Brian Henton
Brian Henton is a former racing driver from England. He won both 1974 British Formula Three Championships and the 1980 European Formula Two Championship. He participated in 38 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 19 July 1975, but never scored any championship points.
Henton came from a modest council house background and did not start racing until he was 23. On winning the minor British Formula Vee championship in 1971, ever-conscious of the value of public relations, he announced that he was going to be World Champion. This aim eluded him, but he enjoyed a successful career in Formula Three and Formula Two.
Henton's F1 debut came in 1975 for Lotus, theoretically a good drive but the team was in turmoil with the Lotus 72 finally uncompetitive and its replacement the Lotus 76 a failure, so nothing concrete was achieved. Between 1975 and 1978 he mixed Formula One and Formula Two drives, never quite establishing himself in either category, but clinched the 1980 F2 championship for Toleman, who took him into F1 for 1981. The first Toleman-Hart was something of a disaster, overweight and underdeveloped, and Henton only managed to qualify once. Unfruitful outings for Arrows and Tyrrell in 1982 led to no more success, though he did set the fastest lap at the British Grand Prix - Henton is the only driver in Formula One history to have set a fastest lap without ever scoring a championship point.
Perhaps fittingly, his last Formula One outing was at the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch in April 1983, which also turned out to be the last non-championship F1 race in the modern era.
Following his retirement from the sport, he returned to running a car dealership and later moved into property development and in recent years has diversified into other areas, notably engineering. He has occasionally driven at historic events and holds equestrian events at his home in Ingarsby Hall, Leicestershire.
Racing record
Complete European Formula Two Championship results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Pts | |
| March Racing Team | March 742 | BMW | BAR | HOC | PAU | SAL | HOC | MUG 6 | KAR | PER | HOC | VAL | 22nd | 1 | |||||
| Brian Henton | March 752 | Hart | EST | THR 8 | HOC | NÜR 10 | PAU DSQ | HOC Ret | SAL 13 | ROU | MUG Ret | PER | 11th | 10 | |||||
| Wheatcroft Racing | Wheatcroft 002 | Ford BDA | SIL 3 | ZOL | NOG | VAL | 11th | 10 | |||||||||||
| Wheatcroft Racing | Wheatcroft R26 | Abarth | HOC | THR DNS | VAL | SAL | PAU | HOC | ROU | MUG | PER | EST | NOG | HOC | NC | 0 | |||
| Netherton & Worth Boxer Cars | Boxer PR276 | Hart | SIL DNS | THR 1 | HOC | NÜR 9 | VAL | PAU 9 | MUG | ROU | NOG | PER | MIS | EST | 10th | 12 | |||
| Ardmore Racing | Chevron B40 | Hart | DON 7 | 10th | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| Brian Henton | March 782 | Hart | THR Ret | HOC 17 | NÜR 5 | PAU Ret | MUG 15 | VAL 8 | ROU 14 | DON 11 | NOG Ret | PER 6 | MIS 11 | HOC Ret | 16th | 3 | |||
| Toleman Group Motorsport | Ralt RT2 | Hart | SIL 3 | HOC 4 | THR Ret | PAU Ret | HOC Ret | ZAN 5 | PER DSQ | MIS 1 | DON 4 | 2nd | 36 | ||||||
| Toleman Group Motorsport | March 782 | Hart | NÜR 2 | VAL Ret | MUG 1 | 2nd | 36 | ||||||||||||
| Toleman Group Motorsport | Toleman TG280 | Hart | THR 1 | HOC 2 | NÜR 2 | VAL 1 | PAU 3 | 1st | 61 | ||||||||||
| Toleman Group Motorsport | Toleman TG280B | Hart | SIL NC | ZOL 2 | MUG 1 | ZAN 12 | PER 2 | MIS 2 | HOC | 1st | 61 |
Complete Formula One World Championship results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | WDC | Points |
| 1975 | John Player Team Lotus | Lotus 72F | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | ESP | MON | BEL | SWE | NED | FRA | GBR 16 | GER | AUT DNS | ITA | USA NC | NC | 0 | |||
| 1977 | Team Rothmans International | March 761B | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW 10 | NC | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1977 | British Formula One Racing Team | March 761 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ESP DNQ | MON | BEL | SWE | FRA | GBR DNQ | GER | AUT DNQ | NC | 0 | |||||||||
| 1977 | HB Bewaking Alarmsystemen | Boro 001 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | NED DSQ | ITA DNQ | USA | CAN | JPN | NC | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 1978 | Team Surtees | Surtees TS20 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | MON | BEL | ESP | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT PO | NED | ITA | USA | CAN | – | – | |
| 1981 | Candy Toleman Motorsport | Toleman TG181 | Hart 415T 1.5 L4 t | USW | BRA | ARG | SMR DNQ | BEL DNQ | MON DNPQ | ESP DNQ | FRA DNQ | GBR DNQ | GER DNQ | AUT DNQ | NED DNQ | ITA 10 | CAN DNQ | CPL DNQ | NC | 0 | ||
| 1982 | Arrows Racing Team | Arrows A4 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | RSA DNQ | BRA DNQ | USW Ret | NC | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 1982 | Team Tyrrell | Tyrrell 011 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | SMR Ret | BEL Ret | MON 8 | DET 9 | CAN NC | NED Ret | GBR 8 | FRA 10 | GER 7 | AUT Ret | SUI 11 | ITA Ret | CPL 8 | NC | 0 |
Henton drove Rupert Keegan's No. 18 Surtees during practice for the 1978 Austrian Grand Prix but was not officially entered for the race.