The Resume

(April 10, 1929-January 22, 1959)
Born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
Raced for Ferrari (1952-55) and Jaguar (1955-58)
Won the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1955)
Formula One World Champion (1958)
Six months after retiring from racing, died in a car accident on the A3 Guildford Bypass

Why he might be annoying:

He fathered a son out of wedlock.
The French press nicknamed him ‘Papillon’ (‘butterfly’) for his habit of wearing bow ties while racing.
His victory at Le Mans was marred by the worst accident in race history, which started when he braked suddenly in front of Lance Macklin, who then swerved in front of Pierre Levegh, whose car collided with Macklin’s, went airborne, then landed in the crowd of spectators, killing 83.
Macklin sued him for libel, claiming that his autobiography implied that Macklin had been responsible for the disaster.
Years after Hawthorn’s death, his friend Rob Walker admitted that they had been racing each other on the highway.

Why he might not be annoying:

The official inquiry into the Le Mans disaster concluded that no individual driver had been responsible for the crash and that the spectator deaths were a result of poor track design and inadequate safety measures.
He was seriously burned in a crash at the Syracuse Grand Prix (1954).
His victory at the 1953 French Prix, where the top four drivers finished within five seconds of each other after 60 laps, was called ‘the race of the century.’

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Bow Tie Wearers
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 66]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [April] (Ranked: 4101929)
• Formula One World Champions (Ranked: 1958)
• I Caught on Fire
• I Died Before My 30th Birthday (Ranked: 29)
• I Died in 1959 (Ranked: 29)
• I Died in a Car
• I Fathered Children Out of Wedlock
• Look at Me, I'm a Helmet Head
• Look at Me, I'm Driving
• Profiles 41251-41294 (Ranked: 41289)
• Race Car Drivers
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 19590122)

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying