Peter Collins

This article is about the automobile racer. For other namesake see Peter Collins (disambiguation) .

Peter Collins

Nation:	United Kingdom
Automobile world championship
First start:	1952 Swiss Grand Prix
Last start:	1958 German Grand Prix
Constructors
1952–1953  HWM  • 1954  Vanwall  • 1955  BRM  • 1955  Maserati  • 1956–1958  Ferrari
statistics
World Cup balance:	World Cup third ( 1956 )
Starts Victories Poles SR 32 3 - -
World Cup points :	47
Podiums :	9
Leadership laps :	124 over 907 km

Peter Collins (born November 6, 1931 in Kidderminster , Worcestershire , † August 3, 1958 in Bonn ) was a British automobile racing driver .

The Formula 3 driver

Collins was the son of an automobile dealer. At the age of 17, he achieved his first Formula 3 race victory in 1949 . Like Stirling Moss, who was two years his senior, he continued to test himself in European Formula 3 with 500 cc engines in the early 1950s.

Entry into the automobile world championship with HWM

1952 he signed as Moss at HWM , there to drive the inferior dovetail car whose Alta - motor with 30 hp less against the preponderance of the chassis struggled. He stayed with the team in 1953, but the chances had now fallen as the cars were unreliable. Only in races held parallel to the world championship races that were driven with Formula 2 cars did he achieve success with second place in Les Sables-d'Olonne and the Eifel race on the Nürburgring.

Parole in a sports car at Aston Martin

The team leader of Aston Martin , John Wyer had become aware already on Collins and signed him for the years to 1955, where he worked for his living sports car race in which denied and the Aston Martin DB3 1952 nine-hour race at Goodwood win could. His victory in the Northern Irish RAC Tourist Trophy even gave his team their first victory in the sports car world championship in 1953 . Further podium finishes for Aston Martin followed, with second place in the Le Mans 24 Hours of 1955 being the greatest success.

Interlude at Vanwall and BRM

But before that he started with a Vanwall at the Grand Prix of Great Britain and Italy , but the "English Ferrari" in 1954 were still too unreliable at the regular races. He was also seen in the same races in 1955 - this time with a private Maserati , another race for BRM was handicapped from the outset, as the car arrived too late for the correct set-up. For once, he drove the Targa Florio in a Mercedes 300 SLR alongside Moss and won.

Success for Ferrari

1956 Formula 1 season

Enzo Ferrari signed him for the 1956 season , which was to be his best racing year. Two race wins, in Spa-Francorchamps and Reims , as well as three second placings kept him all chances of winning the title until the end of the world championship, as he was tied with Maserati driver Jean Behra, thanks to 22 points, only seven points behind Fangio.

But when his team-mate Juan Manuel Fangio retired from the race in Monza with his own car due to a broken steering lever, the Ferrari team management wanted to direct the Ferrari driver Luigi Musso , who was in third position, to the pits in view of Behra, who was in fourth place Fangio as a top pilot to secure the necessary points by exchanging vehicles. However, Musso refused this exchange in front of his home crowd and in the fight for victory.

On lap 35, Peter Collins, at this point in second place, drove to a tire change and saw the demoralized Fangio; then Collins offered him his car. Fangio changed vehicles and won the world championship. He gave Collins credit for this “fair play” gesture, as did the Italian fans.

1957 Formula 1 season

The following year, 1957 , Mike Hawthorn drove again for Ferrari . During this time the two became close friends. Both fought for the title that year with the Lancia Ferrari against Fangio and Moss (Vanwall). The Argentine had switched to Maserati out of frustration with his treatment at Ferrari and was able to keep younger rivals at bay through his experience and use of the mature Maserati 250F .

Operations in Ferrari sports cars

During his engagement with Ferrari, Collins also made successful appearances in Ferrari sports cars. Second place in the 1956 Mille Miglia in a Ferrari 860 Monza , victory in the Sebring 12-hour race in Florida and success in the 1000 km race in Buenos Aires with a Ferrari 250 demonstrated the success of these outings.

Death at the Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in 1958

At the beginning of the Formula 1 season in 1958 , Peter Collins was next to Hawthorn, Moss and Tony Brooks title contender. A win at his home Grand Prix at Silverstone raised additional hopes.

Two weeks later, at the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring , he was fighting for the lead with his Ferrari against Brooks Vanwall when he turned into a right-hand bend at the “Pflanzgarten” depression, lost control and rolled over into a low embankment was thrown into the cockpit , where it collided with a tree.

Collins was taken to a Bonn hospital by helicopter, where he died of severe head injuries the following night. He left behind his wife, Louise King, a native American whom he married in 1957.

statistics

Statistics in the automobile world championship

Grand Prix victories

• 1956 Belgian Grand Prix ( Spa-Francorchamps ) 
• 1956 French Grand Prix ( Reims ) 
• 1958 British Grand Prix ( Silverstone ) 

general overview

season	team	chassis	engine	run	Victories	Second	Third	Poles	nice Race laps	Points	WM-Pos.
1952	HW Motors	HWM 52	Alta 2.0 L4	4th	-	-	-	-	-	-	NC
1953	HW Motors	HWM 53	Alta 2.5 L4	4th	-	-	-	-	-	-	NC
1954	Vandervell Products Ltd.	Vanwall Special	Vanwall 2.5 L4	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	NC
1955	Owen Racing Organization	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	NC
	Officine Alfieri Maserati			1	-	-	-	-	-
1956	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 555 Super Qualo	Ferrari 2.5 L4	1	-	-	-	-	-	25th	3.
		Ferrari D50	Ferrari 2.5 V8	6th	2	3	-	-	-
1957	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari D50	Ferrari 2.5 V8	1	-	-	-	-	-	8th	9.
		Ferrari 801	Ferrari 2.5 V8	5	-	-	2	-	-
1958	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari Dino 246F1	Ferrari 2.4 V6	7th	1	-	1	-	-	14th	5.
total				32	3	3	3	-	-	47

Single results

season	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11
1952
	DNF		DNF	6th	DNF	DNS		DNQ
1953
			8th	DNF	13	DNF
1954
					DNF			7th	DNS
1955
						DNF	DNF
1956
	DNF	2		1	1	2	DNF	2
1957
	6th	DNF		3	4th	3		DNF
1958
	DNF	3	DNF		DNF	5	1	DNF

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	placement	Failure reason
1952	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin DB3 Spyder	Lance Macklin	failure	accident
1953	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin DB3S	Reginald Parnell	failure	accident
1954	David Brown	Aston Martin DB3S Coupe	Prince Bira	failure	accident
1955	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin DB3S	Paul Brother	Rank 2 and class win
1956	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin DB3S	Stirling Moss	Rank 2 and class win
1957	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 335MM	Phil Hill	failure	Engine failure
1958	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 250TR 58	Mike Hawthorn	failure	Clutch damage

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1953	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin DB3	Geoffrey Duke	failure	accident
1954	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin DB3S	Pat Griffith	failure	Brakes
1956	David Brown & Sons Ltd.	Aston Martin DB3S	Stirling Moss	failure	Gearbox damage
1957	Ferrari Factory	Ferrari 315 Sport	Maurice Trintignant	Rank 6
1958	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 250TR / 58	Phil Hill	Overall victory

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th
1953	Aston Martin	Aston Martin DB3 Aston Martin DB3S	SEB	MIM	LEM	SPA	ONLY	RTT	CAP
			DNF	16	DNF			1
1954	Aston Martin	Aston Martin DB3S	BUA	SEB	MIM	LEM	RTT	CAP
			3	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF
1955	Aston Martin Daimler-Benz AG	Aston Martin DB3S Mercedes-Benz 300SLR	BUA	SEB	MIM	LEM	RTT	TAR
					DNF	2	DNF	1
1956	Scuderia Ferrari Aston Martin	Ferrari 410 Sport Aston Martin DB3S Ferrari 860 Monza Ferrari 290MM	BUA	SEB	MIM	ONLY	KRI
			DNF	DNF	2	5	2
1957	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 290MM Ferrari 315S Ferrari 335S	BUA	SEB	MIM	ONLY	LEM	KRI	CAR
			3	6th	DNF	2	DNF	2	1
1958	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 250TR	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
			1	1	4th	2	DNF

literature

• Derick Allsop: The British Racing Hero. From Moss to Mansell. Magna Books, Leicester 1992, ISBN 1-85422-313-5 .
• Peter Grunert: The Formula 1 Lexicon. All cars - all drivers - all winners. ECON-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1997, ISBN 3-612-26353-6 .
• Jörg-Thomas Födisch, Erich Kahnt: 50 years of Formula 1. The winners. Heel, Königswinter 1999, ISBN 3-89365-615-4 .
• Mike Hawthorn: Challenge me the Race. William Kimber, London 1958, (autobiography)
• Mike Hawthorn: Champion year. My battle for the driver's world title. William Kimber, London 1959.
• Chris Nixon: Mon Ami Mate. The Bright, Brief Lives of Mike Hawthorn & Peter Collins. Transport Bookman, Isleworth 1991, ISBN 0-85184-047-7 .
• Peter Scherer: 50 Years of British Grand Prix Drivers. TFM, Kemberton 1999, ISBN 0-9530052-8-3 .
• Achim Schlang: The Formula 1 aces of our time. The drivers, the cars, the routes. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-613-01035-6 .

Web links

Commons : Peter Collins  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Short biography with a portrait
• Detailed appreciation
• Detailed statistics ( Memento from January 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive )