Chris Bristow had already established a reputation for recklessness by the time he entered Formula One in 1959, managing to spin off or crash on the majority of circuits he raced on.

He started racing aged 16, in 1958 he beat Sterling Moss and Jack Brabham in a short Formula 2 race at Brands Hatch. He made his debut for the Yeoman Credit team, driving a Cooper, at the British GP in 1959, finishing a credible 10th. At the 1960 Belgian GP, the third race of the season, he was killed when his car overturned on a fast, downhill stretch as he battled with a Ferrari; Bristow was thrown into a barbed-wire fence and decapitated. A few minutes later a second British driver, Alan Stacey, died in almost the same spot; the previous day, Moss had also crashed there in practice. There were no witnesses as spectators had been banned from the area because of the recognised danger.

At the time of his death he held lap records for 1100cc and 1500cc at a number of British circuits. "Undoubtedly he could have been something," a contemporary journalist wrote. "He was bloody quick. Another couple of years and people would have seen just how great he was."

Martin Williamson