Philip Toll Hill Jr. (April 20, 1927 – August 28, 2008) was an American automobile racing driver. He was one of two American drivers to win the

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

World Drivers' Championship, and the only one who was born in the United States (the other, Mario Andretti, was born in Italy and later became an American citizen). He also scored three wins at each of the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

and 12 Hours of Sebring sports car races. 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."Daley, Robert (1963). ''The Cruel Sport''.

Career

Born April 20, 1927, in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, Florida, Hill was raised in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

, where he lived until his death. He studied

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

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.Jim Peltz
Phil Hill dies at 81; only American-born driver to win Formula One title
''Los Angeles Times'', August 29, 2008. Hill began racing cars at an early age, going to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

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 France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1958 driving a

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. ...

. That same year, paired with Belgian teammate Olivier Gendebien, Hill became the first American-born winner of the

with Hill driving most of the night in horrific rainy conditions. He and Gendebien would go on to win the endurance race again in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

and 1962. Hill began driving full-time for the

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

Formula One team in 1959, earning three podium finishes and fourth place in the Drivers' Championship. In 1960 he won the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921. In 2013 it ...

at Monza, the first Grand Prix win for an American driver in nearly forty years (except the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

, once part of Grand Prix World Championship series), since Jimmy Murphy won the

1921 French Grand Prix The 1921 French Grand Prix (formally the XV Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France) was a Grand Prix motor race held at Le Mans on 25 July 1921. The race was held over 30 laps of the 17.26 km circuit for a total distance of 517.8 km ...

. 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 The Belgian Grand Prix ( French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship. The first national race o ...

and with two races left trailed only his

teammate Wolfgang von Trips in the season standings. A crash during the

killed von Trips and fifteen 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." 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 Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

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 The Ford GT40 is a high-performance endurance racing car commissioned by the Ford Motor Company. It grew out of the "Ford GT" (for Grand Touring) project, an effort to compete in European long-distance sports car races, against Ferrari, which ...

prototype, accompanied by a remote-control Panasonic camera in order to produce images for the movie ''

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

''. In that same season, he entered his last Formula One race, the

at Monza, racing for Dan Gurney's All American Racers, but he failed to qualify. 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 Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hos ...

in 1967. Hill also drove an experimental MG, EX-181, at Bonneville Salt Flats. The "Roaring Raindrop" 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.

After racing

Following his retirement, Hill built up an award-winning

classic car A classic car is an older car, typically 25 years or older, though definitions vary.While other languages, such as German and Dutch, may refer to classic cars as "oldtimers", this usage is unknown in English, where "old-timer" refers to an elder ...

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. Hill also worked as a television commentator for ABC's '' Wide World of Sports''. Hill had a long association with ''

Road & Track ''Road & Track'' (stylized as ''R&T'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. It is owned by Hearst Magazines and is published 6 times per year. The editorial offices are located in New York, New York. History ''Road & Track'' (often ...

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

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...

. 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. ''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. Turn 9 of the CW13 configuration of Buttonwillow Raceway Park is named after Hill.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ¹The M3A, fitted with a cine camera, was allowed to enter the race to capture the start for the film ''Grand Prix''

Non-championship Formula One results

( key)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results

Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results

Complete Tasman Series results

( key)

Awards

*In 1991, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. *He was inducted in the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycle ...

Phil Hill
at the

as the sole sports cars driver in the inaugural 1989 class. Primary career victories : *

(3) : 1958, 1961, 1962 * 12 Hours of Sebring (4) : 1955 (3.0 class), 1958, 1959, 1961 *

1000 km Buenos Aires The 1000 km Buenos Aires was an endurance sports car event held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The race mostly run on the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, although it would run the Costanera circuit in 1957. Besides a single race in Cara ...

(3) : 1956 (S+3.0 class), 1958, 1960 *

1000 km Nürburgring 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length&nb ...

(2) : 1962, 1966 * F1

(2) : 1960, 1961 * F1

(1) : 1961 * BOAC 500 (Brands Hatch) (1) : 1967 * Targa Florio (1) : 1960 (3.0 class) * Road America 500 (2) : 1955, 1957 * Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix (3) : 1950, 1953, 1955 *

Los Angeles Times Grand Prix The Los Angeles Times Grand Prix was a sports car race held at the Riverside International Raceway. The race was held throughout the track's existence, from 1957 until 1987. The race was sponsored by the ''Los Angeles Times'' to raise money for ...

(1) : 1959 *

Swedish Grand Prix The Swedish Grand Prix (Swedish: Sveriges Grand Prix) was a round of the Formula One World Championship from 1973 to 1978. It took place at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp (Gislaved Municipality), about from Jönköping, in Småland, Swe ...

(1) : 1956 * 2000 km Daytona (1) : 1964

Notes

References

* Daley, Robert. ''The Cruel Sport.'' Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1963.

External links