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Peter Gethin
Gethin at the 1971 Dutch Grand Prix
Born	Peter Kenneth Gethin (1940-02-21)21 February 1940 Ewell, Surrey, England
Died	5 December 2011(2011-12-05) (aged 71) Haslemere, Surrey, England
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1970–1974
Teams	McLaren, BRM, Hill
Entries	31 (30 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podiums	1
Career points	11
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1970 Dutch Grand Prix
First win	1971 Italian Grand Prix
Last entry	1974 British Grand Prix

Peter Kenneth Gethin (21 February 1940 – 5 December 2011) was a British racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1970 to 1974. Gethin won the 1971 Italian Grand Prix with BRM.

Born and raised in Surrey, Gethin started his career in sportscar racing, competing in the British Sports Car Championship as a privateer until 1965. He progressed to Formula Three the following year, competing in the French and British Championships before graduating to Formula Two. Gethin won several titles in Formula 5000, prompting McLaren to sign him in 1970 to replace the recently-deceased Bruce McLaren. Despite retaining his seat for 1971, Gethin moved to BRM from the Austrian Grand Prix onwards, winning the following race in Italy with an average speed of 242.615 km/h, a record which stood for 32 years. He remained at BRM in 1972 but was dropped at the end of the season, only making one-off appearances for BRM and Hill in 1973 and 1974, respectively. In addition to his victory in Italy, Gethin had won two non-championship races, including the 1973 Race of Champions with Chevron. Gethin returned to European Formula 5000 upon his departure, twice finishing runner-up in 1974 and 1975, amongst winning the Tasman Series in the former. After competing in the 1974 World Sportscar Championship, driving the Chevron B26, Gethin further finished runner-up in the Canadian-American Challenge Cup and the Rothmans International Series in 1977, before retiring at the end of the season.

Upon retiring from motor racing, Gethin founded Peter Gethin Racing in 1986, a Formula 3000 team. He was the director of the British Racing Drivers' Club from 2005 until 2008.

Career

McLaren driver

1970

Gethin made his debut in F1 for McLaren at the 1970 Dutch Grand Prix, replacing the team's founder, Bruce McLaren, who had been killed at the Goodwood Circuit earlier in the month. He joined a three car team which also included Andrea de Adamich and Dan Gurney. He qualified strongly at Zandvoort, taking 11th, 2.110s behind Jochen Rindt's pole time for Lotus. He was nine-tenths of a second ahead of his more illustrious but ageing teammate Gurney. He engaged in a good fight early in the race with Henri Pescarolo's Matra, but soon got the better of the Frenchman and was still running in 10th when he had an accident on lap 19.

Gethin missed the French and British Grands Prix, as former McLaren legend and 1967 world champion Denny Hulme drove the car, but he returned for the German Grand Prix. He qualified less impressively, being only 17th, and a tenth of a second behind Hulme, who had remained with the team on Gethin's return at the expense of Gurney. It was a disappointing race, as Gethin dropped to the back early on and retired after just 3 laps with a throttle failure.

The Austrian Grand Prix at the Österreichring was next, and it was another disappointing qualifying session for Gethin, who was down in 21st and comprehensively trounced by his teammates Hulme and de Adamich. As other drivers fell by the wayside in the race, however, Gethin climbed consistently up the order, and was running as high as 8th before he was passed by Ignazio Giunti's Ferrari and Jo Siffert's March late on, but it was his first grand prix finish as he came home 10th.

Gethin was again the rearmost of the McLaren cars at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, but it was an improved performance, as he was 17th and as close as he had been to the pole time, 2.050 seconds behind Jacky Ickx's Ferrari. He started well in the race and was quickly up to 13th after good passes on teammate de Adamich and Ronnie Peterson's March. However, both Gethin and de Adamich soon suffered technical problems, and dropped to the back of the field, where they would stay until the end of the race, apart from brief periods ahead of Giunti and Tim Schenken's De Tomaso when they were experiencing their own problems. Due to the sheer attrition of the race, de Adamich was 8th at the end and Gethin 9th, although the Englishman was 8 laps down and therefore not classified.

The Canadian Grand Prix at Mont-Tremblant saw the season leave Europe and head towards its finale in the Americas, and it saw a resurgence in Gethin's form, as he out-qualified both de Adamich and Hulme, coming 11th just 1.7 seconds behind Jackie Stewart's pole time. He played the race strategy well, and did not have to make any moves on the track, save one against Pescarolo. He was behind Hulme for a while, but the Kiwi retired with wheel problems. This left Gethin free to take 6th and his first points in F1.

Hoping to continue this form, they arrived in Watkins Glen for the United States Grand Prix. It appeared that Gethin's Canada pace had not been carried over, as he was back behind Hulme and in 21st on the grid, 3.05 seconds behind Ickx on pole, although he was ahead of de Adamich. He raced strongly in the first half of the race, crucially getting ahead of the Brabhams of Jack Brabham and Rolf Stommelen, but both were able to pass him before too long. Tim Schenken and Clay Regazzoni, who was recovering from technical problems, also exposed his deficiencies in racecraft, leaving him 14th and last, and this was where he finished, 8 laps down on winner Emerson Fittipaldi in the Lotus.

The season concluded with the Mexican Grand Prix at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, and Gethin was back on form, qualifying a season best 10th, over half a second ahead of Hulme. He raced strongly again, keeping the faster car of 1964 world champion John Surtees, in the car bearing his name, behind for a number of laps. However, the McLaren's reliability issues reared their ugly head again, and he slowed and finally stopped with engine failure on lap 28.

The season ended with Gethin in 23rd in the world championship, with just 1 solitary point earned in Canada.

1971

Gethin remained with McLaren for 1971, in a team now reduced to two cars, with Gethin partnering Hulme for another year. The first qualifying session at Kyalami went badly for the Englishman, who finished the session 11th, half a second behind his more illustrious teammate and 1.8 seconds behind pole man Jackie Stewart, driving for Tyrrell. In a race where Hulme was only denied victory by suspension problems four laps from the end, Gethin dropped back very quickly and retired just 7 laps in with a fuel leak.

The Montjuïc Circuit was the venue for the Spanish Grand Prix, which was next on the calendar. Gethin took a career best 7th, only 0.9 seconds behind Jacky Ickx's Ferrari on pole and over three-tenths ahead of Hulme. He fast dropped behind Hulme and the second Ferrari of Mario Andretti, and when things straightened out he was down in 10th, behind François Cevert's Tyrrell and the Lotus of Emerson Fittipaldi as well. However, the retirements of Andretti and Fittipaldi left him 8th, which is where he finished the race – depressingly he had been comfortably outperformed by Hulme, who had taken 5th.

Gethin's first appearance at Monaco which was the next challenge, and Gethin did not impress in qualifying, being down in 14th, 1.6 seconds behind Hulme and almost four seconds behind Stewart's pole time. He dropped a further place on the first lap, to Rolf Stommelen's Surtees. He gradually gained places, however, due to others' retirements and a good overtake on John Surtees. He ran as high as 11th before he hit the barriers on lap 23.

He won the 1971 Italian Grand Prix with the fastest average speed in Formula One history (until the record was broken by Michael Schumacher in the same race in 2003), but this was his only podium finish. There was only 0.01 seconds between him and second placed Ronnie Peterson, also a record. Indeed, he never led an entire lap of Formula One racing, as he passed from fourth to first in the last lap.

Death

Gethin died at the age of 71 in December 2011 after a long illness.

Racing record

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

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

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

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

Complete European F5000 Championship results

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

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Non-championship results

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

See also

• Formula One drivers from the United Kingdom

References

1. "Peter Gethin, winner of the 1971 Italian Grand Prix, dies aged 71". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
2. ^ "Peter Gethin – Biography". Motor Sport. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
3. de Jong, Frank. "British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
4. "British and European Formula 5000 1969-1977". OldRacingCars. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
5. "Peter Gethin – Involvement". StatsF1. Retrieved 7 December 2019.

Further reading

• Profile at www.grandprix.com

• 1940 births
• 2011 deaths
• English racing drivers
• English Formula One drivers
• McLaren Formula One drivers
• BRM Formula One drivers
• Hill Formula One drivers
• Formula One race winners
• European Formula Two Championship drivers
• Tasman Series drivers
• People from Ewell