Mike Hawthorn

Mike Hawthorn

Nationality British
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

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.

Biography

Hawthorn made his Formula One debut at the 1952 Belgian Grand Prix, finishing an impressive 4th place. 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.

Hawthorn drove his Ferrari at the 1958 Argentine Grand Prix.

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.

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-litre sedan (now known as the 3.4 Mark 1 etc). What happened that day is still a mystery, suggested causes being driver error, mechanical failure, or blackout. The crash has been ascribed to combination of high speed, bad weather, competitiveness and impulsiveness. Rob Walker's 300 SL Mercedes was ahead of him. Perhaps Hawthorn pushed his car to pass Walker's. Hawthorn's Jaguar, nicknamed "the Merceater" was heavily modified for high power and speed. "No Kraut car could overtake or outaccelerate" Hawthorn's Jaguar (these are the words in his biography Challenge Me The Race) - a close relation had been killed in the war, hence his dislike of Germans.

There is now evidence that Hawthorn had recently become subject to blackouts that might well have caused the accident.^[2]

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 and sold from there.

Complete World Championship Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

* Indicates Shared Drive

Hawthorn Memorial Trophy

The Hawthorn Memorial Trophy has been awarded to the most successful British or Commonwealth F1 driver every year since 1959.^[3]

  Winners

(Formula One World Drivers' Champions of the year in bold)

Year	Winner
1959	Jack Brabham
1960	Jack Brabham
1961	Stirling Moss
1962	Graham Hill
1963	Jim Clark
1964	John Surtees
1965	Jim Clark
1966	Jack Brabham
1967	Denny Hulme
1968	Graham Hill
1969	Jackie Stewart
1970	Denny Hulme
1971	Jackie Stewart
1972	Jackie Stewart
1973	Jackie Stewart
1974	Denny Hulme
1975	James Hunt
1976	James Hunt
1977	James Hunt
1978	John Watson
1979	Alan Jones*
1980	Alan Jones
1981	Alan Jones
1982	John Watson
1983	John Watson
1984	Derek Warwick
1985	Nigel Mansell
1986	Nigel Mansell
1987	Nigel Mansell
1988	Derek Warwick
1989	Nigel Mansell
1990	Nigel Mansell
1991	Nigel Mansell
1992	Nigel Mansell
1993	Damon Hill
1994	Damon Hill
1995	Damon Hill
1996	Damon Hill
1997	Jacques Villeneuve
1998	David Coulthard
1999	Eddie Irvine
2000	David Coulthard
2001	David Coulthard
2002	David Coulthard
2003	David Coulthard
2004	Jenson Button
2005	Jenson Button
2006	Jenson Button
2007	Lewis Hamilton
2008	Lewis Hamilton

*In 1979, the trophy was not given to Gilles Villeneuve, a Canadian driver, who finished the season as runner-up.

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} 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.
2. ↑ [1]
3. ↑ "Button receives Hawthorn Trophy", racecar.com (2007-07-08). Retrieved on 2007-07-16. 

External links

• The Mike Hawthorn Tribute Site

Scuderia Ferrari Founder: Enzo Ferrari President: Luca Cordero di Montezemolo Current personnel: Mario Almondo | Luca Baldisseri | Aldo Costa | Stefano Domenicali | Gilles Simon | Nicholas Tombazis Former personnel: John Barnard | Ross Brawn | Gustav Brunner | Rory Byrne | Carlo Chiti | Gioacchino Colombo | Cesare Fiorio | Mauro Forghieri | Vittorio Jano | Aurelio Lampredi | Harvey Postlethwaite | Jean Todt Current drivers: Kimi Räikkönen | Felipe Massa | Luca Badoer | Marc Gené Former drivers World Champions: Alberto Ascari | Juan Manuel Fangio | Mike Hawthorn | Phil Hill | Niki Lauda | Jody Scheckter | Michael Schumacher | John Surtees Formula One cars: 125 | 275 | 340 | 375 | 500 | 553 | 625 | 555 | D50 | 801 | 412 | 246 | 256 | 156 | 158 | 1512 | 312 | 312B | 312T | 126C | 156/85 | F1/86 | F1/87 | 640 | 641 | 642 | 643 | F92A | F93A | 412T | F310 | F300 | F399 | F1-2000 | F2001 | F2002 | F2003-GA | F2004 | F2005 | 248 F1 | F2007 | F2008