Peter
Whitehead

Peter Nield Whitehead was born on 12 November 1914 in Menston, Yorkshire. He began racing in a Riley at the age of 19 and moved up to an ERA B-Type the following season. In 1938 he won the Australian Grand Prix at Bathurst in his ERA, along with the first Australian Hillclimb Championship. During the Second World War he served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force. In 1947 he finished second in the British Empire Trophy on the Isle of Man. In 1948 he survived a plane crash on his way to Milan to buy a Ferrari 125, and was out of racing for a year.

Whitehead and his friend Dudley Folland were the first buyers of a Formula One car from Enzo Ferrari, purchasing a Ferrari 125 in 1949. Whitehead won the Czechoslovak Grand Prix, becoming the first Englishman since Richard Seaman to win a major international race outside Britain. In 1950 he also won the Jersey Road Race and the Ulster Trophy, neither of which counted towards the World Championship.

In the Formula One World Championship he made ten starts between 1950 and 1954. He drove for Ferrari in 1950 and 1951, for Alta and Ferrari in 1952, and for Cooper in 1953 and 1954. He finished ninth in the 1950 standings. His only podium came in the French Grand Prix, where he was in contention for victory until a gearbox problem dropped him to third. He later won the Lady Wigram Trophy in New Zealand in a Ferrari in 1954, 1956 and 1957, and the 1956 Rand Grand Prix.

In sports car racing he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1951 with Peter Walker in a Jaguar C-Type. In 1953 he concentrated on sports cars and won the Reims 12 Hours with Stirling Moss, then repeated the win in 1954 with Ken Wharton in a Jaguar D-Type. In 1958 he finished second at Le Mans with his half-brother Graham in an Aston Martin DB3S. On 21 September 1958 he was killed in the Tour de France endurance race near Lasalle, when the Jaguar driven by his half-brother left the road.

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