Peter Whitehead (racing driver)
From Ferrari Wiki
FIA Super Licence  United Kingdom | |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
|---|---|
| Active years | 1950 Formula One season - 1954 Formula One season |
| Teams | privateer Ferrari, Alta Car and Engineering Company and Cooper Car Company, Scuderia Ferrari |
| Races | 12 (10 starts) |
| List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 1 |
| Career points | 4 |
| Pole position | 0 |
| Fastest lap | 0 |
| First race | 1950 Monaco Grand Prix |
| Last race | 1954 British Grand Prix |
Peter Whitehead (12 November 1914, Menston – 21 September 1958, Lasalle, Gard, France) was a United Kingdom Racing driver from England.
Contents |
Career synopsis
He participated in 12 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 July 1950. In his career he achieved a single podium, and scored a total of 4 championship points. He also drove in several non-Championship Formula One races. In addition to his Formula One career he shared victory in the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans race with Peter Walker (driver), racing for Jaguar Cars.
Peter Whitehead is notable as the first person to whom Enzo Ferrari ever sold a Formula One car : a Ferrari 125.
Sports car racer
Whitehead teamed with Peter Walker (driver) to win the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans with an average speed of 93.112 miles per hour. They drove a Jaguar.[1] In July 1952 Whitehead qualified his Alta 2nd to Harry Schell for the Grand Prix of Rouen.[2] In July 1953 Whitehead won a 12-hour endurance race together with Stirling Moss, at Rheims, driving a Jaguar.[3] Whitehead and Ken Wharton piloted a new model Jaguar over a 5 mile closed circuit, regular asphalt highway, at Rheims, in 1954. They were victorious with an average speed of 104.3 m.p.h.[4] The same driving pair placed 5th at Belfast, Northern Ireland, in September. The event was the Ulster Tourist Trophy road race.[5] Whitehead was behind the wheel of an Aston Martin DB3S when he placed 7th in a 1957 Belgian Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.[6]
Death
Whitehead's last great performance was at 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1958 where he came second in an Aston Martin, sharing the driving with his half-brother Graham Whitehead. A couple of months later Peter and Graham were competing together in the Tour de France automobile, when their Jaguar Cars crashed off a bridge into a 30-foot ravine at Lasalle, after overturning twice,[7] with Graham at the wheel. Graham was badly injured, but Peter was killed instantly.
Complete World Championship results
(F1 driver results legend 2)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 Formula One season | Peter Whitehead | Ferrari 125 | Ferrari V12 | 1950 British Grand Prix | 1950 Monaco Grand Prix DNS | 1950 Indianapolis 500 | 1950 Swiss Grand Prix | 1950 Belgian Grand Prix | 1950 French Grand Prix 3 | 1950 Italian Grand Prix 7 | 9th | 4 | ||
| 1951 Formula One season | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 125 | Ferrari V12 | 1951 Swiss Grand Prix 13 | 1951 Indianapolis 500 | 1951 Belgian Grand Prix | NC | 0 | ||||||
| Graham Whitehead | Ferrari 125 | Ferrari V12 | 1951 French Grand Prix Ret | 1951 German Grand Prix | 1951 Italian Grand Prix Ret | 1951 Spanish Grand Prix | ||||||||
| Tony Vandervell | Ferrari 375 Thinwall | Ferrari V12 | 1951 British Grand Prix 9 | |||||||||||
| 1952 Formula One season | Peter Whitehead | Alta Car and Engineering Company Alta F2 | Alta Car and Engineering Company Straight-4 | 1952 Swiss Grand Prix | 1952 Indianapolis 500 | 1952 Belgian Grand Prix | 1952 French Grand Prix Ret | NC | 0 | |||||
| Ferrari 125 | Ferrari V12 | 1952 British Grand Prix 10 | 1952 German Grand Prix | 1952 Dutch Grand Prix | 1952 Italian Grand Prix DNQ | |||||||||
| 1953 Formula One season | Atlantic Stable | Cooper Car Company Cooper T24 | Alta Car and Engineering Company Straight-4 | 1953 Argentine Grand Prix | 1953 Indianapolis 500 | 1953 Dutch Grand Prix | 1953 Belgian Grand Prix | 1953 French Grand Prix | 1953 British Grand Prix 9 | 1953 German Grand Prix | 1953 Swiss Grand Prix | 1953 Italian Grand Prix | NC | 0 |
| 1954 Formula One season | Peter Whitehead | Cooper Car Company Cooper T24 | Alta Car and Engineering Company Straight-4 | 1954 Argentine Grand Prix | 1954 Indianapolis 500 | 1954 Belgian Grand Prix | 1954 French Grand Prix | 1954 British Grand Prix Ret | 1954 German Grand Prix | 1954 Swiss Grand Prix | 1954 Italian Grand Prix | 1954 Spanish Grand Prix | NC | 0 |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Louis Rosier Jean-Louis Rosier | List of 24 Hours of Le Mans winners 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans with: Peter Walker (driver) | Succeeded by Hermann Lang Fritz Riess |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- ↑ Two Britons Drive Record 93.112 M.P.H. For 24 Hours to Capture French Auto Race, New York Times, June 25, 1951, Page 24.
- ↑ Schell Speeds 121.803 M.P.H., New York Times, July 5, 1952, Page 10.
- ↑ French Auto Races To British Drivers, New York Times, July 6, 1953, Page 22.
- ↑ Article 3-No Title, New York Times, July 5, 1954, Page 15.
- ↑ Laureau, in French Car, Takes Ulster Trophy, September 12, 1954, Page S9.
- ↑ Brooks Captures Belgian Auto Race, New York Times, August 26, 1957, Page 29.
- ↑ British Driver Killed On Tour in France, New York Times, September 21, 1958, Page C2.
