Brian Henton

Brian Henton (born 19 September 1946) is a former racing driver from England. He won both 1974 British Formula Three Championships and the 1980 European Formula Two Championship. He participated in 38 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 19 July 1975, but never scored any championship points.

Career Henton (nicknamed "Superhen" in the British racing press) came from a modest council house background and did not start racing until he was 23. On winning the minor British Formula Vee championship in 1971, ever-conscious of the value of public relations, he announced that he was going to be World Champion. This aim eluded him, but he enjoyed a successful career in Formula Three and Formula Two.

Henton's F1 debut came in 1975 for Lotus, theoretically a good drive but the team was in turmoil with the Lotus 72 finally uncompetitive and its replacement the Lotus 76 a failure, so nothing concrete was achieved. Between 1975 and 1978, he mixed Formula One and Formula Two drives (including a spell in a private March for his own British Formula One Racing Team), never quite establishing himself in either category, but clinched the 1980 F2 championship for Toleman, who took him into F1 for 1981. The first Toleman-Hart was something of a disaster, overweight and underdeveloped, and Henton only managed to qualify once. Unfruitful outings for Arrows and Tyrrell in 1982 led to no more success, though he did set the fastest lap at the British Grand Prix - Henton is the only driver in Formula One history to have set a fastest lap without ever scoring a championship point.

Perhaps fittingly, Henton's last Formula One outing was at the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch in April 1983, which also turned out to be the last non-championship F1 race in the modern era.

Following his retirement from the sport, Henton returned to running a car dealership and later moved into property development and in recent years has diversified into other areas, notably engineering. He has occasionally driven at historic events and holds equestrian events at his home in Ingarsby Hall, Leicestershire.

Racing record Career summary

Complete European Formula Two Championship 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 Pts March Racing Team March 742 BMW BAR HOC PAU SAL HOC MUG KAR PER HOC VLL 22nd 1 Brian Henton March 752 Hart EST THR HOC NÜR PAU HOC SAL ROU MUG PER 11th 10 Wheatcroft Racing Wheatcroft 002 Ford BDA SIL ZOL NOG VLL Wheatcroft Racing Wheatcroft R26 Abarth HOC THR VLL SAL PAU HOC ROU MUG PER EST NOG HOC NC 0 Netherton & Worth Boxer Cars Boxer PR276 Hart SIL THR HOC NÜR VLL PAU MUG ROU NOG PER MIS EST 10th 12 Ardmore Racing Chevron B40 Hart DON Brian Henton March 782 Hart THR HOC NÜR PAU MUG VLL ROU DON NOG PER MIS HOC 17th 3 Toleman Group Motorsport Ralt RT2 Hart SIL HOC THR PAU HOC ZAN PER MIS DON 2nd 36 March 782 NÜR VLL MUG Toleman Group Motorsport Toleman TG280 Hart THR HOC NÜR VLL PAU 1st 61 Toleman TG280B SIL ZOL MUG ZAN PER MIS HOC Henton drove Rupert Keegan's No. 18 Surtees during practice for the 1978 Austrian Grand Prix but was not officially entered for the race.

Complete Formula One Non-Championship results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 British Formula One Racing Team March 761 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ROC Theodore Racing Team Theodore N183 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ROC