Graham_Hill

Graham Hill

Norman Graham Hill (February 15, 1929 – November 29, 1975) was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. He was born in Hampstead, London.

Graham Hill is the only driver to win the so-called Triple Crown of Motorsport.

Biography

Professional history

After serving in the Royal Navy as an Engine Room Artificer, Hill re-joined Smiths Instruments. He had been interested in motorcycles but in 1954 he saw an advert for the Universal Motor Racing Club at Brands Hatch offering laps for 5 shillings. He made his debut in a Cooper 500 Formula 3 car and was committed to racing thereafter. Graham joined Team Lotus as a mechanic soon after but quickly talked his way into the cockpit. The Lotus presence in Formula One allowed him to make his debut at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix, retiring with a halfshaft failure.

In 1960, Hill joined BRM, and won the world championship with them in 1962. Hill was also part of the so-called 'British invasion' of drivers and cars in the Indianapolis 500 during the mid-1960s, triumphing there in 1966 in a Lola-Ford.

In 1967, back at Lotus, Hill helped to develop the Lotus 49 with the new Cosworth-V8 engine. After team mates Jim Clark and Mike Spence were killed in early 1968, Hill led the team, and won his second world championship in 1968 . The Lotus had a reputation of being very fragile and dangerous at that time, especially with the new aerodynamic aids which caused similar crashes of Hill and Jochen Rindt at the 1969 Spanish Grand Prix. A crash at the 1969 United States Grand Prix broke his legs and interrupted his career.

Upon recovery Hill continued to race in F1 for several more years, but never again with the same level of success. Colin Chapman, believing Hill was a spent force, placed him in Rob Walker's team for 1970, sweetening the deal with one of the brand-new Lotus 72 cars. Although Hill scored points in 1970 he started the season far from fully fit and the 72 was not fully developed until late in the season. Hill moved to Brabham for 1971-2; his last win in Formula One was in the non-Championship International Trophy at Silverstone in 1971 with the "lobster claw" Brabham BT34. But the team was in flux after the retirements of Sir Jack Brabham and then Ron Tauranac's sale to Bernie Ecclestone; Hill did not settle there.

Hill was known during the latter part of his career for his wit and became a popular personality - he was a regular guest on television and wrote a notably frank and witty autobiography when recovering from his 1969 accident, Life At The Limit. Hill was also irreverently immortalized on a Monty Python episode ("It's the Arts (or: Intermission)" sketch called "Historical Impersonations"), in which a Gumby appears asking to "see John the Baptist's impersonation of Graham Hill." The head of St. John the Baptist appears on a silver platter, which runs around the floor making putt-putt noises of a race car engine.

Hill was involved with four films between 1966 and 1974, including appearances in Grand Prix and Caravan to Vaccarès, in which he appeared as a helicopter pilot.

Although Hill had concentrated on F1 he also maintained a presence in sports car racing throughout his career (including two runs in the Rover-BRM gas turbine car at Le Mans). As his F1 career drew to a close he became part of the Matra sports car team, taking a victory in the 1972 24 Hours of Le Mans with Henri Pescarolo. This victory completed the so-called Triple Crown of motorsport which is alternatively defined as winning either:

the Indianapolis 500 (won by Hill in 1966), the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1972) and the Monaco Grand Prix (1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969), or
the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Formula One World Championship (1962, 1968).

Using either definition, Hill is still the only person ever to have accomplished this feat.

With works drives becoming hard to find, Hill set up his own team in 1973: Embassy Hill with sponsorship from Imperial Tobacco. The team used chassis from Shadow and Lola before evolving the Lola into its own design in 1975. After failing to qualify for the 1975 Monaco Grand Prix, where he had won five times, Hill retired from driving to concentrate on running the team and supporting his protege Tony Brise.

Hill's record of 176 Grand Prix starts remained in place for over a decade, being equalled by Jacques Laffite.

Family

Hill married Bette in 1955. They had two daughters, Brigitte and Samantha, and a son, Damon who later became Formula One World Champion, the only son of a former champion to do so.

Rowing

Before taking up motor racing, Hill spent several years actively involved in rowing. Initially, he rowed at Southsea Rowing Club, while stationed in Portsmouth with the Royal Navy and at Auriol Rowing Club in Hammersmith. He met Bette at a Boxing Day party at Auriol and, while courting her, he also coached her clubmates at Stuart Ladies' Rowing Club on the River Lea.

In 1952 he joined London Rowing Club, then as now one of the largest and most successful clubs in Great Britain. From 1952 to 1954, Hill rowed in twenty finals with London, usually as stroke of the crew, eight of which resulted in wins. He also stroked the London eight in the highly prestigious Grand Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, losing a semi-final to Union Sportif Metropolitaine des Transports, France by a length.

Through his racing career he continued to support rowing and London. In 1968 when the club began a financial appeal to modernise its clubhouse, Hill launched proceedings by driving an old Morris Oxford, which had been obtained for £5, head-on into a boundary wall. Hill made three runs to reduce the wall to rubble, and the car was subsequently sold for £15.

Hill felt that the experience gained in rowing helped him in his motor-racing. He wrote in his autobiography:

"I really enjoyed my rowing. It really taught me a lot about myself, and I also think it is a great character-building sport...The self discipline required for rowing and the 'never say die' attitude obviously helped me through the difficult years that lay ahead."

Famously, Hill adopted the colours and cap design of London RC for his racing helmet - dark blue with white oar-shaped tabs. Damon Hill later adopted these same colours.

Death

In November 1975, returning from the Paul Ricard circuit, France, Graham was killed when his Piper Aztec aeroplane (which he was piloting at the time) crashed in foggy conditions, near the 4th green, Arkley Golf Course in North London. The crash resulted in not only the death of Hill but team manager Ray Brimble, mechanics Tony Alcock and Terry Richards, up-and-coming driver Tony Brise and designer Andy Smallman; all from the Embassy Hill team.

His funeral was at St Albans Abbey, UK.

As Hill was uninsured his estate was sued by the families of the other victims. Settling the claims wiped out the estate.

After his death, Silverstone village, home to the track of the same name, named a road, Graham Hill, after him. Graham Hill Bend at Brands Hatch is also named in his honour.

Graham Hill Road in Scotts Valley, California is also named after Hill, allegedly, after off-track exploits in coastal California.

Race results

Formula One World Championship results

(F1 driver results legend 2) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	WDC	Pts.
Team Lotus	Lotus 12	Climax L4	ARG	MON Ret	NED Ret	500												-	0
Team Lotus	Lotus 16	Climax L4					BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret*	POR Ret	ITA 6	MOR 16					-	0
Team Lotus	Lotus 16	Climax L4	MON Ret	500	NED 7	FRA Ret	GBR 9	GER Ret	POR Ret	ITA Ret	USA							-	0
Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM L4	ARG Ret															15th	4
Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P48	BRM L4		MON 7	500	NED 3	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	POR Ret	ITA	USA Ret						15th	4
Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P48/57	Climax L4	MON Ret	NED 8	BEL Ret	FRA 6	GBR Ret	GER Ret	ITA Ret	USA 5								16th	3
Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P57	BRM V8	NED 1	MON 6	BEL 2	FRA 9	GBR 4	GER 1	ITA 1	USA 2	RSA 1							1st	42 (52)
Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P57	BRM V8	MON 1	BEL Ret	NED Ret		GBR 3	GER Ret		USA 1	MEX 4	RSA 3						2nd	29
Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P61	BRM V8				FRA 3			ITA 16									2nd	29
Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P261	BRM V8	MON 1	NED 4	BEL 5	FRA 2	GBR 2	GER 2	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	USA 1	MEX 11						2nd	39 (41)
Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P261	BRM V8	RSA 3	MON 1	BEL 5	FRA 5	GBR 2	NED 4	GER 2	ITA 2	USA 1	MEX Ret						2nd	40 (47)
Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P261	BRM V8	MON 3	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 3	NED 2	GER 4										5th	17
Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P83	BRM H16							ITA Ret	USA Ret	MEX Ret							5th	17
Team Lotus	Lotus 43	BRM H16	RSA Ret															7th	15
	Lotus 33	BRM V8		MON 2
	Lotus 49	Ford V8			NED Ret	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	CAN 4	ITA Ret	USA 2	MEX Ret
Team Lotus	Lotus 49	Ford V8	RSA 2															1st	48
Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Lotus 49	Ford V8		ESP 1
Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Lotus 49B	Ford V8			MON 1	BEL Ret	NED 9	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 2	ITA Ret	CAN 4	USA 2	MEX 1
Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Lotus 49B	Ford V8	RSA 2	ESP Ret	MON 1	NED 7	FRA 6	GBR 7	GER 4	ITA 9	CAN Ret	USA Ret	MEX					7th	19
Rob Walker Racing Team	Lotus 49C	Ford V8	RSA 6	ESP 4														13th	7
Brooke Bond Oxo Racing - Rob Walker	Lotus 49C	Ford V8			MON 5	BEL Ret	NED NC	FRA 10	GBR 6	GER Ret	AUT
Brooke Bond Oxo Racing - Rob Walker	Lotus 72C	Ford V8										ITA DNS	CAN NC	USA Ret	MEX Ret
Motor Racing Developments	Brabham BT33	Ford V8	RSA 9															21st	2
Motor Racing Developments	Brabham BT34	Ford V8		ESP Ret	MON Ret	NED 10	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 9	AUT 5	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA 7					21st	2
Motor Racing Developments	Brabham BT33	Ford V8	ARG Ret	RSA 6														15th	4
Motor Racing Developments	Brabham BT37	Ford V8			ESP 10	MON 12	BEL Ret	FRA 10	GBR Ret	GER 6	AUT Ret	ITA 5	CAN 8	USA 11				15th	4
Embassy Racing	Shadow DN1	Ford V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP Ret	BEL 9	MON Ret	SWE Ret	FRA 10	GBR Ret	NED NC	GER 13	AUT Ret	ITA 14	CAN 16	USA 13	-	0
Embassy Racing with Graham Hill	Lola T370	Ford V8	ARG Ret	BRA 11	RSA 12	ESP Ret	BEL 8	MON 7	SWE 6	NED Ret	FRA 13	GBR 13	GER 9	AUT 12	ITA 8	CAN 14	USA 8	18th	1
Embassy Racing with Graham Hill	Lola T371	Ford V8	ARG 10	BRA 12	RSA DNQ	ESP												-	0
Embassy Racing with Graham Hill	Hill GH1	Ford V8					MON DNQ	BEL	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	USA		-	0

* Hill entered the 1958 German Grand Prix in a Formula Two chassis.

Indy 500 results

Year	Car number	Start	Qual. speed	Speed rank	Finish	Laps completed	Laps led	Race status	Chassis
1966	24	15	159.243	23	1	200	10	Running	Lola-Ford
1967	81	31	163.317	21	32	23	0	Piston	Lotus-Ford 42/B1
1968	70	2	171.208	2	19	110	0	Crash T2	Lotus - Pratt&Whitney 56/3

Starts	3
Poles	0
Front Row	1
Wins	1
Top 5	1
Top 10	1
Retired	2

Hill's 1966 victory marked the first win by a rookie driver since Frank Lockhart's 1927 win and the last until Juan Montoya's visit to Victory Lane in 2000.
Hill entered the 1969 Indianapolis 500, but his car (Lotus-Ford Chassis 64/2) was withdrawn during practice along with those of Mario Andretti and Jochen Rindt due to delays rectifying problems associated with hub failure on Andretti's car.

Quotation

"I'm an artist, the track is my canvas, and the car is my brush."

"Time is of the essence and I don't have much essence left." [Quote from his biography published after his death]

Credits

Hill's easy wit and charm helped him become a television personality, notably on the BBC show Call My Bluff with Patrick Campbell and Frank Muir. For a number of years in the early 1970s he appeared as one half of a double act, with Jackie Stewart, as an insert within the BBC Sports Personality of the Year show.

In 1990, Hill was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.