John Watson (racing driver)

A year later in, 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.

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.

John Marshall Watson, (born 4 May 1946) is a British former racing driver and current commentator from 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.

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.

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.

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.

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, Watson managed a more successful season in terms of race finishes, even out-qualifying and out-racing his illustrious 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.

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.

His most successful year was, 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.

For, Watson moved to McLaren where he gave them their first victory in over three years by winning the 1981 British Grand Prix and also securing the first victory for a carbon fibre composite monocoque F1 car, the McLaren MP4/1.

Later in the 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.

He competed in Formula One, winning five Grands Prix and was third in the 1982 championship.

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.

He also competed in the World Sportscar Championship finishing second in the 1987 championship.

After his retirement from motorsport, he became a commentator for Eurosport's coverage of Formula One from 1989 to 1996.

He currently commentates on the GT World Challenge Europe and commentated on the 2022 Miami F1 Grand Prix for F1TV.

John Watson was born in Belfast and educated at Rockport School, Northern Ireland.

At the first ever Detroit Grand Prix in, 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.

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.