François Cévert

François Cévert

Born: February 25, 1944
Died: October 6, 1973
in Paris, France
Albert François Cevert Goldenberg (25 February 1944 – 6 October 1973) was a French racing driver who took part in the Formula One World Championship. He competed in 48 World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one win, 13 podium finishes and 89 career points.

Cevert was the son of Charles Goldenberg (1901–1985), a Parisian jeweller, and Huguette Cevert. Charles was a Russian-Jewish émigré brought to France as a young boy by his parents, to escape the persecution of the Jews under the Tsarist autocracy. During World War II, under the Nazi occupation of France, Goldenberg joined the French Resistance to avoid forced deportation to Poland, as he was a registered Jew. In order not to draw further attention, Charles and Huguette's four children were all registered with her surname (Cevert) rather than his. Some years after the liberation of France, Cevert's father wanted to rename his children back to Goldenberg, but the family objected as by now they had become known as Cevert.

Cevert was the brother-in-law of Grand Prix driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise.

When he was 16, François Cevert began his motorsport career on two wheels, rather than four, initially racing his mother's Vespa scooter against friends, before graduating to his own Norton at the age of 19. After completing his National Service, Cevert switched his attention to cars. In 1966 he completed a training course at the Le Mans school, before enrolling Winfield Racing School at the Magny-Cours racing school. At Winfield, he won the Volant Shell scholarship as the top finisher among the students. The prize was an Alpine Formula Three.

His first season in F3, at the wheel of his prize Alpine, did not go well. He lacked the funds and experience to properly set up and maintain his car. After finding sponsorship for the 1968 season, Cevert traded in his Alpine for a more competitive Tecno car. With his new mount Cevert finally started to win races, and by the end of the season he was French Formula 3 Champion, just ahead of Jean-Pierre Jabouille.

After winning the French Formula 3 Championship, Cevert joined the works Tecno Formula Two team in 1969, and finished third overall, as well as driving in the F2 class of the 1969 German Grand Prix. At the time, Formula Two was an ideal training ground for ambitious drivers, as many top Grand Prix drivers also competed in the F2 class, when their Formula One schedules permitted. When Jackie Stewart had a hard time getting around Cevert in an F2 race at Crystal Palace the same year, Stewart told his team manager Ken Tyrrell to keep an eye on the young Frenchman. This personal recommendation was to pay off in 1970, as when Tyrrell needed a new driver at short notice Stewart's recommendation was still in his mind. Tyrrell later commented on the reason for Cevert's appointment to the Formula One team that "everybody said it was (French oil company and Tyrrell sponsor) Elf, but it was really what Jackie said about him." ...

Source: Article "François Cevert" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Movies for François Cévert...

1
Title: 1
Character: Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: September 30, 2013
Type: Movie
Set in the golden era of Grand Prix Racing '1' tells the story of a generation of charismatic drivers who raced on the edge, risking their lives during Formula 1's deadliest period, and the men who stood up and changed the sport forever.
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One By One
Title: One By One
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1975
Type: Movie
Intended to be about the passing of the torch from Stewart to Cevert; One By One is a documentary chronicling the lives of Formula 1 racers in the seventies.
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O Fabuloso Fittipaldi
Title: O Fabuloso Fittipaldi
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1973
Type: Movie
Documentary about race car driver Emerson Fittipaldi
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Title: Samedi soir
Character: Self
Released: January 9, 1971
Type: TV
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1970 FIA Formula One World Championship Season Review
Title: 1970 FIA Formula One World Championship Season Review
Character: Himself
Released: September 8, 1970
Type: Movie
1970 was the year of transition in Grand Prix racing; the season that pitched the old guard against a feisty new breed of racers intent on pushing Formula One forward into the new decade. Nothing symbolised this battle more than the cars used by top contenders: Jacky Ickx’s Ferrari 312B relied on brute force to compensate for its outdated styling, whereas Jochen Rindt’s Lotus 72 showed that radical aerodynamics represented a brave and (potentially) faster way forward. And with the technological battles came a fascinating season’s racing. Jackie Stewart was the defending champion but took nothing for granted. When different drivers won the first four races, Stewart, and the world, knew that the Championship was wide open. Thrilling battles ensued until triumph and tragedy came together in one fatal collision: on the 5th of September 1970 Championship leader Jochen Rindt died during practice at Monza. He was to become the sport’s first posthumous champion.