Graham Hill

Graham Hill
OBE
BornNorman Graham Hill
(1929-02-15)15 February 1929
London, England
Died29 November 1975(1975-11-29) (aged 46)
London, England
Championship titles
FIA World Drivers' Championship (1962, 1968)
Major victories
Monaco Grand Prix (1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969)
Indianapolis 500 (1966)
24 Hours of Le Mans (1972)
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Active years19581975
TeamsLotus, BRM, Brabham, Hill
Entries179 (176 starts)
Championships2 (1962, 1968)
Wins14
Podiums36
Career points270 (289)[1]
Pole positions13
Fastest laps10
First entry1958 Monaco Grand Prix
First win1962 Dutch Grand Prix
Last win1969 Monaco Grand Prix
Last entry1975 Monaco Grand Prix
Champ Car career
3 races run over 4 years
Best finish9th (1966)
First race1966 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Last race1968 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
First win1966 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Wins Podiums Poles
1 1 0
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years1958–1966, 1972
TeamsLotus, Porsche AG, NART-Walker, Aston Martin, Rover-BRM, Maranello, Alan Mann, Matra-Simca
Best finish1st (1972)
Class wins1 (1972)

Norman Graham Hill OBE (15 February 1929 – 29 November 1975) was a British racing driver and team owner, who was the Formula One World Champion twice, winning in 1962 and 1968 as well as being runner-up on three occasions (1963, 1964 and 1965). Despite not passing his driving test until 1953 when he was already 24 years of age, and only entering the world of motorsports a year later, Hill went on to become one of the greatest drivers of his generation. Hill is most celebrated for being the only driver ever to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport, an achievement which he defined as winning the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. While several of his peers have also espoused this definition, including fellow F1 World Champions Jacques Villeneuve (who also won the Indy 500), and Fernando Alonso (who also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans), the achievement is today most commonly defined as including the Monaco Grand Prix rather than the Formula One World Championship. By this newer definition, Hill is still the only driver to have ever won the Triple Crown, (since Alonso has not won the Indy 500) winning at Monaco with such frequency in the 1960s (5x; 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969) that he became known as "Mr. Monaco".[2][3][4][5][6] Hill crashed at the 1969 United States Grand Prix and was seriously injured, breaking both his legs and ending his season. Although he recovered and continued to race until 1975, Hill's career never again reached the same heights, and the Monaco Grand Prix victory earlier in 1969 was his last victory in Formula One.

Wins in the most prestigious races of all three of the major disciplines of motor racing cemented Hill's position as one of the most complete drivers in the history of the sport. Hill was also a well liked television personality and was frequently seen on television screens in the 1970s in a non-sporting capacity, appearing on a variety of programmes including panel games.

Upon leaving Brabham, Hill set up his own team in 1973, operating under the name Embassy Hill. Hill continued to race; however after failing to qualify for the 1975 Monaco Grand Prix he retired from driving to concentrate on the day-to-day operations of the team. That same year, Hill and five other members of the Embassy Hill team were killed when the aeroplane Hill was piloting from France crashed in fog at night on Arkley golf course while attempting to land at Elstree Airfield in north London.[7][8]

Hill and his son Damon were the first father and son pair to win Formula One World Championships. Hill's grandson Josh, Damon's son, also raced his way through the ranks until he retired from Formula Three in 2013 at the age of 22.

  1. ^ Up until 1990, not all points scored by a driver contributed to their final World Championship tally (see list of points scoring systems for more information). Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
  2. ^ Knight, Matthew; Stewart, Andrew (27 May 2016). "Monaco Grand Prix: The 'gentleman' racer who ruled on the French Riviera". CNN. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  3. ^ Baldwin, Alan (19 May 2017). "Motor racing – Triple crown: Monaco or F1 championship?". London: Reuters. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Tribute to Graham Hill". lastingtribute.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 January 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  5. ^ Bette Hill with Neil Ewart (1978). The Other Side of the Hill. Hutchison/Stanley Paul. p. 87. ISBN 0-09-134900-1.
  6. ^ Oliver Irish (15 June 2007). "Stick to the day job, Jacques". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  7. ^ "Plane crash kills driver Graham Hill". Pittsburgh Press. (Pennsylvania, U.S.). United Press International. 30 November 1975. p. D-1.
  8. ^ "After cheating death 20 years, Hill killed in air crash". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. (Florida, U.S.). Associated Press. 1 December 1975. p. 1C.

© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search