Stuart Lewis-Evans | |
|---|---|
 Lewis-Evans at the1958 Italian Grand Prix | |
| Born | Stuart Nigel Lewis-Evans (1930-04-20)20 April 1930 Luton, Bedfordshire, England |
| Died | 25 October 1958(1958-10-25) (aged 28) East Grinstead, Sussex, England |
| Cause of death | Injuries sustained at the 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  British |
| Active years | 1957–1958 |
| Teams | Connaught,Vanwall |
| Entries | 14 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 2 |
| Careerpoints | 16 |
| Pole positions | 2 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1957 Monaco Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix |
Stuart Nigel Lewis-Evans (20 April 1930 – 25 October 1958) was a Britishracing driver, who competed inFormula One at 14Grands Prix from1957 to1958.
Born inLuton and raised inKent, Lewis-Evans served in theRoyal Corps of Signals before starting his racing career in 1951, driving aCooper 500. After winning thenon-championship1957 Glover Trophy, he debuted in Formula One at theMonaco Grand Prix withConnaught. Lewis-Evans contested five further Grands Prix in1957 withVanwall, taking his maidenpole position at theItalian Grand Prix before retiring with engine issues.
Retaining his seat for1958, Lewis-Evans also retired from pole at theDutch Grand Prix, before taking his maiden podiums inBelgium andPortugal. During the season-endingMoroccan Grand Prix atAin-Diab, Lewis-Evans collided with a barrier after an engine seizure, suffering fatal burns. He ended his career with two pole position, two podiums, and 16 championship points, finishing the season ninth in theWorld Drivers' Championship.
Stuart Lewis-Evans was born inLuton, Bedfordshire, but largely grew up in Kent, where his father, Lewis "Pop" Lewis-Evans, owned and ran a garage business.[1] Pop Lewis-Evans had previously been a mechanic for the well-known racing driverEarl Howe, but had not previously raced himself.[1] On leaving school, Lewis-Evans was apprenticed for three years toVauxhall Motors, back in Bedfordshire, before he was called up forNational Service. During this time he served as a motorcycledespatch rider for theRoyal Corps of Signals.[2]
Lewis-Evans began racing in 1951 with a Cooper 500Formula 3 car, encouraged by and sometimes racing against his father.[3] He achieved many wins and podia and continued to race in 500s until 1956, with the engines prepared byFrancis Beart during the later years,[4] including a 1–2 victory atNurburgring in May 1954 withStirling Moss in Coopers, with Moss, first, in aBeart Cooper and Lewis-Evans, second, in a Cooper with a Beart-prepared engine.[5]
In 1957, he won the1957 Glover Trophy, run to Formula One rules at Goodwood. In his first championship Formula One race, the1957 Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis-Evans finished fourth in an inferiorConnaught Type B, beaten only by multiple winnersFangio andBrooks, andMasten Gregory in one of the dominantMaserati 250F cars. This performance brought him to the attention ofTony Vandervell, owner of the risingVanwall team, and by the next Grand Prix Lewis-Evans was driving the third Vanwall. The 1957 Vanwall was fast when its engine held together, but not always reliable. Lewis-Evans achieved his best finish for Vanwall when he was 2nd at the year's non-championshipMoroccan Grand Prix. He took pole position at the final World Championship event, theItalian Grand Prix, but had to retire with engine problems.
The1958 Formula One season would prove to be a much better year, at least initially, for the entire Vanwall team. Principal driversStirling Moss andTony Brooks took three victories each, and Lewis-Evans added to the team's points haul with podium finishes in theBelgian andPortuguese events. He also took pole position at theDutch Grand Prix, but failed to finish in the race. This was not his only retirement of the year – indeed his only other finish, although points-scoring, was a fourth place at theBritish Grand Prix.
Lewis-Evans crashed heavily at the dustyAin-Diab Circuit during the season-endingMoroccan Grand Prix. His car's engine seized and sent him lurching into barriers at high speed, where it burst into flames. He was airlifted back to the UK, but died of his burns in hospital six days after the accident.[6] His death cast a pall over Vanwall's victory in the1958 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, an achievement to which Lewis-Evans had contributed significantly. Vandervell never fully recovered from Lewis-Evans's death and withdrew from motorsport at the end of 1958.
(key; Grands Prix inbold indicate pole position)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Connaught Engineering | ConnaughtType B | AltaStraight-4 | ARG | MON 4 | 500 | 12th | 5 | ||||||||
| Vandervell Products Ltd. | Vanwall | VanwallStraight-4 | FRA Ret | GBR 7 | GER Ret | PES 5 | ITA Ret | |||||||||
| 1958 | Vandervell Products Ltd. | Vanwall | VanwallStraight-4 | ARG | MON Ret | NED Ret | 500 | BEL 3 | FRA Ret | GBR 4 | GER DNA | POR 3 | ITA Ret | MOR Ret | 9th | 11 |
(key)
| Preceded by | Formula One fatal accidents 19 October 1958 (Date of accident) 25 October 1958 (Date of death) | Succeeded by |