FRANCOIS CEVERT – A GENTLEMAN RACER
Jacky Stewart gave to Ken Tyrrell his notice of his intention to retire from racing at the end of the 1973 season. It was a curious situation, because only Ken knew it was Stewart’s last season. Watkins Glenn, October 6th. Rumours starting to get knowledge it would be Jacky’s 100th and last GP. And then in the Saturday practice session, his teammate Francois Cevert lost his life.
Francois Cevert was born on February 25, 1944. His father Charles was a Jewish jeweller and felt that motor racing was the frivolous pursuits of playboys. Francois’s sister Jacqueline went on to marry Jean-Pierre Beltoise ! Cevert’s career was brief. He joined the Tyrrell team in the 1970 mid-season following the retirement of Johnny Servoz-Gavin after the Monaco GP. Remember that this guy put the Tyrrell Matra Cosworth on pole position in the 1968 Monaco F1 race, his first race. But in 1970 he had an accident in an off-road rally and got the branch of a tree in his eye. His peripheral vision was not good, so he crashed out in the practice session. As petroleum firm Elf was the main sponsor for the team, the new teammate had to be French and had to be a graduate of the Elf-backed Winfield Racing School. Cevert was their number one and Jacky Stewart agreed !
Francois Cevert did not have that much experience. In 1967 he took part in 22 F3 races and finished in 6 of them. In 1968 he became French F3 champion with Tecno. In 1979 he was again at the wheel of a Tecno in the F2. He had one win and beat the Matra of Jacky Stewart. He would be again in the F2 in 1970, but made his F1 debut in Zandvoort with the March 701. He learned the track by running nose to tail with his teammate. In the Monza race he was 6th and in St Jovite he was 4th on the grid. A highlight of the season was a win with Jack Brabham and Matra in the 1000 km of Paris.
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In the 1971 F1 season, Cevert was a full member of the Tyrrell team and established himself in the F1 fraternity with his natural glamour, good looking, startling blue eyes but unpretentious and genuine. Ken Tyrrell realised his true potential. While Stewart took his second world champion title, Francois ended third in the points with a second place in Zandvoort and Nürburgring an a third place in Monza. But he also had his first win in the GP at Watkins Glenn. He had an excellent start of the race and was third after Stewart and Hulme. Jacky had to slow down with tyre problems and the engine of the McLaren exploded. That brought the Frenchman in the lead. The photos show one of the most joyful winners on highest step of the podium !
In 1972 Francois Cevert did not score any GP win, but in the year he was clearly involved in a professor-pupil role with Stewart. He best results were a P02 in Nivelles and again in Watkins Glenn. He also races other cars and was second in the 24 hours of Le Mans (Matra, with Howden Ganley), second in the F2 at Thruxton (March), second in the European Touring car at Paul Ricard (Ford Capri, Stewart) and won the Canam race in Donnybrook (McLaren). He ended fifth in the Canam championship.
In 1973, it was clear that he was on the same level as his tutor. Cevert scored six second places in the Tyrrell 006 nr 6. His best race was probably the GP at the Nurburgring, where he could easily have won, but he chose to stay behind Stewart. With Matra and Henri Pescarolo, he won the 6 hours of Vallelunga and with a Matra the F2 race at Pau.
In the penultimate F1 race at Mosport, Francois had an accident. So after the race he went on holiday with Jacky and his wife Helen. Rumours were that the had an offer from Ferrari.
There were three Tyrrell cars at the start in Watkins Glenn, the third for Chris Amon. At 11.54 with six minutes remaining in the practice session, Francois aimed for a pole position time. In the middle of the Esses, there was a bump. That upset the balance of the car. The 006 with his short wheelbase had already the reputation of being ‘twitchy’ and sometimes difficult to drive. The car smashed into the right Armco barrier and dived to the left, destroying the car. The driver was killed on the spot. Was it a mechanical failure, a puncture. We will never know. Only thing we know is that Cevert was a little off-line, but he never lifted. Team Tyrrell withdrew from the race.
A gifted racer was gone. We can only speculate about how great he might have become.
