name	Lewis Hamilton
nationality	British
birth date	January 07, 1985
2011 team	McLaren–Mercedes
2011 car number	3
races	83
championships	1 ()
wins	16
podiums	40
poles	18
points	642
fastest laps	10
first race	2007 Australian Grand Prix
first win	2007 Canadian Grand Prix
last win	2011 German Grand Prix
last race
last season	2010
last position	4th (240 points) }}

Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton MBE (born 7 January 1985) is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team, and was the Formula One World Champion.

Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. In December 1995, at the age of ten, he approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis at the Autosport Awards ceremony and told him, "I want to race for you one day ... I want to race for McLaren." Less than three years later McLaren and Mercedes-Benz signed him to their Young Driver Support Programme. After winning the British Formula Renault, Formula Three Euroseries, and GP2 championships on his way up the racing career ladder, he drove for McLaren in 2007, making his Formula One debut 12 years after his initial encounter with Dennis. Coming from a mixed-race background, with a black father and white mother, Hamilton is often labelled "the first black driver in Formula One".

In his first season in Formula One, Hamilton set numerous records, while finishing second in the 2007 Formula One Championship, just one point behind Kimi Räikkönen. He won the World Championship the following season, ahead of Felipe Massa by the same margin of a single point. Clinching the crown thanks to passing the dry tyre-shod Timo Glock in the wet on the final lap, to take the necessary fifth position. Following that, prestigious motorsport weekly Autosport dubbed him as ''Last Lap Lewis''. He has stated he wants to stay with the McLaren team for the rest of his F1 career.

Following his 2008 title Hamilton struggled with less competitive McLarens, in spite of taking quite a few Grand Prix wins he was not able to challenge for the 2009 championship, and finished a close fourth in 2010, being in mathematical contention until the final round.

Personal life

Hamilton was born on 7 January 1985 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, and was named after American sprinter Carl Lewis. Hamilton's mother, Carmen Larbalestier (now married as Carmen Lockhart), is white British, while his father, Anthony Hamilton, is black British, making him mixed-raced, (Anthony Hamilton's parents emigrated from Grenada to the United Kingdom in the 1950s). Lewis Hamilton's parents separated when he was two, as a result of this he lived with his mother and half-sisters Nicola and Samantha until he was twelve, when he started living with his father, stepmother Linda and half-brother Nicolas (who has cerebral palsy). In early 2011, Nicolas signed with Total Control Racing to start a racing career in the 2011 Renault Clio Cup. Hamilton was raised as a Roman Catholic by his father.

Hamilton's father bought him a radio-controlled car in 1991, which gave him his first taste of racing competition. Hamilton finished second in the national BRCA championship the following year. He said of the time: "I was racing these remote-controlled cars and winning club championships against adults". As a result of this his father bought him his first go-kart as a Christmas present at the age of six. His father told him that he would support his racing career as long as he worked hard at school. Supporting his son became problematic, which caused him to take redundancy from his position as an IT Manager and became a contractor. He was sometimes employed in up to three jobs at a time, while still managing to find enough time to attend all Hamilton's races. He later set up his own computer company as well as working as a full-time manager for Hamilton. Hamilton is now managed by Simon Fuller.

Hamilton was educated at The John Henry Newman School, a voluntary aided Catholic secondary school in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Alongside his interest for racing, he played football for his school team with current Aston Villa and England international midfielder Ashley Young. Hamilton said that if Formula One had not worked for him he would have been a footballer, being a big fan of Arsenal F.C or a cricketer, having played both for his school teams as a youngster. He subsequently attended, in February 2001, Cambridge Arts and Sciences (CATS), a private sixth-form college in Cambridge. At the age of five Hamilton took up Karate in order to defend himself as a result of bullying at school.

In October 2007, Hamilton announced his intention to live in Switzerland, stating that this was because he wished to get away from the media scrutiny that he experienced living in the United Kingdom. Hamilton admitted under questioning on the television show ''Parkinson'', which was broadcast on 10 November 2007, that taxation was partly responsible for his decision, in addition to wanting more privacy. Hamilton received public criticism from UK MPs including Liberal Democrat MP Bob Russell for avoiding UK taxes. He settled in Luins in Vaud canton on Lake Geneva; other Formula One drivers, including world champions Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso, also live in Switzerland. Hamilton was one of several super-rich figures whose tax arrangements were singled out for criticism in a report by the charity Christian Aid in 2008.

On 18 December 2007, Hamilton was suspended from driving in France for a month after being caught speeding at on a French motorway. His Mercedes-Benz CLK was also impounded. In November 2007, Hamilton started dating Nicole Scherzinger, the lead singer of the American girl band Pussycat Dolls; it was announced in January 2010 that they split up to focus on their respective careers, however they were seen together at the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix and at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, on 13 June 2010.

Hamilton was awarded an MBE by the Queen in the 2009 New Year Honours.

On 18 March 2009, Madame Tussauds unveiled a waxwork of Hamilton in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes race suit. This wax replica cost around £150,000 and took over six months to complete.

Two days before the 2010 Australian Grand Prix, Victoria Police witnessed Hamilton "deliberately losing traction" in his silver Mercedes-AMG C63, and impounded the car for 48 hours. Hamilton immediately released a statement of apology for "driving in an over-exuberant manner". After being charged with intentionally losing control of a vehicle, Hamilton was eventually fined A$500 (£288), being described as a "Hoon" [boy racer] by the magistrate.

In July 2011 the father of Nicole Scherzinger announced that Hamilton and his daughter were engaged to be married. However, this was denied shortly after by Scherzinger on Twitter.

Early career

Karting

Hamilton began karting in 1993 at the age of eight, at the Rye House Kart Circuit and quickly began winning races and Cadet class championships. At the age of ten he approached McLaren F1 team boss Ron Dennis for an autograph, and told him, "Hi. I'm Lewis Hamilton. I won the British Championship and one day I want to be racing your cars." Dennis wrote in his autograph book, "Phone me in nine years, we'll sort something out then." Hamilton drove for Martin Hines' Zip Young Guns Karting Team. From the Cadet ranks, he progressed through to Junior Yamaha (1997) and Ron Dennis actually called him in 1998 after Hamilton won an additional Super One series and his second British championship. Dennis delivered on his promise and signed Hamilton to the McLaren driver development program. This contract included an option of a future F1 seat, which would eventually make Hamilton the youngest ever driver to secure a contract which later resulted in an F1 drive. |width=21%|align=right}} Hamilton continued his progress in the Intercontinental A (1999), Formula A (2000) and Formula Super A (2001) ranks, and became European Champion in 2000 with maximum points. In Formula A and Formula Super A, racing for TeamMBM.com, his team mate was Nico Rosberg who would later drive for the Williams and Mercedes GP teams in Formula One. Following his karting successes the British Racing Drivers' Club made him a "Rising Star" Member in 2000.

In 2001, Michael Schumacher made a one-off return to karts and competed against Hamilton along with other future F1 drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Nico Rosberg. Hamilton ended the final in seventh, four places behind Schumacher. Although the two saw little of each other on the track Schumacher praised the young Briton (see quote box).

Formula Renault and Formula Three

Hamilton began his car racing career in the 2001 British Formula Renault Winter Series. Despite crashing on his third lap in the car in testing, he finished fifth overall in the winter series. This led to a full 2002 Formula Renault UK campaign with Manor Motorsport. Hamilton finished third overall with three wins and three pole positions. He remained with Manor for another year and won the championship with ten wins and 419 points to the two wins and 377 points of his nearest rival, Alex Lloyd. Having clinched the championship, Hamilton missed the last two races of the season to make his debut in the season finale of the British Formula Three Championship. Here he was less successful: in the first race he was forced out with a puncture, and in the second he crashed out and was taken to hospital after a collision with his team-mate Tor Graves. He did show his speed at both the Macau Grand Prix and Korea Super Prix, in the latter he qualified on pole position in his first visit to the track and in only his fourth F3 race. Asked in 2002 about the prospect of becoming one of the youngest ever Formula One drivers, Hamilton replied that his goal was "not to be the youngest in F1 ...[but] to be experienced and then show what I can do in F1".

Later in 2004 Williams would announce that they had come close to signing him but were refused the opportunity due to BMW, their engine supplier at the time, refusing to fund Hamilton's career. Hamilton eventually re-signed with McLaren, and made his debut with Manor in the 2004 Formula 3 Euro Series. They won one race and Hamilton ended the year fifth in the championship. He also won the Bahrain F3 Superprix and raced one of the Macau F3 Grand Prix. Hamilton first tested for McLaren in late 2004 at Silverstone.

Hamilton moved to the reigning Euro Series champions ASM for the 2005 season and dominated the championship, winning 15 of the 20 rounds. This would have been 16 but for being disqualified from one win at Spa-Francorchamps on a technical infringement that caught out several other drivers. He also won the Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort. After the season British magazine ''Autosport'' featured him in their "Top 50 Drivers of 2005" issue, ranking Hamilton 24th.

GP2

Due to his success in Formula Three, he moved to ASM's sister GP2 team ART Grand Prix for 2006. Just like their sister team in F3, ART were the leaders of the field and reigning champions having taken the 2005 GP2 crown with Nico Rosberg. Hamilton won the GP2 championship at his first attempt, beating Nelson Piquet, Jr. and Timo Glock.

His performances included a dominant win at the Nürburgring, despite serving a penalty for speeding in the pit lane. At his home race at Silverstone, supporting the , Hamilton overtook two rivals at Becketts, a series of high-speed (up to 150 mph in a GP2 car) bends where overtaking is rare. In Istanbul he recovered from a spin that left him in eighteenth place to take second position in the final corners. He won the title in unusual circumstances, inheriting the final point he needed after Giorgio Pantano was stripped of fastest lap in the Monza feature race. In the sprint race, though he finished second with Piquet sixth, he finished twelve points clear of his rival.

His 2006 GP2 championship coincided with a vacancy at McLaren following the departure of Juan Pablo Montoya to NASCAR and Kimi Räikkönen to Ferrari. After months of speculation on whether Hamilton, Pedro de la Rosa or Gary Paffett would be paired with defending champion Fernando Alonso for , Hamilton was confirmed as the team's second driver. He was told of McLaren's decision on 30 September, but the news was not made public until 24 November, for fear that it would be overshadowed by Michael Schumacher's retirement announcement.

Formula One career

2007 season

It was announced prior to the start of the season that Hamilton would be partnering defending double World Champion Fernando Alonso who had joined McLaren after leaving Renault. On his debut at the , he qualified fourth and finished third in the race, becoming the thirteenth driver to finish on the podium in his first F1 career race (excluding those in the first ever World Championship round). In Bahrain, Hamilton got his first front-row start, qualifying and finishing second behind Felipe Massa. Hamilton again finished second behind Massa in the , to take the lead in the drivers championship. This meant that Hamilton broke Bruce McLaren's record of being the youngest driver to ever lead the world championship.

Hamilton finished second behind Alonso at Monaco and afterwards suggested he was prevented from racing his team mate. The FIA cleared McLaren following an investigation. Hamilton had both his first pole position and first victory of his F1 career in the at Montreal. He led for most of the race even after the safety car was deployed four times increasing the chances of him being overtaken. A week later Hamilton won the , also from pole position, becoming the first Briton since John Watson in 1983 to win an F1 race in the US, and only the second person, after Jacques Villeneuve, to win more than one race in his rookie Formula One season since the first year of the Championship.

By finishing third at Magny-Cours behind Ferrari drivers Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa, Hamilton extended his lead in the Driver's Championship to 14 points. This was the first time in his F1 career he finished a race in a lower position than he started, and the first time he had been passed on the race track in Formula One. He took pole at his home Grand Prix at Silverstone and led for the first 16 laps, but slipped to third, 40 seconds behind Räikkönen and Alonso.

During qualifying for the , Hamilton crashed at the Schumacher chicane after a problem with the wheel nut caused by the air gun used on his car. He was taken to the circuit's medical centre on a stretcher with an oxygen mask and drip, but was conscious throughout. He was unable to complete qualifying and his existing laptime was surpassed by all other competitors during Q3, thus he qualified in tenth position. After a final medical check on Sunday morning, Hamilton was cleared to race. During a heavy rainstorm which caused the race to be red-flagged Hamilton slid off into a gravel trap, however as he kept his engine running he was lifted back on to the circuit and able to rejoin the race after the restart. His ninth place finish in this race was his first non-podium and non-points finish, enabling title contenders Alonso and Massa to reduce Hamilton's championship lead.

Hamilton won the from pole position following a controversial qualifying session. Alonso had set the fastest time, but was relegated five places down the grid to sixth for preventing Hamilton to leave the pit lane in time to complete his final qualifying lap. Kimi Räikkönen stayed within five seconds of Hamilton for the entire race (excluding pit stop periods). McLaren were docked any constructor's points earned during the race due to the incident in qualifying.

After declaring he had restored his relationship with Alonso, Hamilton qualified second in Turkey. After dropping to third at the first corner, Hamilton looked set for a podium finish with 15 laps remaining, but a right-front tyre puncture forced him to crawl back to the pits, leaving him to finish fifth meaning his championship lead was cut once more.

Alonso beat Hamilton in the Italian and Belgian Grands Prix, leaving Hamilton with a two-point lead in the title race. However he extended his lead to 12 points after winning the in heavy rain after Alonso crashed. Following the race Hamilton was investigated by the race stewards over his involvement in an incident behind the safety car, which saw both Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber crash out of the race while following the McLaren. The trio were cleared on the Friday of the weekend.

After securing pole position in China, which saw changeable weather conditions, Hamilton retired from the race. He experienced considerable tyre wear, notably his right rear, and he ran wide into the gravel trap in the pitlane where his car beached, recording the first retirement of his Formula One career. It was later revealed that Bridgestone became unnerved at the glaringly worn tyres and advised McLaren to order him to make a pit stop, which McLaren refused to do, believing it would be counterproductive. Hamilton himself couldn't tell the full extent of the tyre problem as raindrops were in his wing mirrors. Hamilton thus went into the final race of the season four and seven points ahead of Alonso and Räikkönen respectively.

In the he failed to finish in a championship-winning position, finishing the race in seventh after being as low as 18th place during the race, due to two incidents. In the first he was passed by Räikkönen away from the line before being boxed in by Massa and Räikkönen into the first corner, and 'wrong-footed' by Räikkönen mid-corner, Hamilton was passed by Alonso in Turn 3. Hamilton attempted to re-pass Alonso in turn four, but ran wide, dropping four places to eighth. The second problem started on lap 9 when Hamilton encountered a gearbox problem, which meant that he was stuck in neutral and could not select any gears. The gearbox became operational again after Hamilton switched settings on his steering wheel, but he lost 40 seconds while his car was coasting. For most of the race, Massa was leading with Räikkönen in second. If this had been the case come the chequered flag with Hamilton in seventh place, Hamilton would have become world champion. After the second round of pit stops, Räikkönen stayed out a couple of laps longer than Massa and took the lead. Once in front Räikkönen made no mistakes in the remaining laps and won the race to become the Formula One world champion.

On 21 October 2007 it was announced that the FIA were investigating BMW Sauber and Williams for fuel irregularities, the BMW drivers had finished in fifth and sixth place, and if they were to be excluded Hamilton would be promoted to fifth and would win the 2007 Drivers World Championship by one point over Räikkönen. Ultimately no penalty whatsoever was given to any team as there was "sufficient doubt as to render it inappropriate to impose a penalty", though McLaren officially appealed this decision. Hamilton subsequently told the BBC he does not want to win an F1 title through the disqualifications of other drivers. A precedent had been set in 1995 when Michael Schumacher, then of Benetton-Renault, and David Coulthard, then of Williams-Renault, were both found guilty of possessing illegal fuel in their cars and in that situation both drivers were initially docked drivers points, but for unspecified reasons it would transpire over a week later that constructor points would be docked instead.

Ahead of the world championship finale, Hamilton answered a question about what it would mean to him to become the first black champion, saying: "It will show that not only white people can do it, but also black people, Indians, Japanese and Chinese. It will be good to mean something." Having made few public remarks about his ethnicity since becoming an F1 driver, Hamilton added: "Outside of Formula One my heroes are foremost my father, then Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. Being black is not a negative. It's a positive, if anything, because I'm different. In the future it can open doors to different cultures and that is what motor sport is trying to do anyway".

Team tensions

Hamilton's relationship with McLaren team boss Ron Dennis dates back to 1995, with the first indication that Hamilton was unhappy with his team appearing after he finished second at Monaco in 2007. After post-race comments made by Hamilton which suggested he had been forced into a supporting role, the FIA initiated an inquiry to determine whether McLaren had broken rules by enforcing team orders. McLaren denied favouring double world champion Fernando Alonso, and the FIA subsequently vindicated the team, stating that: "McLaren were able to pursue an optimum team strategy because they had a substantial advantage over all other cars. They did nothing which could be described as interfering with the race result".

The tensions within the team surfaced again at the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix. During the final qualifying session for the race Hamilton was delayed in the pits by Alonso and thus unable to set a final lap time before the end of the session. McLaren pointed out that Hamilton had disobeyed an earlier instruction to let Alonso pass in qualifying, for fear of losing his own position. Alonso was relegated to sixth place on the starting grid, thus elevating Hamilton (who had originally qualified second) to first, while McLaren were docked constructors championship points. Hamilton said he thought Alonso's penalty was "quite light if anything" and only regretted the loss of constructors' points. Hamilton was reported to have sworn at Dennis on the team radio following the incident. British motorsport journal ''Autosport'' claimed that this "[led] Dennis to throw his headphones on the pit wall in disgust (a gesture that was misinterpreted by many to be in reaction to Alonso's pole)". However McLaren later issued a statement on behalf of Hamilton which denied the use of any profanity. As a result of these events, the relationship between Hamilton and Alonso temporarily collapsed, with the pair not on speaking terms for a short period. In the aftermath it was reported that Hamilton had been targeted by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo regarding a Ferrari drive for .

Following the stewards' investigation into the incident at the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix, Alonso stated: "I'm not thinking of this championship anymore, it's been decided off the track. The drivers' briefing has no purpose. You go there to hear what Charlie Whiting and the other officials say. Twenty one drivers have an opinion, Charlie and the officials another, and so it's like talking to a wall".

The rivalry between Hamilton and teammate Alonso led to speculation that one of the pair would leave McLaren at the end of the 2007 season and Alonso and McLaren subsequently terminated their contract by mutual consent on 2 November 2007.

2008 season

On 14 December 2007, it was confirmed that Heikki Kovalainen who drove for Renault in 2007 would drive the second car for McLaren-Mercedes for the 2008 Formula One season alongside Hamilton. In January 2008, Hamilton signed a new five-year multi-million pound contract to stay with McLaren-Mercedes until the end of the 2012 season.

Hamilton won the first race of the 2008 season, the , having qualified on pole position. In Malaysia, he finished fifth after duels with Mark Webber and Jarno Trulli. He had been demoted to ninth on the grid, from fourth, for impeding Nick Heidfeld's flying lap. In Bahrain, Hamilton destroyed his car during a practice crash. He continued with a spare chassis and took third place in qualifying. In the race, after a bad start, he crashed into the back of Alonso's Renault finishing 13th. This led to him being overtaken in the Drivers' Championship by Kimi Räikkönen and Nick Heidfeld. He was back on the podium in Spain finishing third from fifth on the grid. Hamilton finished second in Turkey, and won the a fortnight later, putting him in the lead of the championship.

He achieved his eighth career pole position in Montreal but he crashed into the back of Räikkönen during the race, after failing to see that the Finn was waiting at a red light at the end of the pit lane. Both cars were forced to retire and Hamilton was given a 10 position grid penalty for the next race, the , as a result of this incident. At that race, Hamilton overtook Sebastian Vettel at the chicane on lap 1 but missed the apex and was given a drive through penalty which he served on lap 13, finishing the race in 13th. Despite an error in qualifying that saw him start fourth on the grid, Hamilton went on to win the in difficult, wet conditions. His performance was stated as being one of his best drives to date. Hamilton himself said in the post race press conference that it was his most difficult and most meaningful win.

In the next race at Hockenheim, Hamilton started from pole position, building up an 11 second lead over second-placed Felipe Massa early in the race. After stopping and re-emerging in the lead, McLaren then decided to keep Hamilton out on-track when the safety car was deployed mid-way through the race. When Hamilton finally pitted, he came out in fifth place, jumping to third after his team-mate let him by and Nick Heidfeld pitted. He then overtook Massa and Nelson Piquet, Jr. for the lead, eventually winning by 9 seconds.

Hamilton won the on the road, however he was later judged to have gained an unfair advantage by cutting a chicane when he used a tarmac run off area to avoid hitting Kimi Räikkönen. McLaren said that their telemetry showed Hamilton backed off to let Räikkönen past but Hamilton was given a 25 second penalty, thereby dropping him to third. As a result his main title rival Massa inherited the win. Hamilton's lead in the drivers' championship was cut to two points, and a subsequent appeal by McLaren to the FIA World Motor Sport Council was rejected on the grounds that the case was inadmissible. The Italian Grand Prix was won by Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso. Both Massa and Hamilton failed to capitalise on the weather and each other's poor grid positions finishing sixth and seventh respectively. This result cut Hamilton's lead in the Championship to one point. Hamilton finished third at the next race in Singapore, while Massa failed to score any points, allowing Hamilton to increase his championship lead to seven points.

At Fuji, Hamilton took pole in qualifying. His closest rival for the Championship title, Felipe Massa, could only manage to qualify fifth. As the race began Kimi Räikkönen made a good start from second position, getting ahead of pole-sitter Hamilton. Hamilton moved down the inside before the first corner, out-braking himself and running wide. This forced some of the drivers behind him to go off the track, including the cars of Räikkönen and Heikki Kovalainen, for which Hamilton was given a drive-through penalty. A second incident followed soon afterwards, on the second lap, when Hamilton attempted to pass Massa into the chicane at turn 10. Hamilton pulled alongside the Ferrari and as Massa ran wide into the corner, Hamilton made a move to pass him. Massa then ran up inside Hamilton and the cars collided at the second bend of the chicane, pushing the McLaren into a spin. Massa was later given a drive-through penalty for this move. Hamilton, who had been in sixth place behind Massa, dropped down to last place but managed to regain some places and managed to finish the race in 12th position. However Massa finished seventh after being given an extra point after a penalty was given to Toro Rosso's Sébastien Bourdais. This meant that with just two races to go Hamilton led the World Championship by five points from Massa.

At the penultimate race of the season, the , Hamilton was much faster than all the other cars in the practice sessions, and qualified on pole position. He went on to win the race from Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen, taking a 7 point lead in the World Championship into the last race of the season. Speaking afterwards, Hamilton said "All weekend we have had God on our side as always, and the team did a phenomenal job in preparing the car, which has been a dream to drive." Hamilton needed to finish at least fifth in the to secure the World Championship. After a hard fought race Hamilton was in fifth but, after rain, and in the closing laps of the race, Sebastian Vettel of Scuderia Toro Rosso took the fifth position away from Hamilton. Had the race ended then, this would have given the driver's title to Massa.

On the final lap of the race first Vettel and then Hamilton managed to pass Timo Glock of Toyota, after Glock (unlike Hamilton) had risked staying on the track with dry-weather tyres, despite the rain. This moved Hamilton back up to fifth, ensuring that he finished one point ahead of Massa overall and winning the 2008 title. Hamilton's overtaking move happened after Massa had crossed the line to win. This meant that Hamilton had clinched the 2008 Formula One World Championship, becoming the youngest driver to win the title, as well as the first black driver. He is also the first British driver to win the World Championship since Damon Hill triumphed in 1996.

;Racial abuse On 4 February 2008, Hamilton was verbally heckled and otherwise abused during pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Catalonia by several Spanish spectators who wore black face paint and black wigs, as well as shirts bearing the words "Hamilton's ". Hamilton became widely unpopular in Spain because of his rivalry with Spanish former team-mate Fernando Alonso. The FIA have warned Spanish authorities about the repetition of such behaviour. In reaction to this behaviour, the FIA announced on 13 February 2008 that it will launch a "Race Against Racism" campaign.

Shortly before the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, a website owned by the Spanish branch of the New York-based advertising agency TBWA and named "pinchalaruedadeHamilton" (burst Hamilton's tyre) was featured in the British media. The website contained an animated image of Interlagos that allowed users to leave nails and porcupines on the track for Hamilton's car to run over. Among thousands of comments left since 2007, some included racial insults. His rival Fernando Alonso condemned the racist supporters.

2009 season

A year after winning the 2008 Australian Grand Prix from pole position, Hamilton started the season-opening from 18th place on the grid after the McLaren team incurred a penalty for changing his malfunctioning gearbox during qualifying. Hamilton benefited from a late crash between Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica to move into fourth place by the end of the race. He was then promoted to third after Jarno Trulli was penalised for overtaking him under safety-car conditions. During a post-race stewards' hearing, Hamilton and McLaren officials told stewards they had not purposely let Trulli pass, but it was revealed by release of the McLaren race radio communication that this was not true. Hamilton was then disqualified from the race for providing "misleading evidence" during the stewards' hearing. He later privately apologised to FIA race director Charlie Whiting for having lied to the stewards.

Over the next six races, Hamilton qualified outside the top ten three more times, twice qualifying as high as fifth. He scored minor points at the Malaysian, Chinese and Bahrain Grands Prix. A chance for points, and even hopes for a podium finish came at the Nürburgring when he again qualified fifth, but a puncture on the first lap caused by a collision with Mark Webber sent him down to 19th as the McLaren limped back to the pits damaging the floor and undertray. With the car's aerodynamics damaged he finished 18th, last and the only driver in the race lapped.

Hamilton's fortunes were reversed at the Hungaroring, the tenth round of the season. A KERS-assisted start from fourth place saw him take second place by the first corner, before losing it to Mark Webber at the next turn. Hamilton repassed Webber on lap five and following Alonso's retirement on lap 13, he led the remainder of the race to finish 11.529 seconds clear of Räikkönen and take his 10th career win and the first for a KERS-equipped car. McLaren's return to form continued in Valencia, where Hamilton qualified on pole position for the first time in the season, heading a McLaren one-two with team-mate Heikki Kovalainen. In the race a poor pit stop by the mechanics lost Hamilton first place but he finished a steady second behind Rubens Barrichello's Brawn.

Hamilton crashed out of the next two races, the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix, going out of third place on the last lap of the Italian race when chasing Jenson Button for second. This mathematically eliminated his chances of defending his title. In September, at the , Hamilton took his second win of the season. He finished third at the next two races, the Japanese and Brazilian Grands Prix, starting the latter event from 17th on the grid. In the inaugural , Hamilton was quick throughout the practice sessions and qualified on pole, six tenths of a second quicker than Sebastian Vettel who was second on the grid. Hamilton led the race, but retired on lap 20 due to a rear brake problem, his first technical-related retirement in Formula One.

Kovalainen left the team at the end of the year, and like Alonso he was upset with the team's favouritism of Hamilton. According to Kovalainen, Hamilton always had priority for the newest parts, and Kovalainen was forced to carry more fuel during qualifying, reducing his qualifying times.

2010 season

After a difficult 2009 season Hamilton was set out to challenge for the title hoping for a better season for him and McLaren. For the new season Hamilton would drive alongside new teammate, Jenson Button, while Heikki Kovalainen moved to Lotus Racing.

Hamilton finished third in Bahrain, having qualified fourth on the grid. In Australia, Hamilton failed to make the top ten in qualifying, starting the race from eleventh place on the grid. He ran as high as third, before ending the race in sixth, after a late-race collision with Mark Webber. The Malaysia saw him in the top three positions in all practice sessions, but a misjudgement on the weather by his team in qualifying, left him on tyres that were unfavourable for the wet conditions. This restricted him to 20th on the grid for the race, before he came through to finish sixth. He was given a warning during the race, after he weaved four times over a straight trying to break the tow that Vitaly Petrov was receiving and was not intending to block him. After the race the rules were clarified by stewards to only allow a driver to weave once even if they are only trying to break a tow.

Hamilton qualified in sixth position in Shanghai, making up four places in the race and achieving a second place finish, behind teammate Jenson Button. This completed the team's first 1–2 finish since the 2007 Italian Grand Prix. The race saw multiple brief periods of rain, and two safety car periods, which upset the order and resulted in many overtaking manoeuvres. Hamilton was involved in a pit lane incident with Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, for which both later received a reprimand from race stewards, Hamilton for his second consecutive race after the Petrov incident in Malaysia. Hamilton qualified third for the , and by the end of the race he was running in second behind Mark Webber and set the fastest lap of the race on the third last lap. The next lap, he speared off into the gravel trap and came in contact with the wall, destroying the left front suspension and putting him out of the race. It appeared that his front left tyre received a puncture and blew out but it was later confirmed by McLaren that the wheel rim had failed and destroyed the tyre, sending Hamilton into the barrier. Despite running in the top three for most of the race, he was classified outside the points.

The next weekend at Monaco Hamilton qualified and finished 5th. For the , Hamilton qualified a season's best 2nd, behind Mark Webber. He was overtaken by 3rd placed Sebastian Vettel, but managed to reclaim the place soon after. Hamilton was then promoted to 1st after Vettel and Webber collided with each other on Lap 40. Hamilton's teammate, Jenson Button was then in 2nd behind him and later overtook Hamilton, but Hamilton retook the lead in the first corner after a few near collisions. Both drivers held back then and cruised to a the finish, with Hamilton taking his first victory of the 2010 season, promoting him to 3rd in the Drivers Championship.

Prior to the Turkish Grand Prix in 2010, Hamilton evidently had both of his ears pierced, as he was sporting black studs in each ear on the grid before the race, however despite FIA policy prohibiting the wearing of earrings and jewellery at grand prix, the FIA stated that they had no issue with Hamilton's freshly pierced ears. Hamilton qualified on pole for the , continuing a 100% pole record at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. After setting his pole lap, Hamilton received instructions from his team to stop on circuit due to a lack of fuel in the car which would not be equivalent to the level necessary for a sample to be taken by the FIA. Hamilton was reprimanded after failing to complete his in-lap in a sufficient time, while his team received a $10,000 fine. This fine did not appear to affect Hamilton who won the race and promoted him to lead the Drivers Championship. A day after the Grand Prix Hamilton flew back into the UK and drove Ayrton Senna's championship winning MP4/4. Hamilton had been denied the chance to drive it in 2009 when the car had a gearbox problem the day before he drove it at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Hamilton was clearly excited and overcome with emotion and described it as 'one of the best days of his life'. He also stated that he had 'ticked off one of his dreams' by driving the car.

Hamilton qualified third in Valencia and passed Mark Webber at the start of the race. He went up the inside of Vettel into the second corner but was run out of room by Vettel, jumped over the kerbs and made slight contact which resulted in some damage to his McLaren. When the safety car was deployed after Webber's 300 km/h flying crash, Vettel and Hamilton were on the pit straight. Vettel passed the second safety car line before the safety car exited the pits while Hamilton just missed making the line by about 0.5s. Hamilton passed the safety car after the second safety car line instead of decelerating to follow the safety car. Fernando Alonso was a second behind Hamilton and was disadvantaged by having to remain behind the safety car. Alonso complained on the radio to his team which led to the stewards investigating the incident and penalising Hamilton with a drive through penalty. The stewards announced the penalty 20 minutes after the incident which allowed Hamilton to make a gap before serving the penalty and kept him in second place. This angered Alonso and the Ferrari team as the penalty did not alter the results, leading Hamilton to accuse Alonso of "sour grapes", although the pair reconciled before the next race.

Hamilton finished second behind Vettel and retained his lead in the drivers championship. He finished second at Silverstone and fourth at Hockenheim, while in Hungary, Hamilton qualified fifth but retired during the race due to gearbox problems, losing the championship lead to Webber. Despite running into the gravel at Spa-Francorchamps, Hamilton won his third race of the season and reclaimed the championship lead.

Hamilton crashed out of the Singapore Grand Prix in a racing incident with Mark Webber on lap 35. Webber had overtaken Hamilton during his pitstop, then Hamilton attempted to overtake Webber whilst Webber was lapping Virgin Racing's Lucas di Grassi. The resulting collision ended Hamilton's race while Webber went on to finish third.

2011 season

Hamilton began the season finishing second in the behind winner Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, despite having to deal with a damaged floor on his McLaren. In the , he qualified second and finished seventh on-the-road, struggling partly due to tyre wear and being tagged by Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in the closing stages. Both Hamilton and Alonso received 20-second time penalties post-race, which dropped Hamilton to eighth place behind Kamui Kobayashi, while Alonso remained sixth. He took his first win of the season in China, overtaking race leader Vettel with just a few laps remaining. He then finished fourth in Turkey, and second behind Vettel in Spain, after pressuring him for the lead in the closing stages.

In Monaco, he qualified tenth after Q3 was red-flagged before he could set a competitive time due to a heavy crash from Sergio Pérez. He passed Schumacher at the start, but was then re-passed at the Grand Hotel hairpin. Later on he tried to pass Massa at this point, and hit Massa's side pod, stopping both temporarily. After this he passed and sent Massa into the barriers in the tunnel, putting him out of the race. He was then given a drive-through penalty. Later on, he was being lapped whilst battling with several other drivers. He braked to avoid Adrian Sutil, who had run wide, this caused Alguersuari to rear-end Hamilton, breaking his rear wing. This crash red-flagged the race as Petrov had hit the wall and injured himself. Hamilton's wing was repaired, and on the restart he sent Maldonado into the barriers, putting him out of the race too. He eventually finished 6th, one lap down. He was then given a 20 second time penalty for his crash with Maldonado, but did not drop him down the order. Hamilton later criticised the stewards after the race. At the , Hamilton attempted to pass teammate Button on the start/finish straight, though lack of visibility in wet conditions meant that Button was unaware of Hamilton's presence and they collided. Button carried on to victory and Hamilton retired with suspension damage.

Hamilton qualified third in Valencia, and dropped to fifth at the start, but he passed Massa during the pit stop phase to finish fourth. He qualified tenth at Silverstone, and moved up to sixth on the first lap. He later moved up to fourth place, but was told to conserve fuel towards the end of the race, and started being caught up by Massa. Massa passed him on the last lap, but Hamilton moved ahead at the final corner and marginally held on to fourth position. He qualified second at Germany, and took the lead from Webber at turn 1. Webber undercut Hamilton during the pit stops to take the lead, but Hamilton re-took the lead after the second set of pit stops, where Webber emerged just behind him and he passed Alonso round the outside of turn 2 to take his second victory of 2011. Another front-row start followed at Hungary and had many exciting battles for the lead with Button. He span whilst in the lead at one point and sent Paul di Resta onto the grass, for which he received a drive-through penalty, but recovered to finish fourth.

After qualifying second for the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix, Hamilton failed to finish for only the second time in the season after a collision with Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi.

Records

Hamilton has matched or set the following records in Formula One: Most consecutive podiums from debut race: 9 – 2007 Australian GP – 2007 British GP (previous record was 2 by Peter Arundell – 1964 Monaco GP – 1964 Dutch GP) Most consecutive podiums for a British driver: 9 – 2007 Australian GP – 2007 British GP (tied with Jim Clark – 1963 Belgian GP – 1963 South African GP) Youngest driver to lead the World Championship: 22 years, 4 months, 6 days – at the 2007 Spanish GP (previous record was 23 years, 7 months, 22 days by Fernando Alonso at the 2005 Malaysian GP) Most wins in a debut season: 4 – 2007 Canadian, USA, Hungarian and Japanese GPs (equalling Jacques Villeneuve, 1996 European, British, Hungarian and Portuguese GPs) Most pole positions in a debut season: 6 – 2007 Canadian, USA, British, Hungarian, Japanese and Chinese GPs (previous record was 3 held jointly by Jacques Villeneuve () and Juan Pablo Montoya ()) Most points in a debut season: 109

In his debut season, Hamilton took the record of Youngest World Drivers' Championship runner-up, at 22 years and 288 days, previously held by Kimi Räikkönen at 23 years and 360 days. In 2009, this record was taken by Sebastian Vettel, who was 22 years and 122 days when he secured runner-up position in the championship.

Hamilton is the first driver of black heritage to compete in Formula One (although Willy T. Ribbs tested an F1 car in 1986) and the first driver of black heritage to win a major race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in any discipline. In addition, he is the third youngest driver to achieve an F1 pole position, and the fourteenth F1 driver to achieve a podium finish on his debut.

During the 2007 European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, Hamilton became the first driver to have his car recovered by a crane and put back on the track during an F1 race, although several drivers have been pushed back onto the circuit by the marshals without mechanical aids when judged to be in a dangerous position, such as Michael Schumacher during the 2003 European Grand Prix. Since then, the FIA have now banned the use of mechanical assistance to help move a car back onto the track, meaning that Hamilton became the first and the last driver to have his car recovered by crane back onto the track.

Lewis Hamilton's contract for the McLaren driver development program made him the youngest ever driver to secure a contract which later resulted in an F1 drive.

Driving style

Hamilton is known for his aggressive and interesting driving style. He commonly uses oversteer to control the car's direction change. Confidence in car control allows Hamilton to excel in wet conditions as demonstrated in his performance at the 2008 British Grand Prix. Confidence is also demonstrated when overtaking, as reflected in his 32 overtakes in 4 races during .

His aggressive style often attracts the attention of critics. For example, critics argued that Hamilton's defensive weaving during the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix in attempt to break the tow of Vitaly Petrov's chasing Renault was potentially dangerous. Hamilton was quick to defend himself to these accusations, but race director Charlie Whiting clarified after the race that such weaving would favour a penalty in the future.

Helmet

Due to the fact that Hamilton has said in the past that Ayrton Senna was his hero, some people assumed that his helmet is yellow in honour of him. In actuality it was made yellow so that his father could tell which kart his son was driving back in his karting days. Hamilton chose the colours blue, green and red and they were originally in a ribbon design; however, Hamilton later felt that the design was "a bit old hat" so it was changed. In later years a white ring was added and the ribbons moved forward to make room for adverts and logos.

During the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix, Hamilton had an altered helmet design with the addition of a roulette wheel image on the top. Hamilton had said, "...I'll also be wearing a specially-painted helmet for the occasion. When you see it, you'll know why I'll be hoping for it to swing the odds in my favour."

Racing results

Career summary

! Season	! Series	! Team	! Races	! Wins	! Poles	! F/Laps	! Podiums	! Points	! Position
! 2001	align=left		4	0	0	0	0	?	5th
2002	align=left		13	3	3	5	7	274
	align=left	4	1	1	2	3	92	5th
2003	align=left		15	10	11	9	13	419
	align=left	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	align=left	2	0	0	0	1	24	12th
	align=left	2	0	0	0	0	25	27th
	align=left	1	0	1	0	0	N/A	NC
		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
2004	align=left		20	1	1	2	5	69	5th
align=left	1	1	0	0	1	N/A
	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	14th
align=left	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	14th
2005	align=left	align=left rowspan=2	20	15	13	10	17	172
align=left	1	1	1	1	1	N/A
! 2006	align=left		21	5	1	7	14	114
! 2007	align=left	align=left	17	4	6	2	12	109
! 2008	align=left	align=left	18	5	7	1	10	98
! 2009	align=left	align=left	17	2	4	0	5	49	5th
! 2010	align=left	align=left	19	3	1	5	9	240	4th
! 2011	align=left	align=left	12	2	0	2	4	146*	5th*

Season in progress.

Complete Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

! Year

! Entrant

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! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! DC

! Points

! Manor Motorsport

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! 92

Complete British Formula Three results

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! Entrant

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! 6

! 7

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! 18

! 19

! 20

! 21

! 22

! 23

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! DC

! Points

!Manor Motorsport

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NC

0

Complete Formula Three Euroseries 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

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! 20

! DC

! Points

! Manor Motorsport

! Dallara F302/049

Mercedes-Benz in motorsport>HWA-Mercedes

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! 5th

! 68

ART Grand Prix>ASM Formule 3

! Dallara F305/021

Mercedes-Benz in motorsport>Mercedes

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Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

! Year

! Entrant

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! 20

! 21

! DC

! Points

! ART Grand Prix

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Complete Formula One 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

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! WDC

List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems>Points

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines>Mercedes

McLaren McLaren MP4-22>MP4-22

!

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Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

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McLaren Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines>Mercedes

McLaren McLaren MP4-23>MP4-23

!

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Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

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McLaren Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines>Mercedes

McLaren McLaren MP4-24>MP4-24

!

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! 5th

! 49

Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

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! 49

McLaren Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines>Mercedes

McLaren McLaren MP4-25>MP4-25

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! 4th

! 240

Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

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! 4th

! 240

McLaren Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines>Mercedes

McLaren McLaren MP4-26>MP4-26

! Official Web Site Career details Lewis Hamilton biography – McLaren.com [[Jamie Green">Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

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! 5th*

! 146*

*Season in progress. Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance. Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

References

Further reading

Written by Hamilton

(also in paperback )

Written by others

(also in paperback ) (also in paperback )

External links

Official Web Site

Career details

Lewis Hamilton biography – McLaren.com

title = Formula Three Euroseries Drivers' Champion | years=[[2005 Formula Three Euroseries season|2005 | after= Paul di Resta}} Nick Heidfeld(1997) | title = Monaco Formula Three SupportRace Winner| after = nonerace not held since | years = 2005}} Alexandre Prémat | title = Formula Three MastersWinner| after = Paul di Resta | years = 2005}} Nico Rosberg | title = GP2 SeriesDrivers' Champion | years=2006 | after= Timo Glock}} Kimi Räikkönen | title = Formula One World Champion| after = Jenson Button | years = }} Juan Manuel Fangio (1950) and Giuseppe Farina (1950)3 wins | title = Most Wins in a debut Formula One season4 wins | after = Incumbent | years = 2007, tied with: Jacques Villeneuve (1996)}}

Fernando Alonso24 years, 58 days(2005 season) | after = Sebastian Vettel23 years, 134 days(2010 season) | years = 23 years, 300 days(2008 season)}}

Danny Watts | title = AutosportBritish Club Driver of the Year | after = James Pickford | years = 2003}} Tiago Monteiro | title = AutosportRookie Of The Year | after = Sebastian Vettel| years =2006–2007}} Jenson Button | after= Jenson Button| years=2007–2008}} Jenson Button | title = AutosportBritish Competition Driver of the Year | after = Allan McNish| years = 2007}} Fernando Alonso | title = AutosportInternational Racing Driver Award | after = Jenson Button| years = 2007–2008}} Sebastian Vettel|title=Lorenzo Bandini Trophy|years=2010|after= Nico Rosberg}} Amélie Mauresmo | after = Rebecca Adlington | title = Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year | years = 2008}} }}

Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:People from Stevenage Category:Black British sportspeople Category:English racecar drivers Category:English Formula One drivers Category:English people of Grenadian descent Category:McLaren Formula One drivers Category:Formula One World Drivers' Champions Category:GP2 Series drivers Category:GP2 Series Champions Category:Formula Three Euroseries drivers Category:Formula Three Euroseries Champions Category:British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Category:Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Category:German Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Category:Monaco Grand Prix winners Category:CIK-FIA Karting World Championship drivers Category:English Roman Catholics Category:British karateka Category:BRDC Gold Star winners Category:Segrave Trophy recipients Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:British expatriates in Switzerland

ar:لويس هاملتون ast:Lewis Hamilton bs:Lewis Hamilton bg:Луис Хамилтън ca:Lewis Hamilton cs:Lewis Hamilton cy:Lewis Hamilton da:Lewis Hamilton de:Lewis Hamilton et:Lewis Hamilton el:Λιούις Χάμιλτον es:Lewis Hamilton eo:Lewis Hamilton eu:Lewis Hamilton fa:لوئیز همیلتون fr:Lewis Hamilton gl:Lewis Hamilton ko:루이스 해밀턴 hi:लुईस हैमिल्टन hr:Lewis Hamilton id:Lewis Hamilton it:Lewis Hamilton he:לואיס המילטון jv:Lewis Hamilton lv:Luiss Hamiltons lb:Lewis Hamilton lt:Lewis Hamilton hu:Lewis Hamilton mr:लुइस हॅमिल्टन ms:Lewis Hamilton nl:Lewis Hamilton ja:ルイス・ハミルトン no:Lewis Hamilton nn:Lewis Hamilton pl:Lewis Hamilton pt:Lewis Hamilton ro:Lewis Hamilton ru:Хэмилтон, Льюис sq:Lewis Hamilton scn:Lewis Hamilton simple:Lewis Hamilton sk:Lewis Hamilton sl:Lewis Hamilton szl:Lewis Hamilton sr:Луис Хамилтон sh:Lewis Hamilton su:Lewis Hamilton fi:Lewis Hamilton sv:Lewis Hamilton te:లెవీస్ హామిల్టన్ th:ลูวิส แฮมิลตัน tr:Lewis Hamilton uk:Льюїс Гамільтон vi:Lewis Hamilton zh:劉易斯·咸美頓

Debbie McDonald (born August 27, 1954) is an American dressage rider who has competed in the Olympics and many international competitions. She now lives in Hailey, Idaho, with her husband Bob, a hunter/jumper and trainer. Debbie trains and teaches riders on Peggy and Parry Thomas' River Grove Farm in Sun Valley, Idaho.

McDonald's first mount was a $800 pony. She agreed that she would pay for board if her parents bought it for her. Shortly thereafter Debbie managed to find a gaited horse trainer near her hometown who allowed her to groom horses and clean stalls in exchange for board. At age 14, when Debbie went to turn her pony out, she discovered a strange man in his stall, beating him. She went running for help and ran into a young trainer and her future husband, Bob McDonald, who ran a hunter/jumper farm and hired her as a stable hand. It was at this facility that she began her career.

McDonald began her career in show jumping. However, she switched to dressage after a serious fall in which her horse somersaulted over her breaking ribs, rupturing her spleen, and fracturing a vertebra in her neck, She first met Parry and Peggy Thomas when she got a catch ride at a dressage show in Las Vegas on one of their horses whose rider was not available.

The Thomases also became the owners of Brentina, a chestnut Hanoverian mare that became McDonald's primary mount. McDonald and her husband obtained the mare at an auction in Germany in 1994. Brentina, foaled in 1991, had a suitable temperament to respect McDonald, who is only five feet tall, and the team established a partnership that took them to the Olympics. McDonald and Brentina began by winning the Individual and Team Gold medals at the 1999 Pan American Games. In recognition of this accomplishment, McDonald was named the 1999 Equestrian of the Year by the United States Equestrian Federation and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Female Equestrian Athlete of the Year. In 2003, McDonald become the first American rider to win the Dressage World Cup, and the pair placed third at the 2005 World Cup. As members of the United States Equestrian Team they won a team silver and team bronze at the 2002 and 2006 World Equestrian Games. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, the pair won the team bronze and were individually fourth overall, and McDonald was dubbed "First Lady of American Dressage."

Brentina was named the 2005 Farnam/Platform USEF Horse of the Year. After the 2008 Olympics, where the mare had an uncharacteristically poor performance, she was retired to the Thomas' farm. While McDonald went on to compete with other horses, Brentina developed an impaction in early 2009 and underwent colic surgery to remove a fecalith from her small colon. She has since recovered and attended a retirement ceremony at the 2009 FEI World Cup Dressage Finals in Las Vegas.

On January 22, 2010 McDonald was named the U.S. Equestrian Federation's Developing Dressage Coach, a role designed to identify and cultivate future US Dressage stars.

References

Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:American equestrians Category:Dressage riders Category:Equestrians at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic equestrians of the United States Category:Olympic medalists in equestrian

{|align="right" |- |

name	Nigel Mansell
nationality	British
birth date	August 08, 1953
years	1980–1992, 1994–1995 | Team(s) Lotus, Williams, Ferrari, McLaren
races	191 (187 starts)
championships	1 (1992)
wins	31
podiums	59
points	480 (482)
poles	32
fastest laps	30
first race	1980 Austrian Grand Prix
first win	1985 European Grand Prix
last win	1994 Australian Grand Prix
last race	1995 Spanish Grand Prix }}

years	| Team(s) Beechdean Mansell
best finish	DNF
class wins	}}

|- |

name	Nigel Mansell
first year	CART, 1993
former teams	Newman/Haas Racing
starts	31
wins	5
poles	11
best finish	1st
year	1993
prev series	Formula One
prev series years	1982–1992; 1994
titles	CART IndyCar World Series champion, CART Rookie of the Year
title years	1993
awards	Royal Automobile Club Gold Medal, ESPY for Best Driver
award years	1993 }}

|} Nigel Ernest James Mansell OBE (born 8 August 1953 in Upton-upon-Severn, Worcestershire, England) is a British racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship (1992) and the CART Indy Car World Series (1993). Mansell was the reigning F1 champion when he moved over to CART, being the first person to win the CART title in his debut season, making him the only person to hold both titles simultaneously.

His career in Formula One spanned 15 seasons, with his final two full seasons of top-level racing being spent in the CART series. Mansell remains the most successful British Formula One driver of all time in terms of race wins with 31 victories, and is fourth overall on the Formula One race winners list behind Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, and Ayrton Senna. He was rated in the top 10 Formula One drivers of all time by longtime Formula One commentator Murray Walker. In 2008, American sports television network ESPN ranked him 24th on their top drivers of all-time. He was also ranked #9 of the 50 greatest F1 drivers of all time by the Times Online on a list that also included such drivers as Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark.

Mansell raced in the GP Masters series and signed a one-off race deal for the Scuderia Ecosse GT race team to drive their number 63 Ferrari F430 GT2 car at Silverstone on 6 May 2007. He has since competed in additional sports car races with his sons, Leo and Greg, including the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans.

To date, he is the most recent inductee to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame from a country other than the US, having been inducted in 2005.

He is the current President of one of the UK's largest Youth Work Charities, UK Youth.

Career

Born in Upton-upon-Severn, Worcestershire, Mansell spent 11 years of his early life as a Special Constable for the Isle of Man and latterly for Devon and Cornwall Constabulary. He had a fairly slow start to his racing career, using his own money to help work his way up the ranks. After considerable success in kart racing, he moved to the Formula Ford series to the disapproval of his father. In 1976, Mansell won 6 of the 9 races he took part in, including his debut event at Mallory Park. He entered 42 races the following year and won 33 to become the 1977 British Formula Ford champion, despite suffering a broken neck in a qualifying session at Brands Hatch. Doctors told him he had been perilously close to quadriplegia, that he would be confined for six months and would never drive again. Mansell discharged himself from the hospital and returned to racing. Three weeks before the accident he had resigned his job as an aerospace engineer, having previously sold most of his personal belongings to finance his foray into Formula Ford. Later that year he was given the chance to race a Lola T570 Formula 3 car at Silverstone. He finished fourth and decided that he was ready to move into the higher formula.

Mansell raced in Formula Three in 1978–1979. Mansell's first season in Formula Three started with a pole position and a 2nd place finish. However, the car was not competitive, as a commercial deal with Unipart required his team to use Triumph Dolomite engines that were vastly inferior to the Toyota engines used by the leading teams. After three 7th place finishes and a fourth in his last race, he parted from the team. The next season saw him take a paid drive with Dave Price Racing. Following a first win in the series at Silverstone in March, he went on to finish 8th in the championship. His racing was consistent, but a collision with Andrea de Cesaris resulted in a huge cartwheeling crash which he was lucky to survive. Again he was hospitalised, this time with broken vertebrae. His driving was noticed by Colin Chapman, owner of Lotus, and shortly after his accident, hiding the extent of his injury with painkillers, Mansell performed well enough in a tryout with Lotus to become a test driver for the Formula One team.

Formula One

1980–1984: Lotus

Mansell's skill as a test driver, including setting the fastest lap around Silverstone in a Lotus car at the time, impressed Chapman enough to give him a trio of starts in F1 in 1980, driving a development version of the Lotus 81 used by the team, the Lotus 81B. In his Formula One debut at the 1980 Austrian Grand Prix, a fuel leak in the cockpit that developed shortly before the start of the race left him with painful first and second degree burns on his buttocks. An engine failure forced him to retire from that race and his second, however an accident at his third event at Imola meant he failed to qualify. Team leader Mario Andretti wrote his car off before the final race of the season and Mansell had to give up his car for Andretti to compete in. Andretti announced he was leaving to move to Alfa Romeo at the end of the season leaving Lotus with a vacant race seat.

Despite Mansell's being unpopular with one of the team's shareholders, David Thieme, and much speculation in the press that Jean-Pierre Jarier would fill the vacancy, Chapman announced at the start of the season the seat would be filled by Mansell.

Mansell's four years as a full-time Lotus driver were a struggle, as the cars were unreliable. Out of 59 race starts with the team, he finished just 24 of them. He managed a best finish of third place, which he achieved five times during the four years, including Lotus's fifth race of the 1981 season, and only the seventh of Mansell's Formula One career. Team mate Elio de Angelis took a surprise win at the 1982 Austrian Grand Prix, and was frequently faster than his less experienced colleague Mansell.

During the 1982 season, Mansell planned to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans sportscar event in order to earn extra money. At the time Mansell was paid £50,000 a year and was offered £10,000 to take part in Le Mans. Chapman believed that by entering the Le Mans race, Mansell was exposing himself to unnecessary risk and paid him £10,000 to not take part in the race. Chapman extended Mansell's contract to the end of the 1984 season in a deal that made him a millionaire.

As a result of the gestures such as the above, Mansell became very close to Chapman and was devastated by his sudden death in 1982. In his autobiography Mansell stated that when Chapman died, "the bottom dropped out of my world. Part of me died with him. I had lost a member of my family". Following Chapman's death relationships at Lotus became strained, as replacement team principal Peter Warr did not have a high regard for him as a driver. Warr was not keen on honoring the last year of the contract that Mansell had signed with Chapman. However, with encouragement from Lotus's sponsors, John Player Special, it was announced Mansell would be staying with the team.

In 1984, Mansell finished in the championship top 10 for the first time, and took his first career pole position. At the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix Mansell surprised many by overtaking Alain Prost in a wet race for the lead, but soon after retired from the race after getting off line and losing control on the slippery painted lines on the road surface. Mid-way through the season, Lotus announced the recruitment of Ayrton Senna for the following year, leaving Mansell with no race seat at Lotus. After receiving offers from Arrows and Williams, and firstly turning down Williams's offer, Mansell eventually signed for them.

Mansell was remembered by many that year when he collapsed while pushing his car to the finish line after the transmission failed on the last lap of the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix. The race was one of the hottest on record, and after 2 hours of driving in 104°F (about 40°C) conditions Mansell fainted while pushing his car over the line to salvage a sixth place finish (and thus 1 championship point) in a race of which he had led half, having started from pole.

In his autobiography, Mansell claimed that his final race with the Lotus team—the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix—was heavily compromised by Warr's unwillingness to give Mansell the brake pads he desired for the race. With 18 laps of the race remaining, and with Mansell in second position, the brakes on his car failed. On Mansell's departure, Warr was quoted "He'll never win a Grand Prix as long as I have a hole in my arse".

1985–1988: Williams

In 1985 Frank Williams hired Mansell to drive alongside Keke Rosberg as part of the Williams team, Mansell later saying "Keke was probably one of the best team-mates I've had in my career". Mansell was given the now famous "Red 5" number on his car, which he carried on subsequent Williams and Newman/Haas cars and which was brought to the public's attention mainly through commentator Murray Walker and his enthusiastic commentary for the BBC.

1985 initially appeared to provide more of the same for Mansell, although he was closer to the pace than before, especially as the Honda engines became more competitive by mid-season.

Mansell achieved second place at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, and followed this with his first victory in 72 starts at the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in England. He achieved a second straight victory at the South African Grand Prix in Kyalami. These triumphs helped turn Mansell into a Formula One star.

Going into 1986, the Williams-Honda team had a car capable of winning regularly, and Mansell had established himself as a potential World Championship contender. He also had a new team-mate in Nelson Piquet. The Brazilian publicly described Mansell as "an uneducated blockhead" and had also criticised his wife, Roseanne. Unperturbed by Piquet's mind games, Mansell went on to record five Grand Prix wins in 1986 and also played part in one of the closest finishes in Formula One history, finishing second to Ayrton Senna in the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez by a mere 0.014 seconds. The 1986 season went right down-to-the-wire in Adelaide, Australia for the Australian Grand Prix with Prost, Piquet and Mansell all still in contention for the title. After aiming for a third place finish which would guarantee him the title, Mansell would narrowly miss out on winning it after his left-rear tyre exploded in spectacular fashion on the main straight with only 19 laps of the race to go. Mansell ended the season as runner-up to Alain Prost. His efforts in 1986 led to his being voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Six more wins followed in 1987, including an emotional and hugely popular victory at Silverstone in which he came back from 28 seconds behind in 30 laps to beat team-mate Piquet, with his car running out of fuel on the slowing down lap. However, at the Italian Grand Prix he missed a gear and let Piquet, who was using an active suspension car, through to win. A heavy qualifying accident at Suzuka in Japan for the penultimate race of the season severely injured Mansell's back (a spinal concussion), and as a result of Mansell absent from the remaining two races, Piquet became champion for the third time even though he failed to score any points in these two remaining races.

In 1988, Williams lost the turbo power of Honda to McLaren, and had to settle with a naturally-aspirated Judd engine. A dismal season followed, which saw Mansell's Williams team experiment with a terribly unreliable (but extremely innovative) active suspension system. Mansell would complete only two of the fourteen races in which he appeared in 1988, both being podium finishes. Ironically, one of these was a second place at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone where the team had reverted to a passive suspension set-up.

Mansell developed chickenpox in the summer of 1988 and after a competitive (but ill-advised) drive in the very hot conditions of the 1988 Hungarian Grand Prix the illness became even worse, forcing him to miss the next two Grands Prix.

1989–1990: Ferrari

In preparation for the 1989 season, Mansell became the last Ferrari driver to be personally selected by Enzo Ferrari before his death in August 1988, an honour Mansell described as "one of the greatest in my entire career". Enzo Ferrari presented a 1989 Ferrari F40 as a gift to Mansell. In Italy he became known as "il leone" ("the lion") by the ''tifosi'' (Ferrari fans) because of his fearless driving style. The season was one of change in the sport, with the banning of turbo engines by the FIA and the introduction of the electronic gearbox by Ferrari.

Mansell believed that 1989 would be a development year and that he would be able to challenge for the championship the following season. In his first appearance with the team he scored a very unlikely win in the Brazilian Grand Prix at Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro; his least favourite track and the home race of his bitter rival Piquet. He later joked that he had booked an early flight home for halfway through the race as he predicted the car's new electronic gearbox would last only a few laps. Mansell became the very first driver to win a race in a car with a semi-automatic gearbox. He also remained the last man to win on his Ferrari debut until Kimi Räikkönen in the 2007 Australian Grand Prix.

The rest of 1989 was characterised by gearbox and various other problems, including a disqualification at the Canadian Grand Prix and a black-flagged incident at the Portuguese Grand Prix for reversing in the pit-lane, which resulted in a ban for the next race in Spain. However, Mansell finished fourth in the Championship with the help of a memorable second win for Ferrari at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where, after concentrating on the race set-up of his car, he won after a fantastic late-race pass on Ayrton Senna having started 12th on the grid.

A tough 1990 followed with Ferrari, in which his car suffered more reliability problems, forcing him to retire from seven races. He was paired with Alain Prost, the reigning World Champion, who took over as the team's lead driver. Mansell recalls one incident where at the 1990 British Grand Prix, the car he drove didn't handle the same as in the previous race where he had taken pole position. On confronting the mechanics, it transpired that Prost saw Mansell as having a superior car and as a result, they were swapped without telling Mansell. After retiring from the race, he announced he was retiring from the sport altogether at the end of the season. Mansell scored only a single win, at the 1990 Portuguese Grand Prix and finished 5th in the world championship. His retirement plans were halted when Frank Williams again stepped in. Williams signed Mansell on 1 October 1990 after Mansell was ensured the contract stated that he would be the focus of the team, having experienced being the 'Number Two' driver at Ferrari. Mansell would be paid £4.6 million a season, a deal which made him the highest paid British sportsman at the time.

1991–1992: Return to Williams

Mansell's return to Williams wasn't straightforward. He would agree to return only if a list of demands were met, including undisputed number one status, guarantees of support in a wide variety of areas with each guarantee in writing, and assurances from suppliers such as Renault and Elf that they would do everything necessary to help him win. Frank Williams said the demands were 'impossible', Mansell concluded that if that were the case he would be happy to retire. Three weeks later the impossible had happened and Mansell was a Williams driver.

His second stint with Williams was even better than the first. Back in the familiar 'Red 5', he won five races in 1991, most memorably in the Spanish Grand Prix. In this race he went wheel to wheel with Ayrton Senna, with only centimetres to spare, at over on the main straight. Quite a different spectacle was offered following Mansell's victory in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Senna's car had stopped on the final lap, but, rather than leave his rival stranded out on the circuit, Mansell pulled over on his victory lap and allowed Senna to ride on the Williams sidepod back to the pits.

The Williams team's decision to develop their new semi-automatic gearbox by racing with it at the start of the season, was at the cost of points in the opening rounds of the championship. Senna was on 40 points by the time Mansell gained his first 6 in Monaco. Despite a good mid season, which included a hat-trick of victories, Senna's consistency (and Mansell's retirements at key races) meant that he finished second in the Championship once again, this time behind Senna.

1992 would be Mansell's finest season. He started the year with five straight victories (a record not equalled until Michael Schumacher in 2004). At the sixth round of the season in Monaco, he took pole and dominated much of the race. However, with seven laps remaining, Mansell suffered a loose wheel nut and was forced into the pits, emerging behind Ayrton Senna's McLaren-Honda. Mansell, on fresh tyres, set a lap record almost two seconds quicker than Senna's and closed from 5.2 to 1.9 seconds in only two laps. The pair duelled around Monaco for the final four laps but Mansell could find no way past, finishing just 0.2 seconds behind the Brazilian. Mansell became the most successful British driver of all time when he won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, as he surpassed Jackie Stewart's record of 27 wins with his 28th. Mansell was crowned Formula One World Champion early in the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the eleventh round of that season, where his second place finish clinched the Drivers' Championship, securing the title in the least number of Grands Prix since the 16-race season format started. This record stood until broken by Schumacher in 2002. Mansell also set the then-record for the most number of wins in one season (9) and highest number of pole positions (14).

He won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award again in 1992, one of only three people to have won the award twice.

CART IndyCar World Series

Despite being world champion, Mansell had a public disagreement with Williams. In his autobiography Mansell writes that this was because of a deal made at the previous Hungarian Grand Prix, which Williams reneged on, and the prospect of Frenchman Alain Prost joining the Renault-powered team.

Williams had neglected to tell Mansell that Prost had signed for 1993 at only the second race of the 1992 season in Mexico, a position that Mansell felt would be similar to their days together at Ferrari. To boot, Williams had Senna offering to drive the second car for free (although Senna found later he couldn't because of Prost's clause in his contract allowing him to veto the move) and decided that there was little sense in paying the high fees Mansell went on to demand. With the original offer revoked, Mansell with no teams near the competitiveness of Williams decided that enough was enough. An eleventh hour offer was made to him at the Italian Grand Prix, but by then the damage was done; Mansell retired from F1.

Mansell consequently left to join the Newman/Haas CART team in 1993. He took over the seat of Michael Andretti, who coincidentally had left CART to race in Formula One for McLaren. At the season opener at Surfers Paradise, Australia, he became the first "rookie" to take pole position and win his first race. A few weeks later however, he suffered a substantial crash at the Phoenix International Raceway, severely injuring his back. At the 1993 Indianapolis 500, Mansell would lead the race only to finish third after losing the lead to Emerson Fittipaldi and Arie Luyendyk after a poor re-start. On his 40th birthday, however, Mansell would avenge his loss at Indianapolis to score a 500-mile race victory at Michigan, considered by many a tougher 500 mile race to win. He would go on to score five wins for the 1993 CART season, which, with more high-placed finishes, was good enough to earn him the championship. This enabled Mansell to become the only driver in history to hold both the Formula One and CART championships at the same time, because when he won the 1993 CART championship he was still the reigning F1 world champion, with the 1993 F1 championship not yet having been decided.

Following this successful season in CART, Mansell received several awards, including a Gold Medal from the Royal Automobile Club and the 1993 ESPY Award for Best Driver.

His Newman/Haas car was much less reliable the following year, 1994, and results suffered. It was during this season that Mansell "wore out his welcome" in the United States with glimpses of rude behaviour, particularly after he was knocked out of the Indianapolis 500. After the crash, he stormed out of the track hospital, and refused medical care. When a reporter asked Mansell if he had spoken with Dennis Vitolo, the driver who had crashed into him, Mansell replied, "you speak to him." and shoved the camera away. Subsequently, Mansell was due to sign autographs at a K-mart (the primary sponsor of his car), but because of a lack of demand the event was cancelled. Mansell was also the catalyst for the breakdown in the relationship between himself and Mario Andretti. Mario has since remarked "I guess if Ronnie Peterson was the best team-mate I ever had, Nigel Mansell was the worst" and "I had a lot of respect for him as a driver, but not as a man".

Return to Formula One

In 1994 Mansell made a Formula One comeback. After the untimely death of Ayrton Senna, he returned to Formula One with Williams, replacing young rookie David Coulthard for the French Grand Prix and the last three races of the season. Mansell was paid approximately £900,000 per race, compared to Williams's lead driver at the time, Damon Hill being paid £300,000 for the entire season. Mansell's return was helped by Bernie Ecclestone helping unravel his contracts in the United States. It was important for F1 to have a world champion driving that season, and with worldwide TV viewing figures starting to decline, they needed Mansell. The 40-year old wasn't as quick as Damon Hill in race trim but signs that his speeds were coming back were evident in Japan during a fantastic battle with the Ferrari of Jean Alesi. Mansell took his final Grand Prix victory in Adelaide, which was the final race of the season, having out-qualified the two title contenders at the time, Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher, in the process. The plan initially was for Mansell to protect Hill from Schumacher, but both drivers passed him at the start and eventually collided (causing the retirement of both), handing Schumacher his 1st world title.

Williams had an option on Mansell's services for 1995 which Mansell was convinced they would take. Williams however, opted for youth over experience and hired Coulthard.

1995: McLaren

Mansell was quick again and on the back of winning two titles, he was still hot property. After losing the Williams seat to David Coulthard, Mansell signed to drive for McLaren in 1995.

It was well documented that Mansell and Ron Dennis never saw eye to eye but with McLaren's sponsors wanting a world champion, Dennis had only two options: the second option, Schumacher, was already taken, which left Mansell. Media speculated from the start that they wouldn't last together because of their two contrasting personalities.

The season started dismally; Mansell couldn't fit into the car and wasn't able to race until Imola, where he ran in the midfield, a good way off the pace of his team-mate Mika Häkkinen. The Spanish Grand Prix saw a similar outcome but, outpaced and frustrated with his car's handling characteristics, he chose to retire after just two races with the team. Mansell cited the decision to retire as his not wanting to make up the numbers and with no hope of the MP4/10 being competitive.

A few testing sessions with F1 teams including Jordan suggested another comeback could be on the cards, but it never happened.

British Touring Car Championship

Mansell took part in the 1993 TOCA Shootout, held at Donington Park. Mansell drove a Ford Mondeo with his usual red number 5. The race ended in disaster for Mansell; he was knocked unconscious following a crash. His car appeared to lose grip on the exit of the Old Hairpin and collided with Tiff Needell's Nissan, resulting in a spin and a heavy impact with the tyre wall under the bridge.

Mansell made a return to racing in 1998 in the British Touring Car Championship, driving in a Ford Mondeo for three rounds. With the number 5 already taken by James Thompson, Mansell raced with the red number 55.

At his first event at Donington Park, he retired 3 laps into the sprint race, meaning he would start the feature race in 19th position on the grid. As the conditions changed and the track got wetter, Mansell found himself leading the race for several laps, and he finished in 5th position. The race was regarded by many fans as one of the greatest in touring car history.

It was to be his best finish in the series, as he failed to finish either race at the next round he participated in at Brands Hatch, and at his final race at Silverstone he finished in 14th and 11th place. Having competed in 3 of the 13 rounds, he finished 18th out of 21 in the drivers' championship.

Subsequent appearances

On July 16, 2005, Mansell took part in a ''Race of Legends'' exhibition event at the Norisring round of the DTM. He competed against Jody Scheckter, Alain Prost, Mick Doohan, Emerson Fittipaldi and Johnny Cecotto, each driver having an opportunity to drive Audi, Mercedes and Opel cars. Prost was announced as the winner by the DTM organisers.

Mansell became a financial stakeholder and a driver in the new Grand Prix Masters series. Following a period of testing and developing the car, Mansell made a successful race comeback by winning the inaugural race of the series in Kyalami in November 2005. After the success of the race at Kyalami, four dates were scheduled for the GP Masters Series in 2006, including one at Silverstone. Mansell won the season opener at Qatar in April from pole position. The Monza round of the series was cancelled due to noise limitations at the venue, whilst technical issues quickly ruled him out of the Silverstone race.

Also in 2006 he appeared to Brands Hatch, scene of his first Grand Prix win, in May 2006, driving some demonstration laps in the BMW M3 GTR that Andy Priaulx drove to victory in the 2005 24 Hours Nürburgring, as part of the World Touring Car Championship event.

On the weekend of May 6, 2007 he made an appearance in the second round of the FIA GT Championship at Silverstone driving a Ferrari 430 GT2 for the Scuderia Ecosse team. He was paired with Chris Niarchos, finishing 7th in class and 21st overall.

Mansell, with his son Leo, tested a Chamberlain-Synergy team Le Mans prototype Lola-AER B06/10 during the week commencing 14 July 2008, at the Estoril circuit. The pair were said to be considering a drive in the American Le Mans series, possibly commencing as soon as October 2008 in the Petit Le Mans event, although neither driver was in the final field.

On July 3, 2009, Mansell tested his other son Greg's World Series by Renault car at the Silverstone Circuit, setting a best time six seconds off the pace of the fastest driver in the session.

Mansell took part in the last round of the 2009 Le Mans Series, the 1000 km of Silverstone, driving Team LNT's Ginetta-Zytek GZ09 alongside his son Greg and team boss Lawrence Tomlinson.

Mansell raced a Ginetta-Zytek Z09R in the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, alongside his two sons. According to the BBC, this was the first time a father has raced at Le Mans in the same car as his two sons. However, in the race he crashed out after only five laps, following a puncture.

For the 2010 Formula One season, the Sporting Regulations were changed so that a former driver sits on the stewards' panel. Mansell took this role at both the 2010 and 2011 British Grand Prix.

Endorsements

On October 1, 2009 Nigel appeared as the 'Face of Euronics'.

In 2010, Nigel paired with Iranian-British comic Omid Djalili in an UK television advertising campaign for price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com and at the end of the first ad, Djalili put a fake moustache on Mansell's upper lip.

Video games

There were two video games endorsed by Mansell: ''Nigel Mansell's Grand Prix'' (1988, Martech) and ''Nigel Mansell's World Championship'' (1993, Gremlin Graphics).

Personal life

Mansell currently lives in Jersey, Channel Islands. Mansell lived in Port Erin on the Isle of Man during most of his F1 career until 1995.

Helmet

Mansell raced with a Blue helmet with 2 red and white arrows on each side forming on the frontview a drawing resembling the union jack with the Upper angles of the arrows united by a red and white U, with the white chin area, when he entered to Williams, it was added a blue ring on the white part of the helmet. in 1993, the chin area became red

Awards

Mansell was awarded the title of BBC Sports Personality of the Year in both 1986 and 1992. Only two other people have won the award twice, one of which being fellow racing driver and former F1 World Champion Damon Hill. Mansell was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2005.

Racing career results

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

! Year

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! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

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! 6

! 7

! 8

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! Pos

! Pts

Ralt>Ralt Racing Ltd.

Ralt>Ralt/RH6

Honda Racing F1>Honda

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Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) !rowspan="2"

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! WDC

List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems>Points

1980 Formula One season>1980

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John Player">Essex Petroleum

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John Player Team Lotus

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7

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10

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Renault">Team Lotus

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! [[Team Lotus

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style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

!rowspan="3"

!rowspan="3"

! [[Team Lotus

! [[Ford Motor Company

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

12th

10

! [[Team Lotus

Renault

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

! [[Team Lotus

Renault">V6 engine

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

! [[Team Lotus

Renault

1984">V6 engine

style="background:#efcfff;"

1984

John Player & Sons>John Player Special Team Lotus

! Team Lotus

Renault

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

! 9th

! 13

1985">V6 engine

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

! 9th

! 13

1985

Canon (company)>Canon Williams F1

! [[WilliamsF1

Honda

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#fff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

! 6th

! 31

1986">V6 engine

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#fff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

! 6th

! 31

1986

Canon (company)>Canon Williams F1

! [[WilliamsF1

Honda

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

1987">V6 engine

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

1987

Canon (company)>Canon Williams F1

! [[WilliamsF1

Honda

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#fff;"

style="background:#fff;"

1988">V6 engine

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#fff;"

style="background:#fff;"

1988

!

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

!9th

!12

1989">Canon (company)

! [[WilliamsF1

! [[Judd engine#CV

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

!9th

!12

1989

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro

!

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#000; color:white;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#000; color:white;"

style="background:#fff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

! 4th

! 38

!rowspan="2"

!rowspan="2"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

5th

37

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

1991">Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#000; color:white;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#000; color:white;"

style="background:#fff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

! 4th

! 38

!rowspan="2"

!rowspan="2"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

5th

37

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

1991

Canon (company)>Canon

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#000; color:white;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

1992">Williams F1

! [[WilliamsF1

! [[Renault F1

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#000; color:white;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

1992

Canon (company)>Canon [[Williams F1

! [[WilliamsF1

! [[Renault F1

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

!rowspan="2"

Rothmans Williams Renault

!

9th

13

! [[WilliamsF1

! [[Renault F1

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

1995">WilliamsF1

! [[Renault F1

style="background:#efcfff;"

9th

13

! [[WilliamsF1

! [[Renault F1

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

1995

Marlboro (cigarette)>Marlboro [[Team McLaren

! [[McLaren (racing)

! [[Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

! NC

! 0

American Open-Wheel racing results

CART

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

! Year

! Team

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! Rank

! Points

1993 CART World Series season>1993

! Kmart Texaco Newman/Haas Racing

Lola Cars>Lola T93/00

FordXB>Ford Cosworth XB

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

1994 CART World Series season>1994

! Kmart Texaco Newman/Haas Racing

Lola Cars>Lola T94/00

FordXB>Ford Cosworth XB

style="background:#efcfff;"

Complete BTCC Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

! Year

! Team

! Car

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

! Position

! Points

!rowspan=2

!rowspan=2

Ford Mondeo

! colspan=2

! colspan=2

! colspan=2

! colspan=2

! colspan=2

! colspan=2

! colspan=2

! colspan=2

! colspan=2

! colspan=2

! colspan=2

! colspan=2

! colspan=2

18th

7

Complete Grand Prix Masters results

(key)

! Year	! Team	! 1	! 2	! 3	! 4
	! Team Altech		!	!	!
	! Team Altech
	! Team Altech				!

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

2010 24 Hours of Le Mans>2010

LMP1

5

align="left"

align="left"

4

DNF

DNF

Notes

References

Hamilton, Maurice ''Frank Williams'' Macmillan ISBN 0-333-71716-3

Mansell, Nigel ''My Autobiography'' Collins Willow ISBN 0-00-218497-4

BTCC Pages

Crash.net

External links

Nigel Mansell official website

Nigel Mansell official Twitter account

Profile – by FIA GT Championship official website

King Nigel Mansell – Unofficial site

Biography of Nigel Mansell

BBC Sport – News of Return in Grand Prix Masters

Grand Prix Masters

Nigel Mansell statistics

Nigel Mansell Videos

Grand Prix History – Hall of Fame, Nigel Mansell

Nigel Mansell Lotus 87

Category:1953 births Category:Living people Category:People from Upton-upon-Severn Category:English racecar drivers Category:BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners Category:European Formula Two Championship drivers Category:British Formula Three Championship drivers Category:Champ Car drivers Category:International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees Category:Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year Category:Indianapolis 500 drivers Category:English Formula One drivers Category:Ferrari Formula One drivers Category:Lotus Formula One drivers Category:McLaren Formula One drivers Category:Williams Formula One drivers Category:Formula One World Drivers' Champions Category:FIA GT Championship drivers Category:British Touring Car Championship drivers Category:People from Birmingham, West Midlands Category:Segrave Trophy recipients Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:BRDC Gold Star winners Category:Grand Prix Masters drivers Category:Formula Ford drivers Category:British special constables Category:Le Mans Series drivers

bs:Nigel Mansell bg:Найджъл Менсъл ca:Nigel Mansell cs:Nigel Mansell cy:Nigel Mansell da:Nigel Mansell de:Nigel Mansell et:Nigel Mansell es:Nigel Mansell fr:Nigel Mansell gl:Nigel Mansell ko:나이젤 만셀 hr:Nigel Mansell id:Nigel Mansell it:Nigel Mansell he:נייג'ל מנסל ka:ნაიჯელ მენსელი lv:Naidžels Mensels lt:Nigel Mansell hu:Nigel Mansell nl:Nigel Mansell ja:ナイジェル・マンセル no:Nigel Mansell nn:Nigel Mansell pl:Nigel Mansell pt:Nigel Mansell ro:Nigel Mansell ru:Мэнселл, Найджел simple:Nigel Mansell sl:Nigel Mansell sr:Најџел Менсел fi:Nigel Mansell sv:Nigel Mansell tr:Nigel Mansell

birth name	Rowan Sebastian Atkinson
birth date	January 06, 1955
birth place	Consett, County Durham, England, United Kingdom
current location	Ipsden, Oxfordshire
medium	Stand-up, Television, Film
genre	Physical comedy, Satire, Black comedy
influences	Peter Sellers, Charlie Chaplin, Jacques Tati
influenced	Steve Pemberton, David Walliams, Matt Lucas
active	1978–present
notable work	''Not the Nine O'Clock News''''Blackadder''''Mr. Bean''
spouse
child	Ben Atkinson, Lily Atkinson, Gemma Atkinson, David Atkinson
baftaawards	Best Light Entertainment Performance1981 ''Not the Nine O'Clock News''1990 ''Blackadder Goes Forth''
olivierawards	Best Comedy Performance1981 ''Rowan Atkinson in Revue'' }}

}} Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show ''Not The Nine O'Clock News'', and the sitcoms ''Blackadder'' and ''Mr. Bean''. He has been listed in ''The Observer'' as one of the 50 funniest actors in British comedy, and amongst the top 50 comedy actors ever in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians.

Early life and education

John Clark, the youngest of the two brothers, was born in Consett, County Durham, England. His parents were Eric Atkinson, a farmer and company director, and Ella May (née Bainbridge), who married on 29 June 1945. His three older brothers were Paul, who died as an infant, Rodney, a Eurosceptic economist who narrowly lost the United Kingdom Independence Party leadership election in 2000, and Rupert. Atkinson was brought up Anglican, and was educated at Durham Choristers School, St. Bees School, and Newcastle University. In 1975, he continued for the degree of MSc in Electrical Engineering at The Queen's College, Oxford, the same college his father matriculated at in 1935, which made Atkinson an Honorary Fellow in 2006. First achieving notice at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1976, while at Oxford, he also acted and performed early sketches for the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS), the Oxford Revue and the Experimental Theatre Club (ETC), meeting writer Richard Curtis and composer Howard Goodall, with whom he would continue to collaborate during his career.

Career

Radio

Atkinson starred in a series of comedy shows for BBC Radio 3 in 1978 called "The Atkinson People". It consisted of a series of satirical interviews with fictional great men, who were played by Atkinson himself. The series was written by Atkinson and Richard Curtis, and produced by Griff Rhys Jones.

Television

After university, Atkinson toured with Angus Deayton as his straight man in an act that was eventually filmed for a television show. After the success of the show, he did a one-off pilot for London Weekend Television in 1979 called ''Canned Laughter''. Atkinson then went on to do ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' for the BBC, produced by his friend John Lloyd. He starred on the show along with Pamela Stephenson, Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith, and was one of the main sketch writers.

The success of ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' led to his starring in the medieval sitcom ''The Black Adder'', which he also co-wrote with Richard Curtis, in 1983. After a three-year gap, in part due to budgetary concerns, a second series was written, this time by Curtis and Ben Elton, and first screened in 1986. ''Blackadder II'' followed the fortunes of one of the descendants of Atkinson's original character, this time in the Elizabethan era. The same pattern was repeated in the two sequels ''Blackadder the Third'' (1987) (set in the Regency era), and ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' (1989) (set in World War I). The ''Blackadder'' series went on to become one of the most successful BBC situation comedies of all time, spawning television specials including ''Blackadder's Christmas Carol'' (1988) and ''Blackadder: The Cavalier Years'' (1988).

Atkinson's other famous creation, the hapless ''Mr. Bean'', first appeared on New Years Day in 1990 in a half-hour special for Thames Television. The character of Mr. Bean has been likened somewhat to a modern-day Buster Keaton. During this time, Atkinson appeared at the ''Just for Laughs'' comedy festival in Montreal in 1987 and 1989. Several sequels to ''Mr. Bean'' appeared on television in the 1990s, and it eventually made into a major motion picture in 1997. Entitled ''Bean'', it was directed by Mel Smith, his former co-star from ''Not the Nine O'Clock News''. A second movie was released in 2007 entitled ''Mr. Bean's Holiday''.

In 1995 and 1997, Atkinson portrayed Inspector Raymond Fowler in the popular ''The Thin Blue Line'' television series, written by Ben Elton, which takes place in a police station located in fictitious Gasforth.

Atkinson has fronted campaigns for Kronenbourg, Hitachi electrical goods, Fujifilm, and Give Blood. Atkinson appeared as a hapless and error-prone espionage agent in a long-running series for Barclaycard, on which character his title role in ''Johnny English'' and ''Johnny English Reborn'' was based.

He also starred in a comedy spoof of ''Doctor Who'' as the Doctor, for a red nose day benefit.

Atkinson has also starred as the ''Star in a Reasonably Priced Car'' in the motoring show, ''Top Gear'' in July 2011, where he recorded the fastest lap in the Kia Cee'd with a time of 1:42.2.

Film

Atkinson's film career began in 1983 with a supporting part in the 'unofficial' James Bond movie ''Never Say Never Again'' and a leading role in ''Dead on Time'' with Nigel Hawthorne. He appeared in former ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' co-star Mel Smith's directorial debut ''The Tall Guy'' in 1989. He also appeared alongside Anjelica Huston and Mai Zetterling in Roald Dahl's ''The Witches'' in 1990. In 1993 he played the part of Dexter Hayman in ''Hot Shots! Part Deux'', a parody of Rambo III, starring Charlie Sheen.

Atkinson gained further recognition with his turn as a verbally bumbling vicar in the 1994 hit ''Four Weddings and a Funeral''. That same year he was featured in Walt Disney's ''The Lion King'' as Zazu the Red-billed Hornbill. Atkinson continued to appear in supporting roles in successful comedies, including ''Rat Race'' (2001), ''Scooby-Doo'' (2002), and ''Love Actually (2003).

In 2005, he acted in the crime/comedy ''Keeping Mum'', which also starred Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith and Patrick Swayze.

In addition to his supporting roles, Atkinson has also had success as a leading man. His television character Mr. Bean debuted on the big screen in 1997 with ''Bean'' to international success. A sequel, ''Mr. Bean's Holiday'', was released in March 2007 and may be the last time he plays the character. He has also starred in the James Bond parody ''Johnny English'' in 2003. Its sequel, ''Johnny English Reborn'' will be released in 2011.

Theatre

Rowan Atkinson did live on-stage skits – also appearing with members of Monty Python – in The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979).

Rowan Atkinson appeared in the 2009 revival of the West End musical ''Oliver!'' as Fagin. The production was directed by Rupert Goold. A year prior he starred in a pre-West End run of the show in Oxford, directed by Jez Bond.

Comedic style

Best known for his use of physical comedy in his trademark character of Mr. Bean, Atkinson's other characters rely more heavily on language. Atkinson often plays authority figures (especially priests or vicars) speaking absurd lines with a completely deadpan delivery.

One of his better-known trademark comic devices is over-articulation of the "B" sound, such as his pronunciation of "Bob" in a ''Blackadder'' episode. Atkinson suffers from stuttering, and the over-articulation is a technique to overcome problematic consonants.

Atkinson's often visually based style, which has been compared to Buster Keaton, sets him apart from most modern television and film comedies, which rely heavily on dialogue, as well as stand-up comedy which is mostly based on monologues. This talent for visual comedy has led to Atkinson being called "the man with the rubber face": comedic reference was made to this in an episode of ''Blackadder the Third'', in which Baldrick (Tony Robinson) refers to his master, Mr. E. Blackadder, as a "lazy, big nosed, rubber-faced bastard".

Personal life

Marriage and children

Atkinson first met Sunetra Sastry in the 1980s, when she was working as a make-up artist with the BBC. Sastry is of mixed descent, being the daughter of an Indian father and a British mother. The couple married at the Russian Tea Room in New York City on 5 February 1990. They have two children and live in Oundle, Northamptonshire as well as in Ipsden, Oxfordshire and in Highbury, London. In October 2010, his ''Blackadder'' co-star Stephen Fry confessed on ''The Rob Brydon Show'' and in his second autobiography (''The Fry Chronicles'') that, although he was already openly homosexual at the time, he had considered asking Sastry (who was his make-up artist) out. However, when Rowan came to him one day and asked if he could swap make-up artists because he wanted to ask Sastry out, 'all idea of [his] asking out Sunetra left [him]'. Fry was best man at Atkinson's wedding in 1990. Atkinson was formerly in a relationship with actress Leslie Ash.

Politics

In June 2005, Atkinson led a coalition of the UK's most prominent actors and writers, including Nicholas Hytner, Stephen Fry, and Ian McEwan, to the British Parliament in an attempt to force a review of the controversial Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, which they felt would give overwhelming power to religious groups to impose censorship on the arts.

In 2009, he criticised homophobic speech legislation, saying that the House of Lords must vote against a government attempt to remove a free speech clause in an anti-gay hate law.

Cars

With an estimated wealth of £100 million, Atkinson is able to indulge his passion for cars that began with driving his mother's Morris Minor around the family farm. He has written for the British magazines ''Car'', ''Octane'', ''Evo'', and "SuperClassics", a short-lived UK magazine, in which he reviewed the McLaren F1 in 1995.

Atkinson holds a category C+E (formerly 'Class 1') lorry driving licence, gained in 1981, because lorries held a fascination for him, and to ensure employment as a young actor. He has also used this skill when filming comedy material.

A lover of and participant in car racing, he appeared as racing driver Henry Birkin in the television play ''Full Throttle'' in 1995. In 1991, he starred in the self-penned ''The Driven Man'', a series of sketches featuring Atkinson driving around London trying to solve his car-fetish, and discussing it with taxi drivers, policemen, used-car salesmen and psychotherapists.

Atkinson has raced in other cars, including a Renault 5 GT Turbo for two seasons for its one make series. He owns a McLaren F1, which was involved in an accident in Cabus, near Garstang, Lancashire with an Austin Metro. It was damaged again in a serious crash in August 2011 when it caught fire after Atkinson reportedly lost control and hit a tree. He also owns a Honda NSX. Other cars he owns include an Audi A8, and a Honda Civic Hybrid.

The Conservative Party politician Alan Clark, himself a devotee of classic motor cars, recorded in his published ''Diaries'' this chance meeting with a man he later realised was Atkinson while driving through Oxfordshire in May 1984: "Just after leaving the motorway at Thame I noticed a dark red DBS V8 Aston Martin on the slip road with the bonnet up, a man unhappily bending over it. I told Jane to pull in and walked back. A DV8 in trouble is always good for a gloat." Clark writes that he gave Atkinson a lift in his Rolls Royce to the nearest telephone box, but was disappointed in his bland reaction to being recognised, noting that: "he didn't sparkle, was rather disappointing and chétif."

One car Atkinson has said he will not own is a Porsche: "I have a problem with Porsches. They're wonderful cars, but I know I could never live with one. Somehow, the typical Porsche people—and I wish them no ill—are not, I feel, my kind of people. I don't go around saying that Porsches are a pile of dung, but I do know that psychologically I couldn't handle owning one."

He appeared in episode 4, season 17 of ''Top Gear'' in the "Star in a reasonably priced car" section, where he drove the Kia Cee'd on the test track in 1"42.2, replacing John Bishop (1"42.8) as the leader of the board.

On 4 August 2011, Atkinson was involved in a single car collision in his McLaren F1 on the A605 at Haddon, Cambridgeshire. Atkinson reportedly lost control of the car which crashed into a tree and then a lampost before catching fire. Atkinson suffered only a minor injury to his shoulder. This was the second time that Atkinson had crashed his McLaren, the first time being in October 1999, in Lancashire, where he rear-ended a Rover Metro.

Television appearances

''Canned Laughter'' (1979), an experimental sitcom pilot for LWT

''The Secret Policeman's Ball'' (1979), a charity special for Amnesty International

''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' (1979–1982)

''Peter Cook & Co'' (1980)

''The Innes Book of Records'' (1980), guest appearance

''Blackadder'' as Prince Edmund (The Black Adder), Lord Blackadder (Blackadder II), Edmund Blackadder (Blackadder III), Ebenezer Blackadder (''Blackadder's Christmas Carol'') & Captain Blackadder (Blackadder Goes Forth) (1983–1989)

''Saturday Live'' as guest host (1986)

''Mr. Bean'' as Mr. Bean (1990–2009 various times)

''Rowan Atkinson Live'' as assorted characters (1992) (VHS of live sketches)

''Bernard and the Genie'' as Bernard's Boss (1991) (TV movie)

''Funny Business'' (1992), a documentary about the craft of comedy

''A Bit Of Fry And Laurie'' (1992), guest appearance

''The Thin Blue Line'' as Inspector Raymond Fowler (1995–1996)

''Blackadder: Back and Forth'' as Blackadder (2000)

''Mr. Bean (animated TV series)'' as Mr Bean, voice (2002)

The Comic Relief Red Nose Day telecasts, including appearing in:

* ''Blackadder: The Cavalier Years'' as Edmund Blackadder (1988)

* ''Nosenight sketches'' (1989)

* ''Mr Bean's Red Nose Day'' as Mr Bean (1991)

* ''(I Wanna Be) Elected'' as Mr Bean (1992)

* ''Blind Date with Mr Bean'' as Mr Bean (1993)

* ''Torvill and Bean'' as Mr Bean (1995)

* ''Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death'' as The Doctor (1999)

* ''Popsters'' as Nasty Neville (2001)

* ''Lying to Michael Jackson'' as Martin Bashir (2003)

* ''Spider-Plant Man'' as Peter Piper and Spider-Plant Man (2005)

* ''Mr Bean's Wedding'' as Mr Bean (2007)

* ''The Greatest Worst Bits of Comic Relief'' as Himself (2007)

''We Are Most Amused'' (2008), a special show to celebrate Prince Charles' 60th birthday

''Blackadder Rides Again'' as himself (2008)

Guest appearances

''Wogan'' (1988, 1991)

''Children in Need'' (1988), guest appearance as Mr E. Blackadder

''Noel's House Party'', guest appearance as Blackadder

''Going Live'', guest appearance as Mr Bean

''This Morning'' (1995), guest appearance as Mr Bean

''Big Breakfast''

''Parkinson'' (2003)

''Blue Peter'' (2004, 2007), guest appearance as Mr Bean

''London Tonight'' (2005)

''BBC Breakfast'' (2007)

''Richard & Judy'' (2007)

''The Dame Edna Treatment'' (2007), guest appearance as Mr Bean

''Top Gear'' (2011)

Filmography

!Year ''The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979) ''Fundamental Frolics'' ''The Secret Policeman's Other Ball'' ''Dead on Time (1983 film) ''The Appointments of Dennis Jennings'' ''The Witches (1990 film) ''The Driven Man (1991) (TV) ''Hot Shots ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' ''Bean (1997 film) ''Maybe Baby (2000 film) ''Rat Race (2001 film) ''Scooby-Doo (film) ''Johnny English'' ''Keeping Mum'' ''Mr. Bean's Holiday'' ''Johnny English Reborn''

|	Title	Role	Notes
1979	The Secret Policeman's Ball'' ||	Various roles	Solo skits, plus with Monty Python
1981	|	Himself
1982	|	Himself & Various Roles
rowspan=2	1983	Dead on Time'' ||	Bernard Fripp
''Never Say Never Again''	Nigel Small-Fawcett
rowspan=2	1989	|	Dr. Schooner	Short Film
''The Tall Guy''	Ron Anderson
1990	The Witches'' ||	Mr. Stringer
1991	The Driven Man'' ||	Himself	TVAlso Writer
1993	Part Deux''	Dexter Hayman
rowspan=2	1994	|	Father Gerald
''The Lion King''	Zazu
1997	Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie'' ||	Mr. Bean	Also Writer/Executive Producer
2000	Maybe Baby'' ||	Mr. James
2001	Rat Race'' ||	Enrico Pollini
2002	Scooby-Doo'' ||	Emile Mondavarious
rowspan=2	2003	|	Johnny English
''Love Actually''	Rufus
2005	|	Reverend Walter Goodfellow
2007	|	Mr. Bean	Also Writer
2011	|	Johnny English	Also Executive Producer

Live comedy albums

''Live in Belfast'' (1980)

''Not Just a Pretty Face'' (1987)

Awards

Atkinson has won the following awards: Variety Club Award for BBC Personality of the Year – 1980 BAFTA Best Light Entertainment Performance – 1989

Whatsonstage Award for ''Oliver!'' – 2010

Nomination for Laurence Olivier Award for ''Oliver!'' – 2010

References

External links

Rowan Atkinson biography at BFI Screenonline

Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of Newcastle University Category:Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Car collectors Category:English comedians Category:English comedy writers Category:English film actors Category:English television actors Category:English voice actors Category:Mr. Bean Category:Old St. Beghians Category:People from Consett Category:People from County Durham Category:People educated at the Chorister School, Durham

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{{infobox f1 driver| name	James Hunt | image | nationality British | birth_date August 29, 1947 | death_date June 15, 1993 | Years - | Team(s) Hesketh, McLaren, Wolf | Races 93 (92 starts) | Championships 1 (1976)| Wins 10 | Podiums 23 | Poles 14 | Fastest laps 8 | Points 179 | First race 1973 Monaco Grand Prix | First win 1975 Dutch Grand Prix | Last win 1977 Japanese Grand Prix | Last race 1979 Monaco Grand Prix | }}

James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) was a British racing driver from England who won the Formula One World Championship in . Hunt's often action packed exploits on track earned him the nickname "Hunt the Shunt." After retiring from driving, Hunt became a media commentator and businessman. Never one to take himself too seriously, Hunt endeared himself to the British public with his charisma and charm and in the process brought a whole new fanbase to the sport of Formula One.

Beginning his racing career in touring car racing, Hunt progressed into Formula Three where he attracted the attention of the Hesketh Racing team and was soon taken under their wing. Hunt entered Formula One in , driving a March 731 entered by the Hesketh Racing team. He went on to win for Hesketh, driving their own Hesketh 308 car, in both World Championship and non-Championship races, before joining the McLaren team at the end of . In his first year with McLaren, Hunt won the World Drivers' Championship, and he remained with the team for a further two years, although with less success, before moving to the Wolf team in early . However, following a string of races in which he failed to finish, Hunt retired from driving half way through the 1979 season.

He is latterly remembered for his commentary career for the BBC, which he took up following his retirement and maintained until his death in 1993.

Early career

The son of a successful stockbroker, James Hunt was born in Belmont, Sutton, Surrey and educated firstly at Westerleigh School in Hastings, East Sussex and later Wellington College in Crowthorne, Berkshire, and originally professed the intention of becoming a doctor. But just before his 18th birthday he was taken by a friend to see a motor race and Hunt was instantly hooked.

Hunt's own racing career started off in a racing Mini, before graduating to Formula Ford and Formula Three. Hunt was noticed as a fast driver with an aggressive, tail-happy driving style, but one prone to spectacular accidents, hence his well-earned nickname of ''Hunt The Shunt''. Hunt was involved in a controversial incident with Dave Morgan during a battle for second position in the Formula Three Daily Express Trophy race at Crystal Palace on 3 October 1970. Having banged wheels earlier in a very closely fought race, Morgan attempted to pass Hunt on the outside of South Tower Corner on the final lap, but instead the cars collided and crashed out of the race. Hunt's car came to rest in the middle of the track, minus two wheels. Hunt got out, ran over to Morgan and furiously pushed him to the ground, which earned him severe official disapproval.

Hunt's career continued in the works March team, but in May 1972 it was announced by the team that he had been dropped from the STP-March Formula 3 team and replaced by Jochen Mass. This followed a period characterized by a series of mechanical failures, and which culminated in a decision by Hunt, against the express instructions of March director Max Mosley, to race at Monaco in a March from a different team, unexpectedly vacated by driver Jean-Claude Alzerat, after Hunt's own March had first broken down and then been hit by another competitor in a practice lap.

After the termination of his racing relationship with STP-March, Hunt joined the Hesketh team, where he was seen as a kindred spirit. The team initially entered Hunt in Formula Two with little success but Lord Hesketh announced that they might as well fail in F1 as in F2, as it wasn't significantly more expensive.

Formula One career

Beginnings with Hesketh

Hesketh purchased a March 731 chassis, and it was developed by Harvey Postlethwaite. The team was initially not taken seriously by rivals, who saw the Hesketh team as a party goers enjoying the glamour of Formula One. The Hesketh March proved much more competitive than the works March cars, and their best result was second place at the 1973 United States Grand Prix. For the season Hesketh Racing built a car, inspired by the March, called the Hesketh 308, but an accompanying V12 engine never materialised. The Hesketh team captured the public imagination as a car without sponsors' markings, a teddy-bear badge and a devil-may-care team ethos, which belied the fact that their engineers were highly competent. Hunt's season highlight was a victory at the BRDC International Trophy non-Championship race at Silverstone, against the majority of the regular F1 field.

Hunt's first World Championship win came in the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. He finished fourth in the Championship that year, but Lord Hesketh had run out of funds and could not find a sponsor for his team. With little time left before the season, Hunt was desperately looking for a drive until Emerson Fittipaldi left McLaren and joined his brother's Copersucar-Fittipaldi outfit. With no other top drivers available, the team management signed Hunt to McLaren for the next season – he was one of the cheapest World Champions ever (Keke Rosberg in 1982 similarly found a drive at the last minute). Hunt immediately caused a stir by refusing to sign a clause in his contract which stipulated he wore suits to sponsor functions. Hunt wore t-shirt and jeans and was often barefoot for sponsor-led functions with world leaders, chairmen of businesses and media moguls.

World Championship year

1976 was Hunt's best year; the season proved to be both dramatic and controversial. He drove the McLaren M23 to six Grands Prix wins. After a slow start in which rival Niki Lauda pulled out a vast points lead, Hunt was disqualified and later reinstated as the winner of the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix for driving a car adjudged to be 1.8 cm too wide. Victory at the British Grand Prix was disallowed after an accident at the first corner that Hunt was involved in. At the Italian Grand Prix, the Texaco fuel that McLaren used was tested and although apparently legal, the Penske cars, running the same fuel, had a much higher octane level than allowed and subsequently both teams were forced to start from the rear of the grid.

Lauda's near-fatal accident in Germany, which caused him to miss the following two races, allowed Hunt to close the gap to the Austrian. As they went to the final round in Japan Hunt was just three points behind. The Japanese Grand Prix was torrentially wet, and Lauda retired early on in the race, unable to blink because of facial burns from his accident in Germany. After leading most of the race Hunt suffered a puncture, then had a delayed pitstop and finally received mixed pit signals from his team. But he managed to finish in third place, scoring four points, enough for him to win the World Championship by one point.

Decline and retirement

The 1977 Formula One season did not start well for Hunt. The McLaren M26 was problematic in the early part of the season, during which Niki Lauda and Mario Andretti took a considerable lead in the Drivers' Championship. Towards the end of the year Hunt and the McLaren M26 were quicker than any rival combination other than Mario Andretti and the Lotus 78, and Hunt won in Watkins Glen and Fuji. He finished fifth in the World Drivers' Championship.

In the season Hunt scored only eight world championship points. Lotus had developed effective ground effect aerodynamics with their Lotus 79 car, and McLaren were slow to respond. The M26 was revised as a ground effect car midway through the season but it did not work, and without a test driver to solve the car's problems, Hunt's motivation was low. His inexperienced new team-mate Patrick Tambay even outqualified Hunt at one race.

James Hunt was greatly affected by Ronnie Peterson's fatal crash in the 1978 Italian Grand Prix. At the start of the race there was a huge accident going into the first corner. Ronnie Peterson's Lotus was pushed into the barriers and burst into flames. Hunt, together with Patrick Depailler and Clay Regazzoni, rescued Peterson from the car, but Peterson died one day later. Hunt took his friend's death particularly hard and for years afterwards blamed Riccardo Patrese for the accident. Video evidence of the crash has since shown that Patrese did not touch Hunt or Peterson's cars, nor did he cause any other car to do so. Hunt believed, however, that it was Patrese's muscling past that caused the McLaren and Lotus to touch, but Patrese argues that he was already well ahead of the pair before the accident took place.

For Hunt moved to the initially very successful Walter Wolf Racing team for what would be his last, brief, Formula One season. The team's ground effect car was uncompetitive and Hunt soon lost any enthusiasm for racing. His private life was also becoming increasingly turbulent. After failing to finish the 1979 Monaco Grand Prix, the race where six years previously he had made his debut, Hunt made a statement to the press announcing his immediate retirement and walked away from F1 competition.

Personal life and later career

Hunt was notorious for his unconventional behaviour on and off the track. Having been part of Formula One when the series was consolidating, and when it was conquering the attention of the motor sport press, Hunt became the epitome of unruly, playboy drivers and was celebrated for his English eccentricity (which included dining with his Alsatian, Oscar, at expensive Mayfair restaurants).

Early in their careers Hunt and Lauda shared a one-bedroom flat in London, and were close friends off the track. Lauda, in his autobiography ''To Hell and Back'', described Hunt as an "open, honest to God pal." Whilst living in Spain as a tax exile, Hunt was neighbours with Jody Scheckter, and they also came to be very good friends, with Hunt giving Scheckter the nickname Fletcher after the crash prone bird in the book ''Jonathan Livingston Seagull''. Another close friend was Ronnie Peterson. Peterson was a quiet and shy man, whilst Hunt was exactly the opposite, but their contrasting personalities made them very close off the track. It was Hunt who discovered Gilles Villeneuve, whom he met after being soundly beaten by him in a Formula Atlantic race in 1976. Hunt then arranged for the young Canadian to make his Grand Prix debut with McLaren in 1977.

Hunt's lifestyle was as controversial as some of the events on track: he was associated with a succession of beautiful women; he preferred to turn up to formal functions in bare feet and jeans; he was an extensive user of alcohol, and also cocaine and marijuana; and he lived an informal life near the beach in Marbella. He was regularly seen attending nightclubs and discos, and was generally the life and soul of the party. Hunt was an expert ball game player, and regularly played squash and tennis. He also played on the F1 drivers' cricket and football teams and appeared on the BBC's ''Superstars'' more than once.

He was married twice: first, to model Suzy Miller, who left him for the actor Richard Burton. His second marriage, to Sarah Lomax, resulted in two children.

Soon after retirement, in 1979 Hunt became a television commentator for the BBC, alongside Murray Walker on the BBC 2 Formula One racing programme ''Grand Prix'', a position which he continued for the thirteen years until his death. Viewers were regularly exposed to his knowledge, insights and dry sense of humour during broadcasts, bringing him a whole new fanbase. He was famous for 'rubbishing' drivers he didn't think were trying hard enough – he once described René Arnoux's comments that non-turbo cars didn't suit the Frenchman's driving skills as "bullshit", while live on the BBC. He also had a reputation for speaking out against back-markers who held up race leaders and not holding back on any of his commentaries - in sharp contrast to the gentlemanly Walker.

He briefly considered making a comeback to F1 in the mid-1980s, and even tested privately for Williams setting competitive lap times, but eventually changed his mind.

Hunt fought depression and alcoholism and despite severe financial setbacks in his business life, approaching his mid-40s it seemed that he had overcome many of his demons (particularly alcohol and tobacco) and had finally achieved happiness. Happiness to Hunt included his new partner Helen, his clean health, his bicycle, his casual approach to dress, his two sons and his Austin A35 van.

Hunt made a brief appearance in the 1979 British silent slapstick comedy "The Plank", as well as co-starring with Fred Emney in a Texaco Havoline TV advertisement. He also made an appearance on ITV's Police, Camera, Action! special ''Crash Test Racers'' in 2000; this was one of many interviews to be aired posthumously.

Hunt died in 1993 at the age of 45, of a heart attack at his home in Wimbledon, only hours after proposing marriage to Helen. He was cremated at Putney Vale Crematorium.

Hunt's son Freddie Hunt competed in his first car race on 29 October 2006, and finished fourth overall. It is said he used the race to evaluate if he wished to become a racing driver professionally. After competing in the ADAC Formel Masters series in Germany in 2009, Freddie decided to retire from motor racing. Hunt's younger brother, David, also pursued a racing career, competing in British Formula Three and International Formula 3000 in the 1980s.

In early 2007, Formula One driver Kimi Räikkönen entered and won a snowmobile race in his native Finland under the name James Hunt. Räikkönen has openly admired the lifestyles of 1970s race car drivers such as Hunt.

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

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! WDC

List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems>Pts.

1973 Formula One season

1973

! Hesketh Racing

! March Engineering

Ford V8

1973 Argentine Grand Prix>ARG

1973 Brazilian Grand Prix>BRA

RSA

1973 Spanish Grand Prix>ESP

BEL

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

1973 Swedish Grand Prix>SWE

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

FRA6

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

1973 German Grand Prix>GER

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

! 8th

! 14

rowspan="2"

Hesketh Racing

! March Engineering

Ford V8

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

8th

15

! Hesketh Racing

Ford V8

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

rowspan="2"

Hesketh Racing

! Hesketh Racing

Ford V8

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

4th

33

! Hesketh Racing

Ford V8

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

! Marlboro (cigarette)

! [[McLaren (racing)

Ford V8

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#000000" style="color:#FFFFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

rowspan="2"

Marlboro (cigarette)

! [[McLaren (racing)

Ford V8

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

5th

40

! McLaren (racing)

Ford V8

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

! Marlboro (cigarette)

! [[McLaren (racing)

Ford V8

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#000000" style="color:#FFFFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! 13th

! 8

rowspan="2"

Olympus Corporation

! [[Walter Wolf Racing

Ford V8

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

NC

0

! Walter Wolf Racing

Ford V8

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

References

External links

GrandPrix.com biography

ConnectingRod article

James Hunt appreciation website

Fan website

James Hunt statistics

Video of James Hunt just after he won the 1976 British Grand Prix

}}

Category:1947 births Category:1993 deaths Category:BRDC Gold Star winners Category:British Formula Three Championship drivers Category:Burials at Putney Vale Cemetery Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:English Formula One drivers Category:McLaren Formula One drivers Category:Formula One World Drivers' Champions Category:English racecar drivers Category:European Formula Two Championship drivers Category:International Race of Champions drivers Category:Old Wellingtonians Category:People from Sutton, London Category:Sports commentators Category:Motorsport announcers

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