John Watson

John Marshall Watson (born 4th May, 1946 in Belfast) is a British former racing driver known for his appearances in Formula One and Sportscars.

Formula One

1976: March

By 1976, Watson was racing for the Beta March team alongside Italian Vittorio Brambilla. Unfortunately for Watson, the new 761 chassis was painfully average - and as a result Watson was unable to score any points in 1976.

1977: Shadow

The following year, Watson would swap seats with fellow Brit Tom Pryce - making the move to the Shadow team. Again, Watson was plagued by a poor car and struggled in the initial stages of the season. When the team dropped to pre-qualifying after the first three rounds of the season, team-mate Alex Ribeiro acted as a lead weight on most occasions preventing the team from progressing - meaning Watson would prequalify on just three further occasions and go a second consecutive season without points.

1978: Brabham

1978 would see an upturn in fortune for Watson, as he moved to Brabham to partner James Hunt. In the attrition hit season opener of the Argentine Grand Prix, Watson benefited by coming home third, less than a second ahead of Jody Scheckter. A further podium followed at the French Grand Prix, however a collision with Michel Leclère in Germany forced him to miss the next two races.

1979: Tyrrell

Watson saw himself left on the sidelines at the beginning of the 1979 season. It was not until the Austrian Grand Prix when he would get another crack at the F1 grid when he joined Tyrrell following the tragic demise of Tom Pryce at the previous German Grand Prix. Watson managed a sixth place finish, his only points finish of the season.

1980: Arrows

Another season arrived where Watson found himself out in the cold. This time it would be Arrows that offered Watson a shot - taking over from Gabriel Château for the final three races of the season. In the final race of the year - the Dubai Grand Prix - Watson managed to score a sixth place finish.

1981: Ferrari

Watson's Arrows gamble paid off - and he signed for Scuderia Ferrari in 1981 alongside Elio de Angelis.

Later career

After his retirement from Formula One, Watson would become more of a protagonist on the International Sportscar stage - taking part in the Le Mans 24 Hours race on many occasions.

He would also begin to forge out a touring car career, entering a self-run Jaguar into the 1988 World Touring Car Masters.

Complete Formula 1 Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Points	WDC
1976	Beta Team March	March 761	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 8	RSA 10	USW 10	ESP 7	BEL 13†	MON 9	SOV Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 9	AUT 11	NED Ret	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA Ret	JPN Ret		0	—
1977	Hollywood Shadow Racing Team	Shadow DN5B	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 13	RSA 12	USW Ret	ESP DNPQ	BEL DNPQ	MON Ret	FRA DNPQ	TUS DNPQ	SOV Ret	GBR DNPQ	NED DNPQ	GER DNPQ	AUT DNPQ	ITA DNPQ	CAN DNPQ	USA DNPQ	JPN DNQ	0	—
1978	Martini Racing	Brabham BT46	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG 3	RSA Ret	USW 15	ESP 4	BEL Ret	MON 5	SUI 4	TUS 4	GBR Ret	FRA 2	NED 6	GER Ret	AUT INJ	ITA INJ	CAN 7	USA 10†		22	8th