John Marshall Watson (born 4 May 1946) is a British former
racing driver and
broadcaster from Northern Ireland, who competed in
Formula One
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 ...
from to . Watson won five
Formula One Grands Prix across 12 seasons.
Watson competed in Formula One for
Brabham,
Surtees
Surtees may refer to:
People
*Surti Muslims
*Surtees (surname), an English surname
Places
*Surtees Bridge, a road bridge across the River Tees in Stockton-on-Tees
Others
*Surtees Racing Organisation, a British racing team and constructor
*Surtee ...
,
Lotus,
Penske and
McLaren. He finished third in the
1982 World Drivers' Championship with McLaren. Watson also competed in the
World Sportscar Championship, finishing runner-up in
1987
Events January
* January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency.
* January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade.
* January 3 – Afghan leader ...
with
Jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...
.
Upon his retirement from motor racing, Watson became a
commentator for
Eurosport
Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia, owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its WBD Sports unit, it operates two main channels—Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...
from 1989 until 1996. Since 2022, he has served as the lead commentator for
GT World Challenge Europe, and also commentated on the
2022 Miami Grand Prix for F1TV.
Early Formula One career

John Watson was born in
Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
and educated at
Rockport School
Rockport School is an independent day and boarding school for boys and girls from 2.5 years to 18 years in the British Public School tradition. It is situated in of woodland on the shore of Belfast Lough in Craigavad, near Holywood, County D ...
, Northern Ireland. Watson's
Formula One
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 ...
career began in
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
, driving a customer
March
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...
-
Cosworth
Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for auto racing, automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotiv ...
721 for
Goldie Hexagon Racing in a non-Championship event: the
World Championship Victory Race 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 hosts ...
. Watson's first World Championship events came in the 1973 season, in which he raced in the
British Grand Prix in a customer
Brabham-
Ford BT37, and the
US Grand Prix, where he drove the third works Brabham BT42. Neither was particularly successful, as in the British race he ran out of fuel on the 36th lap and his engine failed after only seven laps in the United States event.
Watson scored his first World Championship point in the
1974 Monaco Grand Prix, while driving for Goldie Hexagon Racing. He went on to score a total of six points that season, driving a customer Brabham BT42-Ford modified by the team. He failed to score Championship points the following year, driving for
Team Surtees,
Team Lotus and
Penske Cars. At the
1975 Spanish Grand Prix he had the chance to score his first win. He was in second position, behind
Mario Andretti, until he had to stop in the pits for checks after his car started to suffer vibrations. Andretti retired later, and after rejoining the race Watson finished in eighth, his best Championship result in 1975. In non-Championship races he fared somewhat better, taking second place in the
Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, and fourth at the
International Trophy race at Silverstone.
Rise to prominence
He secured his first World Championship podium with third place at the
1976 French Grand Prix. Later that season came his first victory, driving for Penske in the
Austrian Grand Prix, having qualified second on the grid. After the race he shaved off his beard, the result of a bet with team owner
Roger Penske. In a June 2023 interview with F1Weekly podcast Watson said the team flew to London Sunday evening after the race, and Penske did not recognize him in the hotel lobby Monday morning.
In the third race of the
1977 Formula One season, the
South African Grand Prix, he managed to complete the race distance, scored a point, and took his first ever fastest lap. His achievements were overshadowed, however, by the deaths of driver
Tom Pryce and a track marshal,
Frederik Jansen van Vuuren. His
Brabham-
Alfa Romeo let him down throughout the season but, despite this, he gained his first pole position in the
Monaco Grand Prix
The Monaco Grand Prix () is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigious automobile races in the wo ...
and qualified in the top ten no fewer than 14 times, often in the first two rows. Problems with the car, accidents, and a disqualification meant that he raced the full distance in only five of the 17 races. The closest he came to victory was during the
French Grand Prix, where he dominated the race from the start only to be let down by a fuel metering problem on the last lap which relegated him to second place behind eventual winner
Mario Andretti.
In , Watson managed a more successful season in terms of race finishes, even out-qualifying and out-racing his teammate
Niki Lauda on occasion. He managed three podiums and a pole, and notched up 25 points to earn the highest championship placing of his career to that point.
Move to McLaren and championship challenge

For , Watson moved to
McLaren where he gave them their first victory in over three years by winning the
1981 British Grand Prix and also securing the first victory for a
carbon fibre
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...
composite monocoque F1 car, the
McLaren MP4/1. Later in the season, the strength of the McLaren's carbon fibre monocoque (designed by
John Barnard) was demonstrated when he had a fiery crash at
Monza during the
Italian Grand Prix. Watson lost the car coming out of the high speed Lesmo bends and crashed backwards into the barriers. Similar accidents had previously proven fatal, but Watson was uninjured in an accident he later recalled as looking far worse than it actually was. After
James Hunt's abrupt retirement after the Monaco Grand Prix in 1979, Watson was the only full-time competitive British F1 driver up until the end of his career.

His most successful year was , when he finished third in the Drivers' Championship, winning two Grands Prix. In several races he achieved high placings despite qualifying towards the back of the grid. At the first ever
Detroit Grand Prix
The title of Detroit Grand Prix (United States Grand Prix – East) was applied to the Formula One races held at the Detroit street circuit in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, United States of America from 1982 through 1988.
History
In 1982, the U ...
in , he overtook three cars in one lap deep into the race on a tight, twisty track that was difficult to pass on; working his way from 17th starting position on the grid, he charged through the field and scored a victory in the process. Watson went into the final race of the season at
Caesars Palace in with an outside chance of the title, but he was to finish five points adrift of
Keke Rosberg and level on points with
Didier Pironi
Didier Joseph Louis Pironi (26 March 1952 – 23 August 1987) was a French racing driver and offshore powerboat racing, offshore powerboat racer, who competed in Formula One from to . Pironi was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Cham ...
.
A year later in , he repeated the feat of winning from the back of the grid at the final Formula One race in
Long Beach; another street circuit, starting from 22nd on the grid, the farthest back from which a modern Grand Prix driver had ever come to win a race. Watson's final victory also included a fight for position with teammate
Niki Lauda, who had started the race 23rd, though Watson ultimately finished 27 seconds ahead of his dual World Championship winning teammate.
At the end of the 1983 season however, Watson was dropped by McLaren and subsequently retired from Formula One. Negotiations with team boss
Ron Dennis reportedly broke down when Watson asked for more money than dual World Champion Lauda was earning, citing having won a GP in 1983 where Lauda did not. Dennis instead signed
Renault
Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...
refugee
Alain Prost for comparatively little (since he was already under contract to Renault but was fired for 1984). He did return for one further race two years later, driving for McLaren in place of an injured Lauda at the
1985 European Grand Prix 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 hosts ...
, in which he qualified 21st and placed seventh in the race (Lauda had injured his wrist in qualifying for the previous race at
Spa, forcing him to miss that race also). Watson raced with Lauda's race number of "1" (the Austrian having won the World Championship). This was only the second occasion since that a driver other than the reigning World Champion has raced car number 1 in a World Championship race, the other being
Ronnie Peterson when the system first began, as reigning World Champion Jackie Stewart had retired upon the conclusion of the 1973 season.
Sportscar career
In 1984 Watson turned to
sports car racing
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...
, notably partnering
Stefan Bellof to victory at the
Fuji 1000 km during Bellof's
1984 Championship year. He was also part of the driver lineup for
Bob Tullius'
Group 44 Jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...
team at the
1984 24 Hours of Le Mans driving an
IMSA spec
Jaguar XJR-5 powered by a 6.0 litre
V12 in the IMSA / GTP class. In what was Jaguar's first appearance at
Le Mans
Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...
since
1959, Watson briefly took the lead of the race towards the end of the first hour when the faster
Porsche 956
The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was later upgraded to the 956B in 1984. I ...
s and
Lancia LC2s pitted. Driving with American
Tony Adamowicz and Frenchman
Claude Ballot-Léna, they failed to finish the race due to engine trouble though they were classified in 28th place.
Watson also finished second in the
1987 season alongside
Jan Lammers in the
TWR Silk Cut Jaguar XJR-8 when they won a total of three championship races (
Jarama,
Monza and
Fuji). Watson competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans seven times over the course of his career between 1973 and 1990, finishing 11th, a career best, in his last start in
1990 driving a
Porsche 962C for
Richard Lloyd Racing alongside fellow Grand Prix drivers
Bruno Giacomelli and
Allen Berg.
Other work
After retiring from active racing, he worked as a television commentator, ran a race school at
Silverstone and managed a racetrack. He also became the first man to ever test a
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
Formula One
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 ...
car in 1990.
From 1989 to 1996 he worked as a Formula One commentator for
Eurosport
Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia, owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its WBD Sports unit, it operates two main channels—Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...
alongside Andrew Marriott (1989-1990), Richard Nicholls (1990–1992), Allard Kalff (1992–1994) and
Ben Edwards (1995–1996). The last Grand Prix Eurosport broadcast live in the UK was the Japanese GP in 1996. The contracts for Formula One live broadcasts were shifted to private TV stations for 1997. In 1997 Watson worked as a Formula One commentator for ESPN.
From 1998 to 2001 he was
Charlie Cox's sidekick in commentating on the
British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...
for 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 ...
.
During the 2002 F1 season, Watson co-commentated on Sky Sports' Pay Per View
F1+ coverage alongside Ben Edwards. However, this was fairly unpopular and it was axed for the 2003 season.
In 2005–2009, Watson worked as an expert commentator for
BSkyb during their broadcasts of the
A1 Grand Prix series.
In 2010, Watson commentated on some rounds of the FIA GT1 and GT3 Championship as well as the entire 2014 Blancpain GT Series.
Watson currently provides expert commentary on the
GT World Challenge Europe alongside regular Blancpain television commentator David Addison.
Legacy
In 2016, in an academic paper that reported a mathematical modelling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine, Watson was ranked the 25th best Formula One driver of all time.
Racing record
Career summary
Complete European Formula Two Championship results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula One non-championship results
(
key) (races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Notes
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, John
1946 births
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
Brabham Formula One drivers
BRDC Gold Star winners
European Formula Two Championship drivers
Formula One drivers from Northern Ireland
Formula One race winners
Goldie Hexagon Racing Formula One drivers
International Race of Champions drivers
Living people
McLaren Formula One drivers
Racing drivers from Northern Ireland
Penske Formula One drivers
Sportspeople from Bognor Regis
Motorsport people from Belfast
Surtees Formula One drivers
Team Lotus Formula One drivers
World Sportscar Championship drivers
People educated at Rockport School
Motorsport announcers
Japanese Sportscar Championship drivers
Porsche Motorsports drivers
TOM'S drivers
Jaguar Racing drivers