Career

Brooks was born on 25 February 1932 in Dukinfield, Chesire. He is the son of a dental surgeon, Charles Standish Brooks, and studied the practice himself. He is also a cousin of Norman Standish Brooks, a former British Olympic swimmer. He took up racing in 1952 and drove a Healey and a Frazer Nash at club events until 1955. In that same year, Brooks drove a Formula Two Connaught at Crystal Palace and finished fourth.

Brooks claimed the first victory for a British-constructed car in a World Championship race in the 1957 British Grand Prix at Aintree, which he shared with Sir Stirling Moss. Along with Moss, Brooks is considered one of the best drivers never to have been World Champion and both Moss and three-time World Champion Jack Brabham were known to have thought highly of his ability.

In 1959, Brooks, together with Brabham and Moss, had a chance to win the title due to the retirement (and subsequent death in a road accident) of Mike Hawthorn and the death, the previous season, of Peter Collins. Brooks started well, with a second place at Monaco, behind Brabham. He failed to finish at the Dutch Grand Prix, but dominantly won the French Grand Prix at Reims. Having failed to finish in a Vanwall at the British Grand Prix which he drove due to Ferrari workers in Italy being on strike, he won the only German Grand Prix of Formula One to be held at AVUS. The race was split unusually into two heats, and he won both. He had a slow car in Portugal, qualifying 10th and finishing 5 laps down. He retired shortly after the start at Monza but was still in contention to win the championship. At the first ever United States Grand Prix for Formula One at Sebring, he was hit by German team-mate Wolfgang von Trips and pitted to check for any damage, losing two minutes. It proved to be a waste of time, but still finished in third place. He finished second in the championship with 27 points, 7 behind Brabham, and 1.5 ahead of Moss.

Brooks won six races for Vanwall and Ferrari, secured four pole positions, achieved ten podiums, and scored a total of 75 championship points. He drove for BRM but retired from the team at the end of 1961, just before their most successful season. He ended his career with a third place at the first ever United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.

He was also an accomplished sports car driver, winning both the 1957 1000 km Nürburgring and the 1958 RAC Tourist Trophy, with co-driver, Stirling Moss, racing an Aston Martin DBR1. He was less successful at Le Mans, in 1957 an accident, again racing an Aston Martin DBR1, at that years 24-hour race brought about a change in his racing philosophy. A crash in the 1956 British Grand Prix and the subsequent Le Mans crash both occurred in cars with mechanical problems, of which he was aware, and Brooks, being a devout Catholic, vowed he would never again risk his life in a car that was in less than sound condition.

He had fewer qualms when it came to his own condition, however: "I was lucky in the Le Mans shunt in that I didn’t break anything, but I did have very severe abrasions - there was a hole in the side of my thigh I could literally have put my fist into." It was with these injuries that he went on to race in the 1957 British GP with Moss, and win.

In 2008, Brooks was honoured by his home town. The Dukinfield District Assembly, part of Tameside Council, held a dinner in his honour and unveiled a plaque outside his former home on Park Lane.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Yr	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	WDC	Points
1956	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM Straight-4	ARG	MON	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA				NC	0
1957	Vandervell Products	Vanwall	Vanwall Straight-4	ARG	MON	500	FRA	GBR	GER	PES	ITA				5th	11
1958	Vandervell Products	Vanwall	Vanwall Straight-4	ARG	MON	NED	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	MOR	3rd	24
1959	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari Dino 246	Ferrari V6	MON	500	NED	FRA		GER	POR	ITA	USA			2nd	27
	Vandervell Products	Vanwall	Vanwall Straight-4					GBR
1960	Yeoman Credit Racing Team	Cooper T51	Climax Straight-4	ARG	MON	500	NED	BEL		GBR	POR	ITA	USA		11th	7
	Vandervell Products	Vanwall	Vanwall Straight-4						FRA
1961	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P48/57	Climax Straight-4	MON	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	USA				10th	6

* Tony Brooks won the 1957 British Grand Prix sharing his car with Stirling Moss. Both were awarded half points for their victory (4 instead of 8).
** Brooks was also awarded one point in the 1957 Italian Grand Prix and 1959 German Grand Prix for recording the fastest lap.

Non-Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
1955	Equipe Endeavour	Connaught Type A	Lea-Francis Straight-4	BUE	VLN	PAU	GLV	BOR	INT	NAP	ALB	CUR	CRN	LON	REC	RDX	TLG	OUL	AVO
	Connaught Engineering	Connaught Type B	Alta Straight-4																	SYR
1956	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM Straight-4	NZL	BUE	GLO	SYR	BAR	INT	NAP	AIN	VAN	CAE	SUS	BRS	AUS
1957	Vandervell Products Ltd.	Vanwall	Vanwall Straight-4	BUE	SYR	PAU	GLV	NAP	RMS				MOR
	Tony Brooks	Cooper T43	Climax Straight-4							CAE	INT	MOD
1958	Tony Brooks	Cooper T45	Climax Straight-4	BUE	GLV	SYR	AIN	INT	CAE
1959	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 246	Ferrari V6	GLV	AIN	INT	OUL	SIL
1960	G.A. Vandervell	Vanwall	Vanwall Straight-4	GLV	INT
	Yeoman Credit Racing Team	Cooper T51	Climax Straight-4			SIL
	Vandervell Products Ltd.	Lotus 18	Vanwall Straight-4				LOM	OUL
1961	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P48/57	BRM Straight-4	LOM	GLV	PAU	BRX	VIE	AIN	SYR	NAP	LON	SIL	SOL	KAN	DAN	MOD	FLG	OUL	LEW	VAL	RAN	NAT	RSA

[ Source: Wikipedia ]