Grem Hill Formula 1 World Champion Date of Birth: 15.02.1929 Country: Great Britain

Graham Hill Biography

Graham Hill was born on February 15, 1939, in one of the central districts of London. His childhood was spent in poverty. His early passion for motorcycles led to an injury - a broken leg, which left his left leg slightly shorter than his right. At the age of 16, Graham started earning money. After graduating from technical college, he began working as a mechanic at the well-known firm "Smith and Son." His talent and instinct as a skilled mechanic were noticed even then. In his free time, Graham spent time competing in rowing competitions at the London Rowing Club. It was there that he met his future wife, Betty. And it was rowing, more specifically, his victory in the Henley Royal Regatta, that allowed the 24-year-old young man to buy his first car. Graham Hill started driving unusually late for a future Formula-1 driver.

In 1953, Graham Hill attended the racing school at Brands Hatch near London. After a few classes, cars consumed all his time. After completing his studies, Hill continued to work at the racing school. Every Wednesday, rain or shine, he would take the bus to the beloved track and enthusiastically work on repairing and fine-tuning cars. It is worth noting that he did this masterfully. The great racing driver of the "romantic era," Stirling Moss, highly appreciated this talent, saying, "His hands are like those of a watchmaker or even an ophthalmologist surgeon. His hearing can be compared to the hearing of a highly qualified tuner of musical instruments. Graham can determine the engine speed by sound, with an error of no more than fifty."

In April 1954, Hill took fourth place in the national "Junior" formula championship. This success allowed Hill to become the chief instructor at the school. However, due to disagreements with the management, he soon left. For Graham, racing was just a hobby, and he was not willing to compromise his principles for it. And as he later realized, it was in vain. Being an instructor provided a steady income, but now he was barely making ends meet again. But then fate once again intervened in Graham's life. One day, he attended the "Bank Holiday" car show in Brands Hatch. On the way back to London, he hitched a ride on a van, driven by Colin Chapman, who invited Graham to visit his company, which produced "Lotus" sports cars. The tour of "Lotus Cars Limited" left a mixed impression on Hill. On one hand, the entire "factory" was located in the courtyard of a railway hotel and did not inspire much confidence. But on the other hand, it was here that they assembled chassis for the "Vanwall" Formula 1 racing cars. After a thorough conversation with Chapman, Graham understood that this was what he had been looking for, and that he would be closest to the world of the most advanced cars with these people. He worked as a mechanic at Lotus for two years, and at the end of 1955, Colin Chapman offered him a chance to try his hand at driving a Lotus. Hill immediately set the second fastest time. To his great surprise, Graham suddenly realized that he was a good driver and decided to combine his job as a mechanic with a career as a racing driver. Hill became the personal mechanic for Cliff Allison, the number one driver at Lotus, and competed in various races with his car. In late 1957, he achieved his first victory in the Brands Hatch Christmas Cup.

Hill's debut in the World Championship took place on May 18, 1958, in Monte Carlo. Starting from the fifteenth position out of sixteen, he only lasted until the seventieth lap before a gearbox issue forced him to retire. The rest of the season was no better. By the end of the championship, he had not scored any points, retiring from seven out of eleven races. Hill continued to face setbacks in the following season, including a fire in Monaco, a punctured radiator in France, and a gearbox failure at the Berlin AVUS. In 1960, Hill was invited to join the "British Racing Motors" team. However, the drivers of this team only finished the race three times. Although Graham managed to secure third place in the Netherlands and even led and set a lap record at Silverstone, Alfred Owen, the owner of the team, was not impressed with these results. In 1961, Owen replaced the chief designer and gave the team an ultimatum: win a Grand Prix or the team would be disbanded.

The result was remarkable. With the completely new "BRM P61" car, Hill, who had only scored seven points in 32 races before, became... the world champion, winning the South African, Dutch, German, and Italian Grands Prix! For the first time in Formula 1 history, an Englishman from an English team won the championship in a car designed and built in Great Britain. The English fans were ecstatic. It was a national triumph. Hill instantly became one of the most popular people in the United Kingdom. However, he modestly assessed his success, saying, "I won't be the first next year for sure. And being a champion doesn't mean I'm the best driver. Stirling Moss will always be the best." In 1963, Hill did not become the champion: although he won in the United States and Monaco, he finished second overall. In 1964, he finished second again. However, despite scoring more points than anyone else, Hill was deprived of the crown due to the points system in place at that time and Lorenzo Bandini. The Italian deliberately forced Hill off the track on the final race in Mexico to secure the title for his teammate, John Surtees. Graham sarcastically sent the little Italian a textbook titled "A Practical Course in Driving for Beginners." Yes, he was no longer the "best mechanic among drivers and the best driver among mechanics." Imperceptibly, Hill had become one of the best drivers in the world. In 1965, he finished second for the third consecutive year, while also teaching the racing intricacies to the Scottish rookie, Jackie Stewart. Stewart quickly mastered the art and overshadowed his senior colleague, pushing Hill to fifth place the following season.

In early 1966, he decided to retire from Formula 1 and accepted an offer from wealthy American John Mecom to compete in Indianapolis. Mecom bought three "Lolas," three powerful "Ford" engines, and decided to put Hill, Stewart, and two-time "Indy 500" winner Roger Ward behind the wheel. Hill went on to win the most prestigious race in America. With his prize money, he bought a twin-engine plane. In the 1967 season, he found himself back at Lotus. "I may not be as talented as Clark or Stewart, but I know how to work, and sometimes I manage to beat them." Indeed, he started in first place at the Dutch Grand Prix, driving a Lotus 49-Cosworth. The death of Clark in April 1968 was a true tragedy for Hill. "If death could catch up with Jim, then none of us is safe," he said in one interview.

Nevertheless, Clark's death made Hill the number one driver at Lotus. Although it became fashionable to believe that the Lotus 49 was unquestionably the best car of the season and that Hill himself led it to victories, the championship was far from an easy ride for him. He finished sixth at the start of the season in Spain, ninth in France, and fourteenth in Belgium. Despite winning three races, finishing second in three races, and fourth in one, he became a world champion for the second time in his career.

In 1969, Hill secured his fifth victory in Monaco and suffered a horrific accident at the United States Grand Prix in Watkins Glen. A mechanic failed to tighten a wheel nut during a pit stop. The car lost control, and Graham was thrown out of the car. He endured leg fractures, rib fractures, and multiple bruises. No one expected the ex-champion to return to racing. However, Hill recovered thanks to his tremendous willpower and returned to the grid at the South African Grand Prix just five months later. However, the accident in Watkins Glen essentially marked the end of his Formula 1 career. Age started to show - after all, he was in his fifties. And Formula 1, along with the new generation of constructors, drivers, and team owners, was engulfed in immense wealth. More sponsors became involved, and romance gradually gave way to sober calculations. Strong teams were no longer interested in him, and his private Lotus team under Rob Walker only achieved 13th place in the 1970 championship with seven points. He joined Brabham the following season but only scored five points in two years. The new owner of the team, the pragmatic Bernie Ecclestone, dismissed the aging former champion without hesitation.

Someone else might have retired immediately, but Graham could not afford the luxury of being defeated. With a powerful chord as the culmination of his active racing career, he achieved a magnificent victory at Le Mans, together with Henri Pescarolo. Graham Hill remains the only holder of the amazing "triple crown" - winning the Formula 1 Championship, the Indianapolis 500, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

It was time to retire. But how? Graham chose the only option for him. He... stayed! On January 13, 1974, the new "Embassy" Formula 1 team, created by Hill with tobacco money, made its debut at the Argentine Grand Prix. They bought a car from Eric Broadley - it was just a "Formula 5000" with an F1 engine. But for Hill, it was an opportunity to make a less advanced car run as fast as Ferrari, Lotus, or McLaren! At Brands Hatch, on the same track where he had come to learn how to drive a car almost a quarter of a century ago, Graham finished in sixth place, bringing his team their first point.

On November 29, 1975, a six-seat Piper Aztec airplane (the same model as the Cessna Indica) took off from Marseille to London. Graham Hill was flying the plane as he hurried to the traditional end-of-season Formula 1 mechanics' gathering. The team "Embassy Hill Racing" was almost fully onboard as they had been testing a new car in France. Alongside the engineers in the cabin was driver Tony Brise - a rising star in British motorsport on whom Hill had high hopes. The plane successfully crossed the English Channel and headed towards London. However, the capital was covered in thick fog, and they were running out of fuel. Graham decided to make an emergency landing. A few kilometers from Elstree Aerodrome, he spotted a golf course and began descending... Whether Hill miscalculated the trajectory himself or there was a powerful gust of wind, the plane veered sharply towards the treetops surrounding the field. The wing got caught, causing the plane to lose control and crash to the ground. The impact caused a massive explosion from the ruptured fuel tank. Some time later, rescue teams discovered the charred remains of six people at the crash site, making it impossible to even identify them. "I enjoy flying, although I can't say it's more than driving racing cars. There is a lot of adventure in flying, but competition is practically absent, so the risk threshold is much lower," Graham Hill once admitted.

Who knows, perhaps if he had survived, the "Hill" team would have achieved the same heights as Williams or McLaren. Given Hill's hard work and determination, this seems possible. But for that, Graham would have had to transform himself from a mechanic-engineer who was deeply in love with racing cars into a tough businessman for whom relationships with sponsors always come first, and engine revs at best come second in importance.