#2 Phil Hill

Phil Hill was an American racing driver who competed in Formula 1 between 1958 and 1964. He is best known for becoming the first American to win the Formula 1 World Championship in 1961. 

Born in Miami, Florida, in 1927, Hill moved to California as a child. He would later attend USC, where he studied business from 1945 to 1947. Hill left early to pursue auto racing, starting as a mechanic on other drivers' cars. In 1949 Hill moved to England as a Jaguar trainee, and upon Hill's return to the US, he took home a Jaguar XK120. Hill would win numerous races on the west coast in this car, eventually getting him noticed by Luigi Chinetti, a Ferrari associate. In 1952 Chinetti sold a 1951 Ferrari 212 Export Barchetta to Phil Hill, and Chinetti would later hire Hill as a driver. This connection would ultimately lead to his introduction to the most powerful man in racing, Ferrari Boss Enzo Ferrari, who would hire Hill to drive Ferrari sports racing cars. 

In 1955 while taking a boat from the United States to Europe, Enzo Ferrari sent a telegraph to Phil Hill asking him to drive for his team after the loss of Alberto Ascari passed away in a testing accident. Hill's first race with Ferrari would be the 1955 24 hours of Le Mans, where the worst accident in motorsports history unfolded right before him on the front straight. Being around the tragedies of Formula 1 at this point in the sport, Hill became very in tune with the dangers he placed himself in racing at this level.

After the 1956 & 1957 seasons driving for Ferrari in the major endurance races, Hill debuted in the 1958 French Grand Prix, with Bonnier-Maserati finishing seventh. Hill would drive the last two races of the 1958 season with Scuderia Ferrari, finishing with back-to-back podiums in the Italian GP and Moroccan Gp. Hill would also drive for Ferrari in the 1958 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning with teammate Olivier Genedebien in the Ferrari 250 TR, Hill becoming the first American driver to win Le Mans. This duo would win the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times together (58', 61',62') and 12 hours of Sebring twice, all with Ferrari.

Hill would drive full-time in the 1959 season for Ferrari F1, having three podiums (two seconds, one third), finishing the 1959 season fourth in the Drivers Championship. Over the next few seasons, Hill established himself as a competitive driver, winning his first Grand Prix at the 1960 Italian GP was the first victory by an American driver in a Grand Prix since Jimmy Murphy in 1921, and, excluding the Indy 500, the first by an American in the Formula One World Championship.

It was in 1961 that Hill achieved his most notable success, winning two races, having six total podiums, and was crowned the Formula 1 World Champion, the first American to win a Formula 1 Driver's Championship. Unfortunately, at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix, where Hill would clinch the Drivers Title, his Ferrari teammate, Wolfgang Von Trips, would be killed in an accident that also took the lives of fourteen spectators. It was a burdensome day for Formula 1 and was also very impactful in how Hill viewed the sport moving forward. 

Hill's last season with Ferrari was in 1962, where he started the season with three consecutive podiums, having a second-place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix and his final podium at Spa. However, the remainder of the season was less impressive, and Hill struggled to get results. Ferrari would move on to John Surtees as their primary driver, forcing Hill to move on to the ATS team, another Italian-based team, for the 1963 season. The team was not competitive, and Hill struggled to achieve good results during the season. Hill's last season in Formula 1 was in 1964 when he drove for the Cooper team. However, the team's car was not competitive, and Hill retired from the sport at the end of the season.

1964 Monaco Cooper-Climax

Hill would briefly return during the 1966 season to help film the movie "Grand Prix"; driving a modified camera car that was allowed to complete a few laps to capture live footage for the movie. Hill would enter the 1966 Italian Grand Prix with Dan Gurney's AAR Eagle-Climax team but fail to qualify, stepping away from Formula 1 forever.

Hill would spend his last two seasons in Sports Car Racing with Jim Hall's Chapparal cars. In 1966 Jim Hall introduced the "2D," the first closed cockpit variant of the 2-series. Designed for endurance racing, It won at 1000 km Nürburgring with Hill and Joakim Bonnier driving. In 1967, Hill and Mike Spence would drive the Chaparral "2F", known for its large rear wing, to a victory at the Brands Hatch 1000 km. This was Hill's last great victory in motorsports. 

Following his retirement, Hill built up an award-winning classic car restoration business. Later, Hill devoted his time to his vintage car collection and judged the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Despite his relatively short career in Formula 1, Hill is regarded as one of the most significant American drivers ever. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1991, and he remained involved in the sport as a commentator and consultant until he died in 2008.