Denny Hulme

New Zealand racing driver

New Zealand's only world champion

Denny Hulme beat his own team boss Jack Brabham to the 1967 title, then spent seven seasons with Bruce McLaren's team in Formula 1 and Can Am.

Denny Hulme was born in Motueka, New Zealand, on June 18, 1936, and grew up on the South Island. He began racing at home and moved to the European championships in 1960. After a season of non championship races for Brabham, he made his World Championship debut at the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix and scored his first points in France later that year.

In 1966 he became Jack Brabham's full time teammate and took four podiums while his boss won the title. The roles reversed in 1967. Driving the reliable Brabham Repco, Hulme won the Monaco Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, kept collecting podiums, and finished the season as champion ahead of Brabham. No other driver from New Zealand has won the title.

For 1968 he joined the McLaren team founded by his compatriot Bruce McLaren. He won the Italian and Canadian Grands Prix that year, the 1969 Mexican Grand Prix, the 1972 South African Grand Prix, the 1973 Swedish Grand Prix and, in his final season, the 1974 Argentine Grand Prix. He was third in the championship in 1968 and 1972. In sports cars the pairing of Hulme and McLaren dominated Can Am, where Hulme won the drivers' title twice.

Hulme retired from Formula 1 after the 1974 United States Grand Prix. Our record shows 112 starts, 8 wins, 1 pole position, 9 fastest laps and 33 podiums over ten seasons, with the 1967 title. His only pole came at the 1973 South African Grand Prix, the fewest of any champion. He kept racing touring cars in Australia afterward, and died in 1992.

1 world titles, 8 wins, 1 pole positions, 112 starts.

Teams

Victories

Scroll to Top