When did Alan Jones die?

Alan Jones died on 5 November 2026, three days after his 80th birthday, following a short illness. His wife, Amanda Butler-Davis, announced the news.

How many Grands Prix did Alan Jones win?

He won 12 in total: 11 with Williams and one with Shadow in 1977. He also scored 24 podium finishes and 6 pole positions.

Which car did Alan Jones win the world title in?

He won the 1980 championship in the Ford Cosworth-powered Williams FW07B, taking five race wins. It was Williams' first drivers' and first constructors' title.

How many Australian Formula 1 world champions are there?

Two: Jack Brabham, who won the title in 1959, 1960 and 1966, and Alan Jones, champion in 1980.

Alan Jones dies aged 80: the 1980 F1 world champion

The 1980 world champion died after a short illness, three days after turning 80. Australia's second Formula 1 champion won 12 Grands Prix.

Alan Jones, the 1980 Formula 1 world champion, died on 5 November, three days after his 80th birthday. His wife, Amanda Butler-Davis, announced through Motorsport Australia that he had passed away after a short illness. The Melbourne-born racer gave Williams its first title and became Australia's second world champion after Jack Brabham.

From a private Hesketh to Shadow's only win

His Formula 1 story began at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix in a privately entered Hesketh 308. Spells with Graham Hill's Embassy outfit and with Surtees followed before Shadow signed him in 1977.

At the Austrian Grand Prix he took his first win, and the victory still stands alone in the record books. Shadow never won another Grand Prix, before or after, so the team's sole triumph belongs to Jones.

Williams' first champion

He joined Williams in 1978 and grew with the young team. In the second half of 1979 he won four of five consecutive races (Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Canada) and finished third overall.

The 1980 season was his. In the FW07B he won in Argentina, France, Britain, Canada and the United States, reached the podium in ten of 14 races and sealed the crown at the penultimate round in Montreal. Williams also took the constructors' title that year, the first of the nine it has won.

Across two seasons alongside Carlos Reutemann, Jones finished ahead of his teammate 17 times to 12 and led him 7-3 on wins. His 11 victories for Williams still leave him joint third on the team's all-time list.

Most Grand Prix wins for Williams
Driver	Wins
Nigel Mansell	28
Damon Hill	21
Alan Jones	11
Jacques Villeneuve	11
Alain Prost	7
Nelson Piquet	7

Australia's benchmark

His final victory came at the 1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix. Later comebacks, a single race with Arrows in 1983 and two seasons with the American Team Haas in 1985 and 1986, brought no further podiums.

The career tally reads 12 wins, 24 podiums, 6 pole positions and 13 fastest laps. Among Australians, only Brabham won more Grands Prix. Mark Webber, Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo all stood on the rostrum more often, yet none of them has matched his number of wins.

Most Grand Prix wins by Australian drivers — Grand Prix wins excluding sprints, 1950–2026
Label	Value	Note
Jack Brabham	14	31 podiums
Alan Jones	12	24 podiums
Mark Webber	9	42 podiums
Oscar Piastri	9	28 podiums
Daniel Ricciardo	8	32 podiums

Of these five, only Brabham and Jones were crowned world champion.

Tributes from the paddock

Formula 1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali called him "a true great of our sport and an extraordinary racer". Williams said Jones had been instrumental in shaping the team, forging a close bond with Frank Williams and Patrick Head and winning the drivers' title in only its fourth Formula 1 season.

Six more Williams drivers have been crowned world champion since. The first, though, was an uncompromising Australian who fought his way to the top from the cockpit of a private Hesketh.