Peter
Collins

Peter Collins was born in Kidderminster on 6 November 1931. He began racing at 17 in a 500cc Cooper, a class that became Formula Three in 1950. In 1951 he switched to a JBS-Norton and finished third in the Autosport National Formula 3 Championship. In 1952 he drove for HWM in Formula Two.

HWM moved him up to Formula One in the same year to take over from Stirling Moss. He made his debut at the Swiss Grand Prix, and his best World Championship result of 1952 was sixth at the French Grand Prix at Rouen. He stayed with HWM in 1953, drove for Vanwall in 1954 and Maserati in 1955, but scored no championship points in those years. Away from the World Championship, he won the BRDC International Trophy in 1955. In sports cars he won the 1953 RAC Tourist Trophy for Aston Martin and the 1955 Targa Florio with Moss in a Mercedes. He was runner-up at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in both 1955 and 1956.

He joined Ferrari in 1956, finished second at Monaco and won the Belgian and French Grands Prix. Late in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza he handed his car to team leader Juan Manuel Fangio, which cost him his chance of the title. Collins ended the championship in third place. In 1957 he won no World Championship races and finished ninth in the standings, with third place at the German Grand Prix among his results.

In 1958 he took third at Monaco and fifth in France. At the British Grand Prix at Silverstone he scored his third and final victory. In sports cars he won the 1000 km of Buenos Aires and the 12 Hours of Sebring with Phil Hill that year. Collins died after a crash during the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring on 3 August 1958, aged 26. His Formula One record stands at 32 starts, three wins and nine podium finishes.

Source: Wikipedia, “Peter Collins (racing driver)”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.