{"id":953750,"date":"2026-11-05T17:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T17:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/953750\/"},"modified":"2026-11-05T17:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T17:18:12","slug":"australian-f1-legend-alan-jones-dies-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/953750\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian F1 legend Alan Jones dies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian Formula 1 icon Alan Jones has been remembered for leaving an \u201cenduring mark\u201d on international motorsport. <\/p>\n

Jones, the 1980 Formula 1 world champion and only the second Australian to achieve the feat following Sir Jack Brabham, died on Thursday after a brief illness. He was 80.<\/p>\n

Melbourne-born Jones debuted on the F1 circuit in 1975 and claimed his first victory in the 1977 Austrian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

In 116 F1 races, Jones had 12 wins, including five in his championship-winning year in a Williams car. <\/p>\n

He also won the 1980 Australian Grand Prix \u2013 which at the time was not part of the world championship \u2013 at Victoria\u2019s Calder Park Raceway.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was never really one for working out the logistics of a championship and playing the percentage game,\u201d Jones told Richard\u2019s F1 motorsport website.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to just get out there and attack each race as it came along. If you win enough races, you might land up being the champion, and if you don\u2019t you might not be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019 father Stan, who died in 1973 aged 49, was also a motor racing driver.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I won the (1980 title) decider at Montreal, I did get a bit emotional because I would have loved for my father to have been alive,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t until I got back to the hotel that I started jumping in the shower and carrying on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones, who is survived by is wife Amanda Butler-Davis and six children, reportedly was diagnosed with cancer a short time ago.<\/p>\n

His death came just three days after his 80th birthday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are extremely saddened to announce the passing of our beloved Alan, who passed away on 5 November following a short illness,\u201d Butler-Davis said in a statement issued on her behalf by Motorsport Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will be dearly missed and fondly remembered by those closest to him, as well as the many fans whose support he was always grateful for.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlan dedicated his life to motorsport, building a legacy that will live on through the countless people he touched along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough his achievements, passion and unmistakable character, both on and off the track, Alan left an enduring mark on the sport both nationally and across the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a family, we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who was part of Alan\u2019s journey for the many years of friendship, love and support. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was incredibly fortunate to have so many wonderful people around him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1980 for \u201cservice to motor racing\u201d.<\/p>\n

In 1989, he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

Originally published as Australian Formula 1 world champion Alan Jones has died aged 80<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian Formula 1 icon Alan Jones has been remembered for leaving an \u201cenduring mark\u201d on international motorsport. Jones,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":953751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[521375,521378,434375,486282,369561,344071,132286,521379,136954,167173,26455,384900,521370,376963,435961,521363,384688,520889,378724,521371,520902,385144,376769,521365,521376,15337,72202,520919,64,520580,63,521366,520577,521374,1617,521373,521367,817,21814,521361,813,816,9368,453402,520900,520904,521369,520579,389167,291484,4443,381156,397624,521372,938,85182,824,246230,380077,43961,23695,457220,520876,6622,57388,37045,5265,274750,393119,520886,85,521360,521377,520581,521364,426044,520891,520576,433009,381789,397634,385600,520883,520887,406840,425241,521368,385799,380406,442468,376539,387947,214758,453053,447097,412791,9357,520888,660,520915,521362],"class_list":["post-953750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-s-calder-park-raceway","tag-s-f1-motorsport-website","tag-s-journey","tag-12-wins","tag-369561","tag-344071","tag-132286","tag-1980-title-decider","tag-136954","tag-167173","tag-26455","tag-384900","tag-80-melbourne-born-jones","tag-a-bit","tag-a-brief-illness","tag-a-championship","tag-a-family","tag-a-legacy","tag-a-member","tag-a-motor-racing-driver","tag-a-short-illness","tag-a-short-time","tag-a-statement","tag-a-williams-car","tag-ago-his-death","tag-alan","tag-alan-jones","tag-an-enduring-mark","tag-au","tag-aussie-f1-legend-alan-jones","tag-australia","tag-australian-formula-1-icon-alan-jones","tag-australian-formula-1-world-champion-alan-jones","tag-butler-davis","tag-cancer","tag-each-race","tag-enough-races","tag-f1","tag-fame","tag-father-stan","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-friendship","tag-her-behalf","tag-his-80th-birthday","tag-his-achievements","tag-his-championship-winning-year","tag-his-first-victory","tag-his-life","tag-international-motorsport","tag-jones","tag-just-three-days","tag-love-and-support","tag-mbe","tag-montreal","tag-motor-racing","tag-motorsport","tag-motorsport-australia","tag-my-father","tag-newswire-sport","tag-november","tag-only-the-second-australian","tag-our-beloved-alan","tag-part","tag-passion","tag-richard","tag-service","tag-sir-jack-brabham","tag-six-children","tag-so-many-wonderful-people","tag-sports","tag-the-1977-austrian-grand-prix-in-116-f1-races","tag-the-1980-australian-grand-prix","tag-the-1980-formula-1-world-champion","tag-the-british-empire","tag-the-champion","tag-the-countless-people","tag-the-f1-circuit","tag-the-feat","tag-the-globe","tag-the-hotel","tag-the-logistics","tag-the-many-fans","tag-the-many-years","tag-the-order","tag-the-passing","tag-the-percentage-game","tag-the-shower","tag-the-sport","tag-the-sport-australia-hall","tag-the-time","tag-the-track","tag-the-way","tag-the-world-championship","tag-this-opportunity","tag-those-closest","tag-thursday","tag-unmistakable-character","tag-victoria","tag-whose-support","tag-wife-amanda-butler-davis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=953750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/953751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=953750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=953750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=953750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}