#40 – Denny Hulme

Denny Hulme beat Jack Brabham to the world championship in only his second full season, an extremely impressive achievement, although Brabham was perhaps a little past his best by this time. Hulme also did a great job over his long spell driving for McLaren, twice finishing third in the championship and winning a race as late as 1974. But his best season was surely the one in which he won the championship, and took two fine victories in Monaco and the Nurburgring. Hulme was nicknamed the Bear, and one of his key strengths was his consistency and ability to look after the car and get it to the end of the race, during an era when reliability very important to the championship points, but outright pace was perhaps a weakness as he claimed just one pole position during his career.

Denny Hulme made his debut in 1965 driving the third Brabham alongside Jack Brabham, and Dan Gurney. His first race came in place of Gurney in Monaco and he finished eighth, while in Clermont-Ferrand he replaced Brabham and finished fourth, having qualified just behind Gurney. Hulme then replaced Brabham in Zandvoort, taking fifth. His final two races may have ended in retirement, but Hulme outqualified Brabham in the Nurburgring, and had done enough to become the permanent second driver in 1966, after Gurney left the team.

Hulme retired in Monaco and Spa, but claimed his maiden podium in Reims, moving up to third place as Brabham won. Hulme then started second in Brands Hatch and, after a poor start, moved back up into second as Brabham won again. Hulme started on the front row in Zandvoort but retired with ignition failure, which struck again at the Nurburgring. He finished third in Monza, having been part of a slipstreaming battle for victory, and was third again in Mexico, albeit a lap behind winner Surtees. Hulme finished a decent fourth in the championship after his first full season.

The 1967 season was mainly a story of Brabham vs Lotus, but while Lotus had the two best drivers on the grid and the clear fastest car, they were beaten to both championships by Brabham who had far better reliability. But while he had slightly better luck than his teammate, Denny Hulme was able to edge out Jack Brabham for the world championship entirely on merit, as he won against the triple champion.

Hulme qualified second in the season opener in Kyalami but immediately passed Brabham for the lead and was looking a certain winner when he had to pit for brake fluid and slipped to fourth. Hulme started fourth in Monaco and immediately moved up into second, before passing Bandini for the lead. After a brief intervention by Jackie Stewart who retired, Hulme re-inherited the lead and won dominantly after the tragic death of Bandini behind him. It was his first Grand Prix win. The Lotus 49 debuted in Zandvoort and, as Clark took a dominant win after Hill retired, Hulme finished third behind teammate Jack Brabham and led the championship.

After a poor race in Spa, where he retired from a lowly position, Hulme finished second to Brabham on the ‘Mickey Mouse’ Le Mans track after retirements for Hill, Clark and Gurney. From fourth on the grid, Hulme passed Brabham and finished second in Silverstone, while he benefitted from Clark and Gurney’s retirements in the Nurburgring to take another victory and pull out a clear championship lead. Hulme drove brilliantly in Mosport Park to pass Clark for the lead in the wet conditions, but a late stop to replace his goggles cost Hulme the win to Brabham.

Monza was a classic slipstreamer and Hulme involved in the lead battle until retiring, and Jack Brabham reduced his championship lead by finishing second. The car was uncompetitive in Watkins Glen but Hulme still finished third behind the Lotus pair, and beat Brabham, to lead by five points going into the season finale. He needed only fourth to win the title, if Brabham won but a calm and collected drive gave Denny Hulme third place, while Brabham couldn’t beat Clark anyway, and so Hulme won a fine world championship having deservedly beat his triple champion teammate over the season, prevailing through consistency.

Hulme left Brabham after winning the title to drive for McLaren in 1968, outperforming teammate Bruce McLaren and putting together another title challenge thanks to his consistency. He was fifth in Kyalami and second in Jarama thanks to retirements elsewhere, and fifth again in Monaco despite numerous problems. In Spa, Hulme fought Stewart the lead before retiring, and McLaren took the first win for the team that bears his name. Fifth in Rouen and fourth in Brands Hatch despite a lack of pace allowed Hulme to continue racking up the points.

He won a slipstreamer in Monza having led most of the way, then gradually made his way up from sixth, as others retired, to win in Canada and go equal top of the championship. Hulme had a poor race in Watkins Glen with two spins, but still had a chance to win the championship if he won in Mexico, and Hulme made his way up to third before retiring with suspension failure, thus securing third in the championship. It was a solid if unspectacular first season with McLaren.

In 1969, Hulme continued to drive for a McLaren that was less competitive than the year before and he finished third in Kyalami and fourth in Montjuic, not really in victory contention. He was then sixth in Monaco and fourth in Zandvoort, beaten in an exciting battle by Chris Amon. Unreliability then cost Hulme as he failed to score in the next six races. Hulme lost second in Clermont-Ferrand, and qualified third in the Nurburgring and second in Monza where he briefly led, while he also qualified second in Watkins Glen. Hulme started fourth in Mexico but overtook Rindt, Brabham, Stewart and Ickx for the lead, and he held off the Ferrari to take his first win of the season and secure sixth in the championship.

Goodyear tyres helped Hulme to second behind Brabham in Kyalami, the first round of the 1970 season as he remained with McLaren, and in Jarama he started second but retired with ignition failure. Hulme was fourth in Monaco. Bruce McLaren was tragically killed testing a Can-Am car, and Hulme was absent for two races. In Clermont-Ferrand, he returned to finish fourth from seventh and beat returning teammate Dan Gurney. He was third in Brands Hatch and in Hockenheim, some way behind the leaders, and fourth in Monza as he was involved in the lead battle, and was third in Mexico, but despite finishing fourth in the championship it was a poor season in which he hadn’t ever really been in contention to win.

Hulme had another poor season in 1971 as the car was again uncompetitive, but Hulme led dominantly in Kyalami after passing Ickx, Fittipaldi and Regazzoni to take the lead, but suspension failure demoted him to sixth late in the race. He then took fifth and fourth in the next two rounds, before another fourth in Canada later in the season gave him 13th in the championship. Hulme was generally quicker than part-time teammates Peter Gethin and Jackie Oliver, although the independent McLaren of Mark Donohue beat him to third in Mosport Park. Hulme also briefly ran second in Watkins Glen, but retired.

Hulme and McLaren were far stronger in 1972, while Peter Revson was his new teammate. He started behind Revson but finished second in Buenos Aires, and took victory in Kyalami thanks to retirements for Stewart, Fittipaldi and Mike Hailwood. Hulme briefly led in Jarama but dropped back and then had a gearbox failure. He qualified and finished third in Nivelles, then started second but retired with a puncture in Clermont-Ferrand. Hulme was fifth in Brands Hatch, then second in the Osterreichring, chasing down Fittipaldi in a thrilling battle but falling short. Hulme was third in Monza and in Mosport Park, behind polesitter Revson in the latter, while another podium in Watkins Glen meant Hulme finished third in the championship after a much-improved season, the M19 finally proving a success.

Hulme took points in Buenos Aires and Interlagos in 1973, before claiming, remarkably, his first ever pole position in Kyalami in the new McLaren M23, and led the opening laps before dropping to fifth. Hulme struggled in the next three races, claiming two sixth places behind Peter Revson, but ran fifth in Anderstorp before hunted down and passed both Tyrrells and both Lotuses in the closing laps to take a fine victory, in what was a thrilling race. Teammate Jody Scheckter led in Paul Ricard as Hulme ran close behind but dropped away and then claimed third in Silverstone as Revson won. Hulme challenged Peterson for victory in Austria but retired, and took fourth in Watkins Glen to finish sixth in the championship, albeit behind Peter Revson as Hulme was no longer at his best by this time.

When Denny Hulme’s friend and teammate Peter Revson was killed testing, Hulme, who had been present at the time, announced his retirement at the end of 1974. In his final season, Hulme was cast in the shadow of world champion teammate Emerson Fittipaldi, but he did take one final victory in Buenos Aires, passing Reutemann’s hobbled Brabham on the penultimate lap. Hulme failed to finish higher than sixth for the remainder of the season, bar Austria where he took a strong second due to others retiring, and Hulme placed seventh in the championship.

He returned to racing in the Bathurst 1000 in 1982 but was killed in the 1992 Bathurst 1000 due to a heart-attack while racing which caused a heavy accident. Never really one for the ‘celebrity lifestyle’, Hulme would perhaps be pleased to be probably the least famous world champion today. But he was not the weakest, having beaten Jack Brabham on merit in 1967, and remained competitive for many years afterwards with McLaren.

Wins: 8

Podiums: 33

Pole Positions: 1

Race Starts: 112

Points: 940

*World Champion of 1967*

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