Mike Hawthorn

British racing driver

Britain's first world champion

Mike Hawthorn beat Stirling Moss by a single point in 1958 to become the first British world champion, then retired at the end of that season.

Mike Hawthorn was born in Mexborough, England, on April 10, 1929. He started competing in 1950 in an old Riley sports car and won club events in Britain and Ireland before switching to single seaters in 1952. Driving a Cooper Bristol, he made his Formula 1 debut at the 1952 Belgian Grand Prix with fourth place and later took third at the British Grand Prix. Those results brought an offer from Enzo Ferrari.

In his first Ferrari season he won the 1953 French Grand Prix at Reims after a long duel with Juan Manuel Fangio, with the leading cars finishing only seconds apart. He was badly burned in a crash at Syracuse in 1954 but returned to win that year's Spanish Grand Prix and finish third in the standings. He briefly drove for Vanwall in 1955 before going back to Ferrari.

Away from Grand Prix racing he joined Jaguar in 1955 and won both the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the latter a race overshadowed by the deadliest accident in the sport's history. He also raced Maserati and BRM cars in Formula 1 during these years.

Back at Ferrari for 1958, he won only once, at the 1958 French Grand Prix, but his consistency carried him to the title by one point over Stirling Moss, decided at the 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix, his final start. He announced his retirement after the death of his teammate Peter Collins that summer. Our record lists 47 starts, 3 wins, 4 pole positions, 6 fastest laps and 18 podiums over seven seasons. Hawthorn died in a road accident in January 1959.

1 world titles, 3 wins, 4 pole positions, 47 starts.

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