5. Johnny Servoz-Gavin
Active years: 1967 - 1970
11GPs - 1 podium
The name George-Francis Servoz-Gavin will likely be viewed as an unlikely choice for this list. But in our book, despite his limited track record in F1, 'Johnny' fits the bill based on the raw and phenomenal talent with which he was naturally endowed.
Servoz-Gavin was the real deal. As a young charger who had mesmerized in the junior ranks power brokers Jean-Luc Lagardère from Matra and François Guitar from Elf, Johnny sampled F1 for the very first time in 1967 at Monaco, albeit at the wheel of an F2 machine when the less powerful cars were allowed to make up the field that year.
The 24-year-old was awarded a proper debut in the Principality in 1968 when he was drafted in by Elf and Ken Tyrrell as a replacement for Jackie Stewart who had damaged his wrist in an F2 race.
In qualifying, undaunted by the venue and the occasion, the mercurial young charger skillfully flicked his Matra-Cosworth around the streets of Monte Carlo to put himself on the front row of the grid alongside Graham Hill's Lotus!
The next day, at the drop of the flag, the blue Matra charged into St Devote ahead of the pack, leaving everyone in its stride. Alas, while holding a commanding lead after three laps, Servoz fumbled his exit at the chicane, clipped the barrier and broke his left rear suspension.
But Tyrrell and Guiter had seen enough. They entrusted the Frenchman with another outing later in the season at Monza, where Servoz qualified P13. A spirited drive elevated him to third with ten laps to go. With McLaren's Denny Hulme out of reach in the lead, a fierce battle ensued with Ferrari's Jacky Ickx for the runner-up spot and Servoz had the last word.
The following year, Servoz-Gavin was confined by Matra to the European F2 championship which he duly won, although there were a few F1 outings with Matra's experimental four-wheel drive MS84, including a points finish in Canada.
However, in 1970, he was nominated for a full-time seat at Tyrrell alongside Stewart, free to resume his blistering path to Grand Prix stardom. But a seemingly insignificant event suffered during the winter season entailed big consequences for the daring Frenchman.
Driving an off-road vehicle in a local semi-rally in the woodlands of southern France, Servoz was hit by a branch that damaged his right eye. He kept the incident to himself but spent a month in a dark room to recover from the injury.
A puzzled Ken Tyrrell watched Servoz qualify 2 seconds adrift of Stewart's identical March 701 in South Africa, where he retired after an uneventful stint in the midfield. A fifth-place finish at Jarama offered a bit of encouragement.
But at Monaco, the scene of his sensational debut two years earlier, he failed to qualify after another mishap at the chicane.
On Sunday morning, he woke up in his hotel room, gazed at the waveless blue Riviera, and decided on the spot to call it a day.
Johnny Servoz-Gavin - the real deal - never raced again.
