Regazzoni began racing in 1963 at the age of 24. Because Switzerland banned motor racing following the 1955 Le Mans disaster, much of his early experience took place across the border in Italy. He started in an Austin-Healey Sprite, podiuming in his first three races. Moving to European Formula Three with a Brabham in 1965 and then to Formula Two with Tecno in 1968, he won the 1970 European Formula Two Championship.
Regazzoni made his Formula One debut at the 1970 Dutch Grand Prix, finishing fourth. He then won on only his fourth start, taking the 1970 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. He finished third in the Drivers' Championship that year with 33 points. Two less productive seasons followed — seventh in 1971 (three podiums) and seventh again in 1972 (one podium).
Regazzoni joined Marlboro-BRM for 1973. During the South African Grand Prix he crashed heavily and was rescued from burning wreckage by motorcycle racer Mike Hailwood, who subsequently received the George Medal. Despite a pole position at the Argentine Grand Prix, Regazzoni scored only two championship points all season.
Ferrari brought Regazzoni back in 1974. He was at his strongest that season, taking seven podiums including a win at the German Grand Prix, and finishing second in the Drivers' Championship just three points behind Emerson Fittipaldi. In 1975 he won the Italian Grand Prix and — as the only Swiss driver ever to do so — the non-championship Swiss Grand Prix. The 1976 season opened with a dominant win at the inaugural Long Beach Grand Prix, but following Niki Lauda's accident at the Nürburgring and internal team upheaval, Ferrari replaced him with Carlos Reutemann. When Regazzoni left Ferrari, he held the record as the team's longest-serving driver at 73 races — a mark that stood until Michele Alboreto surpassed it in 1988.
In 1977 Regazzoni chose Ensign over a more lucrative Brabham offer, explaining he preferred to race with people he liked. He scored five points. A move to Shadow in 1978 yielded only four.
Frank Williams offered Regazzoni a seat alongside Alan Jones for 1979. The Williams FW07 was highly competitive, and Regazzoni took his final Grand Prix win at Silverstone in the British Grand Prix — recorded as the first of more than 100 Formula One victories for the Williams team. He finished fifth in the championship with 29 points.
Regazzoni returned to Ensign for 1980. At the United States Grand Prix West in Long Beach, his brake pedal failed at approximately 280 km/h; he struck a parked Brabham and a barrier, and was left paralysed from the waist down.
Refusing to stop competing, Regazzoni drove hand-controlled vehicles in the Dakar Rally and in sports car racing including the 12 Hours of Sebring; his last competitive race was in 1990. He became a television commentator for Italian broadcasts in 1996 and wrote two autobiographies.
On December 15, 2006, his Chrysler Voyager collided with the rear of a truck on Italy's A1 motorway near Parma at approximately 100 km/h. An autopsy excluded a heart attack. His funeral in Lugano was attended by Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart, and Emerson Fittipaldi. In the 2013 film Rush, covering the Hunt-Lauda 1976 rivalry, Regazzoni was portrayed by Pierfrancesco Favino.
139 entries (132 starts), 5 wins, 28 podiums, 5 pole positions, 15 fastest laps, 209 championship points. Best finish: 2nd in 1974. Also: 1970 European Formula Two Champion; 1974 Swiss Sportsman of the Year.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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