Mike Hawthorn
| Formula One World Championship career | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  British |
| Active years | 1952 - 1958 |
| Teams | LD Hawthorn, AHM Bryde, Ferrari, Vanwall, BRM |
| Entries | 47 |
| Championships | 1 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Podiums | 17 |
| Pole positions | 4 |
| Fastest laps | 6 |
| First entry | 1952 Belgian Grand Prix |
| First win | 1953 French Grand Prix |
| Last win | 1958 French Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix |
John Michael Hawthorn (April 10, 1929 - January 22, 1959) was a race car driver, born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, England, and educated at Ardingly College, West Sussex.
Hawthorn made his Formula One debut at the 1952 Belgian Grand Prix, finishing an impressive 4th place. This performance is the best ever grand prix debut by any British world champion. [1]. 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 80 spectators.
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 single point more than that of Moss. After winning the title, Hawthorn immediately announced his retirement from Formula One.
A matter of only months later, on January 22, 1959, Hawthorn died in an automobile accident on the A3 Guildford bypass. He was driving his British Racing Green highly tuned Jaguar 3.4 sedan (known as the Mark 1 or MK1 Jaguar). What exactly happened that day is still a mystery, but it was most probably due to a combination of high speed, bad weather, competitiveness and impulsiveness. Hawthorn sighted racer Rob Walker's 300 SL Mercedes ahead on the road. Most likely without any thought Hawthorn instantly pushed his car to pass Walker's, regardless of whether it was safe to do so or not. Hawthorn's Jaguar, nicknamed "the Merceater" was heavily modified for high power and speed. "No Kraut car could overtake or outaccelerate" Hawthorn's (these are the words in his biography "Challenge Me The Race").
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 there.
Complete Formula One Results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Team | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Cooper | SWI |
IND |
BEL 4 |
FRA ret |
GBR 3 |
GER |
DUT 4 |
ITA ret |
Cooper | 5th | 10 | |||
| 1953 | Ferrari | ARG 4 |
IND |
DUT 4 |
BEL 6 |
FRA 1 |
GBR 5 |
GER 3 |
SWI 3 |
ITA 6 |
Ferrari | 4th | 19 | ||
| 1954 | Ferrari | ARG DSQ |
IND |
BEL 4* |
FRA ret |
GBR 2 |
GER 2* |
SWI ret |
ITA 2 |
ESP 1 |
Ferrari | 3rd | 24.5 | ||
| 1955 | Vanwall | ARG |
MON ret |
IND |
BEL ret |
DUT 7 |
GBR 6 |
ITA 10 |
Ferrari | NA | 0 | ||||
| 1956 | Maserati | ARG 3 |
MON |
IND |
BEL |
FRA 10 |
GBR ret |
GER |
ITA |
BRM | 12th | 4 | |||
| 1957 | Ferrari | ARG ret |
MON ret |
IND |
FRA 4 |
GBR 3 |
GER 2 |
PES |
ITA 6 |
Ferrari | 4th | 13 | |||
| 1958 | Ferrari | ARG 3 |
MON ret |
DUT 5 |
IND |
BEL 2 |
FRA 1 |
GBR 2 |
GER ret |
POR 2 |
ITA 2 |
MOR 2 |
Ferrari | 1st | 38 |
- * Indicates Shared Drive