JOHN WATSON ‘I WAS A BORN STREET FIGHTER’
Ulsterman John Watson rose through Formula 3 and Formula 2 to drive in Formula 1 most notably for Brabham and McLaren.
It was with Penske, however, that Wattie took his first grand prix win in 1976, the win costing him his trademark beard, the result of a bet with team owner Roger Penske.
Watson moved to Brabham in 1977 and then to McLaren before being replaced byAlain Prost for the 1984 season.
Acareer in sportscar racing followed, although he had raced the Mirage at Le Mans in 1973, for Jaguar, Porsche and Toyota.
Along with spells commentating for Eurosport and F1 Digital on grands prix, Watson was part of the BBC’s commentary team on the British Touring Car Championship, the world feed for A1GP and is now co-commentator for SRO’s GT World Challenge Europe.
His enthusiasm for the sport and F1 is undimmed and the memories came tumbling out….
Question: “What would John have done if Penske had stayed properly for 1977...if they had committed properly to F1 what would they have achieved in his opinion?”
Simon Hill Via Twitter
John Watson: “Well, it would have grown into a two-car team, so the personnel would have expanded exponentially, but it needed control to be in the UK not Pennsylvania. Roger Penske was in a phase of growth but I think realised just how much effort was needed and from so far away and the enjoyment disappeared. He realised, too, that it would have been more expensive for a two-car team, and a third car as a spare was needed, and the whole scale of the operation would have extended over Penske’s capability. It was an arm’s length too much. That is why it ended.”
Did it
