(born:. 6 November 1931 and died 3 August 1958,)
Collins was a Formula One driver and raced in 35 World Championship Grands Prix between 1952 and 1958 he won 3 races and achieved 9 podiums.
Collins started in 500cc Coopers like Stirling Moss. He got his F1 break in 1952, picking up a drive for the lowly HWM team, replacing Moss but could not win in it so moved on to other teams finally signing with Ferrari for the 1956 F1 season.
Finally things looked to be going Collins' way. The 1956 season proved to be a turning point, with a second place - behind Moss - at Monaco, and wins at the Belgian and French Grands Prix. Indeed, 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 in the championship. This selfless, team-orientated action gained Collins immense respect from Enzo Ferrari, a man notoriously hard to please.
In 1957, Collins was joined at Ferrari by Mike Hawthorn. The two became very close friends and were the back bone of the team for the '57 and '58 seasons. The two were chasing Tony Brooks' Vanwall at the German Grand Prix when disaster struck. Pushing hard to keep pace, Collins lost control of his car and spun off the track, disappearing over a bank. Collins was thrown clear of the Ferrari, hit a tree and sustained critical injuries to his head - he died later that afternoon in hospital.
Author: ArchitectPage
