John Watson

Interesting facts

John Watson scored his first championship point at the 1974 Monaco Grand Prix, driving for Hexagon Racing. He took his maiden win at the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix with Penske; afterward he shaved off his beard as the result of a bet, and team owner Roger Penske reportedly failed to recognise him in the hotel lobby the next morning. He joined McLaren in 1979, and his win at the 1981 British Grand Prix was the team's first in over three years and also the first Grand Prix victory for a carbon-fibre composite monocoque F1 car, the MP4/1. At the 1982 Detroit Grand Prix he started 17th and overtook three cars in a single lap late in the race to win. His 1983 Long Beach victory, from 22nd on the grid, was at the time the furthest-back win by a modern-era Grand Prix driver, finishing 27 seconds ahead of teammate Niki Lauda, who had started 23rd. After retiring he worked as an Eurosport F1 commentator from 1989 to 1996. John Watson raced in Formula 1 from 1973 to 1985, across 12 seasons as a British driver. He scored a total of 169 championship points over his career.