The name behind the race: Phil Hill

A job with Californian car importer International Motors led to an opportunity to work in the UK, tuning MGs, Jaguars and SU carburettors. At that stage, the height of his ambition was to become a Grand Prix mechanic, but just eleven years later he would become America’s first Formula 1 World Champion.

During that trip to the UK, Hill took the opportunity to marshal at Goodwood, which he later looked back on as a “landmark moment.” He had close access to the drivers and cars he used to read about in British car magazines, which would arrive on his side of the Atlantic several weeks after publication. Those names and machines came to life right in front of him.

He would offer his services as a mechanic in return for sponsored drives, and in 1952 he came sixth in the Carrara PanAmericana in a Ferrari. Soon after, he moved to Modena, learned Italian and secured works drives for Ferrari. His mechanical background meant he drove cars sympathetically and proved his mettle in endurance racing.

He had a hunger to compete in Formula 1 but felt that he was being typecast as a sportscar racer by Maranello. The contemporary press described Hill as highly strung and intense, which was justified, but he was also cultured and intelligent, and took that approach into Formula 1.

His peak season would come in 1961 when Ferrari was back on form with its rear-engined ‘Sharknose’ 156. The season-long battle between Maranello team-mates Hill and Count Wolfgang ‘Taffy’ von Trips came down to the penultimate race at Monza. Enzo Ferrari wanted a win on home soil and fielded five cars. Hill went into the race with 29 World Championship points to von Trips’ 33.

Tragedy struck on lap two when von Trips connected with the Lotus of Jim Clark. It proved fatal for the driver and 14 spectators, making it the worst accident in Formula 1 history. These being different times, the race continued and Hill went on to win. Some say he benefitted from the accident, but that doesn’t take away from the fact he had worked hard all season. And he had the pace on the day; he hadn’t seen the crash, which happened behind him, until he passed the wreckage on lap three. 

Since Hill’s World Championship victory, only one other American has claimed the title, Mario Andretti having become naturalised as a citizen of the USA when he was 24 years old.

For all his Formula 1 success, though, Hill chalked up more victories in the field of endurance racing. With Ferrari in the late 1950s and early ’60s, he had three Le Mans 24 Hours wins, and the same number of victories at the Sebring 12 Hours. 

Hill’s first Sebring victory came in 1958, just a few months ahead of his maiden Le Mans win. In those days, there was no qualifying to establish the grid so the cars started according to engine size. Ferrari took a circumspect approach to the race, Hill settling into a steady pace to preserve the car.

By the end of the fourth hour, he was lying fourth, but fortunes changed 60 minutes later. The leading Aston Martins retired with gearbox problems and Hill worked his 250 Testa Rossa into the lead, a position he and co-driver Peter Collins maintained until the flag dropped.

A year later, Hill was sharing his Ferrari with Olivier Gendebien. The main threat once again came from Aston Martin, and again the British car’s retirement was Hill’s gain. Heavy rain rearranged the field with numerous cars crashing out. Hill climbed into the lead and never lost it. He didn’t enter Sebring in 1960, but in 1961 he completed his third of three wins in Florida when he and Gendebien finished two laps ahead of their team-mates, who came home second.

It’s his Sebring wins that we’re bringing back to life with the Phil Hill Cup at the 83^rd Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport. Given the significance of Goodwood to his early career, Hill was a regular visitor to the Festival of Speed and Revival, and made a notable appearance at 2006 Revival where he was reunited with the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa with which he claimed his first Le Mans win. He was joined by his son Derek, by then an established racing driver in his own right. 

We can’t wait to see a field of sports and GT cars do battle, each one of them of a type that raced at Sebring from 1964-66.

The 83rd Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport takes place on the 18^th & 19^th April 2026. Tickets are on sale now for GRRC Members and Fellows.

You can sign up for the Fellowship now. Click here to find out more.

Images courtesy of Getty Images.