Background
By the time of the Watkins Glen event, the 1961 season had already marked an important US milestone in Formula One with Californian Phil Hill being crowned the first American World Champion. The US race should have been his triumphant homecoming, and Hill did circle the track at The Glen. Unfortunately for the fans, it was not in the cockpit of his shark-nosed Ferrari 156, but on the back of a Ford Thunderbird in the pre-race parade as Honorary Race Steward. As at the 1960 United States Grand Prix at Riverside, the Ferrari team had remained home. This time, however, the title was theirs, and they had nothing left to prove after dominating the first season of the 1.5-liter formula.
The team had indeed been dealt the cruelest imaginable mixture of triumph and tragedy in the previous race, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Ferrari driver and team leader Wolfgang von Trips was killed during the race while leading the Drivers' Championship, handing victory and the Championship to teammate Hill. Since Ferrari had clinched the Constructors' Championship as well as the Drivers', the team understandably chose once again not to make the trip across the Atlantic for the season finale.
There had been considerable doubt about whether the US race would even take place, since the FIA did not grant the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Corporation final approval for the event until August 28. Come October, however, the field was missing only the Ferrari team. With the Championships already decided, the entrants seemed ready for a weekend of good-natured competition and, for some, a share of the considerable prize money. Regarding the Italian team's absence, one British participant even said, "Ferrari always spoil the fun with their damned intensity anyway."
Howard Hughes visited the pits to meet with John Cooper about expanding his car manufacturing business. A photograph taken of Hughes in the pits and published in the May 10, 1976 issue of Time magazine was the last known photograph of Hughes.
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