Graham
Hill

Graham Hill was born on 15 February 1929 in Hampstead, London. He trained as an engineer, did national service in the Royal Navy and rowed for London Rowing Club from 1952 to 1954. He made his racing debut in Formula Three at the age of 25. At Lotus he started out as a mechanic, and in 1958 he made his Formula One debut for the team at the Monaco Grand Prix, where a broken halfshaft ended his race.

Hill moved to BRM in 1960 and scored his first podium at the Dutch Grand Prix. In 1962 he won that race for his first victory, took four wins in all that season and became World Champion for the first time. He finished second in the championship in 1963, 1964 and 1965, and in 1964 he was a single point short of John Surtees. After a winless Formula One season in 1966 he returned to Lotus in 1967 and helped develop the Lotus 49 with its new Cosworth engine. Following the death of team-mate Jim Clark in early 1968, Hill led the team and won his second title at the final round, ahead of Jackie Stewart.

In 1969 he won the Monaco Grand Prix for the fifth time. He carried the nickname "Mr. Monaco". He had a serious crash at the United States Grand Prix, which ended his season early. In 1970 he drove a Lotus for Rob Walker's team, and in 1971 and 1972 he raced for Brabham. In 1971 he won the International Trophy at Silverstone, a race that did not count towards the championship. From 1973 he competed with his own team, Embassy Hill, first with Shadow and Lola chassis and in 1975 with a car of its own design. When he failed to qualify for the 1975 Monaco Grand Prix, he ended his driving career. In Formula One he started 176 races, winning 14, taking 13 pole positions and reaching the podium 36 times.

Away from Formula One, Hill won the Indianapolis 500 in 1966, and in 1972 he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Henri Pescarolo in a Matra. That made him the first driver to complete the Triple Crown of Motorsport. On 29 November 1975 Hill died when the aeroplane he was piloting crashed in north London. Five members of his team, including driver Tony Brise, also died. They were returning from a test session in France. His son Damon became World Champion in 1996, making them the first father and son to win the title. In 1990 Hill was admitted to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Source: Wikipedia, “Graham Hill”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.