Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson (born 8 September 1956) is a Swedish former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One between and . In endurance racing, Johansson won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in with Joest Racing.
Born and raised in Växjö, Johansson began his career in kart racing, winning the Swedish Championship in 1973. After achieving multiple national titles in Formula Ford, Johansson progressed to British Formula Three, winning the championship in 1980. Johansson also made his Formula One debut that year—at the with Shadow—but did not qualify for either round he contested. Following multiple race wins in European Formula Two and podiums in the World Sportscar Championship, Johansson returned to Formula One in with Spirit. After sporadic appearances for Tyrrell Racing and Toleman in , Johansson signed for Scuderia Ferrari the following season, achieving his maiden podium finish in Canada. Retaining his seat for , Johansson scored several podiums as he finished a career-best fifth in the World Drivers' Championship. Replaced by Gerhard Berger at Ferrari in , Johansson moved to McLaren to partner Alain Prost; he scored five podiums on his way to sixth in the standings, but left for Ligier at the end of the season. After a non-classified championship finish in , Johansson moved to Onyx, scoring the team's only podium finish at the 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix. He was dropped by Onyx after the 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix, making further appearances for AGS and Footwork Arrows in before leaving Formula One, having achieved 12 podiums.
In addition to his ten seasons in Formula One, Johansson entered 15 editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans between and , taking three class wins amongst an overall win in , driving the Porsche WSC-95 alongside Michele Alboreto and Tom Kristensen. He also competed in the IndyCar World Series from 1992 to 1996, both seasons of Grand Prix Masters, and the inaugural season of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Johansson competed in the British Formula Three Championship from 1978 to 1980, winning the series in his final year, driving for future McLaren chief executive Ron Dennis' Project Four team.
In , Johansson often outpaced Alboreto, despite the Italian being the team's lead driver. The V6 turbo in the Ferrari F1/86 lacked nothing in power compared to the Honda, BMW, Renault and TAG-Porsche engines, but the car itself proved to be difficult, with both drivers complaining through the season about lack of downforce and the car's reluctance to drive well on all but the smoothest of circuits. Johansson finished fifth in the 1986 Drivers' Championship, his best-ever position, while Alboreto, who finished second in 1985, could only manage ninth place. There were many in Formula One, including highly respected then-BBC commentators Murray Walker and World Champion James Hunt, who believed that Ferrari were sacking the wrong driver, given that the Swede had generally outshone his more highly-paid teammate throughout the season.
Johansson's record of podium finishes without a win was equalled by Nick Heidfeld at the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix, who then took the record outright at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix.
In his 11-year Formula One career, in which he drove for ten different teams at 103 Grands Prix, Johansson achieved 12 podiums and scored a total of 88 championship points.
After retiring from Champ Car at the end of the 1996 season, Johansson returned to this type of racing. During 1997 he recorded two major race wins, at the 12 Hours of Sebring driving a Ferrari 333 SP with Andy Evans, FermÃn Vélez and Yannick Dalmas. Later in 1997 Johansson also won at Le Mans where he drove a TWR-Porsche WSC-95 for Joest Racing alongside his Ferrari F1 teammate of 1985 and 1986 Michele Alboreto, and young Danish people Tom Kristensen. For Kristensen it was to be the first of a record (as of 2025) 9 wins in the famous French classic.
In 1997, Johansson founded a successful Indy Lights team running Fredrik Larsson and Jeff Ward; in 1998 its drivers were Guy Smith and Luiz Garcia Jr.; for 1999 the seats went to Scott Dixon and Ben Collins.
During 1998 and 1999, Johansson raced for various sports car teams (like the unreliable Audi R8C Coupé at Le Mans) but in 2000 he started Johansson-Matthews racing with an American businessman called Jim Matthews. They competed in the American Le Mans Series using a Reynard 2KQ prototype. Unfortunately this wasn't a successful vehicle in its original form (though it was later developed into various other successful cars including the Zytek that he later raced) and the partnership dissolved.
In 2001, Johansson campaigned an Audi R8 prototype with backing from Gulf Oil and the assistance of Mike Earle's Arena team. That year he raced in the European Le Mans Series, the American Le Mans Series and at Le Mans itself. His co-drivers were Guy Smith and Patrick Lemarie. At Le Mans Smith was replaced by Tom Coronel.
2002 saw Johansson back in an Audi R8 but this time one run by the Miami based Champion Racing team. His co-driver was ex Formula One driver Johnny Herbert and they competed in the American Le Mans Series.
For 2003, Johansson returned to CART as a team owner, running American Spirit Team Johansson with Jimmy Vasser and Ryan Hunter-Reay as drivers. This was one of many new teams for the 2003 CART season; ironically, Bachelart's Mi-Jack Conquest Racing team was another. The team was under-funded, and although Hunter-Reay scored a fluke win in the wet conditions at Australia, it folded at the end of the season.
After only competing in a couple of celebrity races and occasional outings in the works Zytek in 2004 Johansson returned to full-time racing in 2005 driving the Chip Ganassi run New Century Mortgage sponsored Lexus Riley Daytona Prototype in the American Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. With co-driver Cort Wagner he scored his best finish, a second place, at Mont Tremblant in Canada, they finished the year in fifth place in the championship.
In 2006 as well as the Grand Prix Masters series, Johansson has made occasional appearances in Grand-Am for the Cheever and CITGO teams, and has continued an association with the works Zytek team in the Le Mans Series.
2007 saw Johansson competing in a Highcroft Racing Courage-Acura in the LMP2 class of the American Le Mans Series, sharing with David Brabham. He was due to race a Zytek at Le Mans in 2007, but the team could not rebuild the car in time after a test-day accident, and Johansson made a last minute deal to drive a works Courage.
Johansson took part in the inaugural Speedcar Series in 2008, where luck once again deserted him as the victim of a lot of other drivers' accidents. For 2008 Johansson did not have a full-time sports car drive, but had some outings planned in the Highcroft Acura ARX-01 in the ALMS and a place with the Epsilon Euskadi team at Le Mans.
Outside the cockpit, Johansson has a number of business ventures (including managing several successful drivers such as Scott Dixon) and is a keen artist – he is particularly known for his watch designs. Also, Johansson does expert commentary on Viasat Motor during Formula One races on occasion.
In 2011, Johansson raced a Pescarolo Sport-Judd in the Petit Le Mans 10 Hours and a Ford GT in the Malaysian 12 Hours at Sepang.
In 2012, Johansson returned to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, racing a Lola B12/80.
| British Formula Three | Chevron Cars Ltd | 18 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 54 | 4th |
| Derek McMahon Racing | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||
| European Formula Two | ICI Roloil Racing Team | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| British Formula Three | Project Four Racing | 20 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 13 | 97 | 1st |
| Japanese Formula Two | Hachimonjiya Speed Box Team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 5th |
| Walter Wolf Racing Japan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Racing Mate Project Team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Japanese Formula Two | Spirit Racing | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 7th |
| World Sportscar Championship | BASF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Japanese Formula Two | RACING MATE Uchida Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 17th |
| World Sportscar Championship | Joest Racing | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 36 | 11th |
| Kremer Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | Joest Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 6th |
| Toleman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Japanese Formula Two | Advan Sports Nova | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 102 (108) | 2nd |
| World Sportscar Championship | Joest Racing | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 38th |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | ||
| Scuderia Ferrari | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| World Sportscar Championship | Team Sauber Mercedes | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 55 | 19th |
| Toyota Team Tom's | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | Mazdaspeed | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | |
| Footwork Arrows Porsche | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Footwork Arrows Ford | ||||||||
| World Sportscar Championship | Konrad Motorsport | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 39th |
| Mazdaspeed | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | Konrad Motorsport | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 6th |
| GReddy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| PPG Indy Car World Series | HVM Racing | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 47 | 14th |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | GReddy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 5th |
| Arena Motorsport | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | ||
| 24 Hours of Le Mans | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | ||
| ! nowrap Polifac BMW Junior Team ! nowrap | March 792 ! BMW | SIL | Hockenheimring | Thruxton Circuit | Eifelrennen | VLL | Mugello Circuit | PAU | Hockenheimring | ZAN | PER | MIS | Donington Park | ! NC ! 0 |
| ! nowrap ICI Roloil Racing Team ! nowrap | March 802 ! BMW | Thruxton Circuit | Hockenheimring | Eifelrennen | VLL | PAU | SIL | Zolder | Mugello Circuit | ZAN | PER | MIS | Hockenheimring | ! NC ! 0 |
| ! nowrap Docking Spitzley Team Toleman ! nowrap | Lola Cars ! Hart | SIL | Hockenheimring | Thruxton Circuit | Eifelrennen | VLL | Mugello Circuit | PAU | PER | SPA | Donington Park | MIS | Mantorp Park | ! 4th ! 30 |
| ! nowrap Marlboro Team Spirit ! nowrap | Spirit 201 ! Honda | SIL | Hockenheimring | Thruxton Circuit | Eifelrennen | Mugello Circuit | VLL | PAU | SPA | Hockenheimring | Donington Park | Mantorp Park | PER | MIS ! 8th ! 11 |
| 1981 ! nowrap | Hachimonjiya Speed Box Team ! rowspan=3 nowrap | March 802 ! rowspan=3 nowrap | BMW M12 | Suzuka Circuit | Suzuka Circuit | !rowspan=3 5th !rowspan=3 | 30 | ||||||
| 1982 ! nowrap | Spirit Racing ! nowrap | Spirit 201 ! nowrap | Honda | Suzuka Circuit | Fuji Speedway | Suzuka Circuit | Suzuka Circuit | Suzuka Circuit | Suzuka Circuit | ! 7th ! 27 | |||
| 1983 ! nowrap | RACING MATE Uchida Racing ! nowrap | March 832 ! nowrap | BMW M12 | Suzuka Circuit | Fuji Speedway | Mine Circuit | Suzuka Circuit | Suzuka Circuit | Fuji Speedway | Suzuka Circuit | Suzuka Circuit ! 17th ! 4 | ||
| 1984 ! nowrap | Advan Sports Nova ! nowrap | March 842 ! nowrap | Honda | Suzuka Circuit | Fuji Speedway | Mine Circuit | Suzuka Circuit | Suzuka Circuit | Fuji Speedway | Suzuka Circuit | Suzuka Circuit | 2nd | 102 (108) |
| ! nowrap Shadow Cars ! nowrap | Shadow DN11 ! nowrap | Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | BEL | MON | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | USA | ! NC ! 0 | ||
| !rowspan=2 nowrap Spirit Racing ! nowrap | Spirit 201 !rowspan=2 nowrap | Honda RA163E 1.5 V6 Turbocharger | BRA | USW | FRA | SMR | MON | BEL | DET | CAN | GBR | AUT | ITA | EUR | RSA | !rowspan=2 NC !rowspan=2 | 0 | ||
| ! nowrap Tyrrell Racing ! nowrap | Tyrrell Racing 012 ! nowrap | Ford Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8 | BRA | RSA | BEL | SMR | FRA | MON | CAN | DET | DAL | AUT | !rowspan=2 17th !rowspan=2 | 3 | |||||
| ! nowrap Tyrrell Racing ! nowrap | Tyrrell Racing 012 ! nowrap | Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8 | BRA | !rowspan=2 7th !rowspan=2 | 26 | ||||||||||||||
| ! nowrap Scuderia Ferrari ! nowrap | Scuderia Ferrari F1/86 ! nowrap | Scuderia Ferrari 032 1.5 V6 Turbocharger | BRA | ESP | SMR | MON | BEL | CAN | DET | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | AUT | ITA | POR | MEX | AUS ! 5th ! 23 | |
| ! nowrap Marlboro McLaren TAG Turbo ! nowrap | McLaren MP4/3 ! nowrap | TAG TTE PO1 1.5 V6 Turbocharger | BRA | SMR | BEL | MON | DET | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | AUT | ITA | POR | ESP | MEX | JPN | AUS ! 6th ! 30 | |
| ! nowrap Equipe Ligier ! nowrap | Equipe Ligier JS31 ! nowrap | Judd CV 3.5 V8 | BRA | SMR | MON | MEX | CAN | DET | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS ! NC ! 0 | |
| ! nowrap Moneytron Onyx Formula One ! nowrap | Onyx ORE-1 ! nowrap | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | BRA | SMR | MON | MEX | USA | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS ! 12th ! 6 | ||
| ! nowrap Monteverdi Onyx Formula One ! nowrap | Onyx ORE-1 ! nowrap | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | USA | BRA | SMR | MON | CAN | MEX | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS ! NC ! 0 | |
| ! nowrap AGS ! nowrap | AGS JH25B ! nowrap | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | USA | BRA | SMR | MON | !rowspan=3 NC !rowspan=3 | 0 | |||||||||||
Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
| 1982 ! nowrap | BASF ! C ! nowrap | Sauber SHS C6 ! nowrap | Cosworth DFL 4.0 V8 | MNZ | SIL | NÜR | LMS | SPA | Mugello Circuit | Fuji Speedway | Brands Hatch | ! NC ! 0 | |||||
| 1983 ! nowrap | Sorga S.A. / Joest Racing !rowspan=2 | C !rowspan=2 nowrap | Porsche 956 !rowspan=2 nowrap | Porsche Type-935 2.6 F6 Turbocharger | MNZ | SIL | NÜR | LMS | SPA | Kyalami | !rowspan=2 11th !rowspan=2 | 36 | |||||
| 1984 ! nowrap | New-Man Joest Racing ! C1 ! nowrap | Porsche 956 ! nowrap | Porsche Type-935 2.6 F6 Turbocharger | MNZ | SIL | LMS | NÜR | BRH | MOS | SPA | IMO | Fuji Speedway | Kyalami | SAN ! 38th ! 13 | |||
| 1988 ! nowrap | Sauber !rowspan=2 | C1 ! nowrap | Sauber C9 ! nowrap | Mercedes-Benz M117 5.0 V8 Turbocharger | JER | JAR | MNZ | SIL | LMS | BRN | BRH | NÜR | SPA | SAN !rowspan=2 | 19th !rowspan=2 | 55 | |
| 1991 ! nowrap | Konrad Motorsport !rowspan=2 | C2 ! nowrap | Porsche 962C ! nowrap | Porsche Type-935 3.2 F6 Turbocharger | SUZ | MNZ | SIL | !rowspan=3 39th !rowspan=3 | 6 | ||||||||
| 1992 ! nowrap | Euro Racing ! C1 ! nowrap | Lola T92/10 ! nowrap | Judd GV10 3.5 V10 | MNZ | !rowspan=2 NC !rowspan=2 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Courage Compétition | Jean-Marc Gounon Guillaume Moreau | Courage LC70-AER | LMP1 | 175 | DNF | DNF |
| 1992 !nowrap | Bettenhausen Racing !rowspan=6 | 16 !nowrap | Penske Racing PC-20 !nowrap | Chevrolet 265A V8 Turbocharger | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY | DET | POR | MIL | NHA | TOR | MCH | CLE | ROA | VAN | MDO | NAZ | LAG | 14th | 47 ! | |
| 1993 !nowrap | Bettenhausen Motorsports !nowrap | Penske Racing PC-22 !nowrap | Chevrolet 265C V8 Turbocharger | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MCH | NHA | ROA | VAN | MDO | NAZ | LAG | 13th | 43 ! | ||
| 1994 !nowrap | Bettenhausen Motorsports !nowrap | Penske Racing PC-22 !nowrap | Ilmor 265D V8 Turbocharger | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MCH | MDO | NHA | VAN | ROA | NAZ | LAG | 11th | 57 ! | ||
| 1995 !rowspan="2" nowrap | Bettenhausen Motorsports !nowrap | Penske Racing PC-23 !nowrap | Mercedes-Benz IC108B V8 Turbocharger | MIA | SRF | PHX | LBH | NAZ | MIL | DET | POR | ROA | TOR | CLE | MCH | MDO | NHA | VAN | LAG | 13th | 60 !rowspan=2 | ||
| 1996 !nowrap | Bettenhausen Racing !nowrap | Reynard 96i !nowrap | Mercedes-Benz IC108C V8 Turbocharger | MIA | RIO | SRF | LBH | NAZ | 500 | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MCH | MDO | ROA | VAN | LAG | 15th | 43 ! |
| 1993 | Penske Racing PC-22 | Chevrolet 265C V8 Turbocharger | 6 | 11 | Bettenhausen Motorsports |
| 1994 | Penske Racing PC-22 | Ilmor 265D V8 Turbocharger | 27 | 15 | Bettenhausen Motorsports |
| 1995 | Reynard 94i | Ford XB V8 Turbocharger | 31 | 16 | Bettenhausen Motorsports |
| 2005 !nowrap | Team Phantom !nowrap | Delta Motorsport GPM !nowrap | Nicholson McLaren 3.5 V8 | Kyalami | ||||
| 2006 !nowrap | Team Altech !rowspan=2 nowrap | Delta Motorsport GPM !rowspan=2 nowrap | Nicholson McLaren 3.5 V8 | QAT | Monza Circuit | |||
| 2012 !nowrap | Fabien Giroix ! LMP2 !nowrap | Lola B12/80 !nowrap | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 V8 | SEB | SPA | LMS | SIL | SÃO | BHR | FUJ | SHA ! 76th ! 1.5 |
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