(Reuters) – Former Formula One racer Jochen Mass, who won the only grand prix in which a female driver has finished in the points and was also involved in Canadian Gilles Villeneuve’s fatal 1982 accident, has died at the age of 78.
The German’s death, due to complications from a stroke suffered in February, was announced by his family on Instagram on Sunday.
Mass won for McLaren in a 1975 Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona’s Montjuic circuit that was cut short with half points awarded after compatriot Rolf Stommelen’s Lola left the track and killed four spectators.
Italian Lella Lombardi, the last female to race in F1, finished sixth and took half a point.
In 1982, in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, Canadian Villeneuve’s Ferrari crashed after a collision with Mass’s March. The German retired from Formula One later that year.
“Our family never blamed you, it was a racing incident,” Villeneuve’s son and 1997 world champion Jacques assured him later.
“I am deeply saddened to hear the news that my friend Jochen Mass has passed away,” said Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali.
“He had an incredible life at the heart of our sport and was a wonderful person who embraced life and loved Formula One.”
Mass, who raced in 114 grands prix and had a later career as a broadcaster, also won the Le Mans 24 Hours with Swiss-based Sauber in 1989.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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