Michael George Hartwell MacDowel (13 September 1932 – 19 January 2016) was an English racing driver whose motorsport career was unusual in the best possible way. He made just one Formula One World Championship appearance, sharing a car with future World Champion Jack Brabham, before later establishing himself as one of Britain’s leading hill-climb drivers.
Driver Bio
| Nationality | British |
| Birthplace | Great Yarmouth, England, UK |
| Born | 13 September 1932 |
| Died | 19 January 2016 |
| First Grand Prix | 1957 French Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | 1957 French Grand Prix |
| Years Active | 1957 |
| Current/Last Team | Cooper |
MacDowel was very much an amateur racer, competing for the love of the sport rather than pursuing the conventional path of a professional Grand Prix driver. His sole appearance at Formula One’s highest level came at the 1957 French Grand Prix on 7 July 1957.
It may have been his only World Championship outing, but MacDowel certainly made the most of it.
MacDowel arrived at the 1957 French Grand Prix and qualified 15th and last for the race. In an era when drivers could share cars during a Grand Prix, his machine was also driven by Jack Brabham, who would go on to become one of Formula One’s great champions.
Together, MacDowel and Brabham brought the car home in seventh place.
That was not enough to earn MacDowel any World Championship points. Under the scoring system being used at the time, points were awarded only to the first five finishers, leaving seventh place outside the points-paying positions.
It nevertheless meant that MacDowel’s entire Formula One World Championship record consisted of one Grand Prix appearance and a seventh-place finish – a respectable result after starting from the very back of the grid.
Formula One would prove to be only a brief chapter in MacDowel’s racing life. After taking a break from competition, he returned to motorsport in 1968, this time concentrating on hill climbing.
It proved to be an inspired move.
Rather than treating his return as a short-lived second spell behind the wheel, MacDowel became a formidable driver in the discipline. He continued taking part in hill-climb events for decades, remaining active until well beyond his 60th birthday.
His longevity was impressive enough, but MacDowel was far from simply making up the numbers. At his best, he was among the quickest hill-climb drivers in Britain.
One of the defining performances of MacDowel’s career came at the famous Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb in 1973.
MacDowel attacked the 1,000-yard course in just 28.21 seconds, setting what was then a new course record.
Shelsley Walsh has long been one of the landmark venues of British hill climbing, making a course record there a serious achievement. For a driver whose solitary World Championship appearance had taken place 16 years earlier, it was also proof that the most successful period of his motorsport career was still unfolding.
The 1973 season brought MacDowel more than a record-breaking run. He went on to win the British Hill Climb Championship, establishing himself at the very top of the discipline.
Better still, he did it again.
MacDowel successfully followed his 1973 triumph by winning the championship for a second consecutive season in 1974. Those back-to-back titles became the standout achievements of a career that had taken him from a single Formula One appearance to the summit of British hill climbing.
Look only at the Formula One statistics and MacDowel’s career appears remarkably brief: one World Championship Grand Prix, a 15th-place qualifying position, seventh in the race and no championship points.
His wider motorsport story was anything but brief.
MacDowel was a committed amateur racer who returned from a break to enjoy tremendous success in hill climbing. His 28.21-second Shelsley Walsh record and consecutive British Hill Climb Championship titles in 1973 and 1974 ensured that his reputation extended far beyond that solitary afternoon in Formula One.
Mike MacDowel died on 19 January 2016.
Grand Prix Stats
| Race Entries | 1 |
| Race Starts | 1 |
| Did Not Start | 0 |
| Best Race Start | 15th |
| Best Race Finish | 7th |
| Retirements | 0 |
| First-Lap Retirements | 0 |
| Not Classified | 0 |
| Disqualified | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 0 |
Qualifying
| Qualifying Sessions | 1 |
| Reached Q3 | 0 |
| Q2 Eliminations | 0 |
| Q1 Eliminations | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 0 |
Stats by Season
| Year | Constructor | Entries | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Poles | Fastest Laps | Front Rows | DNF | Best Start | Best Result | Pts Finishes | Points | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Cooper | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 0 | NC |
Stats by Constructor
| Constructor | Years | Entries | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Poles | Fastest Laps | Front Rows | DNF | Best Start | Best Result | Pts Finishes | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooper | 1957 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Teammates & Qualifying Head-to-Head
| Teammate | Years | Races | Qualifying H2H |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Brabham | 1957 | 1 | – |
