Phil Hill
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| Phil Hill | |
|---|---|
Nationality  American |
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| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Active years | 1958 - 1964, 1966 |
| Teams | Maserati, Ferrari, Cooper, Porsche, Automobili Turismo e Sport, Lotus, Eagle |
| Races | 51 (48 starts) |
| Championships | 1 (1961) |
| Wins | 3 |
| Podium finishes | 16 |
| Career points | 94 (98)[1] |
| Pole positions | 6 |
| Fastest laps | 6 |
| First race | 1958 French Grand Prix |
| First win | 1960 Italian Grand Prix |
| Last win | 1961 Italian Grand Prix |
| Last race | 1966 Italian Grand Prix |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Participating years | 1953, 1955-1967 |
|---|---|
| Teams | Rees T. Makins Scuderia Ferrari Aston Martin Ford Motor Company Shelby-American Inc. Chaparral Cars Inc. |
| Best finish | 1st (1958, 1961, 1962) |
| Class wins | 3 (1958, 1961, 1962) |
Philip Toll Hill Jr., (born April 20, 1927 in Miami, Florida) is the only American-born driver to win the Formula One driving championship.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Raised in Santa Monica, California, where he still lives, Phil Hill began racing cars at an early age, going to England as a Jaguar trainee in 1949 and signing with Enzo Ferrari’s team in 1956. He made his debut in the French Grand Prix at Reims France in 1958 driving a Maserati. That same year, he won the 24 hours of Le Mans with Belgian team mate Olivier Gendebien, driving for most of the night in horrific rainy conditions. He and Gendebien would go on to win the famous endurance race two more times.
In 1961, Phil Hill won the 24 hours of Le Mans again and the Formula One driving championship for the Ferrari team. He secured the championship when he won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza that year. His closest rival, teammate Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips, crashed and died in the same race. Earler that year, during a practice session at the German Grand Prix, Hill became the first man to lap the Nordschleife at the Nürburgring in less than nine minutes. Unlike Mario Andretti, Hill was born in the USA, and is still the only US-born F1 champion.
After leaving Ferrari at the end of 1962 in the the great walkout of engineers, he and fellow driver Giancarlo Baghetti started for their new team ATS. Hill continued in Formula One for a few more years until he switched to sports car racing with Ford Motor Company and the Chaparral Cars of Jim Hall.
Phil Hill has the distinction of having won the first (a 3 lap event at Carrell Speedway in a MG TC on July 24 1949) and last races of his driving career, the final victory driving for Chaparral in the "BOAC 500" at Brands Hatch in England in 1967.
Following his retirement, Hill built up an award winning classic car restoration business in the 1970s called Hill & Vaughn with business partner, Ken Vaughn until they sold the business off and Vaughn went on run a separate business on his own in 1984.[2] Hill also worked as a television commentator for ABC's Wide World of Sports[3]
Hill has had a long and distinguished association with Road & Track magazine. He has written several articles for them, including road tests and retrospective articles on historic cars and races. He shares his "grand old man" status at R&T with '60s racing rival Paul Frère.
Hill currently devotes his time to his vintage car collection and has judged at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance more often than any other individuals, 2006 was his 38th he has judged the event. [4]
His son Derek raced in Formula 3000 in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
[edit] Formula One World Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
[edit] Awards
- In 1991, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
- He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America as the sole sports cars driver in the inaugural 1989 class.
Primary career victories :
- 24 Hours of Le Mans (3) : 1958, 1961, 1962
- 12 Hours of Sebring (3) : 1958, 1959, 1961
- 1000km Buenos Aires (2) : 1958, 1960
- 1000km Nürburgring (2) : 1962, 1966
- F1 Italian Grand Prix (2) : 1960, 1961
- F1 Belgian Grand Prix (1) : 1961
[edit] Notes
- ^ 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.
- ^ Glenn Vaughn - Restoration Services, Inc
- ^ 8W - Who? - Phil Hill
- ^ Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance : People
[edit] External links
- The Official Web Site of Phil Hill
- Phil Hill's World Championship Season, Race-by-race
- Phill Hill statistics
| Preceded by Jack Brabham |
Formula One World Champion 1961 |
Succeeded by Graham Hill |
| Preceded by Ron Flockhart Ivor Bueb |
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1958 with: Olivier Gendebien |
Succeeded by Carroll Shelby Roy Salvadori |
| Preceded by Olivier Gendebien Paul Frère |
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1961 with: Olivier Gendebien |
Succeeded by Olivier Gendebien Phil Hill |
| Preceded by Olivier Gendebien Phil Hill |
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1962 with: Olivier Gendebien |
Succeeded by Ludovico Scarfiotti Lorenzo Bandini |
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