Phil
Hill

Phil Hill was born in Miami in 1927 and grew up in Santa Monica, California. He left the University of Southern California early to go racing and worked as a mechanic on other drivers' cars. In 1949 he travelled to England as a Jaguar trainee and won his first race that year in an MG TC. He signed with Ferrari in 1956. Partnering the Belgian Olivier Gendebien, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1958, the first American-born winner of the race, and repeated the success in 1961 and 1962.

Hill made his Formula One debut in 1958 at the French Grand Prix in Reims, driving a Maserati. In 1959 he drove a full season for Ferrari and finished fourth in the championship. In 1960 he won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, which Cooper and other teams boycotted. It was the last win for a front-engined car in Formula One. At the race in the United States, which Ferrari did not attend, he drove a Cooper. He ended the year fifth in the standings.

In 1961 Hill became world champion in the Ferrari 156. He won the Belgian Grand Prix and, with two races left, trailed only his team-mate Wolfgang von Trips. At Monza von Trips was killed in a crash that also claimed the lives of spectators. Hill won the race and secured the title. Ferrari did not travel to the season finale in the United States. Alongside Mario Andretti, Hill is one of two American world champions, and the only one of the two who was born in the United States.

In 1962 he raced for Ferrari and Porsche and finished sixth in the championship, followed by ATS and Lotus in 1963 and Cooper in 1964. In 1966 three entries brought no starts, and at Monza he failed to qualify for All American Racers. In total he started 48 races, won three, took 16 podiums and six pole positions. In sports car racing he also drove for Ford and Chaparral. His last victory came in the 1967 BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch, and he ended his career that same year. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1989 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1991. His son Derek raced in International Formula 3000 from 2001 to 2003.

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