John Watson (racing driver)

John Marshall Watson MBE (born 4 May 1946) is a British former racing driver and broadcaster from Northern Ireland, who competed in Formula One from 1973 to 1985. Watson won five Formula One Grands Prix across 12 seasons.

John Watson MBE
Watson at the 1982 Dutch Grand Prix
Born	John Marshall Watson (1946-05-04) 4 May 1946 (age 78) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1973–1983, 1985
Teams	Hexagon, Brabham, Surtees, Lotus, Penske, McLaren
Entries	154 (152 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	5
Podiums	20
Career points	169
Pole positions	2
Fastest laps	5
First entry	1973 British Grand Prix
First win	1976 Austrian Grand Prix
Last win	1983 United States Grand Prix West
Last entry	1985 European Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	1973, 1984–1985, 1987–1990
Teams	Gulf, Jaguar, Porsche, Toyota, RLR
Best finish	11th (1990)
Class wins	0

Watson competed in Formula One for Brabham, Surtees, Lotus, Penske and McLaren. He finished third in the 1982 World Drivers' Championship with McLaren. Watson also competed in the World Sportscar Championship, finishing runner-up in 1987 with Jaguar.

Upon his retirement from motor racing, Watson became a commentator for Eurosport from 1989 until 1996. Since 2022, he has served as the lead commentator for GT World Challenge Europe, and also commentated on the 2022 Miami Grand Prix for F1TV.

Early Formula One career

Watson at a Formula Two race at Hockenheim in 1971

John Watson was born in Belfast and educated at Rockport School, Northern Ireland. Watson's Formula One career began in 1972, driving a customer March-Cosworth 721 for Goldie Hexagon Racing in a non-Championship event: the World Championship Victory Race at Brands Hatch.^[1] Watson's first World Championship events came in the 1973 season, in which he raced in the British Grand Prix in a customer Brabham-Ford BT37, and the US Grand Prix, where he drove the third works Brabham BT42. Neither was particularly successful, as in the British race he ran out of fuel on the 36th lap and his engine failed after only seven laps in the United States event.

Watson scored his first World Championship point in the 1974 Monaco Grand Prix, while driving for Goldie Hexagon Racing. He went on to score a total of six points that season, driving a customer Brabham BT42-Ford modified by the team.^[2] He failed to score Championship points the following year, driving for Team Surtees, Team Lotus and Penske Cars. At the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix he had the chance to score his first win. He was in second position, behind Mario Andretti, until he had to stop in the pits for checks after his car started to suffer vibrations. Andretti retired later, and after rejoining the race Watson finished in eighth, his best Championship result in 1975. In non-Championship races he fared somewhat better, taking second place in the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, and fourth at the International Trophy race at Silverstone.

Rise to prominence

He secured his first World Championship podium with third place at the 1976 French Grand Prix. Later that season came his first victory, driving for Penske in the Austrian Grand Prix having qualified second on the grid. After the race he shaved off his beard, the result of a bet with team owner Roger Penske. In a June 2023 interview with F1Weekly podcast Watson said the team flew to London Sunday evening after the race, and Penske did not recognize him in the hotel lobby Monday morning.

In the third race of the 1977 Formula One season, the South African Grand Prix, he managed to complete the race distance, scored a point, and took his first ever fastest lap. His achievements were overshadowed, however, by the deaths of driver Tom Pryce and a track marshal, Frederik Jansen van Vuuren. His Brabham-Alfa Romeo let him down throughout the season but, despite this, he gained his first pole position in the Monaco Grand Prix and qualified in the top ten no fewer than 14 times, often in the first two rows. Problems with the car, accidents, and a disqualification meant that he raced the full distance in only five of the 17 races. The closest he came to victory was during the French Grand Prix, where he dominated the race from the start only to be let down by a fuel metering problem on the last lap which relegated him to second place behind eventual winner Mario Andretti.

In 1978, Watson managed a more successful season in terms of race finishes, even out-qualifying and out-racing his teammate Niki Lauda on occasion. He managed three podiums and a pole, and notched up 25 points to earn the highest championship placing of his career to that point.

Move to McLaren and championship challenge

Watson driving the McLaren MP4/1.

For 1979, Watson moved to McLaren where he gave them their first victory in over three years by winning the 1981 British Grand Prix^[3] and also securing the first victory for a carbon fibre composite monocoque F1 car, the McLaren MP4/1. Later in the 1981 season, the strength of the McLaren's carbon fibre monocoque (designed by John Barnard) was demonstrated when he had a fiery crash at Monza during the Italian Grand Prix. Watson lost the car coming out of the high speed Lesmo bends and crashed backwards into the barriers. Similar accidents had previously proven fatal, but Watson was uninjured in an accident he later recalled as looking far worse than it actually was.^[4] After James Hunt's abrupt retirement after the Monaco Grand Prix in 1979, Watson was the only full-time competitive British F1 driver up until the end of his career.

Watson during practice for the 1985 European Grand Prix, his last F1 race.

His most successful year was 1982, when he finished third in the Drivers' Championship, winning two Grands Prix. In several races he achieved high placings despite qualifying towards the back of the grid. At the first ever Detroit Grand Prix in 1982, he overtook three cars in one lap deep into the race on a tight, twisty track that was difficult to pass on; working his way from 17th starting position on the grid, he charged through the field and scored a victory in the process.^[5] Watson went into the final race of the season at Caesars Palace in with an outside chance of the title, but he was to finish five points adrift of Keke Rosberg and level on points with Didier Pironi.

A year later in 1983, he repeated the feat of winning from the back of the grid at the final Formula One race in Long Beach; another street circuit, starting from 22nd on the grid, the farthest back from which a modern Grand Prix driver had ever come to win a race. Watson's final victory also included a fight for position with teammate Niki Lauda, who had started the race 23rd, though Watson ultimately finished 27 seconds ahead of his dual World Championship winning teammate.

At the end of the 1983 season however, Watson was dropped by McLaren and subsequently retired from Formula One. Negotiations with team boss Ron Dennis reportedly broke down when Watson asked for more money than dual World Champion Lauda was earning, citing having won a GP in 1983 where Lauda did not. Dennis instead signed Renault refugee Alain Prost for comparatively little (since he was already under contract to Renault but was fired for 1984). He did return for one further race two years later, driving for McLaren in place of an injured Lauda at the 1985 European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, in which he qualified 21st and placed seventh in the race (Lauda had injured his wrist in qualifying for the previous race at Spa, forcing him to miss that race also). Watson raced with Lauda's race number of "1" (the Austrian having won the 1984 World Championship).^[6] This was only the second occasion since 1973 that a driver other than the reigning World Champion has raced car number 1 in a World Championship race, the other being Ronnie Peterson when the system first began, as reigning World Champion Jackie Stewart had retired upon the conclusion of the 1973 season.

Sportscar career

In 1984 Watson turned to sports car racing, notably partnering Stefan Bellof to victory at the Fuji 1000 km during Bellof's 1984 Championship year. He was also part of the driver lineup for Bob Tullius' Group 44 Jaguar team at the 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans driving an IMSA spec Jaguar XJR-5 powered by a 6.0 litre V12 in the IMSA / GTP class. In what was Jaguar's first appearance at Le Mans since 1959, Watson briefly took the lead of the race towards the end of the first hour when the faster Porsche 956s and Lancia LC2s pitted. Driving with American Tony Adamowicz and Frenchman Claude Ballot-Léna, they failed to finish the race due to engine trouble though they were classified in 28th place.^[7]

Watson also finished second in the 1987 season alongside Jan Lammers in the TWR Silk Cut Jaguar XJR-8 when they won a total of three championship races (Jarama, Monza and Fuji). Watson competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans seven times over the course of his career between 1973 and 1990, finishing 11th, a career best, in his last start in 1990 driving a Porsche 962C for Richard Lloyd Racing alongside fellow Grand Prix drivers Bruno Giacomelli and Allen Berg.

Other work

After retiring from active racing, he worked as a television commentator, ran a race school at Silverstone and managed a racetrack. He also became the first man to ever test a Jordan Formula One car in 1990.^[8]

From 1989 to 1996 he worked as a Formula One commentator for Eurosport alongside Andrew Marriott (1989-1990), Richard Nicholls (1990–1992), Allard Kalff (1992–1994) and Ben Edwards (1995–1996). The last Grand Prix Eurosport broadcast live in the UK was the Japanese GP in 1996. The contracts for Formula One live broadcasts were shifted to private TV stations for 1997. In 1997 Watson worked as a Formula One commentator for ESPN.

From 1998 to 2001 he was Charlie Cox's sidekick in commentating on the British Touring Car Championship for the BBC.

During the 2002 F1 season, Watson co-commentated on Sky Sports' Pay Per View F1+ coverage alongside Ben Edwards. However, this was fairly unpopular and it was axed for the 2003 season.

In 2005–2009, Watson worked as an expert commentator for BSkyb during their broadcasts of the A1 Grand Prix series.

In 2010, Watson commentated on some rounds of the FIA GT1 and GT3 Championship as well as the entire 2014 Blancpain GT Series.

Watson currently provides expert commentary on the GT World Challenge Europe alongside regular Blancpain television commentator David Addison.^[9]

Legacy

In 2016, in an academic paper that reported a mathematical modelling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine, Watson was ranked the 25th best Formula One driver of all time.^[10]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
1969	European Formula Two	Team Ireland	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1970	European Formula Two	John Watson	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1971	European Formula Two	John Watson	6	0	0	0	0	5	15th
1972	European Formula Two	Allan McCall Team Tui	6	0	0	0	0	4	23rd
	British Formula Two		1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
		Chevron Racing Team	1	0	0	0	0
	World Sportscar Championship	William Tuckett	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1973	World Sportscar Championship	Gulf Research Racing	4	0	0	0	0	18	NC
	European Formula 5000	Hexagon Racing	2	0	1	0	1	24	6th
	European Formula Two	Chevron Racing Team	2	0	1	0	1	4	20th
		Motor Racing Developments	1	0	0	0	0
	Formula One		1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
		Hexagon of Highgate	1	0	0	0	0
1974	Formula One	Goldie Hexagon Racing	15	0	0	0	0	6	15th
	European Formula Two	Bang & Olufsen Team Surtees	5	0	0	0	1	6	11th
	World Sportscar Championship	Chevron Cars	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1975	Formula One	Matchbox Team Surtees	11	0	0	0	0	0	NC
		John Player Team Lotus	1	0	0	0	0
		First National City Bank Team	1	0	0	0	0
	World Sportscar Championship	GELO Racing Team Mirage	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
1976	Formula One	First National City Bank Team Penske	16	1	0	0	3	20	7th
1977	Formula One	Martini Racing	17	0	1	2	1	9	13th
	World Sportscar Championship	Autodelta SpA	1	0	1	0	0	0	NC
1978	Formula One	Parmalat Racing Team	16	0	1	0	3	25	6th
1979	Formula One	Marlboro Team McLaren	15	0	0	0	1	15	9th
1980	Formula One	Marlboro Team McLaren	13	0	0	0	0	6	10th
	BMW M1 Procar Championship	GS Team	1	0	0	0	0	3	23rd
1981	Formula One	Marlboro McLaren International	15	1	0	1	4	27	6th
1982	Formula One	Marlboro McLaren International	15	2	0	1	5	39	3rd
1983	Formula One	Marlboro McLaren International Team	14	1	0	1	3	22	6th
1984	World Sportscar Championship	Rothmans Porsche	3	1	1	0	1	26	23rd
		Jaguar Group 44	1	0	0	0	0
1985	Formula One	Marlboro McLaren TAG Turbo	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	24 Hours of Le Mans	Rothmans Porsche	1	0	0	0	0	0	DNF
1987	24 Hours of Le Mans	Silk Cut Jaguar	1	0	0	0	0	0	DNF
1988	24 Hours of Le Mans	Silk Cut Jaguar	1	0	0	0	0	0	DNF
1989	24 Hours of Le Mans	Toyota Team Tom's	1	0	0	0	0	0	DNF
1990	24 Hours of Le Mans	Richard Lloyd Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	11th
Sources:[11][12]

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Pos.	Pts
1969	Team Ireland	Lotus 48	Cosworth FVA	THR Ret	HOC	NÜR	JAR	TUL	PER	VAL											NC	0
1970	John Watson	Brabham BT30	Cosworth FVA	THR Ret	HOC DNQ	BAR Ret	ROU DNS	PER	TUL	IMO	HOC										NC	0
1971	John Watson	Brabham BT30	Cosworth FVA	HOC Ret	THR DNS	NÜR 12	JAR 11	PAL DNQ	ROU DNQ	MAN 5	TUL 5	ALB	VAL 6	VAL							15th	5
1972	Allan McCall Team Tui	Leda-Tui AM29	Ford BDA	MAL	THR	HOC	PAU	PAL Ret	HOC 10												23rd	4
		Leda-Tui BH2								ROU 5	ÖST 8	IMO 8	MAN Ret	PER	SAL	ALB	HOC
1973	Motor Racing Developments	Brabham BT40	Ford BDA	MAL Ret	HOC	THR	NÜR	PAU	KIN	NIV	HOC	ROU	MNZ								20th	4
	Chevron Racing Team	Chevron B25												MAN 3	KAR	PER	SAL	NOR	ALB 10	VAL
1974	Bang & Olufsen Team Surtees	Surtees TS15	Ford BDA	BAR	HOC 2																11th	6
		Surtees TS15A	BMW M12			PAU Ret	SAL 10	HOC	MUG Ret	KAR	PER Ret	HOC	VAL
Source:[12]

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Pts
1973	Hexagon of Highgate	Brabham BT37	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR Ret	NED	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN				NC	0
	Ceramica Pagnossin Team MRD	Brabham BT42	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8															USA Ret
1974	Goldie Hexagon Racing	Brabham BT42	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 12	BRA Ret	RSA Ret	ESP 11	BEL 11	MON 6	SWE 11	NED 7	FRA 16	GBR 11								15th	6
		Brabham BT44												GER Ret	AUT 4	ITA 7	CAN Ret	USA 5
1975	Matchbox Team Surtees	Surtees TS16	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG DSQ	BRA 10	RSA Ret	ESP 8	MON Ret	BEL 10	SWE 16	NED Ret	FRA 13	GBR 11		AUT 10	ITA					NC	0
	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 72F	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8											GER Ret
	First National City Bank Team	Penske PC1	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8														USA 9
1976	First National City Bank Team Penske	Penske PC3	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	BRA Ret	RSA 5	USW NC	ESP Ret	BEL 7	MON 10												7th	20
		Penske PC4								SWE Ret	FRA 3	GBR 3	GER 7	AUT 1	NED Ret	ITA 11	CAN 10	USA 6	JPN Ret
1977	Martini Racing	Brabham BT45	Alfa Romeo 115-12 3.0 F12	ARG Ret	BRA Ret	RSA 6	USW DSQ	ESP Ret	MON Ret	BEL Ret	SWE 5	FRA 2	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT 8	NED Ret	ITA Ret	USA 12	CAN Ret	JPN Ret	13th	9
1978	Parmalat Racing Team	Brabham BT45C	Alfa Romeo 115-12 3.0 F12	ARG Ret	BRA 8																6th	25
		Brabham BT46				RSA 3	USW Ret	MON 4	BEL Ret	ESP 5		FRA 4	GBR 3	GER 7	AUT 7	NED 4	ITA 2	USA Ret	CAN Ret
		Brabham BT46B									SWE Ret
1979	Löwenbräu Team McLaren	McLaren M28	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8				USW Ret
	Marlboro Team McLaren			ARG 3	BRA 8	RSA Ret															9th	15
		McLaren M28B						ESP Ret	BEL 6
		McLaren M28C								MON 4	FRA 11
		McLaren M29										GBR 4	GER 5	AUT 9	NED Ret	ITA Ret	CAN 6	USA 6
1980	Marlboro Team McLaren	McLaren M29B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG Ret	BRA 11	RSA 11															11th	6
		McLaren M29C					USW 4	BEL NC	MON DNQ	FRA 7	GBR 8	GER Ret	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA Ret	CAN 4	USA NC
1981	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren M29F	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	USW Ret	BRA 8																6th	27
		McLaren MP4				ARG Ret	SMR 10	BEL 7	MON Ret	ESP 3	FRA 2	GBR 1	GER 6	AUT 6	NED Ret	ITA Ret	CAN 2	CPL 7
1982	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren MP4B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA 6	BRA 2	USW 6	SMR	BEL 1	MON Ret	DET 1	CAN 3	NED 9	GBR Ret	FRA Ret	GER Ret	AUT Ret	SUI 13	ITA 4	CPL 2		3rd	39
1983	Marlboro McLaren International Team	McLaren MP4/1C	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	BRA Ret	USW 1	FRA Ret															6th	22
			Ford Cosworth DFY 3.0 V8				SMR 5	MON DNQ	BEL Ret	DET 3	CAN 6	GBR 9	GER 5	AUT 9	NED 3
		McLaren MP4/1E	TAG TTE PO1 1.5 V6t													ITA Ret	EUR Ret	RSA DSQ
1985	Marlboro McLaren TAG Turbo	McLaren MP4/2B	TAG TTE PO1 1.5 V6t	BRA	POR	SMR	MON	CAN	DET	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	BEL	EUR 7	RSA	AUS		NC	0
Sources:[11][13]

Complete Formula One non-championship results

(key) (races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6
1972	Goldie Hexagon Racing	March 721	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ROC	BRA	INT	OUL	REP	VIC 6
1973	Motor Racing Developments	Brabham BT42	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ROC Ret	INT
1975	Matchbox Team Surtees	Surtees TS16	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ROC 2	INT 4	SUI 5
1976	First National City Bank Team Penske	Penske PC3	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ROC Ret	INT
1977	Martini Racing	Brabham BT45	Alfa Romeo 115-12 3.0 F12	ROC 3
1979	Marlboro Team McLaren	McLaren M28	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ROC Ret	GNM	DIN
1980	Marlboro Team McLaren	McLaren M29C	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ESP Ret
1981	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren M29F	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA 5
1983	Marlboro McLaren International Team	McLaren MP4/1C	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ROC Ret
Source:[14]

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1973	Gulf Research Racing	Mike Hailwood Vern Schuppan	Mirage M6 Ford	S 3.0	112	DNF	DNF
1984	Jaguar Group 44	Tony Adamowicz Claude Ballot-Léna	Jaguar XJR-5	IMSA / GTP	212	DNF	DNF
1985	Rothmans Porsche	Al Holbert Vern Schuppan	Porsche 962C	C1	299	DNF	DNF
1987	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Jan Lammers Win Percy	Jaguar XJR-8LM	C1	158	DNF	DNF
1988	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Raul Boesel Henri Pescarolo	Jaguar XJR-9LM	C1	129	DNF	DNF
1989	Toyota Team Tom's	Geoff Lees Johnny Dumfries	Toyota 89C-V	C1	58	DNF	DNF
1990	Richard Lloyd Racing	Bruno Giacomelli Allen Berg	Porsche 962C	C1	335	11th	11th
Sources:[11][15]

Notes

References

1. "1972 Non-World Championship Grands Prix"
2. Henry, Alan (1985) "Brabham, the Grand Prix Cars" p. 143 – 145 Osprey ISBN 0-905138-36-8
3. Winner's Circle British Grand Prix, John Blakemore Photograph Collection, Revs Institute, Revs Digital Library.
4. John Watson shunts at Monza 1981
5. Winner's Circle United States Grand Prix, John Blakemore Photograph Collection, Revs Institute, Revs Digital Library.
6. John Watson, Don Morley Photograph Collection, Revs Institute, Revs Digital Library.
7. Racing Sports Cars – Le Mans 1984
8. Smith, Damien (20 September 2021). "The forgotten F1 comeback that began Jordan's odyssey". Autosport.
9. Blancpain GT Series
10. Hanlon, Mike (12 May 2016). "The Top 50 F1 drivers of all time, regardless of what they were driving". New Atlas. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
11. "John Watson Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
12. "John Watson". Motor Sport. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
13. Small, Steve (2000). "John Watson". Grand Prix Who's Who (Third ed.). Reading, Berkshire: Travel Publishing. pp. 599–601. ISBN 978-1-902007-46-5. Retrieved 31 August 2023 – via Internet Archive.
14. "John Watson – Involvement Non World Championship". StatsF1. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
15. "John Watson". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. Retrieved 31 August 2023.

External links

Media related to John Watson (racing driver) (category) at Wikimedia Commons

Awards
Preceded by James Hunt	Hawthorn Memorial Trophy 1978	Succeeded by Alan Jones
Preceded by Inaugural	Autosport British Competition Driver of the Year 1982	Succeeded by Jonathan Palmer
Preceded by Alan Jones	Hawthorn Memorial Trophy 1982–1983	Succeeded by Derek Warwick