Norman Graham Hill, known as , was an
English Motor Racing champion (born
February 15 ,
1929 in
Hampstead ,
London - died
November 29 ,
1975 near
Arkley ,
North London )
He is the only driver to win the so-called ''
Triple Crown '' of motor racing:
After serving in the military, Hill became a mechanic at ''Smiths Instruments'', and then joined
Team Lotus as a mechanic in the mid 1950s. At the unusually late age of nearly 30, he started racing, and due to Lotus' presence in Formula One, he quickly got a chance to race there, debuting at the
1958 Monaco Grand Prix .
In 1960, Hill joined
BRM , and won the world championship with them in
1962 . Hill was also part of the so-called 'British invasion' of drivers in the Indianapolis 500 during the mid-1960s, triumphing there in
1966 .
In 1967, back at
Lotus , Hill helped developing the
Lotus 49 with the new
Cosworth -V8 engine. After team mates
Jim Clark and
Mike Spence were killed in early 1968, Hill led the team, and won his second world championship in
1968 . The Lotus had a reputation of being very fragile and dangerous at that time, especially with the new aerodynamic aids which caused similar crashes of Hill and
Jochen Rindt at the
1969 Spanish Grand Prix . A crash at the
1969 United States Grand Prix broke his legs and interrupted his career.
At age 41, he did not retire, but tried to race in F1 for several more years, with little success. His last win in Formula One was in the non-championship International Trophy at Silverstone in 1971 with the
Brabham BT42 "Lobster claw". Hill was known during the latter part of his career for his wit and endurance. With
Henri Pescarolo he won the
1972 24 Hours Of Le Mans for
Matra .
After failing to qualify for the
1975 Monaco Grand Prix at the track where he had won 5 times, Hill retired from driving to concentrate on running his team. With sponsorship from Embassy, Hill set up his own racing team,
Embassy Hill , in 1973. The team used chassis from
Shadow and
Lola before introducing its own design in 1975.
Hill's easy wit and charm helped him become a
Television personality, notably on the
BBC show ''
Call My Bluff '' with
Patrick Campbell and
Frank Muir .
In
1990 , Hill was inducted into the
International Motorsports Hall Of Fame .
Hill married his wife, Bette, in
1955 . They had two daughters, Brigitte and Samantha, and a son,
Damon who later became Formula One World Champion, the only son of a former champion to do so. Damon also used the helmet design which his father had made famous, with white
Oars reminding of the
London Rowing Club .
In November 1975, Graham was killed when his
Piper Aztec Aeroplane (which he was piloting at the time) crashed in foggy conditions over
Arkley Golf Course in
North London . Five members of the Embassy Hill team, including up-and-coming driver
Tony Brise , also died in the accident.
"I'm an artist, the track is my canvas, and the car is my brush."
