Mike Hawthorn
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| Mike Hawthorn | |
|---|---|
Nationality  British |
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| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Active years | 1952 - 1958 |
| Teams | LD Hawthorn, AHM Bryde, Ferrari, Vanwall, BRM |
| Races | 47 (45 starts) |
| Championships | 1 (1958) |
| Wins | 3 |
| Podium finishes | 18 |
| Career points | 112.64 (127.64)[1] |
| Pole positions | 4 |
| Fastest laps | 6 |
| First race | 1952 Belgian Grand Prix |
| First win | 1953 French Grand Prix |
| Last win | 1958 French Grand Prix |
| Last race | 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Participating years | 1953, 1955 – 1958 |
|---|---|
| Teams | Jaguar Cars Scuderia Ferrari |
| Best finish | 1st (1955) |
| Class wins | 1 (1955) |
John Michael Hawthorn (April 10, 1929 - January 22, 1959) was a racing driver, born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, England, and educated at Ardingly College, West Sussex.
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[edit] Biography
Hawthorn made his Formula One debut at the 1952 Belgian Grand Prix, finishing an impressive 4th place. This performance is the best ever grand prix debut by any British world champion.[2] He would later win his first Grand Prix, at only the 9th attempt, when he won the 1953 French Grand Prix at Reims.
In 1955, Hawthorn was the winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans race, despite being involved in the terrible crash that killed 82 spectators.
He was the winner of the 1958 Formula One Championship. With only one win that year against four wins of Stirling Moss, he benefited greatly from the gentlemanliness of Moss as shown at the Portuguese Grand Prix of Porto. Hawthorn was disqualified for pushing his car, against the rules, on the way to a second place finish. Moss interceded on Hawthorn's behalf and the decision was ultimately reversed. Those second place points at Porto contributed to Hawthorn winning the championship with a season total just one point more than that of Moss. After winning the title, Hawthorn immediately announced his retirement from Formula One.
[edit] Death
A matter of only months later, on January 22, 1959, Hawthorn died in an automobile accident on the A3 Guildford bypass. He was driving his British Racing Green highly tuned Jaguar 3.4 sedan (known as the Mark 1 or MK1 Jaguar). What exactly happened that day is still a mystery, but the crash was most probably caused by a combination of high speed, bad weather, competitiveness and impulsiveness. Hawthorn sighted racer Rob Walker's 300 SL Mercedes ahead on the road. Most likely without any thought Hawthorn instantly pushed his car to pass Walker's, regardless of whether it was safe to do so. Hawthorn's Jaguar, nicknamed "the Merceater" was heavily modified for high power and speed. "No Kraut car could overtake or outaccelerate" Hawthorn's (these are the words in his biography Challenge Me The Race).
In Farnham, the town where he lived up to the time of his death, there is a street named Mike Hawthorn Drive (off Dogflud Way). It was also in this town that Hawthorn ran the Tourist Trophy Garage. Jaguars, Rileys, Fiats and Ferraris were serviced there.
The crash in which Mike died might have been the result of a "stuck throttle". This is evidenced by examining parts of the mechanism that were removed shortly after the car was recovered.
[edit] Complete World Championship Results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
* Indicates Shared Drive
[edit] Hawthorn Memorial Trophy
The Hawthorn Memorial Trophy has been awarded to the most successful British or Commonwealth F1 driver every year since 1959.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Up until 1990, not all points scored by a driver contributed to their final World Championship tally (see list of pointscoring systems for more information). Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
- ^ Autosport magazine, March 15, 2007 issue. sidebar on pages 6 and 7.
- ^ "Button receives Hawthorn Trophy", racecar.com, 2007-07-08. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
[edit] External links
- The Mike Hawthorn Tribute Site Over 100 pages about the first British World Champion. Information is regularly updated and added
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lance Macklin |
BRDC International Trophy winner 1953 |
Succeeded by José Froilán González |
| Preceded by José Froilán González Maurice Trintignant |
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1955 with: Ivor Bueb |
Succeeded by Ron Flockhart Ninian Sanderson |
| Preceded by Juan Manuel Fangio |
Formula One World Champion 1958 |
Succeeded by Jack Brabham |
| Records | ||
| Preceded by Alberto Ascari 34 years, 16 days (1952 season) |
Youngest Formula One World Drivers' Champion 29 years, 192 days (1958 season) |
Succeeded by Jim Clark 27 years, 188 days (1963 season) |
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