Christopher William Bristow (2 December 1937 – 19 June 1960) was a British Formula One driver. Bristow was called the "wild man of British club racing", as he had spun or had collisions on almost every racetrack on which he had raced. He started four Formula One World Championship races and scored no championship points.

Career

In his first Grand Prix in a Formula One car, the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix, Bristow recorded a joint-third qualifying time, although he was given the fourth starting spot.

Death

Bristow was killed during the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix at the very fast Spa-Francorchamps circuit, in warm, dry, sunny conditions.

Bristow and Alan Stacey died in close proximity and within a few minutes of one another. There was a four-foot embankment there and barbed wire in the meadow about ten feet back from the road. Bristow's Cooper hit the bank and rolled over; he was hurled into the barbed wire, which decapitated him.

With regard to Bristow's unruly driving style, a friend of his said after the accident, "We all knew this was going to happen. It does no good to say now, but Chris simply did not have the experience to drive that way in Grand Prix racing."

The winner of the annual Autosport BRDC Award for promising young British drivers is also presented with the Chris Bristow Trophy.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"

! Yr

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! WDC

! Points

|-

| 1959

! British Racing Partnership

! Cooper T51 (F2)

! Borgward Straight-4

| MON

| 500

| NED

| FRA

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GBR<br>

| GER

| POR

| ITA

| USA

|

! NC

! 0

|-

| 1960

! Yeoman Credit Racing Team

! Cooper T51

! Climax Straight-4

| ARG

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MON<br>

| 500

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NED<br>

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| BEL<br>

| FRA

| GBR

| POR

| ITA

| USA

! NC

! 0

|}

Non-championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

(Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"

|-

! Year

! Entrant

! Chassis

! Engine

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

|-

| 1959

! British Racing Partnership

! Cooper T51

! Climax Straight-4

| BUE

| GLV

| AIN

| INT

| style="background:#FFDF9F;"| OUL<br />

| SIL

|-

| 1960

! Yeoman Credit Racing Team

! Cooper T51

! Climax Straight-4

| BUE

| style="background:#FFDF9F;"| GLV<br />

| INT<br />

| SIL

| LOM

| OUL

|-

|}

References