Team	Williams FW06	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 10	BRA 15	RSA 9	USW Ret														5th	29 (32)
		Williams FW07	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8					ESP Ret	BEL Ret	MON 2	FRA 6	GBR 1	GER 2	AUT 5	NED Ret	ITA 3	CAN 3	USA Ret
1980	Unipart Racing Team	Ensign N180	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG NC	BRA Ret	RSA 9	USW Ret	BEL	MON	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USA				NC	0

Sources: Wikipedia.com and historicracing.com