Mike Thackwell
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Mike Thackwell (b. March 30, 1961) is a former Formula One driver from Auckland, New Zealand. He participated in 5 grands prix, debuting on August 31, 1980. He scored no championship points.
His particular achievement was to be the youngest driver to compete in Formula One on his debut, at nineteen years of age, a few months younger than Ricardo Rodriguez. (Nico Rosberg first tested an F1 car at 17, becoming the youngest driver to try a car, and Sebastian Vettel became in August 2006 the youngest driver to appear at a Grand Prix meeting, but only as a test driver). His debut in a Tyrrell was unsuccessful and returning to Formula Two he suffered a massive testing accident (which many claim permanently affected his driving). His career stalled until he rejoined the works Ralt team in 1983, coming second in that year's F2 championship and winning the final championship in 1984, during which year he had a few more F1 drives. Despite further race wins in Formula 3000 and success in sports cars for Jaguar and Sauber-Mercedes, Mike failed to reestablish himself in F1 and turned his back on the sport at the end of 1987. He is widely felt to have been one one the great 'lost talents' - a driver in the wrong place at the wrong time.
[edit] Complete Formula One Results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Team | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Arrows | ARG |
BRA |
SAF |
USAW |
BEL |
MON |
FRA |
GBR |
GER |
AUT |
DUT DNQ |
ITA |
CAN Ret |
USA DNQ |
Tyrrell | - | 0 | ||
| 1984 | RAM | BRA |
RSA |
BEL |
SMR |
FRA |
MON |
CAN Ret |
USAE |
USA |
GBR |
GER DNQ |
AUT |
DUT |
ITA |
EUR |
POR |
Tyrrell | - | 0 |
| Preceded by: Jonathan Palmer |
European Formula Two Champion 1984 |
Succeeded by: 1985 Formula 3000 champion was Christian Danner |
