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🇬🇧 John Watson

Racing driver from United Kingdom. Formula 1, McLaren.
Driver facts
Full name
John Watson
Born
4 May 1946(b. 1946)
Nationality
United Kingdom
Current team
McLaren
Series
Formula 1
Status
Retired
Career wins
5
Career podiums
20
Career starts
152
Career DNFs
62
Racer Rating
6,238
John Watson
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Racer Rating
6,238
Rank 110 of 40,105 indexed, -339 this season
FIA Categorisation
Not on file
Not yet indexed
Source: fia.com
Synthesized from 1 source, updated 0h ago

John Watson is a racing driver from United Kingdom who last raced in Formula 1 for McLaren. Watson has recorded 5 wins and 20 podiums from 152 starts.[1]

A Racer Rating of 6,238 ranks Watson 110th of 40,105 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the high 8,000s. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file, decayed for time since their last race.

Sources: [1] Indexed race classifications
1985 form
Last 20 races, finish position (higher is better)
P1P5P10P20DNFGERAUTFRAITAUSABRAUSAFRAITABELUSACANGBRGERAUTNEDITAGBRSOUGBR
Recent results
Tap a row for the full race
1985-10-06Brands HatchFormula 1P7+57
Career-best drives
Ranked by rating won, which prices the opposition
Rating wonRaceSeriesFinish
+146Kyalami 1978Formula 1P3
+142Paul Ricard 1976Formula 1P3
+137Red Bull Ring 1976Formula 1P1
+135Dijon-Prenois 1977Formula 1P2
+133Brands Hatch 1978Formula 1P3
Circuits
Rating per start against their own form that season
Raises their game
Red Bull Ring10 starts+30
Silverstone6 starts+30
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve6 starts+23
Watkins Glen International8 starts+13
Struggles
Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez7 starts-24
Autodromo Nazionale di Monza8 starts-22
Zandvoort10 starts-18
Scandinavian Raceway5 starts-17
Season by season
SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPodiumsDNFsPolesPointsPosGain/LossRating
1985▸Formula 1McLaren100000P15+576,577
1983▸Formula 1McLaren14136022P6−4346,520
1982▸Formula 1McLaren15254039P2+566,954
1981▸Formula 1McLaren15145027P6+4836,898
1980▸Formula 1McLaren1300706P10−2246,415
1979▸Formula 1McLaren15015015P9+2666,639
1978▸Formula 1Brabham16036125P6+5206,373
1977▸Formula 1Brabham17011219P12−5295,853
1976▸Formula 1Penske16136020P7+3806,381
1975▸Formula 1Penske1300500P19−1976,002
1974▸Formula 1Brabham1500406P13+3696,198
1973▸Formula 1Brabham200200P18+4,4795,829
Recent coverage
No recent coverage found.
Head-to-head
Most-raced and strongest-beaten: times Watson finished ahead vs behind
RivalRatingRacedAheadBehindRecord
🇫🇷 Jacques Laffite6,099135676850%
🇫🇷 Jean-Pierre Jarier4,701124764861%
🇦🇷 Carlos Reutemann6,552121507141%
🇦🇹 Niki Lauda6,274117467139%
🇺🇸 Mario Andretti6,053107584954%
🇿🇦 Jody Scheckter6,391106317529%
🇩🇪 Jochen Mass6,098104525250%
🇧🇷 Emerson Fittipaldi5,823103525150%
🇦🇺 Alan Jones5,86997445345%
🇮🇹 Riccardo PatreseFIA Bronze6,41796623465%
🇫🇷 Alain ProstHigher-rated, 5× champion6,80257253244%
🇧🇷 Nelson PiquetFIA Platinum, 3× champion6,71177413653%
🇬🇧 Jackie StewartHigher-rated, 3× champion6,66921150%
Raced wheel-to-wheel, not as team-mates
On the leaderboard
Global rank, 40,105 drivers indexed
#DriverSeriesRating
100🇺🇸 Will PowerIndyCar6,280
101🇦🇹 Niki LaudaFormula 16,274
102🇵🇱 Robert KubicaWEC6,269
103🇺🇸 Kevin HarvickNASCAR Cup Series6,259
104🇫🇷 Didier PironiFormula 16,256
105🇮🇹 Alberto AscariFormula 16,252
106🇬🇧 Jake DennisFormula E6,252
107🇦🇺 Jamie WhincupSupercars Championship6,252
108🇸🇪 Ronnie PetersonFormula 16,242
109🇯🇵 Ryo HirakawaWEC6,240
110🇬🇧 John WatsonFormula 16,238
111🇮🇹 Luigi FagioliFormula 16,237
112🇳🇿 Scott DixonIndyCar6,229
113🇫🇷 Jean-Eric VergneFormula E6,227
114🇺🇸 Peter RevsonFormula 16,225
115🇲🇽 Pedro RodríguezFormula 16,222
116🇺🇸 Bubba WallaceNASCAR Cup Series6,216
117🇯🇵 Kakunoshin OhtaSuper GT6,216
118🇨🇳 Zhou GuanyuFormula 26,213
119🇨🇭 Clay RegazzoniFormula 16,212
120🇺🇸 Clint BowyerNASCAR Truck6,208
Full leaderboard →
RacerDB. Race results and driver ratings.Aggregated from 1 source, synced 1h ago
Series and team names are trademarks of their respective owners.Privacy
Synthesized from 1 source, updated 2h ago

John Watson is a racing driver from United Kingdom who last raced in Formula 1 for McLaren. Watson has recorded 5 wins and 20 podiums from 152 starts.[1]

A Racer Rating of 6,238 ranks Watson 110th of 40,105 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the high 8,000s. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file, decayed for time since their last race.

Sources: [1] Indexed race classifications
John Watson tells George Russell how to handle Kimi Antonelli threat[1]
total-motorsport.com
3 Jul 2026
Read →
WHAT MAKES McLAREN’S 1981 BRITISH GP WIN A DEFINING FORMULA 1 MOMENT[2]
McLaren.com
2 Jul 2026
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John Watson gives blunt verdict of Adrian Newey’s stint as team principal of Aston Martin[3]
total-motorsport.com
2 Jul 2026
Read →