Jo Ramirez - Formula One Career

Formula One Career

During the 1960s and 70s Ramírez worked for several teams, including Dan Gurney's Eagle, Tyrrell, where founder Ken Tyrrell advised him to keep a diary of his time in the sport, and for Wilson and Emerson Fittipaldi in their Fittipaldi Copersucar F1 team.

In December 1983 Ramírez joined the front-running McLaren Formula One operation as Team Coordinator, becoming close friends with many top drivers including Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna †, Jackie Stewart, François Cevert †, David Coulthard and Mika Häkkinen.

In 2001, after more than 40 years Ramírez retired from the Great Circus and was advised by team manager Ron Dennis not to write his life story as no one would be interested. Ramírez was left in little doubt that Dennis' true aim was to stop any undesirable details of the team's inner workings from becoming public. As a parting gift from F1 Coulthard and Häkkinen gave him a Harley-Davidson Road King.

Jo Ramírez statistics
  • 479 Grands Prix in which he participated.
  • 116 triumphs on F1 Grands Prix.
  • 10 F1 Drivers' World Championships: 1973, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1998.
  • 5 F1 World Champions: Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Mika Häkkinen.
  • 7 Constructors' F1 World Championships (McLaren): 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1998.
  • 8 F1 teams: Ferrari, AAR Eagle, Tyrrell, Fittipaldi-Copersucar, Shadow, ATS, Theodore and McLaren.
  • 1 World Sportscar Championship (JW-Porsche): 1971.
  • 1 World Sportscar Championship Drivers': Pedro Rodríguez †
  • 4 teams and prototype sports car: Ferrari, Maserati, Ford and JW-Porsche.

(†) Driver dies on racing activity.

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