François Cevert

François Cevert

Albert François Cevert Goldenberg was a French racing driver. He competed in 47 World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one win, 13 podium finishes and 89 career points. He died in a car crash at the Nürburgring in 1973, a few months after his 50th birthday.

About François Cevert in brief

Summary François CevertAlbert François Cevert Goldenberg was a French racing driver. He competed in 47 World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one win, 13 podium finishes and 89 career points. He was the brother-in-law of Grand Prix driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise. His father Charles was a Russian Jewish émigré brought to France as a young boy by his parents, to escape the persecution of the Jews under the Tsarist autocracy. During World War II, under the Nazi occupation of France, Charles Goldenberg joined the French Resistance to avoid forced deportation to Poland, as he was a registered Jew. His four children were all registered with her surname rather than his. He won the French Formula 3 Championship in 1969, and joined the works Tecno Formula Two team in 1969. Jackie Stewart told his team manager Ken Tyrrell to keep an eye on the young Frenchman. In 1971, with the Tyrrell team now building their own cars, CeverT finished second in France and Germany, both times behind team leader Stewart.

Then, in the season-ending United States Grand Prix at the newly extended Watkins Glen race course, the Frenchman earned his first and only Grand Prix win: Having started from fifth spot, he took the lead from Stewart on lap 14 as the Scot began to go off in the 100° heat. On the 43rd lap, Jacky Ickx set the fastest lap of the race, and the gap was down to 2 seconds. On lap 49, on the alternator fell off, punching a hole in the gearbox and spilling all oil over the track! Denny Hulme’s McLaren hit the oil and spun into the track, bending his front suspension and bending his suspension, but he also came off the track when he came by the side of the track. He died in a car crash at the Nürburgring in 1973, a few months after his 50th birthday. He is survived by his wife, two children and a step-grandchild. He also leaves behind a wife and two step-great-grandchildren. He had a son and a daughter with his first wife, who died in 2005.