Peter Collins (racing driver)

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Peter Collins
Nationality	British
World Championship Career
Active years	1952 - 1958
Team(s)	HWM, Vanwall, Maserati, Ferrari
Races	35
Championships	0
Wins	3
Podium finishes	8

Pole positions	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 John Collins (b. 6 November 1931, Kidderminster, England - d. 3 August 1958, Bonn, Germany) 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 failure 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, spun 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.

[edit] Complete Formula One Grand Prix results

(key; * shared drive)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	WDC	Points
1952	HW Motors	HWM 52	Alta	SWI Ret	IND	BEL Ret	FRA 6	GBR Ret	DEU DNS	DUT DNQ	ITA				-	0
1953	HW Motors	HWM 53	Alta	ARG	IND	DUT 8	BEL Ret	FRA 13	GBR Ret	DEU	SWI	ITA			-	0
1954	G A Vandervell	Vanwall Special	Vanwall	ARG	IND	BEL	FRA	GBR Ret	DEU	SWI	ITA 7	SPA DNS			-	0
1955	Owen Racing Organisation	Maserati 250F	Maserati	ARG	MON	IND	BEL	DUT	GBR Ret						-	0
1955	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati 250F	Maserati							ITA Ret					-	0
1956	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 555	Ferrari	ARG Ret											3rd	25
1956	Scuderia Ferrari	Lancia-Ferrari D50	Ferrari		MON 2	IND	BEL 1	FRA 1	GBR 2 *	DEU Ret *	ITA 2 *				3rd	25
1957	Scuderia Ferrari	Lancia-Ferrari D50	Ferrari	ARG 6 *											9th	8
1957	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 801	Ferrari		MON Ret	IND	FRA 3	GBR 4 *	DEU 3	PES	ITA Ret				9th	8
1958	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari Dino 246	Ferrari	ARG Ret	MON 3	DUT Ret	IND	BEL Ret	FRA 5	GBR 1	DEU Ret	POR	ITA	MOR	6th	14

Preceded by Luigi Musso	Formula One fatal accidents August 3, 1958	Succeeded by Stuart Lewis-Evans
Preceded by José Froilán González	BRDC International Trophy winner 1955	Succeeded by Stirling Moss
Preceded by Jean Behra	BRDC International Trophy winner 1958	Succeeded by Jack Brabham