Original Aussie grit
At 87, Sir Jack Brabham is the oldest living F1 world champion. Not only that, but he won the title three times and remains the only man do so in his own car. AUTOSPORT's sister publication F1 Racing relished a rare chance to interview a grand prix great
Before anybody did anything, Jack Brabham did everything.
Bought a car. Built an engine. Raced them. Won. Won some more. Went to Europe. Sold a car. Bought another. Raced it. Won. Won some more. A championship. Another. A pause. Launched a team. Made a car. Bought an engine. A championship. Another. Still some wins. And then... then he quit.
It was 1970 and Black Jack's incredible adventure was over. The 'nut-brown Aussie' was three drivers' titles to the good and his own Brabham team had two constructors' titles to their name. So he decided, reluctantly, that enough was enough. Too many had died that year: Jochen Rindt, Piers Courage and Bruce McLaren all gone in violent accidents.
Share Or Save This Story
Archive: When Davidson was "too successful" to land an F1 seat
From the archive: When a BMW tin-top ace sampled F1
Why the German giants are flocking to FE
Porsche 'never' considered FE feeder team set-up like Mercedes/HWA
Alejandro Agag makes surprise €600m bid for full Formula E control
Imola 1994: Memories from Senna's rivals
Aston Martin thinks F1 could use it against Ferrari quit threat
Fernando Alonso considered quitting F1 for triple crown in 2017
Super Formula scraps planned 2025 South Korea race
DJR completes Davison car rebuild after heavy Bathurst qualifying crash
The defining moments of Williams boss Vowles’ rollercoaster season
Podcast: The Best of Super Touring Power 2 - Ray Mallock, John Cleland and Laurent Aiello
How McLaren went from back to front in 18 months
Jon Noble: The one thing McLaren must leave behind for the title run-in
Ranking the real 2025 F1 driver line-up pecking order
Will Sauber's C44 go down as F1's best point-less car, or are there better contenders?
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
