The F1 media favourite who lifted a broken Lotus
Graham Hill was nearly 30 when he made his Formula 1 debut. NIGEL ROEBUCK examines the life of a gifted racer whose talismanic personality defined an era
It was Monaco in 1958 that the name of Lotus first appeared at a grand prix and, when Colin Chapman made the move into Formula 1, one of his drivers was Graham Hill, who had made a name for himself in the company’s sportscars.
For Hill, already 29, it had been a long slog to motor racing’s top echelon, and his first two seasons, with unreliable and largely uncompetitive cars, prompted him to accept an offer from BRM for 1960. Although that proved to be the breakthrough year for Lotus, the move to BRM was the right one for Hill. By 1962, the team was right there, and Graham’s first victory, at Zandvoort, was followed by three more, enough to bring his first world championship.
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