John Miles (racing Driver) - Formula One

Formula One

In 1969, Miles had to develop the Lotus 63 4WD car while World Champion Graham Hill and Jochen Rindt refused to drive this design, considering it a death trap. In five GPs, Miles finished only once, in 10th place. In between, the car was given twice to Mario Andretti, but he did not finish either.

After Graham Hill had broken his legs in late 1969, he did not return to Team Lotus, driving Lotus cars for Rob Walker Racing Team instead. Miles was promoted to number two Lotus F1 driver behind Jochen Rindt for the 1970 Formula One season. In the 1970 South African Grand Prix, where a total of five Lotus cars were entered he finished fifth in a Lotus 49, with Hill behind him. For the Spanish GP, the new Lotus 72 was entered, but Miles failed to qualify for the race which Rindt had to abandon early. Due to the problems which the 72, the updated Lotus 49C was used in Monaco, with Miles driving a few practice laps in the 72, and failing to qualify in the 49C. Graham Hill had qualified, but used Miles' 49C in the race, which was won by Rindt. In Belgium, Miles raced the 72, while Rindt relied on the old 49C, and both had to retire. In Zandvoort, the 72 finally proved to be competitive, with Rindt qualifying on pole and winning, while Miles finished 7th in the race in which Piers Courage was killed. In France, Rindt won again in the 72 despite an injury, while Miles finished outside the points once again. By now, it was evident that Miles was thoroughly overshadowed by his team leader who would win five races and earn the F1 World Championship that year.

For the British GP, Lotus cars founder and Team Lotus principal Colin Chapman started to enter a third car with Emerson Fittipaldi. With the reliable 49C, the young Brazilian finished his first three GPs while Miles had to retire from each race, with Rindt winning them all. Matters came to a head at the Italian GP. Chapman ordered Miles to follow Rindt in running a new Lotus 72 without front and rear wings in order to take advantage of the Monza circuit's long straights and fast, low-downforce corners. Miles reluctantly complied but was concerned by the wingless 72's handling on the straights. His teammate Rindt was killed when one of the brake shafts on his new Type 72 failed and his car veered off the track, ploughing into the steel barrier that was placed too high for the revolutionary wedge design of the 72. Rindt, who had only recently acquiesced to wearing a simple lap belt, slid underneath and had his throat cut by the belt buckle. That was too much for Miles, who was widely regarded as too cerebral and sensitive to fit Chapman's idea of a race driver, and he left the team. The team skipped the next race in Canada, and at Watkins Glen, Reine Wisell drove the second Lotus car, while Fittipaldi won, thereby securing both championships for Lotus.

A qualified mechanical engineer, Miles later made a name for himself working for Lotus's road car division. He wrote a column, Miles Behind The Wheel, for Autocar magazine, giving his road impressions of sportier cars.