Phil Hill Dies

Phil Hill, the only American-born Formula One world champion, has died of complications from Parkinson's disease, at the age of 81. Hill won the title in 1961 while driving for Ferrari. He once described to me how he got his drive at the team after one after another of the regular drivers died in race accidents and the list made its way up to him. That was a different era, indeed.

Only one other American driver has ever won the world title, and that was Mario Andretti. Andretti was born in Italy, but moved to the U.S. as a teenager.