Jo Schlesser's Formula One career was tragically short. Well-known locally, he was hired by Honda to drive its experimental air-cooled F1 car (dubbed the RA302) at the French Grand Prix. John Surtees had pronounced the car unsafe, but it was entered for the race nonetheless. On the second lap the car slid wide at a corner and crashed into a bank, with its full tank of fuel and magnesium body exploding on impact. He became the fourth driver to die in 1968 and at the end of the season Honda withdrew from the sport.

Schlesser had some experience of an F1 grand prix as he had entered the 1966 and 1967 German GPs, driving a Formula 2 spec Matra-Cosworth. He had also raced in NASCAR, finishing 13th in the Daytona 500. A friend of Jo Schlesser's, future Formula One constuctor Guy Ligier always gave his cars type numbers beginning with 'JS' as a tribute to him.