Jo Bonnier, Sweden's first Grand Prix winner

Joakim Bonnier won the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix for BRM, the first World Championship victory for a Swedish driver, across sixteen seasons in Formula 1.

Joakim Bonnier, known as Jo, was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 31 January 1930. He studied languages at Oxford for a year and spent time in Paris before turning to motor sport, having first raced an old Harley Davidson motorcycle in Sweden at 17. He went on to compete in rallies before moving into circuit racing.

His World Championship debut came in a Maserati at the 1956 Italian Grand Prix, and he raced Maseratis, including for Scuderia Centro Sud, until BRM took him on in 1958. At the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort he started from pole position and won, giving BRM its first championship victory and becoming the first Swedish driver to win a Grand Prix. He finished eighth in the championship that year.

That win remained his only championship podium. He drove for Porsche in 1961 and 1962, then for Rob Walker Racing and others, and later ran his own Ecurie Bonnier, entering cars from Cooper, Brabham, McLaren, Honda and Lotus across a career that continued until the 1971 United States Grand Prix. He also chaired the Grand Prix Drivers' Association.

Bonnier was a regular at Le Mans, entering 13 times from 1957 and finishing second in 1964 with Graham Hill in a Ferrari. He was killed during the 1972 race on 11 June after his Lola collided with slower traffic. His World Championship record shows 104 starts, 1 win, 1 pole position and 1 podium over sixteen seasons.

0 world titles, 1 wins, 1 pole positions, 104 starts.

Teams

Victories

• Dutch Grand Prix 1959