From a world champion to a fellow Red Bull reserve – How Liam Lawson’s New Zealand compatriots have fared in F1 | Formula 1®

Tony Shelly

Joining Bruce McLaren in F1 during 1962 was the second driver to hail from New Zealand, Tony Shelly, who entered the British Grand Prix at the wheel of a John Dalton vehicle. His appearance was brief, though, as he retired after just five laps due to a fault with the car.

Shelly went on to enter two more world championship events – at the Nurburgring and Monza – but failed to qualify on both occasions.

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Chris Amon

Just one year later Chris Amon arrived in the sport, making his debut with the Reg Parnell Racing team at the 1963 Belgian Grand Prix. This marked the beginning of a career in Formula 1 that spanned 96 Grands Prix across 13 years with many different teams, including Ferrari, March and Ensign.

While he came close to sealing a victory more than once, Amon’s best result was ultimately second place, taken on three occasions. Very highly rated but somehow never quite in the right place at the right time to take an F1 win, his bad luck became well known, leading Mario Andretti to joke: “If he became an undertaker, people would stop dying.”

Amon called time on his F1 career in 1976 and, despite leaving with no Grand Prix wins to his name, he did prove victorious at Le Mans in 1966, where he teamed up with countryman Bruce McLaren behind the wheel of a Ford GT40 Mk.II.