Race winner Jochen Rindt (AUT) / Maston Gregory (USA) Ferrari 250 LM, 1965 Le Mans 24 Hours Top 10: F1 Ferraris ranked - Sharknose, F2004 and more This came in 1961 – the same year as one of his Le Mans wins – and was also in a Ferrari, the famous sharknose Ferrari 156. Hill’s Formula 1 career also brought three wins and one title. His final five attempts saw him swap between David Brown/Aston Martin Lagonda, Ford, Shelby-American and Chaparral cars. PLUS: Top 10 Le Mans Ferraris ranked - Testa Rossa, P4, 312 PB and more
These eight races yielded mixed results – while he did take the overall win three times, his car also completed just two laps in the 1957 race and 22 laps in 1960. Then came eight attempts for Ferrari, the team with which his Le Mans career is most associated. Makins team, driving the OSCA MT-4, which lasted for 80 laps before a transmission issue. His first attempt was for the American Rees T. Phil Hill either won the Le Mans 24 Hours or failed to finish – of his 14 starts, he was first in three races and DNF in 11. Olivier Gendebien and Phil Hill, 1st position, raise their bouquets on the podium at the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hours This gave Hawthorn, and his Ferrari 246, the crown by a single point. Though he only took one win to second-placed Stirling Moss’s four, he was able to finish more races than his compatriot – Hawthorn retired from two races while Moss retired from five. His F1 title came in 1958 – the year before he was killed in a road traffic accident. He returned to Le Mans three more times, but was unable to finish higher than an overall sixth. There was much debate about the role Hawthorn played in the accident, despite an official inquiry deeming that he wasn’t responsible for it and that it was a racing incident. Macklin was somehow uninjured but, following another fatal incident the same year, he would never race again. Levegh was killed, along with more than 80 spectators, while 180 more were injured. The car’s engine, suspension, radiator and other debris were flung into the packed crowd, while the rest of the car caught fire. The Mercedes was sent into the air and towards the crowd, hitting a hill and disintegrating. Hawthorn, attempting to pit, braked in front of the Austin-Healey of Lance Macklin, who swerved and was hit by Pierre Levegh’s Mercedes-Benz 300SLR.
While it was setting up to be a fantastic race, tragedy struck just over four hours in. PLUS: The greatest sportscars never to win Le Mans
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