Alan Jones, the Australian driver who won the 1980 Formula 1 world championship with Williams, has died aged 80. He died on Thursday, November 5, 2026, three days after his 80th birthday, after a short illness. His wife Amanda Butler-Davis announced his death in a statement released through Motorsport Australia, saying the family was extremely saddened to announce the passing of their beloved Alan. Jones was the second Australian to win the Formula 1 world title after Jack Brabham, and he was the first Williams driver to win it. He remains Australia’s last Formula 1 drivers champion. In 1980 he won five grands prix and beat Nelson Piquet to the title, while Williams won its first constructors championship.
Quick Facts
| Detail | What we know |
|---|---|
| Date of death | Thursday, November 5, 2026 |
| Age | 80, three days after his 80th birthday |
| Born | November 2, 1946, in Melbourne, Australia |
| Cause | A short illness, no further detail given |
| Announcement | His wife Amanda Butler-Davis, in a statement through Motorsport Australia |
| World title | 1980, driving the Williams FW07B |
| Wins in 1980 | Five grands prix: Argentina, France, Britain, Canada and the United States at Watkins Glen |
| Title rival | Nelson Piquet |
| Career span | 1975 to 1986 |
| Career wins | 12 grands prix |
| Career starts | 116 |
| Career podiums | 24 |
| Teams | Hesketh, Hill, Surtees, Shadow, Williams, Arrows and Haas Lola |
| Father | Stan Jones, racing driver and winner of the 1959 Australian Grand Prix |
| Survived by | His wife and six children |
A Champion From Melbourne
Alan Jones was born in Melbourne on November 2, 1946. Racing was part of his family from the start. His father, Stan Jones, was a racing driver who won the 1959 Australian Grand Prix, so Alan grew up with motorsport close at hand. That family link gave him a path into the sport, but his place in history came from what he did on track himself, far from home, in the toughest racing series in the world.
Jones reached Formula 1 in the mid 1970s, when the sport was far more dangerous than it is today. Drivers moved between teams often, and a seat at a front running team had to be earned through results. Jones did it the hard way, working through smaller teams before he found the one that would carry him to a world title. His career ran from 1975 to 1986, and across those years he started 116 grands prix, won 12 of them, and stood on the podium 24 times.
Those numbers tell only part of the story. He drove for Hesketh, Hill, Surtees, Shadow, Williams, Arrows and Haas Lola, a list that covers small private teams and one of the great names in the sport. It shows a driver who kept finding a way to stay on the grid. But it was at Williams that he found the car and the team that could turn his speed into a championship.
The 1980 Season That Made History
The 1980 season was the peak of Alan Jones and his career. Driving the Williams FW07B, he won five grands prix across the year: Argentina, France, Britain, Canada and the United States at Watkins Glen. The wins came on very different tracks, from the fast sweeps of Britain to the street style challenge of Watkins Glen, and that spread showed a driver who could win anywhere rather than at one kind of circuit alone.
His main rival for the title was Nelson Piquet, and Jones beat him to the championship. That contest gave the season its edge. Piquet was a driver of real talent who would go on to win the title himself in later years, so beating him was no small thing. Jones did it with a mix of speed and steadiness, collecting wins when they were there and points when they were not, until the title was his.
The year was a double success for Williams. Along with Jones and his drivers title, the team won its first constructors championship in 1980. The constructors title goes to the team whose two drivers score the most points across the season. Winning both titles in the same year marked Williams as a serious force in the sport. Jones was the first Williams driver ever to win the world title, and that fact alone secures his place in the history of the team.
A Career Across Twelve Years
His Formula 1 career lasted from 1975 to 1986, a span of twelve years that covered a large change in the sport. Staying competitive across that whole period took more than speed. It took the ability to adapt as the cars changed, to work with new teams, and to keep performing when the machinery around him was not the best on the grid.
His record of 12 wins from 116 starts and 24 podiums shows a driver who was a regular threat at the front when he had a car that could win. Five of those wins came in the single championship season of 1980, nearly half of his career wins in the year he took the title. That is the mark of a driver who rose to the moment when the chance arrived.
The range of teams he drove for also says something about his character as a racer. Hesketh, Hill, Surtees, Shadow, Arrows and Haas Lola all worked with smaller budgets than the front runners, and driving for them meant fighting for points rather than wins. Jones did that work and kept his reputation intact, so that when Williams needed a driver who could deliver a title, he was the man they turned to. In other sporting news this week, our report on the Bears beating the Seahawks 34-17 on Monday night shows another side of sport, where a single night can change how a season is seen.
The Last Australian Champion
Alan Jones was the second Australian to win the Formula 1 world title, after Jack Brabham. Brabham was a giant of the sport, a three time world champion who also built his own cars, and following him was a heavy burden for any Australian driver. Jones carried it well. He did not match Brabham and his three titles, but he won the one title that mattered, and he did it as the lead driver of a team that was winning its first championship at the same time.
What makes his record stand out even more is that he remains Australia’s last Formula 1 drivers champion. More than four decades have passed since his 1980 title, and no Australian driver has won the championship since. That long wait says something about how hard the title is to win, and it has kept his name alive in Australian sport long after he stopped racing. Every Australian driver who has come close since then has been measured against him.
That is why his death has been felt so widely in Australia and across the sport. He was not only a champion from the past. He was the living link to the last time an Australian stood at the top of Formula 1, and his passing closes a chapter that had stayed open for 46 years. For Australian fans, the 1980 title was a moment of national pride, and Jones was the man who delivered it. Formula 1 has also seen happier family news this year, with our report on Charles Leclerc and Alexandra welcoming their first baby Bianca showing the next generation of the sport in a very different light.
Tributes and a Family Left Behind
The news of his death was announced by his wife Amanda Butler-Davis in a statement released through Motorsport Australia. She said: “We are extremely saddened to announce the passing of our beloved Alan, who passed away on November 5 following a short illness.” The statement gave no further detail about his illness, and the family has asked for privacy at a time of grief. The wording was simple and direct, and it left no room for doubt about how deeply he was loved at home.
Tributes came quickly from the sport he served. Williams paid tribute to the man who gave the team its first world title, a debt the team has never forgotten. Formula 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali also paid tribute, speaking for a sport that still holds Jones and his 1980 title in high regard. The messages from the team and from the top of the sport show how much he meant to both, not only as a champion but as a figure from a time when the sport was built on drivers of his kind.
Jones is survived by his wife and six children. Behind the public record of wins and titles, there was a large family who knew him as a husband and a father rather than as a racing driver, and their loss is the real heart of this story. The sport will remember the five wins of 1980 and the title that followed, but for his family the memory will be of the man himself. Jones is not the only well known figure mourned this week, and our report on Tony Butala of the Lettermen dying at 87 remembers another long life in the public eye.
When did Alan Jones die?
Alan Jones died on Thursday, November 5, 2026, aged 80, after a short illness. He died three days after his 80th birthday, having been born on November 2, 1946, in Melbourne.
How did Alan Jones win the 1980 world title?
Driving the Williams FW07B, he won five grands prix in Argentina, France, Britain, Canada and the United States at Watkins Glen, and he beat Nelson Piquet to the title. Williams also won its first constructors championship that year.
Was Alan Jones the first Australian Formula 1 champion?
No. He was the second Australian to win the title, after Jack Brabham. He was the first Williams driver to win it, and he remains Australia’s last Formula 1 drivers champion.
What was Alan Jones and his career record?
His Formula 1 career ran from 1975 to 1986. He started 116 grands prix, won 12 of them, and stood on the podium 24 times, driving for Hesketh, Hill, Surtees, Shadow, Williams, Arrows and Haas Lola.
Sources
- Formula 1: F1 champion Alan Jones passes away aged 80
- Sky Sports: Former Formula 1 world champion Alan Jones dies aged 80
- Crash.net: First Williams F1 world champion Alan Jones dies aged 80
Final Thoughts
Alan Jones died three days after his 80th birthday, and the sport has lost one of its true champions. His 1980 title with Williams was a double first, the first drivers title for the team and the first constructors title too, won with five victories and a straight fight against Nelson Piquet. He was the second Australian to win the world title, and he remains the last, a record that has stood for 46 years. His career of 12 wins, 116 starts and 24 podiums across seven teams shows a driver who earned his place the hard way. He is survived by his wife and six children, and the tributes from Williams and from Stefano Domenicali show how highly he was held. The 1980 season will always carry his name.
