Alan Jones, who has died at the age of 80, was renowned as a tough competitor and won the world championship when Formula 1 cars were beasts to drive.

After making the long journey to Britain with wife Beverley to forge a racing career in the late sixties, Jones got his break when Harry Stiller gave him the chance to compete first in Formula Atlantic, then a privateer F1 operation. Jones made his F1 debut the following year in a Hesketh, then took over from the injured Rolf Stommelen at Graham Hill’s team.

Another world champion, John Surtees, hired Jones for a full season the following year. Jones showed potential with second place in the non-championship Race of Champions but got on poorly with Surtees and left at the end of the season.

Tragedy handed Jones a precious chance in 1977. Shadow’s rising star Tom Pryce was killed in a crash at Kyalami and Jones took his place. Following points finishes in Monaco and Belgium, Jones grabbed a breakthrough victory in Austria.

Memorably, the event organisers believed they did not have a copy of the Australian national anthem – having failed to realise it was ‘God Save the Queen’, the same as the British anthem – and for years afterwards Jones enjoyed telling the tale of how his first grand prix victory was marked by a solo trumpet rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’.

Frank Williams hired Jones for 1978, and though he often threatened the front runners, no further wins came. That changed the following year when Williams designer Patrick Head penned the neat, arrow-like, ground effect FW07 chassis. Reliability problems blunted their early competitiveness – notably at Silverstone, costing Jones the chance to score Williams’ first victory – but by the second half of the season he was flying, reeling off three wins in a row.

That laid the foundations for a championship bid in 1980 and Jones delivered. He clinched the championship in a controversial collision with Nelson Piquet in the penultimate race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

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However the following year the new world champion fell out spectacularly with team mate Carlos Reutemann, who refused an order to let Jones win in the second race at Rio de Janeiro. While the atmosphere soured at Williams, Piquet took advantage, snatching the title from Reutemann at the final race.

Jones announced his retirement at the end of 1981. He may have come to regret the decision as Reutemann also quit the team in the off-season and Keke Rosberg, plucked from obscurity to fill Jones’ seat, took the 1982 title.

He clearly still had an appetite for racing. Arrows tempted him back for a one-off start in the 1983 Long Beach Grand Prix but could not agree terms for a full-time return. He made a one-off start in the CART IndyCar series substituting for Mario Andretti at Road America in 1985, taking a fine third place behind Jacques Villeneuve Snr and Michael Andretti.

The prospect of leading a new team with bespoke Ford engines and backing from US retail giant Beatrice tempted him back to F1 again with Haas (no relation of the current Haas team) the same year.

The Ford engines weren’t ready in time for the end of the season so Jones entered the final rounds in a single-car entry powered by a Hart motor. However the project faltered: Beatrice pulled out its funds and by the time the Ford engine came good, Haas had pulled the plug. Jones made his final start in his home race in 1986.

He went on to compete successfully in Australia’s popular touring car series, where he ran his own team. He was tempted back to race single-seaters in the short-lived Grand Prix Masters series, but pulled out mid-weekend citing neck pain after lapping off the pace. Jones also ran Australia’s A1 Grand Prix team, helping to promote the likes of future IndyCar champion Will Power.

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