America’s forgotten F1 winner: Ginther
Richie Ginther is one of only five US drivers to have won a world championship grand prix, but his impressive career is often overlooked
One of the five Americans to win a Formula 1 World Championship grand prix once finished runner-up in the standings, gave Honda and Goodyear their first victory, took 14 podiums, and was also very successful in US sportscar racing. He invented the rear spoiler, developed the iconic ‘Sharknose’ Ferrari 156, and is arguably F1’s greatest test and development driver. Yet, despite all these achievements, Richie Ginther is somewhat forgotten.
Born almost 90 years ago, on 5 August 1930, Ginther evolved from a sickly, somewhat solitary childhood into a teenager with a fascination and appreciation for mechanical devices. His father worked in the tool-and-die industry (as did Richie briefly), but Ginther Jr’s mechanical interest was focused on cars, about which he was fiercely passionate.
His father worked for Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica, California, and this led to Ginther meeting a young man three years older than him who would change the course of his life. Living two and a half blocks away from Ginther was Jaguar Xk120owning Phil Hill. He knew Richie’s father and brother, and became pretty much entwined in Richie’s life until 1964. Ginther was
Hill’s mechanic and pitboard man, and also his workmate on long road trips across the US delivering cars for International Motors, a job that Hill helped Ginther secure.
The pair’s success in the 1954 Carrera Panamericana, where they finished in second place, effectively set up Ginther with a proper racing career. And Hill, who encouraged and supported Ginther with so many opportunities, was also chiefly instrumental in getting him the Ferrari works drive in 1960 and the BRM seat in 1962.
Sadly, the greatest race of his life, the 1961 Monaco Grand
Prix, also marked a seismic change in Ginther’s relationship with Hill. Irked by what he considering an unnecessary and dangerous block by Hill before he allowed him to take second place and chase after Stirling Moss, Ginther’s annoyance with what he perceived as a lack of credit for Hill’s success and standing within the sport bubbled away under the surface until 1964, when it boiled over in an outburst by Ginther at a restaurant.
They barely spoke again.
From 1955 onwards,
Ginther had established himself in Californian sportscar racing, rapidly becoming one of the top names in an iconic era for the sportscar scene. During this period he worked as a car salesman for friend John von
Neumann’s Ferrari dealership, and his racing successes helped with his standing at Maranello.
Ginther joined the Ferrari works team in 1960, ostensibly as test and development driver, but also to race in sportscars, and maybe a grand prix or two. Within only a few months he had made his world championship debut, finishing in sixth place in his first two races. He revelled in his testing role to develop cars and his
“HE REVELLED IN HIS TESTING ROLE AND HIS WORK WAS PIVOTAL IN FERRARI’S DOMINANCE IN 1961”
work was pivotal in Ferrari being the dominant team in 1961.
Ginther’s stunning performance in the 1961 Monaco GP catapulted him into the front rank, raising his estimation of his own worth but also fazing Ferrari somewhat: the faithful, safe and ‘anonymous’ test driver they thought they had in place for years was now a genuine contender for race victories. He’d made himself very useful at Ferrari, using the experience gained at Douglas and on military service in Korea to come up with a rear spoiler similar to the trim tabs on the helicopters he had serviced, providing a big leap in aerodynamic stability for racing cars.
No agreement could be reached to continue with Ferrari, so in 1962 Ginther moved to BRM as its second driver to Graham Hill. Ferrari’s loss was BRM’S gain, as he became only the second man (Stirling Moss was the first, and only Emerson Fittipaldi since) to help two different constructors win constructors’ championships in successive years.
The season had nevertheless been frustrating, littered with retirements and accidents (very few his fault), but was followed by an exemplary 1963 in which Ginther finished joint runner-up in the world championship with team-mate Hill, behind runaway champion Jim Clark. In fact Ginther would have been outright second had he not accepted team orders to finish a close second in the first race of the season in Monaco behind Hill.
The following year was a terrible one for Ginther. His wife of six years, Jackie, suffered a miscarriage as the marriage started to fall apart. Around the same time he suffered a huge crash at Aintree that he escaped relatively scot-free, but had to miss a couple of nonchampionship races. As a result of all the issues in his life, Ginther couldn’t get motivated and lost confidence in the car.
But a move to the fledgling Honda team in 1965 revitalised him. Now Ginther was the number one driver, and he was still in a development role that he so loved. All involved with the project got the reward for all their hard work with a win at the Mexican GP, the last race of the season.
Had the 1.5-litre formula stayed for 1966, Ginther would have been a title contender, but as a result of the sweeping technical changes Honda not only struggled, but stopped racing altogether
“HE CAME UP WITH A REAR SPOILER SIMILAR TO THE TRIM TABS ON THE HELICOPTERS HE SERVICED IN KOREA”
so it could develop the car. A sign of what could have been came at the Italian GP – the new car was finally ready, and Ginther was battling with Ludovico Scarfiotti for the lead when a tyre burst when he was doing 185mph at Monza’s Curva Grande.
In 1967 Ginther joined up with friend Dan Gurney to race for Gurney’s Anglo American Racers. All started well, with a strong showing for the Eagles at the Race of Champions (won by Gurney) at Brands Hatch in March. But then Ginther failed to qualify for the Monaco GP – the first time he’d failed to start a race since driving a woefully slow Scarab in 1960. Ginther then went to the Indianapolis 500, but before he could do a serious practice lap he got out of the car and quit on the spot. The recent death of good friend Lorenzo Bandini would have preyed heavily on Ginther’s mind, but there were a host of other factors that caused him to stop.
Ginther stayed involved in racing for some years, initially working as Eagle’s team manager and test driver. Then he became a car tuner, preparer, builder and team manager of his own sportscar team, Richie Ginther Racing, which scored successes with Porsche. Eventually the racing game bored him and he began to look outside the sport. He was intrigued by the idea of travelling America in a motorhome, and a combination of an offer on his house and the sale of his business premises gave him the means to explore the country.
He now had the time to delve into his many interests.
These included reading, photography, wildlife conservation and his great passion, Native American culture and history. Even as a team boss, Ginther had found time to visit local archaeological digs. He was also interested in art and enjoyed making jewellery, using precious stones he found during his travels.
Ginther could just go where he wanted to go and do what he wanted to do. He was at peace with himself and under no pressure. But he was no recluse, as some suggested. As much as he would take the motorhome to the deserts of Arizona, he would also drive it to historic race meetings or to meet up with friends.
Ginther’s health began to wane in the 1980s, as a hereditary heart condition took its toll. His appearance at Donington Park in September 1989 for a BRM reunion shocked all who were there, and he died less than a week later of a heart attack while on holiday in France. He was 59.
To write Ginther off as a one-hit wonder is deeply unfair. He had enough talent, pace and racing nous to win multiple races.
But he was a very different creature to almost all his rivals.
In an Autocourse interview he said: “I have a different view on driving to so many other drivers; many drive to lead the race, but for me, there’s no question about it, I drive to finish. However, I always drive to win. That’s the whole essence of racing. I know I’ve finished races many other drivers would not finish. But I was not one of these win or else guys. And I guess I outsmarted myself out of some wins. I know I lost races I could have won, races others might have won. I guess I wanted to finish more than I wanted to win. I always knew it’s a dangerous sport and I knew I could get hurt, but I was not about to put myself in a position where the odds were against me.”
Had Ginther been a true out-and-out no-compromise racer, would he have survived such a deadly era? Statistics don’t always reflect careers accurately, but if you look at the high number of points finishes – 28 from his 52 starts – in an era of chronically poor reliability, that is a truly remarkable statistic for a truly remarkable man.
Richard Jenkins has written a new book on Richie Ginther’s career, available from Performance Publishing. Richie Ginther: Motor Racing’s Free Thinker is on offer at a special price of £25 during the COVID-19 crisis. Go to performancepublishing.co.uk/ richie-ginther-motor-racings-free-thinker