Frank Williams on Alan Jones....

he's currently the patron of Make-a-Wish for seriously ill children, and immodest to a tee about his achievements, his 2 lovely kids seem to keep him busy

 

I always thought that Alan Jones was one of the most underrated drivers of all time. Watching his races from 79-81 showed he was the top of the class, in my mind the only driver of the period that could compare was Gilles Villeneuve. Jones was a no BS kind of guy and he should have won the championship in 81 if it wasn't for all the reliability problems he suffered that year. I like the fact that he kept Nelson Piquet in his place and scared the crap out of Carlos Reutmann as well. Well done Alan.

 

Agreed. AJ was seriously underrated. However, he was his own worst enemy, too.

 

Should have won it, but didn't.

Shoulda/Coulda/Woulda's don't count.

Hamilton 'should' have won it 4 years ago but didn't.

Tons of people 'should' have won races, or championships, but didn't, that's what sets the winners apart from the ones that don't win (but I refuse to call anyone a 'loser').

 

Have you scene him of late,very sad.

 

immodest,ever met him or done any business with him?
its a shocker.

 

That about sums it up.

Back in the 80's I had actual conversations with Mansell, Senna, Sullivan, Cheever, but today I cannot get anywhere near todays' drivers even with an all-access press pass. In 1984 Senna was easy access because he was not (at the time) a 'top driver' in F1 or on a 'top team' so he was largely ignored when he came to Detroit. I saw something in his style that told me he was the real deal, I didn't see that in Brundle, Cecotto, Palmer, either of the Fabi's, or any of the other newbies, but I DID see it with Bellof. Have not seen it since, and that includes MS. Keep in mind I have not personally SEEN MS.

 

Franco, I mean't the number of silly breakdowns he suffered in 1981 compared to 1980. And your other post on the other drivers is terrific, could not agree with you more.

 

IMO its not statistics that separates "winners" from "losers". They are but one measure.
The car you are given, your position in a team, DNF's, and just plain luck often make the difference between WDC's and a footnote in history.

 

Yep he was imo aswell the real deal.

 

Having personally known AJ from the late 60s when he, Brian McGuire and Alan McCully ran F3 with the AIRO team, I can attest to Sir Frank's opinion. Never was or will be 'PC', Alan speaks his mind and unfortunately was much in the mould of his Dad, stan with whom I also had the pleasure. Absolutely no BS, you got what you see, when he drove for me at Surtees we saw thar grittiness, he was often frustrated because John did so much test driving, but gave everything on the track, he came up through the ranks and paid his dues, then made the most of the Williams drive. later when doing a one off CART race, I recall the wedgie he gave me when creeping up on me on the grid before the race.
A fun guy, talented, old school man's man.

 

Great post, Brian!

Frank

 

Thanks Frank.

Certainly times the like of which we will see no more unfortunately (in some ways).

Got a lot of stories from those days, with james Hunt, Mike Hailwood and co. I remember Alan Jones bachelor party, well most/some of it, much as you might imagine an Aussie bachelor party to be..... The wedding was good, shame AJ let that get away. But he appears to be handling things better in his later years.

Only current driver I have any connection to happens to be MW, my brother and he regularly cycle the Chilterns. Seems like a genuine bloke, would love to see him win it all.