Nationality  British |
|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
|---|---|
| Active years | 1952 - 1958 |
| Teams | LD Hawthorn, AHM Bryde, Ferrari, Vanwall, BRM |
| Races | 47 (45 starts) |
| Championships | 1 (1958) |
| Wins | 3 |
| Podiums | 18 |
| Career points | 112.64 (127.64)[1] |
| Pole positions | 4 |
| Fastest laps | 6 |
| First race | 1952 Belgian Grand Prix |
| First win | 1953 French Grand Prix |
| Last win | 1958 French Grand Prix |
| Last race | 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
|---|---|
| Participating years | 1953, 1955 – 1958 |
| Teams | Jaguar Cars Scuderia Ferrari |
| Best finish | 1st (1955) |
| Class wins | 1 (1955) |
John Michael Hawthorn (10 April 1929 - 22 January 1959) was a racing driver, born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, England, and educated at Ardingly College, West Sussex.
Contents |
Biography
Mike Hawthorn made his competition debut driving his 1934 Riley Ulster Imp, KV 9475, winning the 1,100 c.c. sports car class at the Brighton Speed Trials on September 2, 1950. [2] In 1951 he won the Motor Sport Brooklands Memorial Trophy, a season-long contest run at Goodwood, driving his 1½-litre T.T. Riley, by one point. [3] He also won the Ulster Trophy Handicap at Dundrod and the Leinster Trophy at Wicklow that year. [4]
Hawthorn made his Formula One debut at the 1952 Belgian Grand Prix, finishing an impressive 4th place. He would later win his first Grand Prix, at only the 9th attempt, when he won the 1953 French Grand Prix at Reims.
In 1955, Hawthorn was the winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans race, despite being involved in the terrible crash that killed 84 spectators and fellow racer Pierre Levegh.
He was the winner of the 1958 Formula One Championship. With only one win that year against four wins of Stirling Moss, he benefited greatly from the gentlemanliness of Moss as shown at the Portuguese Grand Prix of Porto. Hawthorn was disqualified for pushing his car, against the rules, on the way to a second place finish. Moss interceded on Hawthorn's behalf and the decision was ultimately reversed. Those second place points at Porto contributed to Hawthorn winning the championship with a season total just one point more than that of Moss. After winning the title, Hawthorn immediately announced his retirement from Formula One.
Death
A matter of only months later, on 22 January 1959, Hawthorn died in an automobile accident on the A3 bypass near Guildford driving his British Racing Green highly tuned Jaguar 3.4-litre sedan (now known as the 3.4 Mk 1). What happened that day is still unknown, suggested causes being driver error, mechanical failure, or blackout. The crash has been ascribed to combination of high speed, bad weather, competitiveness and impulsiveness. Rob Walker's 300 SL Mercedes was ahead of him. Perhaps Hawthorn pushed his car to pass Walker's. Hawthorn's Jaguar, nicknamed "the Merceater" was heavily modified for high power and speed. "No Kraut car could overtake or outaccelerate" Hawthorn's Jaguar (these are the words in his biography Challenge Me The Race) - a close relation had been killed in the war, hence his dislike of Germans.
There is now evidence that Hawthorn had recently become subject to blackouts that might well have caused the accident.[5]
In Farnham, the town where he lived up to the time of his death, there is a street named Mike Hawthorn Drive (off Dogflud Way). It was also in this town that Hawthorn ran The Tourist Trophy Garage. Jaguars, Rileys, Fiats and Ferraris were serviced and sold from there.
Complete World Championship Results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
* Indicates Shared Drive
Hawthorn Memorial Trophy
The Hawthorn Memorial Trophy has been awarded to the most successful British or Commonwealth F1 driver every year since 1959.[6]
(Formula One World Drivers' Champions of the year in bold)
*In 1979, the trophy was not given to Gilles Villeneuve, a Canadian driver, who finished the season as runner-up but ahead of Alan Jones who finished third.
References
- ^ a b Up until 1990, not all points scored by a driver contributed to their final World Championship tally (see list of pointscoring systems for more information). Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
- ^ Motor Sport, October 1950, Page 493; Motor Sport, August 1951, Page 379.
- ^ Motor Sport, September 1951, Page 432.
- ^ Motor Sport, January 1952, Page 11.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Button receives Hawthorn Trophy". racecar.com. 2007-07-08. http://www.racecar.com/story.asp?NewsID=17848. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
External links
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lance Macklin |
BRDC International Trophy winner 1953 |
Succeeded by José Froilán González |
| Preceded by José Froilán González Maurice Trintignant |
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1955 with: Ivor Bueb |
Succeeded by Ron Flockhart Ninian Sanderson |
| Preceded by Juan Manuel Fangio |
Formula One World Champion 1958 |
Succeeded by Jack Brabham |
| Records | ||
| Preceded by Alberto Ascari 34 years, 16 days (1952 season) |
Youngest Formula One World Drivers' Champion 29 years, 192 days (1958 season) |
Succeeded by Jim Clark 27 years, 188 days (1963 season) |
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