Phil Hill

Philip Toll Hill Jr. (April 20, 1927 – August 28, 2008) was an American automobile racer and the only American-born driver to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship (Mario Andretti, an Italian American driver, won the World Drivers' Championship in 1978, but was not born in the United States). He also scored three wins at each of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 12 Hours of Sebring sports car races.

Phil Hill
BornPhilip Toll Hill Jr.
(1927-04-20)April 20, 1927
Miami, Florida, U.S.
DiedAugust 28, 2008(2008-08-28) (aged 81)
Monterey, California, U.S.
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality American
Active years19581964, 1966
TeamsMaserati, Ferrari, Cooper, Porsche, Automobili Turismo e Sport, Lotus, McLaren, Eagle
Entries52 (49 starts)
Championships1 (1961)
Wins3
Podiums16
Career points94 (98)[1]
Pole positions6
Fastest laps6
First entry1958 French Grand Prix
First win1960 Italian Grand Prix
Last win1961 Italian Grand Prix
Last entry1966 Italian Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years1953, 19551967
TeamsRees T. Makins
Scuderia Ferrari
Aston Martin
Ford Motor Company
Shelby-American Inc.
Chaparral Cars Inc.
Best finish1st (1958, 1961, 1962)
Class wins3 (1958, 1961, 1962)

Hill was described as a "thoughtful, gentle man" and once said, "I'm in the wrong business. I don't want to beat anybody, I don't want to be the big hero. I'm a peace-loving man, basically."[2]

Career

Born April 20, 1927, in Miami, Florida, Hill was raised in Santa Monica, California, where he lived until his death. He studied business administration at the University of Southern California from 1945 to 1947, where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. Hill left early to pursue auto racing, working as a mechanic on other drivers' cars.[3] Hill began racing cars at an early age, going to England as a Jaguar trainee in 1949 and signing with Enzo Ferrari's team in 1956. He made his debut in the French Grand Prix at Reims France in 1958 driving a Maserati. That same year, paired with Belgian teammate Olivier Gendebien, Hill became the first American-born winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans[4] with Hill driving most of the night in horrific rainy conditions. He and Gendebien would go on to win the famous endurance race again in 1961 and 1962.

Hill driving a Ferrari 250 TR at the 12 hours of Sebring (1958)

Hill began driving full-time for the Ferrari Formula One team in 1959, earning three podium finishes and fourth place in the Drivers' Championship. In 1960 he won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, the first Grand Prix win for an American driver in nearly forty years (except the Indianapolis 500, once part of Grand Prix World Championship series), since Jimmy Murphy won the 1921 French Grand Prix. This also turned out to be the last win for a front-engined car in Formula 1. The following season, Hill won the Belgian Grand Prix and with two races left trailed only his Ferrari teammate Wolfgang von Trips in the season standings. A crash during the Italian Grand Prix killed von Trips and fourteen spectators. Hill won the race and clinched the championship but the triumph was bittersweet. Ferrari's decision not to travel to America for the season's final round deprived Hill of the opportunity to participate in his home race at Watkins Glen as the newly crowned World Champion. When he returned for the following season, his last with Ferrari, Hill said, "I no longer have as much need to race, to win. I don't have as much hunger anymore. I am no longer willing to risk killing myself."[2]

Hill driving for Ferrari at the 1962 German Grand Prix

After leaving Ferrari at the end of 1962, he and fellow driver Giancarlo Baghetti started for the new team ATS created by ex-Ferrari engineers in the great walkout of 1961. In 1964 Hill continued in Formula One, driving for the Cooper Formula One Team before retiring from single-seaters at the end of the season and limiting his future driving to sports car racing with Ford Motor Company and the Chaparral Cars of Jim Hall. During the 1966 Formula One season, Hill often participated in race weekends behind the wheel of a Ford GT40 prototype, accompanied by a remote-control Panasonic camera in order to produce images for the movie Grand Prix.[5] In that same season, he entered his last Formula One race, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, racing for Dan Gurney's All American Racers, but he failed to qualify.[6] Hill retired from racing altogether in 1967.

Hill has the distinction of having won the first (a three-lap event at Carrell Speedway in a MG TC on July 24, 1949) and last races of his driving career, the final victory driving for Chaparral in the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch in England in 1967.

Hill also drove an experimental MG, EX-181, at Bonneville Salt Flats. The "Roaring Raindrop"[7] had a 91-cubic-inch (1.5 L) supercharged MGA twin cam engine, using 86% methanol with nitrobenzene, acetone, and sulphuric ether, for an output of 290 HP. In 1959 Hill attained 257 mph in this car, breaking the previous record of Stirling Moss in the same car, 246 mph.

Hill appeared as himself on the December 11, 1961 episode of the game show To Tell the Truth. He received none of four possible votes.[8]

After racing

Following his retirement, Hill built up an award-winning classic car restoration business in the 1970s called Hill & Vaughn with business partner Ken Vaughn, until they sold the partnership to Jordanian Raja Gargour and Vaughn went on to run a separate business on his own in 1984. Hill remained with Gargour at Hill & Vaughn until the sale of the business again in 1995.[9] Hill also worked as a television commentator for ABC's Wide World of Sports.[10]

Hill had a long association with Road & Track magazine. He wrote several articles for them, including road tests and retrospective articles on historic cars and races. He shared his "grand old man" status at R&T with 1960s racing rival Paul Frère, who also died in 2008.

Hill, in his last years, devoted his time to his vintage car collection and judged at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance more often than any other individual; 2007 was the 40th time he had judged the event.[11]

Hill was married to Alma, and had three children: Derek, Vanessa and Jennifer.[12] Derek raced in International Formula 3000 in 2001, 2002 and 2003, but was forced to retire when Phil became ill with Parkinson's disease.

After traveling to the Monterey Historic Automobile Races in August 2008, Hill was taken to Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, where he died after a short illness from complications of Parkinson's disease in Monterey, California, on August 28.[13] Inside Track, a three volume book set came out at the tail end of 2017 covering the life and career of Phil Hill. It's a work that had started before his death.

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1953 Rees T. Makins Fred Wacker Jr. O.S.C.A. MT-4 S1.5 80 DNF DNF
1955 Scuderia Ferrari Umberto Maglioli Ferrari 735 LM S5.0 76 DNF DNF
1956 Scuderia Ferrari André Simon Ferrari 625 LM S3.0 107 DNF DNF
1957 Scuderia Ferrari Peter Collins Ferrari 335 S S5.0 2 DNF DNF
1958 Scuderia Ferrari Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 250 TR 58 S3.0 305 1st 1st
1959 Scuderia Ferrari Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 250 TR 59 S3.0 263 DNF DNF
1960 Scuderia Ferrari Wolfgang von Trips Ferrari 250 TR 59/60 S3.0 22 DNF DNF
1961 Scuderia Ferrari Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 250 TRI/61 S3.0 333 1st 1st
1962 SpA Ferrari SEFAC Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 330 TRI/LM Spyder E+3.0 331 1st 1st
1963 David Brown/Aston Martin Lagonda Lucien Bianchi Aston Martin DP215 P+3.0 29 DNF DNF
1964 Ford Motor Company Bruce McLaren Ford GT Mk.I P5.0 192 DNF DNF
1965 Shelby-American Inc. Chris Amon Ford GT40X P5.0 89 DNF DNF
1966 Chaparral Cars Inc. Jo Bonnier Chaparral 2D P+5.0 111 DNF DNF
1967 Chaparral Cars Inc. Mike Spence Chaparral 2F P+5.0 225 DNF DNF
Source:[14]

Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 WDC Pts[1]
1958 Jo Bonnier Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 ARG MON NED 500 BEL FRA
7
GBR 10th 9
Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Dino 156 F2 Ferrari D156 1.5 V6 GER
9
Ferrari 246 F1 Ferrari 143 2.4 V6 POR
DNA
ITA
3
MOR
3
1959 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 246 F1 Ferrari 155 2.4 V6 MON
4
500 NED
6
FRA
2
GBR GER
3
POR
Ret
ITA
2
USA
Ret
4th 20
1960 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 246 F1 Ferrari 155 2.4 V6 ARG
8
MON
3
500 NED
Ret
BEL
4
FRA
12
GBR
7
POR
Ret
ITA
1
5th 16
Yeoman Credit Racing Team Cooper T51 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 USA
6
1961 Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 156 Ferrari 178 1.5 V6 MON
3
NED
2
BEL
1
FRA
9
GBR
2
GER
3
ITA
1
USA
DNA
1st 34 (38)
1962 Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 156 Ferrari 178 1.5 V6 NED
3
MON
2
BEL
3
FRA
DNA
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
ITA
11
6th 14
Porsche System Engineering Porsche 804 Porsche 753 1.5 F8 USA
DNS
RSA
1963 Automobili Turismo e Sport ATS 100 ATS 100 1.5 V8 MON BEL
Ret
NED
Ret
ITA
11
USA
Ret
MEX
Ret
RSA NC 0
Ecurie Filipinetti Lotus 24 BRM P56 1.5 V8 FRA
NC
GBR GER
1964 Cooper Car Company Cooper T73 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 MON
9
NED
8
BEL
Ret
FRA
7
GBR
6
GER
Ret
USA
Ret
MEX
9
19th 1
Cooper T66 AUT
Ret
ITA
1966 Phil Hill Lotus 25 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 MON
DNS
NC 0
McLaren M3A Ford 406 3.0 V8 BEL
Ret
FRA GBR NED GER
Anglo American Racers Eagle T1F Climax FPF 2.8 L4 ITA
DNQ
USA MEX
Source:[15][16]

Non-Championship Formula One results

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
1959 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 246 Ferrari 155 2.4 V6 GLV AIN INT
4
OUL SIL
1960 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 246 Ferrari 155 2.4 V6 GLV INT
5
SIL
4
LOM OUL
1962 Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC Ferrari 156 Ferrari 178 1.5 V6 CAP BRX LOM LAV GLV PAU AIN
3
INT NAP MAL CLP RMS SOL KAN MED DAN OUL MEX RAN NAT
1963 Ecurie Filipinetti Lotus 24 BRM P56 1.5 V8 LOM GLV PAU IMO SYR AIN INT ROM SOL
Ret
KAN MED AUT OUL RAN
1964 Scuderia Centro Sud BRM P57 BRM P56 1.5 V8 DMT
4
NWT SYR
Cooper Car Company Cooper T66 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 AIN
Ret
INT
4
SOL MED RAN
Source:[16]

Complete Tasman Series results

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pos. Pts
1965 Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Cooper T70 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 PUK
DNS
LEV
4
WIG
Ret
TER
3
WAR
Ret
SAN
3
LON
3
4th 15
Source:[16]

Awards

Primary career victories :

Notes

  1. Up until 1990, not all points scored by a driver contributed to their final World Championship tally (see list of points scoring systems for more information). Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
  2. Daley, Robert (1963). The Cruel Sport.
  3. Jim Peltz, Phil Hill dies at 81; only American-born driver to win Formula One title, Los Angeles Times, August 29, 2008.
  4. Weber, Bruce (2008-08-28). "Phil Hill, a Racing Legend at Odds With the Sport at Times, Is Dead at 81". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
  5. Roberts, Andrew (21 December 2016). "Grand Prix: 50 years since the greatest racing film of all time". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  6. "Italian Grand Prix – A Real Italian Victory". Motor Sport (October 1966): 38–41. 4 September 1966. Archived from grand-prix-real-italian-victory the original Check |url= value (help) on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  7. "The MG EX 181 – Specifications and Pictures". Silodrome.com. May 28, 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  8. "To Tell the Truth". Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  9. Glenn Vaughn – Restoration Services, Inc Archived 2007-06-25 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "8W – Who? – Phil Hill". www.Forix.com. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  11. Posey, Sam (September 2011). "A Man Like No Other". Road & Track. 63 (1): 92.
  12. "American racing legend Phil Hill has died". autosport.com. August 28, 2008. Retrieved August 29, 2008.
  13. Peltz, Jim (August 29, 2008). "Phil Hill, 81; first U.S.-born driver to win Formula One title". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  14. "All Results of Phil Hill". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  15. "Phil Hill – Involvement". statsf1.com. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  16. "Phil Hill – Biography". MotorSportMagazine. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  17. Phil Hill at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America

References

  • Daley, Robert. The Cruel Sport. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1963.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Jack Brabham
Formula One World Champion
1961
Succeeded by
Graham Hill
Preceded by
Ron Flockhart
Ivor Bueb
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1958
With: Olivier Gendebien
Succeeded by
Carroll Shelby
Roy Salvadori
Preceded by
Olivier Gendebien
Paul Frère
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1961-1962
With: Olivier Gendebien
Succeeded by
Ludovico Scarfiotti
Lorenzo Bandini
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