Peter Collins (racing driver)

Peter John Collins (6 November 1931 – 3 August 1958) was a British racing driver.

Born on 6 November 1931, Collins grew up in Mustow Green, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England.

The son of a motor-garage owner and haulage merchant, Collins became interested in motor vehicles at a young age.

He was expelled from school at 16 owing to spending time at a local fairground during school hours.

He became an apprentice in his father's garage and began competing in local trials races.

He started his career as a 17-year-old in 1949, impressing in Formula 3 races, finishing third in the 1951 Autosport National Formula 3 Championship.

In the 2023 biographical sports drama film Ferrari, Collins is portrayed by actor Jack O'Connell.

In common with many British drivers of the time, Collins began racing in the 500 cc category (adopted as Formula 3 at the end of 1950), when his parents bought him a Cooper 500 from the fledgling Cooper Car Company.

Throughout the first half of the 1950s, Collins was a stalwart performer for the Aston Martin team, scoring a sensational victory at the 1952 Goodwood Nine Hours race.

The following year he took the Aston Martin DB3S he shared with Pat Griffith to victory in the RAC Tourist Trophy at Dundrod.

Success for Collins started once he switched to the JBS-Norton in 1951.

Those small vehicles, powered by Norton motorcycle engines, were also the proving ground of many of Collins's F1 contemporaries, including Stirling Moss.

His breakthrough came, away from the track, when at a party hosted by the great pre-war lady racer, Kay Petre, Collins managed to inveigle himself with John Wyer, the team principal at Aston Martin, earning his test drive at Silverstone.

During that test, Aston was joined by the Formula 2 team, HWM – and by the time the teams were preparing to leave, Collins had a contract with both.

At HWM Collins he became part of a three-car team with Lance Macklin and Moss, and they competed in most of the F2 races in Britain and in Europe.

Collins showed in speed, but the underfinanced HWM-Alta rarely finished a race.

His best result was second place in the Grand Prix des Sables d'Olonne.

Collins got his Formula One break in 1952, with HWM when he replaced Moss.

His best result in a World Championship event that year was sixth in the French Grand Prix at Rouen-Les-Essarts.

Success did not come the team's way, and Collins left after the 1953 season.

Not known for his technical knowledge, Collins was happy to have his mechanics set up his car, and he simply drove it with his consummate natural skill.

This was evident in 1954, when Tony Vandervell signed Collins to drive the fearsome "Thinwall Special".

The potent machine was a crowd pleaser at Formula Libre events.

He was also amongst the first to handle the "Vanwall Special" on the world stage, but he only finished seventh in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

After being a constant thorn in BRM's side, he joined the team for the 1955 season.

He raced a Maserati 250F belonging to team owner, Alfred Owen, winning the BRDC International Trophy and the London Trophy.

These results led to a drive with the works Maserati in the Italian Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, he had better success in sportscars.

Further successes included second places in an Aston Martin DB3S at Le Mans in 1955 and 1956 with Paul Frère and Moss respectively.

For the 1956 season, Collins joined Ferrari on the strength of a superb drive in the previous year's Targa Florio, in which he partnered Moss to victory in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR.

This proved to be a turning point, with a solid second-place finish behind Moss at the Monaco Grand Prix, and wins at the Belgian and French Grands Prix.

In those early days at Ferrari, Collins earned the unstinting admiration of Enzo Ferrari, devastated by the untimely death from muscular dystrophy at age 24 of his son, Dino, and who turned to Collins for solace, treating him as a member of the family.

Collins was on the verge of becoming Britain's first F1 World Champion when he handed his Lancia-Ferrari D50 over to team leader Juan Manuel Fangio after the latter suffered a steering-arm failure toward the end of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Collins eventually finished second, but the advantage handed to Moss, and the extra points gained by Fangio's finish, demoted Collins to third place in the championship.

Collins's selfless act gained him respect from Enzo Ferrari and high praise from Fangio: "I was moved almost to tears by the gesture... Peter was one of the finest and greatest gentlemen I ever met in my racing career."

Meanwhile, in sports cars, he finished second in a Ferrari 860 Monza in the Mille Miglia and at the Swedish Sports Car GP in a Ferrari 290MM with Wolfgang von Trips in 1956; and then in 1957 finished second in the 1000km of Nürburgring with Olivier Gendebien and won the Venezuelan Grand Prix with Phil Hill, all in a Ferrari 335 S.

He was killed in the 1958 German Grand Prix, just weeks after winning the RAC British Grand Prix.

Finally, in 1958 he won the 1000 km Buenos Aires and the 12 Hours of Sebring in a Ferrari 250 TR with Phil Hill.

These three were back-to-back.

His last World Sports Car Championship podium was another second place at the 'Ring with Mike Hawthorn.