Brooks was born on 25 February 1932 in Dukinfield, Chesire. He is the son of a dental surgeon and studied the practice himself. He took up racing in 1952 and drove a Healey at club events until 1955. In that same year, Brooks drove a Formula Two Connaught at Crystal Palace and finished fourth.
Brooks won six races for Vanwall and Ferrari, secured four pole positions, achieved ten podiums, and scored a total of 74 championship points. He drove for BRM but retired from the team at the end of 1961, just before their most successful season.In 2008, Brooks was honoured by his home town. Dukinfield District Assembly, part of Tameside Council, held a dinner in his honour and unveiled a plaque outside his former home on Park Lane.
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.
Tony Brooks: Poetry in Motion
It took 15 years of relentless persuasion to convince Tony Brooks, one
of Britain's greatest ever racing drivers, that he should write his
autobiography. Throughout his racing career he shunned publicity,
preferring to let his on-track performances speak for themselves. This
is why Stirling Moss, on many occasions his team-mate in Formula 1 and
sports car races, has described him as 'the greatest 'little known'
driver of all time'. Tony Brooks began his racing career at Goodwood in
1952 at the wheel of his mother's Healey sports car. Three years later,
having never previously sat in a Formula 1 car, he drove a Connaught to
victory in the Syracuse Grand Prix, beating the entire Maserati works
team. It was the first Grand Prix victory for a British car and driver
for 31 years. His unique combination of speed and smoothness, aptly
chosen by him as his book title Poetry in Motion, led to works drives
with Aston Martin, BRM, Vanwall and Ferrari and brought him Grand Prix
victories on Europe's most challenging circuits - Spa, the Nürburgring
and Monza. DRIVERS: TONY BROOKS
Name: Tony Brooks
Nationality: Great Britain
Date of birth: February 25, 1932 - Dunkinfield, Chesire
Nationality: Great Britain
Date of birth: February 25, 1932 - Dunkinfield, Chesire
The son of a dental surgeon, Brooks studied
dentistry and took up racing in 1952 at the wheel of a Healey. He raced
mainly in club events for the next three seasons and in 1955 was offered
the chance to try a Formula 2 Connaught at Crystal Palace. He finished an impressive fourth behind three F1 cars. That year he was offered a factory Aston Martin drive and further good performances resulted in him being given the chance to drive an F1 Connaught
in the non-championship Syracuse Grand Prix in Sicily. Despite studying
for his final examinations he flew down to Sicily and won the race,
becoming the first British driver driver to win in a British car on the
Continent since Sir Henry Seagrave's victory at the San Sebastian Grand
Prix in 1924.
When he returned to Britain he was signed by BRM for the 1956 season and made his World Championship debut at Silverstone
where the car suffered a stuck throttle and he crashed heavily, being
thrown out and suffering a fractured jaw. At the end of the season quit BRM to join Vanwall in F1 while continuing to race for Aston Martin in sportscars. he finished second at Monaco and shared victory at the British GP at Aintree, handing his car over to Stirling Moss after his car had broken down. In 1958 Brooks won the Belgian, German, and Italian GPs but finished third in the World Championship behind Mike Hawthorn and Stirling Moss.
Vanwall withdrew from racing at the end of that year and Brooks sign to drive in 1959 for Ferrari. He won the French and German GPs but that year the Italian cars were outpaced by the rear-engined Cooper being driven by Jack Brabham. Brooks finished runner-up in the World Championship.
In 1960 Brooks returned to Britain, joining the Yeoman Credit Cooper team. He scored points on three occasions but increasingly he looked after his garage business in Weybridge. The following year he went back to BRM but it was another disappointing year and at the end of that season he retired from the sport.
