Jo Bonnier

Born into a privileged family, this Swedish driver first gained renown as an ice-racer in the early 1950s with an Alfa Romeo Disco Volante. His success led to him becoming an Alfa Romeo distributor in 1954. Transitioning to circuit racing in 1955, Bonnier quickly established himself as a frontrunner in Scandinavia. His ambitions expanded in 1956 with notable victories at Aintree, AVUS, Castelfusano, and a class win at the Nurburgring 1000 Km alongside Mackay-Fraser, driving a GT Alfa. By then, he had also begun running Maserati sports cars, later joining the works team in 1957 and achieving a third-place finish in the 1957 Swedish Grand Prix with a SOOTS.

Nationality	Swedish
Born	Karl Jockum Jonas “Joakim” Bonnier 31 January 1930 Stockholm, Sweden
Died	11 June 1972 (aged 42) Le Mans, France

Though not yet among the elite, Bonnier purchased a Maserati 250F for the 1957-58 F1 seasons, securing modest results, including second places at Syracuse and Caen. His career took a significant turn in late 1958 when he joined BRM, where he clinched his maiden championship Grand Prix victory at the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix, marking Bourne’s first such win. Despite remaining with BRM until the end of 1960, subsequent successes eluded him, although he notably led the 1960 Argentine Grand Prix before mechanical failure intervened.

Beginning a fruitful association with Porsche in 1959, Bonnier capitalised on opportunities in 1960, claiming victories at the 1960 Modena Grand and the rain-soaked non-championship 1960 German Grand Prix in F2. His success continued with a triumph at the Targa Florio in a Porsche RSK alongside Herrmann. Feeling underappreciated at BRM, Bonnier shifted to Dan Gurney‘s team in 1961, interspersing his season with victories in New Zealand before focusing on Porsche commitments. Although he achieved commendable results in non-championship races, including several second and third places, his world championship Grand Prix performances lagged behind Gurney’s dominance, particularly in 1962 with the Porsche 804.

Following Porsche’s F1 withdrawal, Bonnier joined Rob Walker Racing Team in 1963, racing privately entered cars until 1965. Despite occasional flashes of speed, he increasingly devoted himself to leading the newly formed Grand Prix Drivers’ Association. Establishing his own team in 1966, Bonnier continued racing Cooper-Maseratis and McLarens, but with diminishing competitiveness, culminating in a lackluster 1971 season.

Despite waning Grand Prix fortunes, Bonnier relished sports car racing, highlighted by victories such as the Nurburgring 1000 Km in 1966 alongside Phil Hill. His later successes included championships in the European 2-litre category with a Lola in 1970. Racing with undiminished enthusiasm past the age of 40, Bonnier’s final competitive years were marred by a tragic incident at Le Mans in 1972, underscoring his lifelong advocacy for circuit safety.

Jo Bonnier Formula One World Championship career

F1 Career	1956–1971
Teams	Maserati, Scuderia Centro Sud, Joakim Bonnier Racing Team, BRM, Porsche, Rob Walker Racing Team, Lotus, Brabham, Anglo-Suisse Racing/Ecurie Bonnier and Honda
Entries	109 (104 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podiums	1
Career points	39
Pole positions	1
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1956 Italian Grand Prix
First win	1959 Dutch Grand Prix
Last win	1959 Dutch Grand Prix
Last entry	1971 United States Grand Prix

Jo Bonnier Teammates

22 Teamates	Involvement	First Year	Last Year
Francisco Godia-Sales	2	1956	1958
Luigi Villoresi	1	1956
Stirling Moss	1	1956
Jean Behra	3	1956	1958
Umberto Maglioli	1	1956
Alessandro de Tomaso	1	1957
Masten Gregory	3	1957	1958
Phil Hill	2	1958	1962
Troy Ruttman	1	1958
Hans Herrmann	3	1958	1961
Wolfgang Seidel	1	1958
Harry Schell	9	1958	1959
Ron Flockhart	6	1958	1959
Graham Hill	8	1960
Dan Gurney	21	1960	1962
Edgar Barth	2	1961	1964
Nino Vaccarella	1	1962
Jochen Rindt	1	1964
Geki	1	1964
Hap Sharp	2	1964
Jo Siffert	12	1964	1965
Helmut Marko	1	1971

Race Wins

Win Number	Grand Prix
1	1959 Dutch Grand Prix

Complete Formula One Results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	WDC	Pts
1956	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati 250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	ARG	MON	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA Ret						NC	0
1957	Scuderia Centro Sud	Maserati 250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	ARG 7						PES Ret	ITA Ret						NC	0
	Jo Bonnier	Maserati 250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6		MON DNA	500	FRA	GBR Ret	GER
1958	Scuderia Centro Sud	Maserati 250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	ARG DNA							GER Ret						20th	3
	Jo Bonnier	Maserati 250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6		MON Ret	NED 10	500	BEL 9		GBR Ret		POR Ret
	Giorgio Scarlatti	Maserati 250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6						FRA 8
	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM P25 2.5 L4										ITA Ret	MOR 4
1959	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM P25 2.5 L4	MON Ret	500	NED 1	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 5	POR Ret	ITA 8	USA					8th	10
1960	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM P25 2.5 L4	ARG 7													18th	4
		BRM P48	BRM P25 2.5 L4		MON 5	500	NED Ret	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	POR Ret	ITA	USA 5
1961	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 787	Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4	MON 12	NED 11												15th	3
		Porsche 718	Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4			BEL 7	FRA 7	GBR 5	GER Ret	ITA Ret	USA 6
1962	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 804	Porsche 753 1.5 F8	NED 7		BEL WD	FRA 10	GBR Ret	GER 7	ITA 6	USA 13	RSA					15th	3
		Porsche 718	Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4		MON 5
1963	R.R.C. Walker Racing Team	Cooper T60	Climax FWMV 1.5 V8	MON 7	BEL 5	NED 11	FRA NC										11th	6
		Cooper T66	Climax FWMV 1.5 V8					GBR Ret	GER 6	ITA 7	USA 8	MEX 5	RSA 6
1964	R.R.C. Walker Racing Team	Cooper T66	Climax FWMV 1.5 V8	MON 5													15th	3
		Brabham BT11	BRM P56 1.5 V8		NED 9	BEL Ret	FRA	GBR Ret	GER Ret
		Brabham BT7	Climax FWMV 1.5 V8							AUT 6	ITA 12	USA Ret	MEX Ret
1965	R.R.C. Walker Racing Team	Brabham BT7	Climax FWMV 1.5 V8	RSA Ret	MON 7	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 7	NED Ret	GER 7	ITA 7	USA 8	MEX Ret				NC	0
1966	Anglo-Suisse Racing Team	Cooper T81	Maserati 9/F1 3.0 V12	MON NC	BEL Ret			NED 7	GER Ret	ITA Ret	USA NC	MEX 6					17th	1
		Brabham BT22	Climax FPF 2.8 L4			FRA NC
		Brabham BT7	Climax FWMV 1.5 V8				GBR Ret
1967	Joakim Bonnier Racing Team	Cooper T81	Maserati 9/F1 3.0 V12	RSA Ret	MON	NED	BEL Ret	FRA	GBR Ret	GER 6 1	CAN 8	ITA Ret	USA 6	MEX 10			15th	3
1968	Jo Bonnier	Cooper T81	Maserati 9/F1 3.0 V12	RSA Ret													22nd	3
		McLaren M5A	BRM P101 3.0 V12		ESP DNA	MON DNQ	BEL Ret	NED 8	FRA	GBR Ret	GER DNA	ITA 6	CAN Ret	USA NC
		Honda RA301	Honda RA301E 3.0 V12												MEX 5
1969	Ecurie Bonnier	Lotus 63	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR Ret								NC	0
		Lotus 49B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8							GER Ret	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX
1970	Ecurie Bonnier	McLaren M7C	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA DNQ	CAN	USA Ret	MEX	NC	0
1971	Ecurie Bonnier	McLaren M7C	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA Ret	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER DNQ	AUT DNS	ITA 10	CAN	USA 16			NC	0

Sources: Wikipedia.com and historicracing.com