| Born | 1 October 1963 |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Active years | 1994–1995 |
| Teams | Larrousse, Pacific |
| Races | 3 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First race | 1994 Australian Grand Prix |
| Last race | 1995 European Grand Prix |
Jean-Denis Délétraz (born October 1, 1963 in Geneva) is a racing driver from Switzerland. He participated in three Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the 1994 Australian Grand Prix, and scored no championship points during his career.
Before reaching Formula One he scored two third places in Formula 3000, but he principally earned his Formula One drives by having sponsorship money to offer financially troubled teams.[1]
After Formula One, he competed in sports car racing, with some success.
Contents |
Délétraz had some success in his early career, notably two wins that came while driving Formula Ford cars.[2] He went on to compete in Formula Three between 1985 and 1987 in the French championship, finishing third in the final standings in 1985.[3] Between 1988 and 1991, he competed in Formula 3000 and during 1990 he bought the FIRST racing team.[4] During 1991 the team was impounded by an Italian court for a time after legal action from the team's other driver, Giovanni Bonanno.[4]
In 1994, Délétraz was signed as a driver for the SEAT works team in the French Touring Car Championship. His best result was fifth place in the race at Nogaro and he finished thirteenth overall in the standings.[2]
Towards the end of 1994, the Larrousse team were running short on money.[5] Larrousse's number 19 car, which had started the year being driven by Olivier Beretta, was now being driven by drivers who could bring sponsorship money to the team.[5] For the final race of the year in Australia, Larrousse let Délétraz replace Érik Comas in the team's second car for more sponsorship money in order to aid their financial situation.[5]
During qualifying, Délétraz surprised some in the Formula One paddock when he qualified in 25th position, outqualifying Domenico Schiattarella.[2] However, Schiattarella overtook him during the first lap of the Grand Prix, and Délétraz gradually dropped back from the rest of the field. He retired on lap 57 with gearbox failure, after he had already been lapped ten times. He was lapping the circuit 6 seconds slower than the leaders, 2 seconds slower than his teammate Hideki Noda and 1–2 seconds slower than the next slowest driver Schiattarella.
| “ | Yes Délétraz, really, here having no business in Formula One. And demonstrating it there: he's spending all of his modest effort, frankly, keeping the car on the road. He's holding up Gerhard Berger there and has now lost a second on Nigel Mansell, in the Larrousse. This is, I'm afraid, one of the problems of the Grand Prix season - at the end of the year we do get one or two drivers being taken by people who've got more money than talent, and that's one example of it. | ” |
|
—Jonathan Palmer, BBC broadcast of the 1994 Australian Grand Prix - transcript of recording from F1 Rejects. |
||
Although the team started with Bertrand Gachot, who was also a shareholder, and Andrea Montermini as its drivers, by the middle of the season Gachot had stood down so that drivers with sponsorship could help aid the team's finances.[6] It was announced that Délétraz would be competing in the final five races of the season.[2]
| “ | I am very happy to be returning to Formula One and we will work hard together to make this a competitive end to the season. Although the Pacific team is quite small, they have a lot of motivation and I think everyone knows that Keith Wiggins is determined to make strong progress in Formula One. For me it is a good opportunity to gain more Formula One experience, and to develop a programme which hopefully will lead to my participation in the 1996 Formula One World Championship. | ” |
|
—Délétraz on signing with Pacific for the remainder of the season - transcript at F1 Rejects. |
||
During qualifying for his first round of the year, in Portugal, Délétraz was hindered by a gearbox problem which saw him qualify last, twelve seconds behind pole-position sitter David Coulthard. The race proved problematic as well - Délétraz was so out of his depth that after 3 laps, he was 40 seconds behind Coulthard, and was lapping the circuit 12 seconds slower than the leaders and 6–7 seconds than the next slowest driver Roberto Moreno in a Forti and 7–8 seconds slower than his teammate Montermini. He was lapped by the leaders after just seven laps of the race, and after fourteen he retired from the race with cramp in his left arm- but this drew paddock wide criticism as Estoril is a clockwise circuit, which requires more work from the right arm, and English F1 journalist Nigel Roebuck made scathing comments about Délétraz's performance in the race. He did better at his second race, at the Nürburgring, saw him qualify just over nine seconds behind pole-position, and he finished the race in fifteenth place as the last finisher, seven laps behind the winner.
At the next race, Bertrand Gachot was unexpectedly back in the seat. It had been expected that Délétraz would be competing until the end of the season, but he defaulted on payment and Keith Wiggins, principal of the Pacific team stated, "On ability alone, we are not willing to keep him."[2]
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
|---|---|
| Participating years | 1995 - 1996, 2000 - 2002, 2004, 2007 |
| Teams | Giroix Racing Team Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing Racing Organisation Course Noël del Bello Racing Barron Connor Racing Swiss Spirit |
| Best finish | 5th (1995, 2001) |
| Class wins | 2 (2001, 2002) |
After his rather humiliating tenure in Formula One in the year previous, 1996 saw Délétraz move to sports car racing with the FIRST Racing operation he now co-owned with fellow driver Fabien Giroix. A year in the BPR Global GT Series in a McLaren F1 GTR was followed by a move to the FIA GT Championship in 1997, with FIRST running the works Lotus Elise GT1s. After a couple of years away, FIRST and Délétraz returned to the FIA Championship in 2000 with a Ferrari 550 Maranello. In 2002, he took four wins in the series with team-mate Andrea Piccini in a BMS Scuderia Italia-run 550, and the pair finished fifth in the championship. They then drove a works Lister Storm in 2003. He has also scored two class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in 2001 and 2002 in the LMP675 class. He was also one of the drivers of the Chevrolet Corvette C6.R that won the 2007 Spa 24 Hours.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Sport Auto Racing | JER 9 |
VAL DNQ |
PAU Ret |
SIL DNQ |
MNZ Ret |
PER DNQ |
BRH |
BIR 10 |
13th | 8 | |||
| GBDA Motorsport | BUG 3 |
ZOL 3 |
DIJ Ret |
|||||||||||
| 1989 | First Racing | SIL 14 |
VAL Ret |
PAU Ret |
JER 15 |
PER Ret |
BRH Ret |
BIR 12 |
SPA DNQ |
BUG Ret |
DIJ 9 |
NC | 0 | |
| 1990 | First Racing | DON 7 |
SIL DNQ |
PAU Ret |
JER DNQ |
MNZ Ret |
PER |
HOC |
BRH |
BIR |
BUG |
NOG |
NC | 0 |
| 1991 | First Racing | VAL DNS |
PAU DNQ |
JER Ret |
MUG |
PER |
HOC |
BRH |
SPA |
BUG |
NOG |
NC | 0 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Tourtel Larrousse | Larrousse LH94 | Ford V8 | BRA |
PAC |
SMR |
MON |
ESP |
CAN |
FRA |
GBR |
GER |
HUN |
BEL |
ITA |
POR |
EUR |
JPN |
AUS Ret |
NC | 0 | |
| 1995 | Pacific Grand Prix Ltd | Pacific PR02 | Ford V8 | BRA |
ARG |
SMR |
ESP |
MON |
CAN |
FRA |
GBR |
GER |
HUN |
BEL |
ITA |
POR Ret |
EUR 15 |
PAC |
JPN |
AUS |
NC | 0 |
| Year | Class | No | Tyres | Car | Team | Co-Drivers | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | GT1 | 50 | M | McLaren F1 GTR BMW S70 6.1L V12 |
Giroix Racing Team | Fabien Giroix Olivier Grouillard |
290 | 5th | 4th |
| 1996 | GT1 | 53 | M | McLaren F1 GTR BMW S70 6.1L V12 |
Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing Giroix Racing Team |
Fabien Giroix Maurizio Sandro-Sala |
146 | DNF | DNF |
| 2000 | LMP675 | 33 | M | Reynard 2KQ-LM Volkswagen HPT16 2.0L Turbo I4 |
Racing Organisation Course (ROC) | Ralf Kelleners David Terrien |
44 | DNF | DNF |
| 2001 | LMP675 | 38 | M | Reynard 2KQ-LM Volkswagen HPT16 2.0L Turbo I4 |
ROC Auto | Jordi Gené Pascal Fabre |
284 | 5th | 1st |
| 2002 | LMP675 | 29 | M | Reynard 2KQ-LM Volkswagen HPT16 2.0L Turbo I4 |
Noël del Bello Racing ROC Compétition |
Christophe Pillon Walter Lechner, Jr. |
317 | 19th | 1st |
| 2004 | GTS | 62 | P | Ferrari 575-GTC Ferrari F133 6.0L V12 |
Barron Connor Racing | Mike Hezemans Ange Barde |
200 | DNF | DNF |
| 2007 | LMP1 | 5 | M | Lola B07/18 Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 |
Swiss Spirit | Marcel Fässler Iradj Alexander |
62 | DNF | DNF |