Peter Collins (racing driver)
{{Former F1 driver|
Name = Peter Collins |
Nationality = British |
Years = 1952 - 1958 |
Team(s) =
HWM,
Vanwall,
Maserati,
Ferrari |
Races = 35 |
Championships = 0 |
Wins = 3 |
Podiums = 8 |
Poles = 0 |
Fastest laps = 0 |
First race =
1952 Swiss Grand Prix | First win =
1956 Belgian Grand Prix| Last win =
1958 British Grand Prix| Last race =
1958 German Grand Prix |
Peter Collins (born in
Kidderminster,
Worcester,
November 6,
1931 - died in
Bonn,
August 3,
1958) was a
Formula One driver from
England. He participated in 33 grands prix, debuting on
May 18,
1952. He won 3 races, achieved 8 podiums, and scored a total of 47 championship points.
In common with many British drivers of the immediate postwar period, Collins cut his racing teeth in the frenetic 500cc F3 category of the time. These small machines, powered by motorcycle engines, were also the proving ground of many of Collins' F1 contemporaries, notably including
Stirling Moss. He got his F1 break in 1952, picking up a drive for the lowly
HWM team, replacing Moss. Results did not come the team's way, and Collins left after the 1953 season. Following spells driving for
Vanwall and
Maserati, and one brief outing in a
BRM which ended with a crash in qualifying, Collins was signed to the
Ferrari team for the 1956 F1 season.
Finally things looked to be going Collins' way. The 1956 season proved to be a turning point, with a second place - behind Moss - at Monaco, and wins at the Belgian and French Grands Prix. Indeed, Collins was on the verge of becoming Britain's first F1 World Champion when he handed his
Lancia-Ferrari D50 over to team leader
Juan Manuel Fangio after the latter suffered a steering-arm faliure toward the end of the
Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Collins eventually finished second, but the advantage handed to Moss, and the extra points gained by Fangio's finish, demoted Collins to third in the championship. This selfless, team-orientated action gained Collins immense respect among the Italian racing
tifosi, and the gratitude and admiration of
Enzo Ferrari himself, a man notoriously hard to please. In his double-biography of Collins and
Mike Hawthorn, "Mon Ami Mate",
Chris Nixon describes the ensuing relationship between the English driver and his Italian boss as being almost like father and son from this point on.
In 1957, Collins was joined at Ferrari by
Mike Hawthorn. The two became very close friends, often getting into much off-track trouble together, and took to calling each other "mon ami mate" after a newspaper cartoon strip. 1957 also saw Collins marry American Louise King. However, despite a third-placed finish at the
Nurburgring, Ferrari were distinctly under-par for much of the season as the
801 model (an evolution of the 1954 Lancia D50) was by then becoming obsolete. 1958 saw the introduction of the new Ferrari Dino 246, a far improved car, and once again results began to go the way of Scuderia Ferrari. Collins scored his third and final career victory at the
British Grand Prix, as well as taking a third place at
Monaco. Hawthorn also won in
Belgium, but the two were chasing
Tony Brooks' Vanwall at the German Grand Prix when disaster struck. Pushing hard to keep pace, Collins lost control of his car and, in Hawthorn's direct sight, span off the track, disappearing over a bank. During the ensuing accident Collins was thrown clear of the Ferrari, but sustained critical injuries to his head. Despite being airlifted to hospital, Collins died later that afternoon.
Complete Formula One results
(Note: grands prix in
bold denote race
victories.)
*
Peter Collins career synopsis at GPRacing.net
