Thursday 28th August 2008

Phil Hill, the first American driver to win the Formula One World Championship, died in Salinas, California at the age of 81. Hill began driving for Ferrari in 1959 and claimed the first grand prix victory by an American driver in nearly forty years the following season. His biggest achievement, however, came in 1961 when he claimed the drivers’ title in difficult circumstances. A crash during the Italian Grand Prix killed his team-mate Wolfgang von Trips and fifteen spectators and Hill went on to win the race and clinch the title. 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.”