Friday 6th November 1931
Born on this day, Peter John Collins. Always in a good mood and hugely talented, Peter Collins had it all to become Britain’s first Formula 1 World Champion. He gave away his first chance to achieve that by handing over his Lancia-Ferrari to team leader Juan-Manuel Fangio during the 1956 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. At 24 years of age at the time, Peter fully relied on his own ability and youth and that he had all the time in the World to grab the title some time in the future. But during practice for the 1958 German Grand Prix at the tricky and outright dangerous Nuringburgring, the Brit had a severe crash after losing control of his Ferrari 246 and being thrown off the cockpit. He was airlifted to hospital but passed away later that day at age 26 as a result of the sustained injuries.
