Mike Hawthorn

Mike Hawthorn was the Golden Boy of British Motorsport in the 1950's. John Michael (Mike) Hawthorn was born on April 10, 1929 in Mexborough Yorkshire. When he was two his father Leslie, a fan of motorsport, moved the family South to Farnham in Surrey. In 1931 close to the Brooklands circuit Leslie Hawthorn started a garage business. At weekends Leslie Hawthorn regularly attended meetings at the nearby circuit with his young son who quickly became an enthusiastic racing fan.

On leaving school Mike Hawthorn was taken on as an apprentice by Dennis Brothers of Guilford. He saved to buy a BSA 350cc trial bike and entering his first trials competition won the novice trophy. He tried to study engineering but his father realizing that Mike would not make a great engineer suggested he become a racing driver instead.

In 1950 he started racing at club events. He drove a number of car types at these meetings Riley's, an Ulster Imp and a Sprite TT all gave him successes that season.

1951 saw him takin a step up from club racing to Formula Two racing. Borrowing a single seater Bristol-Cooper Hawthorn entered the Easter Meeting at the Goodwood circuit in Sussex. In recognition of the meeting Hawthorn wore a set of white overalls and a bow tie to race in. His usual racing attire had been a suit with a normal tie which would be blown in to his face. At that meeting he won the F2 race, the Formula Libre race and finished in second position in the main featured race against Formula One cars. With this success under his belt Mike entered the rest of 1952's Grand Prix events which were being run under Formula Two rules that year rather than the normal Formula One regulations.

At the end of the 1952 season Hawthorn was fifth in the Grand Prix championship. This performance attracted the attention of the Italian sports car manufacturer Enzo Ferrari. Enzo signed him up to drive for the Ferrari team in 1953. He finished fourth in the drivers championship in the 1953 season.

It was on July 5, 1953 at the Reims-Gueux circuit in France that Mike Hawthorn won his first Grand Prix victory. Standing on top of the podium Hawthorn shed tears of emotion as the British National anthem played.

1954 was not a good year for Mike. His arms and legs were badly burnt in an accident at a race in Sicily and his beloved father was killed in a car crash. He did improve his standing in the driver's championship finishing third and also winning the Spanish Grand Prix.

His habit of driving wearing a bow tie earned him the name Papillion (Butterfly) from the French. He lived a playboy life and this drew some criticism particularly from the tabloid press. They accused him evading the call up for compulsory military service. In fact he had a chronic kidney condition that made him ineligible for service.

He left Ferrari at the end of the 1954 season to spend two years with the British Vanwall and BRM teams without any great success. His one major victory during these years was the Le Mans 24 hour race of 1955. This was the race that had the worst ever death toll of any meeting. A Mercedes crashed into the crowd resulting in the deaths of over eighty people. Mercedes withdrew their other vehicles from the race. Hawthorn with his co-driver Bueb went on to win the race in a Jaguar.

Mike Hawthorn rejoined the Ferrari team for the 1957 season. Although he did not win any races that year he did finish fourth in the drivers championship. At the end of the 1957 season the highly successful Argentinean world champion Juan Manuel Fangio retired leaving the top spot vacant.

The Ferrari drivers for the 1958 season were Luigi Musso, Mike Hawthorn and his best friend Peter Collins. Again Hawthorn won the French Grand Prix at Reims but this victory was marred by the fatal crash of his team mate Musso. Further tragedy for the Ferrari team occurred at the Nurburgring circuit when Collins crashed and was killed. Hawthorn was extremely upset by these events and nearly decided not to finish the season. He did finish the season however finishing first in the drivers championship one point ahead of Stirling Moss.

Mike Hawthorn was the first British driver to take the World Championship. At the end of the season he retired. When asked why he retired he replied "The question why did you retire is a much nicer one than why don't you retire". The death of his friend Collins combined with his kidney complaint had left him disillusioned with motor racing.

His retirement did not last long on the 22nd of January 1959 while driving along the Guilford by-pass Mike Hawthorns' Jaguar crashed and he was killed. All three of Ferraris' 1958 drivers died before the start of the 1959 season.

It is thought that wet roads combined with excess speed caused the crash. Mike had seen another racing driver on the road, Rob Walker driving a Mercedes, and was possibly racing with him. Hawthorn had a dislike for the Germans in general and Mercedes in particular having lost family and friends in the World War Two. In his biography - Challenge Me The Race - he said of his modified Jaguar, nicknamed "the Merceater" that "No Kraut car could overtake or out accelerate it". It may be that he was proving this point.

It was unlikely that Mike Hawthorn would have lived much longer if he had not crashed. His kidney condition was growing worse and doctors estimated he had less than eighteen months to live with the prospect of an agonising death at the end.

There are a number of memorials to Mike Hawthorn. A street in Farnham is named after the driver sometimes known as the "Farnham Flyer". The Grand Prix circuit at Brands Hatch has Hawthorn Hill and Hawthorn Bend. At the historic Goodwood circuit a statue has been erected in his memory. Then there is the Mike Hawthorn Memorial Trophy which has been awarded to the most successful British or Commonwealth F1 driver each year since 1959. Lewis Hamilton was awarded the trophy in 2007 and 2008 while past winners include James Hunt, Stirling Moss, Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell.