John Watson (racing driver)

John Watson

Nation:	Great Britain
Automobile / Formula 1 world championship
First start:	1973 British Grand Prix
Last start:	1985 European Grand Prix
Constructors
1973–1974 Brabham  • 1975 Surtees  • 1975 Lotus  • 1975–1976 Penske  • 1977–1978 Brabham  • 1979–1983, 1985 McLaren
statistics
World Cup balance:	World Cup third ( 1982 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 152 5 2 5
World Cup points :	169
Podiums :	20th
Leadership laps :	287 over 1,238.4 km

John Marshall Watson , MBE (born May 4, 1946 in Belfast , Northern Ireland ) is a former British racing driver .

Between 1973 and 1985 he competed in 152 Grand Prix races in the top motorsport class, Formula 1 , of which he won five. Watson had his greatest successes with the McLaren team, with whom he was under contract from 1979 until the end of his career. In 1982 Watson reached third place in the drivers' world championship.

Career

John Watson in Hockenheim in 1971

Watson started Formula 1 in twelve years for a total of 152 Grand Prix and won five of them. He collected 169 World Championship points and made it onto the podium 20 times.

Watson made his debut on July 14, 1973 at the Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone . He celebrated his first victory on August 15, 1976 at the Austrian Grand Prix at the Österreichring . In 1983 John Watson set a previously unique record in Formula 1: He won the US Grand Prix in Long Beach from position 22.

At the end of the 1983 season, Watson had resigned after months of contract poker with his team boss Ron Dennis , after he had asked for significantly higher salaries than before. His team-mate Niki Lauda had urged him to extend his contract on the previous terms, which Watson categorically refused. McLaren finally signed the young Frenchman Alain Prost , who made no claims and was considered the upcoming world champion. In retrospect, it turned out that this was possibly the biggest mistake in Watson's career: In 1984 the McLaren drove in a league of their own, Lauda and Prost were superior first and second in the world championship. After a two-year break, he drove his last race at the European Grand Prix in Brands Hatch on October 6, 1985 , when he had actually said goodbye to Formula 1 and stood in for the injured Niki Lauda .

After his last Formula 1 race, Watson drove sports car races for Jaguar and Toyota . 1987 was his most successful year with three victories. After the end of his racing career, Watson worked as a sports reporter for Eurosport and ran the John Watson Performance Driving Center in Silverstone .

statistics

Statistics in the automobile / Formula 1 world championship

These statistics include all participations of the driver in the Formula 1 World Championship , which until 1980 was known as the Automobile World Championship.

Grand Prix victories

1976 Grand Prix of Austria ( Spielberg )  1981 British Grand Prix ( Silverstone )  1982 Belgian Grand Prix ( Zolder )

1982 US East Grand Prix ( Detroit )  1983 US Grand Prix West ( Long Beach )

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th
1973
									DNF						DNF
1974
	12	DNF	DNF	11	11	6th	11	7th	16	11	DNF	4th	7th	DNF	5
1975
	DSQ	10	DNF	8th	DNF	10	16	DNF	13	11 *	DNF	10		9
1976
	DNF	5	NC	DNF	7th	10	DNF	3	3	7th	1	DNF	11	10	6th	DNF
1977
	DNF	DNF	6th	DSQ	DNF	DNF	DNF	5	2	DNF	DNF	8th	DNF	DNF	12	DNF	DNF
1978
	DNF	8th	3	DNF	4th	DNF	5	DNF	4th	3	7th	7th	4th	2	DNF	DNF
1979
	3	8th	DNF	DNF	DNF	6th	4th	11	4th	5	9	DNF	DNF	6th	6th
1980
	DNF	11	11	4th	NC	DNQ	7th	8th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	4th	NC
1981
	DNF	8th	DNF	10	7th	DNF	3	2	1	6th	6th	DNF	DNF	2	7th
1982
	6th	2	6th		1	DNF	1	3	9	DNF	DNF	DNF	9	13	4th	2
1983
	DNF	1	DNF	5	DNQ	DNF	3	6th	9	5	9	3	DNF	DNF	DSQ
1985
														7th

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1984	Jaguar Group 44	Jaguar XJR-5	Claude Ballot-Léna	Tony Adamowicz	failure	accident
1985	Rothmans Porsche	Porsche 962C	Al Holbert	Vern Schuppan	failure	Engine failure
1987	Silk Cut Jaguar	Jaguar XJR8-LM	Jan Lammers	Win Percy	failure	accident
1988	Silk Cut Jaguar	Jaguar XJR9-LM	Henri Pescarolo	Raul Boesel	failure	Gearbox damage
1989	Toyota Team Tom's	Toyota 89C	Geoff Lees	Johnny Dumfries	failure	accident
1990	Richard Lloyd Racing	Porsche 962C	Allen mountain	Bruno Giacomelli	Rank 11

Web links

Commons : John Watson  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• "The John Watson Story" - Racing Biography