From East London to the Ferrari title, via Tyrrell's six-wheeled P34 and Walter Wolf Racing, and a later life in broadcasting and farming.
Jody Scheckter is a former South African racing driver who won the 1979 world championship with Ferrari. He won ten Grands Prix across nine Formula One seasons between 1972 and 1980, and he later built a firearms training business and a farm in England.
Jody Scheckter raced for four Formula One teams over nine seasons, winning the world title with Ferrari in 1979. He was the first champion from Africa, and no other African driver has won a Grand Prix or the championship. After retiring he moved into broadcasting, a weapons simulation business and organic farming.
Who is Jody Scheckter and where did he come from?
Jody Scheckter was born in East London, Cape Province, on 29 January 1950. He moved to Britain in 1971, raced in British and European Formula Two, and made his Formula One debut the following year.
He was educated at Vincent Primary School and Port Rex Technical High School in East London. Ian, his older brother, competed in Formula One too, so racing ran in the family.
Scheckter's rise was quick once he reached Britain. He spent 1971 and 1972 building a reputation in the single-seater ranks, and McLaren gave him his first Grand Prix drive in the United States.
A Ferrari champion who raced six-wheelers, faced a near-ban and then built a second career in farming.
How did Scheckter break into Formula One with McLaren?
Scheckter made his debut at the 1972 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen with McLaren. He ran as high as third there before a spin dropped him to ninth, and in 1973 he entered five more Grands Prix with the team.
In 1973 he won the SCCA L&M Championship, and he came close to a win at only his third Grand Prix start, the French race, before crashing into the reigning world champion Emerson Fittipaldi.
At the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, a spin by Scheckter set off a major accident that took out close to a dozen cars. The Grand Prix Drivers Association wanted him barred at once, but McLaren agreed to rest him for four races instead.
His McLaren carried the number zero at the Canadian and American Grands Prix that year. Only two Formula One drivers have raced under that number, and the other was Damon Hill.
The most serious moment of that year came at Watkins Glen, when Francois Cevert, slated to partner him at Tyrrell in 1974, died in a crash at the Esses. Scheckter had been behind him, stopped his car and tried to pull Cevert from the wreck, but the Frenchman had already died. The crash left a lasting mark, and it is recorded as the moment he gave up his reckless style for a more mature and calculating one.
What were Scheckter's Tyrrell years like?
Tyrrell gave Scheckter his first full-time Formula One drive in 1974. The first three rounds brought no points with the 006 model, until a switch to the 007 chassis produced his first points at the Spanish Grand Prix.
At Belgium he finished third, his maiden Formula One podium, despite a collision with Tom Pryce. At Sweden he passed his polesitting teammate Patrick Depailler at the start and held on to win. He added a British Grand Prix win after a puncture for Niki Lauda's Ferrari, and he finished the championship third.
His title push ended in Canada. Running third, he crashed after the halfway mark because of a brake failure. At Watkins Glen fuel pressure trouble forced him out while he was keeping Emerson Fittipaldi at bay for fourth, and Fittipaldi went on to take the title.
The 1975 season started with two non-scores, including an 11th in Argentina after a collision with Jochen Mass at the start, and a retirement in Brazil with an oil tank problem. He won his home race in South Africa, taking the lead from Carlos Pace on the third lap and leading every lap after that. A Monaco puncture demoted him from a points position, and he came second in Belgium. A late engine failure at Zandvoort ended a potential third place, and he dropped to seventh in the standings with four points finishes across the season.
What did the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 do for Scheckter?
Scheckter and teammate Patrick Depailler raced the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 in 1976. Scheckter gave the car its first podium, a second place at Monaco, and its sole victory at Sweden, and he finished the year third overall.
He collected points in ten of his 12 starts with the P34, including a fourth place in Belgium and second places in Britain and Germany. In the United States he battled James Hunt for victory all race long and had to settle for second, and he later described the car as a piece of junk before leaving the team. He is the only driver to have won a Grand Prix on six wheels.
How did Scheckter fare at Walter Wolf Racing?
Scheckter joined Walter Wolf Racing in 1977 and won three races for the new team, in Argentina, Monaco and Canada. He finished second in the 1977 championship behind Niki Lauda, with nine podiums to his name.
The Argentina win came after reliability problems hit his rivals on the team's maiden race. In Monaco he got ahead of John Watson at the start and led every lap. In Canada, Mario Andretti's engine failure gave him and Wolf their third victory of the season. He closed the season with tenth in Japan.
The 1978 season was harder. The car had to be rebuilt after a poor start, and early in the year Scheckter suffered a collision with Patrick Tambay in Brazil and another at Long Beach. He collected his first points of the year with third at Monaco, where he nursed a damaged car home with the second gear broken.
Earlier in 1978 a start-line contact with Lauda in Belgium led to a later retirement, and he retired in Sweden with water pipe trouble. In Austria he had been running second in heavy rain before he crashed out on lap 4.
He qualified second in Canada and finished second after being passed by Gilles Villeneuve late in the race. He ended the 1978 championship seventh and left Wolf to join Villeneuve at Ferrari.
How did Scheckter win the 1979 world championship for Ferrari?
Scheckter joined Ferrari in 1979 alongside Gilles Villeneuve and won three Grands Prix that season. He clinched the drivers' title with victory at Monza, two races before the end of the year, and he became the first World Drivers' Champion from Africa.
The season began badly with a sprained wrist from a lap-one collision with John Watson. Brazil was the last race for the 312T3 chassis, and he pitted for new tyres there to finish sixth. The Ferrari 312T4 then arrived in South Africa, and the team scored a one-two with Villeneuve leading home Scheckter.
A charge from seventh on the grid gave him his first win at Zolder. He then took pole for Monaco and held off Clay Regazzoni to win. Seventh in France, fifth in Britain and fourth in Germany kept him in contention, and his title was secured at Monza with the popular home win.
He finished the year with fourth in Canada and retired in the United States with a tyre failure.
Why did Scheckter retire after 1980?
Scheckter struggled to defend his title in 1980 as Ferrari's 312T5 underperformed. He failed to qualify for the Canadian Grand Prix, scored only two points, and announced his retirement from the team and from the sport.
He pointed to driver deaths, saying he had won the championship and that the magic had gone. He was the last Ferrari drivers' champion until Michael Schumacher won the title in 2000, 21 years later.
What were Scheckter's championship results season by season?
Scheckter's best seasons came with Tyrrell, Wolf and Ferrari, and the table records his championship position for each of those years. His peak came in 1979, when he won the title, while 1977 gave him a runner-up finish with three wins for Wolf.
| Season | Team | Championship position | Highlight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Tyrrell | 3rd | Wins at the Swedish and British Grands Prix |
| 1975 | Tyrrell | 7th | South African Grand Prix win |
| 1976 | Tyrrell | 3rd | Swedish Grand Prix win in the P34 |
| 1977 | Walter Wolf Racing | 2nd | Three wins and nine podiums |
| 1978 | Walter Wolf Racing | 7th | First points with third at Monaco |
| 1979 | Ferrari | 1st | Three wins and the world title |
| 1980 | Ferrari | Not in this record | Two points before retirement |
Across all his seasons he won 10 Grands Prix, took three pole positions and five fastest laps, and finished on the podium 33 times.
What did Scheckter do after leaving Formula One?
Scheckter became a broadcaster for CBS and ABC and a guest commentator for ITV. He founded Firearms Training Systems in 1984, and later bought Laverstoke Park Farm, where he worked as a biodynamic farmer.
CBS Sports hired him as a pit reporter in 1981, and ABC's Wide World of Sports used him at the 1983 Monaco Grand Prix. In 1999 he replaced Martin Brundle as a guest commentator for ITV at the San Marino Grand Prix. He also won the World Superstars competition in 1981 in Key Biscayne, Florida, defeating Russ Francis, Renaldo Nehemiah and Rick Barry among others.
Firearms Training Systems built firearms simulators for armed forces, police and private security firms. Its revenue passed the figure of 100 million pounds by the early 1990s, and the sale of the business later helped fund his sons' racing careers.
Laverstoke Park Farm, near Overton in Hampshire, covers 2,500 acres. Scheckter appeared on Countryfile in 2011 to make the case for organic food. In 2024 the farm ceased dairy and buffalo production, while the compost plant kept running and the farm continued to host the Carfest event.
Scheckter's family and recognition
In 2004 he drove his championship-winning Ferrari again, in a two-seater race at Kyalami in South Africa for former champions.
Scheckter is married to Clare and has six children, two from his previous marriage and four from his current one. His sons Toby and Tomas both raced, and Tomas won two races in the Indy Racing League.
The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame added him in 1983. In 2024 he was named among 100 notable Jewish South Africans at a gala marking the 120th year of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies.
