The British GP has finally come round, so we thought there’s no better time to celebrate all the Motorsport Legends we’ve had through the years…
Britain’s produced many of the top drivers in Formula 1 history, including 19 grand prix winners, and 10 World Drivers’ champions.
James Hunt
James Hunt was recently immortalised in the film Rush, showing his triumph over Niki Lauda for the 1976 Drivers’ Championship. He took six of his 10 career grand prix wins that year, alas less than three years later he walked away from the sport, frustrated by an uncompetitive car.
Hunt was probably more famous for his exploits off-track, then he was for his driving skills. After his retirement from racing, he became a popular F1 commentator for the BBC. Hunt died from a heart attack aged just 45.
Nigel Mansell
Like Button, Mansell waited a while to win his world championship. After finishing second three times, he took the title in 1992, standing on the first or second podium step at every race he completed.
He also won his home race four times; only Clark and Alain Prost, with five each, have more British Grand Prix victories. Mansell now owns Mitsubishi Dealership in Jersey.
Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton has been more successful at Silverstone than his former teammate, Button. He won the British Grand Prix in 2008, the year of his Drivers’ title with McLaren, and last year in 2014.
To date, Hamilton has a total of 37 Grand Prix wins to his name, with a few more wins of the season likely.
Jim Clark
Clark is considered not only one of the best British drivers ever, but one of the best F1 drivers ever. Born in Kilmany, Scotland, he won 25 of the 72 grand prix he competed in, and won the Drivers’ World Championship in 1963 & 1965.
Along with Prost, Clark holds the record for most British Grand Prix victories with five. He won four in a row from 1962 to 1965, and again in 1967. He was tragically killed the year after in 1968, after a crash in a Formula Two race in Germany.
Jenson Button
Button did not win his first race until 2006, his seventh F1 season. He then won the world championship with Brawn GP in 2009 and was a distant second to Sebastian Vettel in 2011.
Button has won 15 grand prix races in his career, just one fewer than Stirling Moss. Although a victory at Silverstone still continues to evade Button, as well as never taking podium either.
Damon Hill
Damon Hill had a relatively short F1 career, but did win an impressive 22 of the 115 races he started. He finished 3rd in the Drivers’ Championship in 1993, 2nd in 1994 & 1995, and took the title in 1996. Despite winning for Williams in 1996, he was dropped by the team for the following season.
Hill scored his first (& only) British Grand Prix in 1994, finishing more than one minute ahead of Jean Alesi’s Ferrari.
Graham Hill
Graham Hill is Damon’s father and a two-time F1 World champion. The elder Hill raced from 1958 to 1975, winning 14 grand prix races. Unlike his son, he never won the British Grand Prix though, finishing second twice. Hill was killed in a plane crash in 1975.
Stirling Moss
Moss never actually won the world championship, but he did win an impressive quarter of all the Grand Prix races he entered.
He finished second in the Drivers’ Championship four times and third on another three occasions. In 1958, he lost the title by a single point to Hawthorn, despite winning four times that season. Moss won the British Grand Prix twice, in 1955 and 1957 (a shared drive with Brooks), when it was held at Aintree.
Jackie Stewart
Stewart is currently the only British Driver to win the Championship 3 times, although this might be matched by Hamilton by the end of the 2015 season.
Stewart won 27 races in his career, including two British Grand Prix races. In his nine seasons in F1, Stewart finished in the top 3 of the Drivers’ Championship 6 times, narrowly missing out on another title in 1968, when Graham Hill won by just 12 points.
This Weekend…
As most F1 teams are based in Britain, Silverstone has become the de facto ‘home race’ for many. It’s also worthy of note, that Silverstone is one of the only circuits remaining from the first F1 season in 1950.
We’d like to wish our best of luck to Hamilton, Button & Stevens for the race on Sunday…
Author: ABD.co.uk