He passed away in hospital this morning(Wednesday)
Such a sad news, he was still young. One of my all time heroes. The world will be poorer without him. Rgds
RIP Luckily I met the great man a couple of times, and even seen him drive the 250F Maserati Damn sad, all three have passed now but it was only a matter of time . Wish he had gone to the celebration of the Ford Le Mans win, but it is possible that he was already too ill. Pete
Lucky you...as said above, to me, he was one of the very, very best; Enzo considered him as a son, and was not angry at his departure from the team. Chris didn't come to Italy for the celebrations of Ferrari 60th anniversary, saying that "Luca's invitation came too late; if he wants me to be there for the 70th, he better sent his invitation earlier". Sadly he won't be able to attend. Rgds
Always sad when an F1 Driver passes on. Condolences to his Family and Friends. Raced with Scuderia Ferrari in 1967, 1968 and 1969.
Very sad to hear. Mauro Forghieri said of him: "...by far the best test driver I have ever worked with. He had all the qualities to be a World Champion but bad luck just wouldn't let him be". RIP, Chris.
RIP Sir.... I had the chance to interview him twice for Cavallino 20 years ago, lengthy phone interviews for which he was very patient and kind, he had excellent memory and had lived through an incredibly poorly documented yet fascinating segment of Ferrari history, I loved his Can Am, Tasman and endurance tales. Due to the time difference between New Zealand and Florida where I was at the time I had to wake up at 3am to interview him so it would not interfere with his farming day. This was between 1995 and 1998 and I remember John Barnes refunding me for a $151 phone call, one of the best interviews I had the privilege to carry out. I am only about 100 miles East North East of Charade where he dominated the 1972 French GP until a puncture robbed him and can see those mountains from here so will raise my glass to him during lunch. The best saying about his appalling bad luck is well known, stated by none other than Mario Andretti: "If Chris became an undertaker people would stop dying!" Autosport has a very good obit: Chris Amon obituary: 1943-2016 - F1 - Autosport MS
Excellent post Marc, that French GP was also the race where Helmut Marko lost his eye. Chris had so many heart breaking near wins, among them his drive at Spa in 1970.
Sad news and one of my favorite drivers! Wasn't he offered a prime seat in the mid to late 70's, but by that time had decided to wind down his career?
...where he chased the BRM of Pedro Rodriguez very hard, to no avail; that BRM had never run well until that day. Chris Amon once said with his characteristic humor, to an interviewer of "Motorsport Magazine": "Aubrey Woods, the chief engineer for BRM engines, told me that they had build a 3,5 litre version of their 3,0 V12, but he wouldn't say more about it; I wonder if I haven't seen that engine in action..." Speaking of "Motorsport Magazine", their homage is nice too: Remembering Chris Amon | Motor Sport Magazine Rgds
He was offered the chance to come-back at Ferrari, this mid-1973; he had left at the end of 1969, but stayed in very good terms with Enzo Ferrari all his life. He refused the offer, but the reason is not absolutely clear; he said that there was a problem with his sponsor, but some think that the deal was actually agreed between him and Enzo Ferrari, but that said sponsor (Martini?) eventually blocked it. Then he was offered the second seat at Brabham during 1974 when Von Opel left, but out of respect for his own team, he refused it also; that seat went to Carlos Pace ultimately. He was offered the second seat at McLaren for 1977, and he had also the possibility to drive the Wolf WR1 for that year (Scheckter went to win three Grand Prix with that car in 1977) he declined both, having decided that he had enough. Rgds
Possibly his last interview: audio a few weeks ago over Le Mans 66 images. You can hear he was already not well and would have wanted to be at Le Mans this year for the celebrations but he just could not travel anymore, specially to the other side of the world... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3imY-xYjJI4
At 52 years old I feel lucky to have been alive during this era of 'skinny' tires, few electronic controls and the evolution of down force where by the skill of the driver could make up and sometimes exceed the 'quality' of the car for a given day, including the whole DFV era, beating a rival with a 'better' car package based on skill Brilliance behind the wheel, some of us have been fortunate to witness it. Of course I was a wee lad in the late 60's but I believe the spirit of what I am offering is still valid. We have seen some incredible drivers at their best. RIP Chris.
I'll agree with that! Actually, he did win the Australian Grand Prix, but that was when it was part of the Tasman series and not part of the World Championship. Three races where he was cruelly robbed by mechanical failure: Spain 1968, Canada 1968 & Spain 1969. All three times he had huge leads only for the car to let him down. (And in 1969, it never ran that well again.)
