Tony Brooks (racing driver)
| Born |
25 February 1932 Dukinfield, Cheshire, England |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |
 British |
| Active years | 1956–1961 |
| Teams | BRM, Vanwall, Ferrari and non-works Cooper |
| Entries | 39 (38 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 6 |
| Podiums | 10 |
| Career points | 75 |
| Pole positions | 3 |
| Fastest laps | 3 |
| First entry | 1956 Monaco Grand Prix |
| First win | 1957 British Grand Prix |
| Last win | 1959 German Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1961 United States Grand Prix |
Charles Anthony "Tony" Standish Brooks (born in Dukinfield, Cheshire, 25 February 1932) is a British former racing driver from England also known as the "racing dentist". He participated in 39 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 14 July 1956, achieving six wins, 10 podium finishes and 75 career points. He was third in the World Drivers' Championship in 1958 and second in 1959. He also scored the first win by a British driver in a British car in a Grand Prix since 1923, in 1955 driving a Connaught at Syracuse in a non-World Championship race.
Brooks was born on 25 February 1932 in Dukinfield, Cheshire. He is the son of a dental surgeon, Charles Standish Brooks, and studied the practice himself. He is also a cousin of Norman Standish Brooks, a former British Olympic swimmer. He took up racing in 1952 and drove a Healey and a Frazer Nash at club events until 1955. In that same year, Brooks drove a Formula Two Connaught at Crystal Palace and finished fourth.
Brooks claimed the first victory for a British-constructed car in a World Championship race in the 1957 British Grand Prix at Aintree, which he shared with Sir Stirling Moss. Along with Moss, Brooks is considered one of the best drivers never to have been World Champion and both Moss and three-time World Champion Jack Brabham were known to have thought highly of his ability.
In 1959, Brooks, together with Brabham and Moss, had a chance to win the title due to the retirement (and subsequent death in a road accident) of Mike Hawthorn and the death, the previous season, of Peter Collins. Brooks started well, with a second place at Monaco, behind Brabham. He failed to finish at the Dutch Grand Prix, but dominantly won the French Grand Prix at Reims. Having failed to finish in a Vanwall at the British Grand Prix which he drove due to Ferrari workers in Italy being on strike, he won the only German Grand Prix of Formula One to be held at AVUS. The race was split unusually into two heats, and he won both. He had a slow car in Portugal, qualifying 10th and finishing five laps down. He retired shortly after the start at Monza but was still in contention to win the championship. At the first ever United States Grand Prix for Formula One at Sebring, he was hit by German teammate Wolfgang von Trips and pitted to check for any damage, losing two minutes. It proved to be a waste of time, but still finished in third place. He finished second in the championship with 27 points, seven behind Brabham, and one-and-a-half ahead of Moss.
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