Billy Edmund Albert Monger (born 5 May 1999) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

former racing driver who raced in British F4 in 2016 and 2017. He now works as a commentator and pundit. He has been referred to by the nickname ''

Billy Whizz Billy Whizz is a fictional character featured in the British comic ''The Beano'', first appearing in issue 1139, dated 16 May 1964, when it replaced The Country Cuzzins. Billy, the title character, is a boy who can run extraordinarily fast. His ...

'', after the character in British

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...

The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it published its 4000th issue in August 2019. Popular and ...

''. In April 2017, Monger was critically injured in a collision at

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport Race track, circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, sti ...

that caused both of his legs to be amputated, one below and the other above the knee. Up to that point, he had been heavily involved in

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

all over the UK and the Channel Islands, as well as a successful Ginetta Junior racer before moving into single-seater categories. After treatment and therapy, Monger returned to competition in November 2017. In 2018, he was awarded the

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given “for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity”, and B ...

for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity. From 2019, he provided analysis for Channel 4 F1. He also competed in the Formula 3 based Euroformula Open championship for Carlin Motorsport, achieving his first single-seater race win at the 2019 Pau Grand Prix.

Racing career

Monger first got behind the wheel of a vehicle at the age of six, when his father, a former kart racer, bought him his first go-kart. In 2016, Monger joined the

F4 British Championship The F4 British Championship (full name Wera Tools F4 British Championship certified by FIA, formerly known as F4 British Championship certified by FIA — powered by Ford (2016–21), MSA Formula (2015)) is a single-seater motorsport seri ...

with

JHR Developments JHR Developments is a British motorsport team, based in Dronfield, Derbyshire, United Kingdom. The team currently participates in the F4 British Championship and GB3 Championship. Notable past drivers for the team include Tom Ingram, Sennan ...

. There he took three podiums and finished 12th in the championship. He remained with the team for the 2017 season. On 16 April 2017, Monger was severely injured during a race at

, when he crashed at high speed into the back of Finnish driver

Patrik Pasma Patrik Pasma (born 2 March 2000) is a Finnish racing driver. He last competed for Evans GP in the Formula Regional Asian Championship. Career Formula Ford Pasma started his single seater career in an array of different Formula Ford categories, ...

; as a result, both of his legs were amputated afterwards. His left leg was amputated high above the knee, leaving him with a short stump of his thigh. His right leg is longer, being amputated below the knee, and the extra length and use of the joint enables him to drive modified cars. Monger was conscious after the car crash. Pasma was not seriously injured in the crash. A JustGiving page was set up by Monger's team

to raise money for him, raising over £500,000 in the first 24 hours. Donors included F1 drivers

Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Jota. Button competed in Formula One from to , and won the World Drivers' Championship in with Brawn; ...

Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with M ...

Max Verstappen Max Emilian Verstappen (; born 30 September 1997) is a Dutch and Belgian racing driver who competes under the Dutch flag in Formula One for Red Bull Racing. Verstappen has won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he w ...

Daniel Ricciardo Daniel Joseph Ricciardo ( , ; born 1 July 1989) is an Australian racing driver, who most recently competed in Formula One from to . Ricciardo won eight Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons. Born and raised in Perth to Italian-Australi ...

Jolyon Palmer Jolyon Carlyle Palmer (born 20 January 1991) is a British former racing driver, broadcaster and journalist, who competed in Formula One from to . Since retiring from racing, Palmer has been a pundit for the BBC, Channel 4 and F1TV. Prior to ...

and

Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German racing driver who competes in Formula One for Sauber. In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Hülkenberg won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2015 with Por ...

. In June 2017, Monger announced that he would return to competition in November, sharing a

Group CN Group CN is a category of vehicles used in motorsport, introduced by the FIA in 1993 for sports car racing. Group CN cars are mainly used in hillclimbing championships or sports racing series. Group CM is a non-FIA class which is closely rel ...

Ligier Ligier () is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Cham ...

JS53 Evo 2-Honda with quadruple amputee Frédéric Sausset in a round of the V de V Challenge Endurance Proto at the

Autódromo do Estoril The Circuito do Estoril or Autódromo do Estoril (Estoril Circuit), officially known as Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva, is a motorsport race track on the Portuguese Riviera, outside of Lisbon, owned by state-run holding management company ...

in Portugal, as part of a programme with the eventual aim of fielding a team of three disabled drivers at the 2020

Le Mans 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with the Monaco Grand ...

. In July 2017, Monger made his return to the track when he tested a

Fun Cup The Fun Cup is a one-make racing series created by Franz Dubois in 1997 in Belgium. The cars are identical, 130 bhp, 740 kg single seater racing cars with the bodywork styled upon the Volkswagen Beetle. The cars use a 1.8L Audi/VW engi ...

race car adapted with additional hand controls by disabled motorsport specialists

Team BRIT Team BRIT is a British auto racing team formed in 2015, originally based at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, home of the Top Gear test track, but now in Washington, West Sussex. The team is composed of disabled drivers and currently (2024) competes ...

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 hosts ...

, where he regained his race licence. In February 2018, Monger drove a

single seater An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fend ...

racing car for the first time since his crash when he tested a BRDC British Formula 3 car for the Carlin racing at

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced Race track, track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England, from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...

. The following month, he announced that he would be racing for Carlin in the opening meeting of the 2018 BRDC Formula 3 series at the same venue. In order to compete in F3, he and his family had to appeal to the sport's international governing body, the

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; ) is an international organisation with two primary functions surrounding use of the automobile. Its mobility division advocacy, advocates the interests of motoring organisations, the automot ...

, to change their regulations, as they had restricted disabled drivers from racing single seaters on the grounds of safety. The FIA decided to lift the ban in December 2017, allowing disabled drivers to race modified single seaters as long as they could pass safety checks. He finished third at Oulton Park in a car adapted for him: the modifications included moving the brake pedal upwards so he could brake using one of his leg stumps, and replacing the throttle pedal with a lever mounted on the steering wheel. In June 2018, Monger drove a

Formula 1 Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

racing car for the first time when he tested a Sauber C30 at the

Rockingham Motor Speedway Rockingham Motor Speedway was a motorsport racing venue in Rockingham, Northamptonshire, Rockingham, Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom, near the town of Corby. It hosted professional and club races, as well as testing, track days, driv ...

in Corby. The car had been specially converted to match the hand controls present in his Carlin BRDC British Formula 3 car. In March 2021, he completed "Billy's Big Challenge", covering a distance of by walking, kayaking and cycling, and raised over £3 million for

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

Los Angeles 2028

Monger announced in March 2025 following his Ironman Challenge he would next target the

2028 Summer Paralympics The 2028 Summer Paralympics, also known as the 18th Summer Paralympic Games, and branded as Los Angeles 2028 or LA28, is an upcoming international multi-sport parasports event governed by the International Paralympic Committee, scheduled to ta ...

. He said he was now in "early-stage conversations" about competing at the Los Angeles Paralympics in three years, having been inspired by his work on Channel 4's Paralympic coverage.

Broadcasting career

From 2019, he provided analysis for Channel 4 F1. He also was the co-commentator for W Series. In addition, he has worked on Channel 4's

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

coverage and the Parasport presenting team, as commentator and reporter. A documentary feature about Monger's first Formula 1 drive was shown as part of Sky F1's coverage of the

2018 Austrian Grand Prix The 2018 Austrian Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Eyetime Grosser Preis von Österreich 2018) was a Formula One motor race held on 1 July 2018 at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. The race was the 9th round of the 2018 FIA ...

. Another documentary about Monger's career, ''Driven: The Billy Monger Story'', was produced by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and released on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

in November 2018. On 5 July 2021, it was announced that Monger would present ''Billy Monger: Changing Gear'' as part of coverage of the Paralympics. He is signed up to be part of Channel 4's

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

presenting team. It was announced in September 2023 that Monger, along with his sister, Bonny, would be contestants on Celebrity Race Across the World. A family emergency caused them to leave the Race before its finish. In October 2024, Monger participated in 2024 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship triathlon in Kona to raise money for Comic Relief, setting a new world record time for a double amputee of 14 hours, 23 minutes and 56 seconds; beating the previous record by more than two hours. He also became the youngest double amputee to complete an Ironman event.

Personal life

Monger is a supporter of

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

In October 2024, Monger was banned from driving for 49 days after he lost control of his car and crashed into three parked vehicles and a wall in

Limpsfield Limpsfield is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs close to Oxted railway station and the A25 road, A25.