Alan Jones: “I was a pretty aggressive driver. If someone passed me I took it personally…”
F1 Beyond The Grid
karenellenbevan
4.7 • 5.3K Ratings
🗓️ 24 April 2019
⏱️ 76 minutes
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Summary
He’s renowned as one of racing’s toughest nuts – a driver who gave his all on the race track and didn’t suffer fools off it. And this week on F1’s official podcast, Beyond The Grid, supported by Bose, 1980 World Champion Alan Jones regales host Tom Clarkson with no-nonsense tales from his extraordinary career.
Having arrived in Europe from his native Australia in the early 70s, Jones worked his way into F1 before becoming a Grand Prix winner with Shadow in 1977. But it’s with Williams that AJ is inextricably linked, winning 11 world championship races for the squad, as well as their first drivers’ crown. Forthright and brutally honest, get ready for a no-holds-barred account of Jones’ career and rivals, including his flirtations with Ferrari, falling out with team mate Carlos Reutemann and his regretted early retirement. No punches are pulled! (Contains explicit content)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Alan Jones and you're listening to Beyond the Grid. |
| 0:08.6 | Hi guys, Tom Clarkson here welcoming you to another edition of Beyond the Grid, |
| 0:13.3 | presented by Bose Quiet Comfort 352 Wireless Headphones. |
| 0:18.1 | So what do we got for you this week? |
| 0:20.0 | Well, we're winding back the clock and celebrating one of F1's toughest nuts. |
| 0:25.1 | He's a man whose no-nonsense approach earned him few friends on track, |
| 0:29.2 | but he made close bonds off it and most notably with Frank Williams and Patrick Head, |
| 0:34.1 | with whom he won the World Championship in 1980. |
| 0:37.3 | I'm talking of course about Williams' first world champion, Alan Jones. |
| 0:41.9 | AJ was born into racing. His father Stan was a mighty fine peddler himself, |
| 0:47.1 | back in Australia, and Alan came to Europe in the early 70s to pursue his dream of racing in |
| 0:52.2 | Formula One. He made it to the top echelon in 1975 and he had some celebrated team bosses along |
| 0:58.7 | the way, most notably Graham Hill and John Cirties. But it was with Williams that Alan |
| 1:05.2 | achieved his greatest successes. He won 11 races for the team and dominated the 1980 World |
| 1:10.8 | Championship. In many ways, setting the template for the archetypal Williams driver, |
| 1:15.8 | tough, determined and flat out all the way. I've worked with AJ for a number of years at the |
| 1:21.2 | Australian Grand Prix and that's where we caught up a few weeks back. Never one to mince his words, |
| 1:26.7 | all tone back his language. I hope you enjoy our conversation. |
| 1:35.5 | Well, Alan, thank you for joining us on Beyond the Grid. Great to see you. |
| 1:38.5 | I always see you once a year here in Melbourne and it's always a pleasure. |
| 1:42.6 | You're only saying that because it's true. Of course, you're a legend. You were |
| 1:46.4 | inducted as a legend in the older world. Well, I know. And as I said to people last night when |
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