PastImperfect:In the history of the Formula One Drivers World Championship there have been but two champions from the US. One was Mario Andretti in 1978; the other was a quiet American by the name of Phil Hill who took the crown in 1961 and whose achievement has been largely overlooked.
A product of the hot-rod movement which grew up in the dry lakes of western America in the 1940s, Hill studied business administration, but ended his studies when the chance to work as a mechanic for a midget car racing team came up in the summer of 1947. The team was successful, but Hill also managed to find time to nurture a growing interest in European sports cars. Eventually, he saved enough to buy an MG TC which he entered in a rally in January 1948, finishing second in his first competitive event. By the following year he had started circuit racing, winning many races with his supercharged MG against bigger and much more powerful machinery.
A trip to England to buy an XK 120 in 1949 left a great impression on Hill and he determined to move there - he thought England was much more the centre of racing than his native California. Despite this, he was back in California in 1950, winning races in his Jaguar and building up a good reputation for himself as a gifted driver. The American Ferrari importer, Luigi Chinetti offered him a particularly attractive deal on a 2.6 model, and so Hill began his long association with the Italian marque.
But it was back to a lightweight XK 120 for Hill's first international event - the Carrera Panamericana Mexico in 1952. Extreme nervous tension and a sinus condition made this a very difficult debut for Hill, but he managed to finish sixth overall. In 1955 he was given his first "works" drive when he shared Maglioli's 4.4 Ferrari at Le Mans.
The car was in fourth place when the crash for which the 1955 Le Mans race is recalled happened; he had moved up to third place during the night, when it was forced to retire.
In 1956 Hill established himself in Europe, driving in the 1,000km sports car race at the Nürburgring, as well as Montlhéry, Oporto, Monza, Reims, Rouen and Le Mans. His performances in the Ferrari sports cars were sufficiently impressive for the Ferrari team to offer him a Grand Prix drive in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. On Mike Hawthorn's advice, Hill turned the opportunity down.
Victory at Le Mans in 1958 and a drive in a private 250F Maserati were the highlights of that year. The Maserati drive had the hoped-for effect of him once again being offered a Ferrari Grand Prix drive at Monza that same year. Hill finished third behind Hawthorn. In 1961, he achieved his ambition of becoming world champion after a season-long struggle with Wolfgang von Trips.
Having won the world championship in 1961, the Ferrari team lost several of its key members at the end of the season and although Hill continued through the 1962 season, he quit Grand Prix racing at its end. He continued to race in sports cars before retiring to California where today he still heads a car restoration business.