After his good form in the 1973 F2 European series, Jarier nearly signed for Ferrari, but their established driver Clay Regazzoni insisted on having the young Austrian Niki Lauda as his teammate. In 1974 Jarier drove a full season of Formula One, signing with the Shadow Racing Cars team. He became team leader following the death of Peter Revson, and finished 3rd at the Monaco Grand Prix on his way to 14th overall. As a sports car driver. Jarier led Matra's successful defense of its world sports car title, and proved himself the fastest driver of all on the classic road circuits, being faster than Ickx at Nürburgring and the old Spa road circuit and winning three other rounds on GP circuits at Brands Hatch, Watkins Glen and Paul Ricard.