Well there were 7 French drivers in that race.
27 total entrants, 2 DNPQ, 4 DNQ, 9 DNF, 12 finished. How times have changed. Nowadays quali is merely choosing the order they line up on the grid.
You said "nearly", so I'll go for Jean-Pierre Jarier. On pole and lead the race until an oil failure on lap 52 ?
He raced both F2 and F1 concurrently in 1973. Those drivers had a tough job jumping from one seat to another, often in mid season. Who changes seat mid-season nowadays? And a driver competing in two series would be asked about his commitment.
I see he had a bad run in 1975...
wiki wrote:1975 began with a bang, as he put the Shadow on pole position for the Argentine Grand Prix, only for a component to break in the warm-up, preventing Jarier from taking the start. He repeated the feat at the Brazilian Grand Prix, and then dominated the race until a fuel metering unit failed, ending his race.
