WAT

John Watson

1973–1985
152
Starts
5
Wins
20
Podiums
2
Poles
0
Titles
169
Points

Season by season

tap a header to sort
Season Team ENT R Win Pod Pole Pts WDC
1973 Brabham 2 2 0 0 0 0
1974 Brabham 15 15 0 0 0 6 P15
1975 Surtees + Lotus , Penske 13 13 0 0 0 0
1976 Penske 16 16 1 3 0 20 P7
1977 Brabham 17 17 0 1 1 9 P13
1978 Brabham 16 16 0 3 1 25 P6
1979 McLaren 15 15 0 1 0 15 P9
1980 McLaren 14 13 0 0 0 6 P11
1981 McLaren 15 15 1 4 0 27 P6
1982 McLaren 15 15 2 5 0 39 P3
1983 McLaren 15 14 1 3 0 22 P6
1985 McLaren 1 1 0 0 0 0

Teammates, head to head

most races first
Teammate Qualifying Race Points
Niki Lauda '78–'83 · 12r compared , 34 excl. → Full breakdown 13–33 1–11 86 86
Carlos Reutemann '73–'74 · 4r compared , 13 excl. → Full breakdown 1–16 1–3 6 37
Carlos Pace '74–'77 · 4r compared , 6 excl. → Full breakdown 4–6 1–3 6 14
Andrea de Cesaris '81 · 4r compared , 11 excl. → Full breakdown 14–1 3–1 27 1
Alain Prost '80–'85 · 3r compared , 11 excl. → Full breakdown 5–9 0–3 3 8
Rikky von Opel '74 · 2r compared , 4 excl. → Full breakdown 6–0 1–1 1 0
Hans-Joachim Stuck '77 · 2r compared , 12 excl. → Full breakdown 11–3 1–1 8 12
Patrick Tambay '79 · 2r compared , 13 excl. → Full breakdown 13–2 1–1 15 0
Teddy Pilette '74 · 1r compared → Full breakdown 1–0 1–0 0 0
Wilson Fittipaldi '73 · 0r compared , 2 excl. 1–1 0–0 0 0
Andrea de Adamich '73 · 0r compared , 1 excl. 0–1 0–0 0 0
Richard Robarts '74 · 0r compared , 3 excl. 3–0 0–0 0 0
Gérard Larrousse '74 · 0r compared , 2 excl. 2–0 0–0 0 0
Lella Lombardi '74 · 0r compared , 1 excl. 1–0 0–0 0 0
Helmuth Koinigg '74 · 0r compared , 1 excl. 1–0 0–0 3 0
Carlo Facetti '74 · 0r compared , 1 excl. 1–0 0–0 0 0
Eppie Wietzes '74 · 0r compared , 1 excl. 1–0 0–0 0 0
Ian Ashley '74 · 0r compared , 2 excl. 2–0 0–0 2 0
Dave Morgan '75 · 0r compared , 1 excl. → Full breakdown 1–0 0–0 0 0
Ronnie Peterson '75 · 0r compared , 1 excl. 1–0 0–0 0 0
Boy Hayje '76 · 0r compared , 1 excl. 1–0 0–0 0 0
Giorgio Francia '77 · 0r compared , 1 excl. 1–0 0–0 0 0
Nelson Piquet '78 · 0r compared , 1 excl. 1–0 0–0 0 0
Stephen South '80 · 0r compared , 1 excl. 1–0 0–0 3 0

Compare with any driver

career records side by side · any era

Teammate Head-to-Head (above) covers same-car seasons only. Compare reaches across any era — pick any driver.

Reliability & consistency

era-dependent · see explanation
39.5% DNF rate 60 in 152 starts
30.9% points-finish rate 47 in 152 starts
P1 best finish
P1 best grid
DNF rate & points-finish rate

DNF rate — "how often did they not finish?"

The share of race starts that ended without a classified finish. Formula: races not finished ÷ race starts × 100. Races the driver did not start are excluded from both sides. A disqualification counts as a finish that scored nothing, not a DNF. Why it sits apart from the era-fair rates: unlike a win or a podium, finishing meant something very different in different eras. Cars in the 1950s–70s broke constantly; modern cars almost always reach the flag. A high DNF rate in 1955 says far more about the machinery than the driver. Comparing two drivers within the same season is meaningful — they faced the same conditions. Across eras it's context, not a verdict.

Points-finish rate — "how often did they score?"

The share of race starts that ended in a points-paying position. Formula: races finished in a scoring position ÷ race starts × 100, using that season's real points system. Why it's era-dependent: the number of positions that pay points has changed repeatedly — the top five scored in 1950, the top ten score today. A modern driver has roughly twice as many scoring positions available for the same relative performance, so a higher percentage doesn't necessarily mean a better driver. Like DNF rate, it's shown as context.