Phil Hill

Philip Toll Hill Jr. (April 20, 1927 – August 28, 2008) was an American racing driver, who competed in Formula One from Template:F1 to Template:F1. Hill won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in Template:F1 with Ferrari, and won three Grands Prix across eight seasons. In endurance racing, Hill was a three-time winner of both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring, all with Ferrari. Upon winning the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1964 with NART, Hill became the first driver to complete the Triple Crown of endurance racing.Template:Efn

He was one of two American drivers to win the World Drivers' Championship alongside Mario Andretti, and the only one who was born in the United States. 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."<ref name="cruelsport">Daley, Robert (1963). The Cruel Sport.</ref>

Career

Born April 20, 1927, in Miami, Florida, Hill was raised in Santa Monica, California, where he lived until his death. He studied business administration at the University of Southern California from 1945 to 1947, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity. He left early to pursue auto racing, working as a mechanic on other drivers' cars.<ref name=LAT082908>Jim Peltz, Phil Hill dies at 81; only American-born driver to win Formula One title, Los Angeles Times, August 29, 2008.</ref> He began racing cars at an early age, going to England 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, in 1958 driving a Maserati. That same year, paired with Belgian teammate Olivier Gendebien, Hill became the first American-born winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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 and 1962.Template:Citation needed

Hill driving a Ferrari 250 TR at the 12 hours of Sebring (1958)

Hill began driving full-time for the Ferrari Formula One team in 1959, earning three podium finishes and fourth place in the Drivers' Championship. In 1960 he won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, the first Grand Prix win for an American driver in nearly forty years (except the Indianapolis 500, once part of Grand Prix World Championship series), since Jimmy Murphy won the 1921 French Grand Prix. 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 and with two races left trailed only his Ferrari teammate Wolfgang von Trips in the season standings. A crash during the Italian Grand Prix 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."<ref name="cruelsport" />

Hill driving for Ferrari at the 1962 German Grand Prix

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 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 prototype, accompanied by a remote-control Panasonic camera in order to produce images for the movie Grand Prix.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In that same season, he entered his last Formula One race, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, racing for Dan Gurney's All American Racers, but he failed to qualify.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Hill retired from racing altogether in 1967.Template:Citation needed

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 in England in 1967.Template:Citation needed Hill also drove an experimental MG, Template:Vanchor, at Bonneville Salt Flats. The "Roaring Raindrop"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> had a 91-cubic-inch (1.5 L) supercharged MGA twin cam engine, using 86% methanol with nitrobenzene, acetone, and diethyl 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.Template:Citation needed 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.<ref>Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

After racing

Following his retirement, Hill built up an award-winning classic car 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. He remained with Gargour at Hill & Vaughn until the sale of the business again in 1995.<ref>Glenn Vaughn – Restoration Services, Inc Template:Webarchive</ref> He also worked as a television commentator for ABC's Wide World of Sports.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Hill had a long association with Road & Track 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.Template:Citation needed In his last years, He 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.<ref name="r&t201109">Template:Cite journal</ref> Hill was married to Alma, and had three children: Derek, Vanessa and Jennifer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Derek raced in International Formula 3000 in 2001, 2002 and 2003, but was forced to retire when Phil became ill with Parkinson's disease.Template:Citation needed

After traveling to the Monterey Historic Automobile Races in August 2008, Hill was taken to Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey, California, where he died after a short illness from complications of Parkinson's disease on August 28.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.Template:Citation needed 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)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Template:Tooltip	PtsTemplate:Efn
1958	Jo Bonnier	Maserati 250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	ARG	MON	NED	500	BEL	FRA Template:Small	GBR					10th	9
	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari Dino 156 F2	Ferrari D156 1.5 V6								GER Template:Small
		Ferrari 246 F1	Ferrari 143 2.4 V6									POR Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	MOR Template:Small
Template:F1	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 246 F1	Ferrari 155 2.4 V6	MON Template:Small	500	NED Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR	GER Template:Small	POR Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	USA Template:Small			4th	20
Template:F1	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 246 F1	Ferrari 155 2.4 V6	ARG Template:Small	MON Template:Small	500	NED Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	POR Template:Small	ITA Template:Small			5th	16
	Yeoman Credit Racing Team	Cooper T51	Climax FPF 2.5 L4										USA Template:Small
Template:F1	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 156	Ferrari 178 1.5 V6	MON Template:Small	NED Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	USA Template:Small				1st	34 (38)
Template:F1	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 156	Ferrari 178 1.5 V6	NED Template:Small	MON Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small	ITA Template:Small					6th	14
	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 804	Porsche 753 1.5 F8								USA Template:Small	RSA
Template:F1	Automobili Turismo e Sport	ATS 100	ATS 100 1.5 V8	MON	BEL Template:Small	NED Template:Small				ITA Template:Small	USA Template:Small	MEX Template:Small	RSA		NC	0
	Ecurie Filipinetti	Lotus 24	BRM P56 1.5 V8				FRA Template:Small	GBR	GER
1964	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T73	Climax FWMV 1.5 V8	MON Template:Small	NED Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	GER Template:Small			USA Template:Small	MEX Template:Small		19th	1
		Cooper T66								AUT Template:Small	ITA
Template:F1	Phil Hill	Lotus 25	Climax FWMV 1.5 V8	MON Template:Small											NC	0
		McLaren M3A1	Ford 289 4.7 V8		BEL Template:Small	FRA	GBR	NED	GER
	Anglo American Racers	Eagle T1F	Climax FPF 2.8 L4							ITA Template:Small	USA	MEX
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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)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Template:F1	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 246	Ferrari 155 2.4 V6	GLV	AIN	INT Template:Small	OUL	SIL
Template:F1	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 246	Ferrari 155 2.4 V6	GLV	INT Template:Small	SIL Template:Small	LOM	OUL
Template:F1	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 156	Ferrari 178 1.5 V6	CAP	BRX	LOM	LAV	GLV	PAU	AIN Template:Small	INT	NAP	MAL	CLP	RMS	SOL	KAN	MED	DAN	OUL	MEX	RAN	NAT
Template:F1	Ecurie Filipinetti	Lotus 24	BRM P56 1.5 V8	LOM	GLV	PAU	IMO	SYR	AIN	INT	ROM	SOL Template:Small	KAN	MED	AUT	OUL	RAN
Template:F1	Scuderia Centro Sud	BRM P57	BRM P56 1.5 V8	DMT Template:Small	NWT	SYR
	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T66	Climax FWMV 1.5 V8				AIN Template:Small	INT Template:Small	SOL	MED	RAN
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Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip
1953	Template:Flagicon Rees T. Makins	Template:Flagicon Fred Wacker Jr.	O.S.C.A. MT-4	S1.5	80	DNF (Clutch)
1955	Template:Flagicon Scuderia Ferrari	Template:Flagicon Umberto Maglioli	Ferrari 735 LM	S5.0	76	DNF (Transmission)
1956	Template:Flagicon Scuderia Ferrari	Template:Flagicon André Simon	Ferrari 625 LM	S3.0	107	DNF (Transmission)
1957	Template:Flagicon Scuderia Ferrari	Template:Flagicon Peter Collins	Ferrari 335 S	S5.0	2	DNF (Piston)
1958	Template:Flagicon Scuderia Ferrari	Template:Flagicon Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari 250 TR 58	S3.0	305	1st	1st
1959	Template:Flagicon Scuderia Ferrari	Template:Flagicon Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari 250 TR 59	S3.0	263	DNF (Overheating)
1960	Template:Flagicon Scuderia Ferrari	Template:Flagicon Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari 250 TR 59/60	S3.0	22	DNF (Out of fuel)
1961	Template:Flagicon Scuderia Ferrari	Template:Flagicon Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari 250 TRI/61	S3.0	333	1st	1st
1962	Template:Flagicon SpA Ferrari SEFAC	Template:Flagicon Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari 330 TRI/LM Spyder	E+3.0	331	1st	1st
1963	Template:Flagicon David Brown/Aston Martin Lagonda	Template:Flagicon Lucien Bianchi	Aston Martin DP215	P+3.0	29	DNF (Gearbox)
1964	Template:Flagicon Ford Motor Company	Template:Flagicon Bruce McLaren	Ford GT Mk.I	P5.0	192	DNF (Gearbox)
1965	Template:Flagicon Shelby-American Inc.	Template:Flagicon Chris Amon	Ford GT40X	P5.0	89	DNF (Clutch)
1966	Template:Flagicon Chaparral Cars Inc.	Template:Flagicon Jo Bonnier	Chaparral 2D	P+5.0	111	DNF (Electrics)
1967	Template:Flagicon Chaparral Cars Inc.	Template:Flagicon Mike Spence	Chaparral 2F	P+5.0	225	DNF (Transmission)
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Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip
1953	Template:Flagicon William Spear	Template:Flagicon Bill Spear	Ferrari 225 S	S3.0	56	DNF (Differential)
1954	Template:Flagicon William Spear	Template:Flagicon Bill Spear	Ferrari 375 MM	S5.0	60	DNF (Rear end)
1955	Template:Flagicon Allen Guiberson	Template:Flagicon Carroll Shelby	Ferrari 750 Monza Spyder	S3.0	182	2nd	1st
1956	Template:Flagicon George Tilp	Template:Flagicon Masten Gregory	Ferrari 857 S	S5.0	61	DNF (Bearings)
1957	Template:Flagicon Ferrari Factory	Template:Flagicon Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari 290 MM	S5.0	106	DNF (Electrics)
1958	Template:Flagicon Scuderia Ferrari	Template:Flagicon Peter Collins	Ferrari 250 TR 58	S3.0	200	1st	1st
1959	Template:Flagicon Scuderia Ferrari	Template:Flagicon Dan Gurney Template:Flagicon Chuck Daigh Template:Flagicon Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari 250 TR 59	S3.0	188	1st	1st
1961	Template:Flagicon Sefac Automobile Ferrari	Template:Flagicon Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari 250 TRI/61	S3.0	210	1st	1st
1962	Template:Flagicon North American Racing Team	Template:Flagicon Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari 250 GTO<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	GT3.0	196	2nd	1st
1963	Template:Flagicon Ed Hugus	Template:Flagicon Ken Miles Template:Flagicon Lew Spencer	Shelby Cobra	GT+4.0	192	11th	1st
	Template:Flagicon Shelby American, Inc.	Template:Flagicon Dan Gurney	Shelby Cobra	GT+4.0	163	29th	5th
1964	Template:Flagicon Ford of France	Template:Flagicon Jo Schlesser	Shelby Cobra	GT5.0	203	6th	3rd
1965	Template:Flagicon Shelby American, Inc.	Template:Flagicon Lew Spencer Template:Flagicon Jim Adams	Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe	GT5.0	173	21st	5th
	Template:Flagicon Ken Miles	Template:Flagicon Richie Ginther	Ford GT40	P+4.0	37	DNF (Rear suspension)
1966	Template:Flagicon Chaparral Cars Inc.	Template:Flagicon Jo Bonnier	Chaparral 2D	P+5.0	27	DNF (Oil leak)

Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip
1962	Template:Flagicon North American Racing Team	Template:Flagicon Ricardo Rodríguez	Ferrari 246 SP	S2.5	82	2nd	2nd
1964	Template:Flagicon North American Racing Team	Template:Flagicon Pedro Rodríguez	Ferrari 250 GTO	GT+2.0	327	1st	1st
1966	Template:Flagicon Chaparral Cars Inc.	Template:Flagicon Jo Bonnier	Chaparral 2D	P+2.0	318	DNF (Wheel)
1967	Template:Flagicon Chaparral Cars Inc.	Template:Flagicon Mike Spence	Chaparral 2F	P+2.0	93	DNF (Accident suspension damage)

Complete Tasman Series results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Template:Tooltip	Pts
1965	Bruce McLaren Motor Racing	Cooper T70	Climax FPF 2.5 L4	PUK Template:Small	LEV Template:Small	WIG Template:Small	TER Template:Small	WAR Template:Small	SAN Template:Small	LON Template:Small	4th	15
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Honours and awards

• He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America<ref name=MSHoF>Phil Hill at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America</ref> as the sole sports cars driver in the inaugural 1989 class.
• In 1991, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
• He was inducted in the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2022.

Primary career victories :

• 24 Hours of Le Mans (3) : 1958, 1961, 1962
• 12 Hours of Sebring (4) : 1955 (3.0 class), 1958, 1959, 1961
• 1000 km Buenos Aires (3) : 1956 (S+3.0 class), 1958, 1960
• 1000 km Nürburgring (2) : 1962, 1966
• F1 Italian Grand Prix (2) : 1960, 1961
• F1 Belgian Grand Prix (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 (1) : 1959
• Swedish Grand Prix (1) : 1956
• 2000 km Daytona (1) : 1964

References

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

External links

• The Official Web Site of Phil Hill
• Phil Hill's World Championship Season, Race-by-race
• Phill Hill statistics
• Death of Phil Hill
• Formula One tribute to Phil Hill
• Sports Illustrated cover, March 16, 1959: Sports Car Driver of the Year
• Phil Hill at the 24h of Le Mans
• Template:IMDb name