Jody Scheckter is a racing driver from South Africa who last raced in Formula 1 for Ferrari. Scheckter is a one-time champion (1979), with 10 wins and 33 podiums from 112 starts.[1]
A Racer Rating of 5,599 ranks Scheckter 157th of 15,348 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the low five figures. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file, decayed for time since their last race.
| 1980-10-05 | Watkins Glen | P11 | −19 |
| 1980-09-14 | Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari | P8 | +13 |
| 1980-08-31 | Circuit Park Zandvoort | P9 | +6 |
| 1980-08-17 | Red Bull Ring | P13 | −55 |
| 1980-08-10 | Hockenheimring | P13 | −54 |
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | DNFs | Poles | Points | Pos | Gain/Loss | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | ▸Formula 1 | Ferrari | 13 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | P19 | −573 | 6,398 |
| 1979 | ▸Formula 1 | Ferrari | 15 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 60 | P1 | +796 | 6,971 |
| 1978 | ▸Formula 1 | Wolf | 16 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 24 | P7 | −219 | 6,175 |
| 1977 | ▸Formula 1 | Wolf | 17 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 55 | P2 | −57 | 6,395 |
| 1976 | ▸Formula 1 | Tyrrell | 16 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 49 | P3 | +610 | 6,451 |
| 1975 | ▸Formula 1 | Tyrrell | 14 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 20 | P7 | +310 | 5,841 |
| 1974 | ▸Formula 1 | Tyrrell | 15 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 45 | P3 | +788 | 5,531 |
| 1973 | ▸Formula 1 | McLaren | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | P22 | −137 | 4,742 |
| 1972 | ▸Formula 1 | McLaren | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P22 | +79 | 4,879 |
| Rival | Rating | Raced | Ahead | Behind | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇷 Carlos Reutemann | 5,765 | 49 | 26 | 23 | 53% |
| 🇧🇷 Emerson Fittipaldi | 3,999 | 47 | 29 | 18 | 62% |
| 🇬🇧 John Watson | 5,367 | 42 | 34 | 8 | 81% |
| 🇨🇭 Clay Regazzoni | 5,253 | 41 | 23 | 18 | 56% |
| 🇫🇷 Patrick Depailler | 5,068 | 40 | 23 | 17 | 57% |
| 🇦🇹 Niki Lauda | 5,364 | 39 | 12 | 27 | 31% |
| 🇩🇪 Jochen Mass | 5,075 | 38 | 31 | 7 | 82% |
| 🇦🇺 Alan Jones | 4,943 | 35 | 19 | 16 | 54% |
| 🇫🇷 Jean-Pierre Jarier | 4,248 | 34 | 28 | 6 | 82% |
| 🇫🇷 Jacques Laffite | 5,186 | 32 | 17 | 15 | 53% |
Jody Scheckter was a South African Formula 1 driver who competed at the sport's highest level across nine seasons from 1972 to 1980, accumulating 112 starts for Ferrari and Tyrrell. He won the 1979 World Drivers' Championship, claiming ten Grands Prix victories and 33 podium finishes across his career. With a Racer Rating of 5,599, he competed in a genuinely elite field; his average finishing position of 5.2 places him squarely among the front-runners of his era. He was the first and remains the only African-born driver to win both a Grand Prix and the World Drivers' Championship.[1]
Scheckter's record against his most frequent rivals illuminates his standing. Against Carlos Reutemann, a front-running professional of comparable strength, he held a narrow advantage across 49 shared races. Against John Watson, he dominated decisively with 34 wins to 8 losses in 42 races. More tellingly, he repeatedly outpaced Niki Lauda, a three-time world champion rated slightly above him; across 39 shared races Scheckter finished ahead 27 times. Against Emerson Fittipaldi, a two-time champion, he won the head-to-head count 29 to 18 in 47 races, demonstrating consistent superiority over a driver of genuine championship pedigree. His performance against these established world-class competitors confirms his standing as a top-tier Formula 1 driver of the 1970s.[2]
His career concluded in 1980 with a final season that yielded no wins or podiums across 13 rounds, finishing 19th overall. Having stepped away from professional racing, Scheckter later pursued business interests and has in recent years consigned significant portions of his racing collection, including his championship-winning Ferrari, to auction.