Graham Hill

Graham Hill Formula One World Championship career Nationality British Active years 1958 - 1975 Teams Lotus, BRM, Brabham, Hill Entries 178 (175 starts) Championships 2 (1962, 1968) Wins 14 Podiums 36 Career points 270 (289) Pole positions 13 Fastest laps 10 First entry 1958 Monaco Grand Prix First win 1962 Dutch Grand Prix Last win 1969 Monaco Grand Prix Last entry 1975 Monaco Grand Prix 24 Hours of Le Mans career Years 1958-1966, 1972 Teams Team Lotus Porsche AG NART/Rob Walker Aston Martin BRM Maranello Concessionaires Alan Mann Racing Ltd Equipe Matra-Simca Shell Best finish 1st (1972) Class wins 1 (1972)

Graham Hill driving a Lotus 49 at the Nürburgring in 1969

Template:FixHTML Norman Graham Hill (February 15, 1929 – November 29, 1975) was an British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. He was born in Hampstead, London.

Graham Hill is the only driver to win the so-called Triple Crown of Motorsport:

• the Indianapolis 500 (1966)
• the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1972)
• the Monaco Grand Prix (1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969)

Biography

Professional history

After serving in the military, Hill became a mechanic at Smiths Instruments, and then joined Team Lotus as a mechanic in the mid 1950s. At the unusually late age of nearly 30, he started racing, and due to Lotus' presence in Formula One, he quickly got a chance to race there, debuting at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix, retiring with a halfshaft failure.

In 1960, Hill joined BRM, and won the world championship with them in 1962. Hill was also part of the so-called 'British invasion' of drivers in the Indianapolis 500 during the mid-1960s, triumphing there in 1966 in a Lola-Ford.

In 1967, back at Lotus, Hill helped developing the Lotus 49 with the new Cosworth-V8 engine. After team mates Jim Clark and Mike Spence were killed in early 1968, Hill led the team, and won his second world championship in 1968 . The Lotus had a reputation of being very fragile and dangerous at that time, especially with the new aerodynamic aids which caused similar crashes of Hill and Jochen Rindt at the 1969 Spanish Grand Prix. A crash at the 1969 United States Grand Prix broke his legs and interrupted his career.

At age 41, he did not retire, but continued to race in F1 for several more years, with little success. His last win in Formula One was in the non-Championship International Trophy at Silverstone in 1971 with the "lobster claw" Brabham BT34. Hill was known during the latter part of his career for his wit and endurance. With Henri Pescarolo he won the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans for Matra. This victory completed the so-called Triple Crown of motorsport: winning the Indy 500, the Monaco Grand Prix, and the Le Mans 24 Hours. Hill is still the only person ever to have accomplished this.

After failing to qualify for the 1975 Monaco Grand Prix, where he had won five times, Hill retired to concentrate on running his team. With sponsorship from Embassy, Hill set up his own racing team in 1973: Embassy Hill. The team used chassis from Shadow and Lola before introducing its own design in 1975.

Family

Hill married Bette, in 1955. They had two daughters, Brigitte and Samantha, and a son, Damon who later became Formula One World Champion, the only son of a former champion to do so.

Death

In November 1975, Graham was killed when his Piper Aztec aeroplane (which he was piloting at the time) crashed in foggy conditions over Arkley Golf Course in North London. The crash resulted in not only the death of Hill but team manager Ray Brimble, mechanics Tony Alcock and Terry Richards, up-and-coming driver Tony Brise and designer Andy Smallman; all from the Embassy Hill team.

As Hill was uninsured his wife was prosecuted by the families of the other victims. Settling the claims wiped out Hill's estate.

Rowing

Hill at the 1971 Race of Champions.

Before taking up motor racing, Hill spent several years actively involved in rowing. Initially, he rowed at Southsea Rowing Club, while stationed in Portsmouth with the Royal Navy and at Auriol Rowing Club in Hammersmith. He met Bette at a Boxing Day party at Auriol and, while courting her, he also coached her clubmates at Stuart Ladies' Rowing Club on the River Lea.

In 1952 he joined London Rowing Club, then as now one of the largest and most successful clubs in Great Britain. From 1952 to 1954, Hill rowed in twenty finals with London, usually as stroke of the crew, eight of which resulted in wins. He also stroked the London eight in the highly prestigious Grand Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, losing a semi-final to Union Sportif Metropolitaine des Transports, France by a length.

Through his racing career he continued to support rowing and London. In 1968 when the club began a financial appeal to modernise its clubhouse, Hill launched proceedings by driving an old Morris Oxford, which had been obtained for £5, head-on into a boundary wall. Hill made three runs to reduce the wall to rubble, and the car was subsequently sold for £15.

Hill felt that the experience gained in rowing helped him in his motor-racing. He wrote in his autobiography:

"I really enjoyed my rowing. It really taught me a lot about myself, and I also think it is a great character-building sport...The self discipline required for rowing and the 'never say die' attitude obviously helped me through the difficult years that lay ahead."

Famously, Hill adopted the colours and cap design of London RC for his racing helmet - dark blue with white oar-shaped tabs. Damon Hill later adopted these same colours.

Race results

Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Team	WDC	Points
1958	Lotus	ARG	MON Ret	NED Ret	500	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER* Ret	POR Ret	ITA 6	MOR 16					Lotus	-	0
1959	Lotus	MON Ret	500	NED 7	FRA Ret	GBR 9	GER Ret	POR Ret	ITA Ret	USA							Lotus	-	0
1960	BRM	ARG Ret	MON 7	500	NED 3	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	POR Ret	ITA	USA Ret						BRM	15th	4
1961	BRM	MON Ret	NED 8	BEL Ret	FRA 6	GBR Ret	GER Ret	ITA Ret	USA 5								BRM	16th	3
1962	BRM	NED 1	MON 6	BEL 2	FRA 9	GBR 4	GER 1	ITA 1	USA 2	RSA 1							BRM	1st	42 (52)
1963	BRM	MON 1	BEL Ret	NED Ret	FRA 3	GBR 3	GER Ret	ITA 16	USA 1	MEX 4	RSA 3						BRM	2nd	29
1964	BRM	MON 1	NED 4	BEL 5	FRA 2	GBR 2	GER 2	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	USA 1	MEX 11						BRM	2nd	39 (41)
1965	BRM	RSA 3	MON 1	BEL 5	FRA 5	GBR 2	NED 4	GER 2	ITA 2	USA 1	MEX Ret						BRM	2nd	40 (47)
1966	BRM	MON 3	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 3	NED 2	GER 4	ITA Ret	USA Ret	MEX Ret							BRM	5th	17
1967	Lotus	RSA Ret	MON 2	NED Ret	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	CAN 4	ITA Ret	USA 2	MEX Ret					Lotus	7th	15
1968	Lotus	RSA 2	ESP 1	MON 1	BEL Ret	NED 9	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 2	ITA Ret	CAN 4	USA 2	MEX 1				Lotus	1st	48
1969	Lotus	RSA 2	ESP Ret	MON 1	NED 7	FRA 6	GBR 7	GER 4	ITA 9	CAN Ret	USA Ret	MEX					Lotus	7th	19
1970	Lotus	RSA 6	ESP 4	MON 5	BEL Ret	NED NC	FRA 10	GBR 6	GER Ret	AUT	ITA DNS	CAN NC	USA Ret	MEX Ret			Lotus	13th	7
1971	Brabham	RSA 9	ESP Ret	MON Ret	NED 10	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 9	AUT 5	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA 7					Brabham	21st	2
1972	Brabham	ARG Ret	RSA 6	ESP 10	MON 12	BEL Ret	FRA 10	GBR Ret	GER 6	AUT Ret	ITA 5	CAN 8	USA 11				Brabham	15th	4
1973	Shadow	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP Ret	BEL 9	MON Ret	SWE Ret	FRA 10	GBR Ret	NED NC	GER 13	AUT Ret	ITA 14	CAN 16	USA 13	Shadow	-	0
1974	Lola	ARG Ret	BRA 11	RSA 12	ESP Ret	BEL 8	MON 7	SWE 6	NED Ret	FRA 13	GBR 13	GER 9	AUT 12	ITA 8	CAN 14	USA 8	Lola	18th	1
1975	Lola	ARG 10	BRA 12	RSA DNQ	ESP	MON DNQ	BEL	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	USA		Hill	-	0

• Hill entered the 1958 German Grand Prix in a Formula Two chassis.

Indy 500 results

Year Car number Start Qual. speed Speed rank Finish Laps completed Laps led Race status Chassis 1966 24 15 159.243 23 1 200 10 Running Lola-Ford 1967 81 31 163.317 21 32 23 0 Piston Lotus-Ford 42/B1 1968 70 2 171.208 2 19 110 0 Crash T2 Lotus - Pratt&Whitney 56/3

Starts 3 Poles 0 Front Row 1 Wins 1 Top 5 1 Top 10 1 Retired 2

• Hill's 1966 victory marked the first win by a rookie driver since Frank Lockhart's 1927 win and the last until Juan Montoya's visit to Victory Lane in 2000.
• Hill's three race Indianapolis career ranks 940th on the list of career 3-race Indianapolis starting streaks, and 988th on the list of career 3-race Indianapolis finishing streaks.
• Hill entered the 1969 Indianapolis 500, but his car (Lotus-Ford Chassis 64/2) was withdrawn during practice along with those of Mario Andretti and Jochen Rindt due to delays rectifying problems associated with hub failure on Andretti's car.

Quotation

"I'm an artist, the track is my canvas, and the car is my brush."

"Time is of the essence and I don't have much essence left." [Quote from his biography published after his death]

Credits

Hill's easy wit and charm helped him become a television personality, notably on the BBC show Call My Bluff with Patrick Campbell and Frank Muir. For a number of years in the early 1970s he appeared as one half of a double act, with Jackie Stewart, as an insert within the BBC Sports Personality of the Year show.

In 1990, Hill was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Trivia

• Hill got irreverently immortalized on a Monty Python episode ("It's the Arts (or: Intermission)" sketch called "Historical Impersonations"), in which a Gumby appears asking to "see John the Baptist's impersonation of Graham Hill." The head of St. John the Baptist appears on a silver platter, which runs around the floor making putt-putt noises of a race car engine.
• Silverstone village, home to the track of the same name, has a road Graham Hill named for him.
• Graham Hill bend at Brands Hatch is named in his honour.
• Hill was involved with four films between 1966 and 1974, including appearances in Grand Prix and Caravan to Vaccarès, in which he appeared as a helicopter pilot.

External links

• Grand Prix History - Hall of Fame, Graham Hill
• Graham Hill Statistics
• Graham Hill Photos