Phil Hill

Phil Hill (born April 20, 1927, Miami, Fla., U.S.—died Aug. 28, 2008, Monterey, Calif.) was the first American-born race-car driver to win (1961) the Formula 1 (F1) Grand Prix world championship of drivers.

Hill began in racing as a mechanic for midget-car racing in the Santa Monica, Calif., area, where he grew up. In 1949 he won his first sports car competition, and in 1956 he became an F1 driver for Ferrari. He was a disciplined perfectionist in car preparation and in study of the course. Hill secured the world drivers’ championship when he won the 1961 Italian Grand Prix, in which Count Wolfgang von Trips, his Ferrari teammate (and leader for the championship by four points), was killed. Hill also won the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race (1958, 1961–62), the Sebring (Fla.) 12-hour race (1958–59, 1961), the 1964 Daytona Continental 2,000-km road race, the 1966 Nürburgring 1,000-km race, and the 1967 BOAC Six Hours at Brands Hatch. In 1962 he left Ferrari and five years later retired from competition. He then became a partner in an antique car restoration business and worked as a television sports commentator. In 1991 Hill was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.