Mike Hawthorn1950s Racing DriversMike Hawthorn was one the most talented and flamboyant 1950s racing drivers on the Grand Prix circuit. He was, in a sport where drivers are always a wheel spin from death, arguably one of the most tragic. In 1959, just months after claiming the World Drivers Championship, the Yorkshireman was dead. Ironically, it was not on the race track that he died, but on a public road. Hawthorn had already quit the sport after claiming the world title. His decision to retire was taken after his close friend Peter Collins had been killed in the 1958 German Grand Prix. Hawthorn’s death, at the age of 29, occurred in a crash while driving his Jaguar near Guildford. Hawthorn’s lifespan had been expected to be short. After losing a kidney, his remaining kidney had become infected. But to lose his life in such circumstances was a tragedy.
Hawthorn will always be remembered as Great Britain’s first ever World Champion Driver. By the early 1950s he was already beginning to make his name in the sport, with successes in the Brighton Speed Trials, the Motor Sport Memorial Trophy, Ulster Trophy Handicap and the Leinster Trophy. By 1952 the young Englishman was due to take his first step on the world stage. Hawthorn made his Formula One debut that year. Driving for the LD Hawthorn team he achieved a fourth place finish in the Belgian Grand Prix. He finished third in the British Grand Prix and finished the season placed 10th in the Drivers Championship. In the 1953 season Mike Hawthorn, now driving for Scuderia Ferrari, won his first Grand Prix, in France. He finished the season in fourth spot in the championship table. His success continued into the following year when he finished the Spanish Grand Prix in first place, and ended the campaign third in the World Drivers Championship. His level of success in 1954 was all the more incredible as he had suffered severe burns in a non-championship race in Sicily. Tragedy was to engulf the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours when driver Pierre Levegh was killed, along with 80 spectators in an horrific smash in the 1955 Le Mans disaster. After the race restarted Hawthorn emerged as winner. Hawthorn’s appearances in the 1955 Formula One season was limited to just three Grand Prix. The 1956 campaign with Hawthorn driving firstly for Owen racing and then Vandervell was not very productive as he finished just 12th in the championship. Hawthorn raced for Ferrari in 1957, and the more powerful car certainly paid dividends as he ended the season in fourth position in the championship. 1958 was to prove to be the crowning glory of Hawthorn’s career. It proved to be a battle between Hawthorn and fellow countryman Stirling Moss. Hawthorn took the World Drivers Championship despite winning just one Grand Prix that year. Related Articles |
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