Phil Hill

The first American-born Formula One World Champion and endurance racing legend.

Philip Toll Hill Jr. (April 20, 1927 – August 28, 2008) was an American racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1958 to 1966. Hill won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1961 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.

Quick Facts

Birth name: Philip Toll Hill Jr.
Born: 20 April 1927
Birthplace: Miami, Florida, U.S.
Died: 28 August 2008
Place of death: Monterey, California, U.S.
Spouse: Alma Varanowski (1971)
Children: 3, including Derek

Lore & Background

Hill 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. He 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.'

Reader's Guide

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. 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 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. 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.' After leaving Ferrari at the end of 1962, Hill, and fellow driver Giancarlo Baghetti started for the new team ATS created by ex-Ferrari engineers in the great walkout of 1961.