Happy birthday, dear Watson

John Watson celebrated his 69th birthday this week, providing the perfect opportunity to look back on the career of this Irish driver born in Belfast, whose robust style and spectacular comebacks in races became his trademark.

The 1982 Formula 1 season will forever be remembered for its turbulence, but behind the headlines of strikes and tragedies lies the story of John Watson, a driver who was genuinely in contention for the world title until the very last race. While Keke Rosberg won the championship with a single victory, Watson had already won two Grand Prix races and, on paper, had a strong chance of clinching the title at the wheel of his McLaren. Ultimately, a series of relentless misfortunes robbed him of that dream and marked the end of his F1 career.

Watson's rise to the top of the sport followed a fairly classic path. After attracting the attention of the Brabham team in Formula 2 in 1973, he made his Formula 1 debut with modest private teams that offered him few opportunities to shine. After a brief period of false starts, the bearded Brit found his place at Penske. Against all odds, he claimed his first Grand Prix victory at the 1976 Austrian race, a triumph that came with a personal bet: if he won, he would shave his beard. He kept his promise, becoming a clean-shaven and respected competitor, and landing a coveted seat at McLaren. Watson's six years with the prestigious team were anything but easy. It wasn't until 1981 that he ended his losing streak and finally claimed victory at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. But mechanical problems continued to plague his campaigns, and his inconsistent results earned him the ironic nickname “John – what's wrong?” By 1980, he had already been challenged by the young Alain Prost, whose technical acumen and raw speed were already causing a sensation within the same British team. The 1982 season saw Watson embark on a title fight that was ultimately overshadowed by fatal accidents and a bitter clash between the sport's governing bodies and the teams. He started the following year with a spectacular performance, climbing from 22nd on the starting grid to win the second race of the season at the demanding Long Beach circuit, a comeback that still ranks among the most spectacular in F1 history. However, the rest of 1983 descended into chaos; contractual disputes saw him sidelined for the final rounds and replaced by Germany's Stefan Bellof.

Turning away from single-seaters, Watson briefly ventured into sports car racing in 1984, before attempting a short-lived return to McLaren in 1985 to replace the ailing Niki Lauda. At the European Grand Prix, he watched his teammate Alain Prost win his first world championship, a bittersweet moment that highlighted Watson's failures. He found some redemption in endurance racing, winning the 1,000 km of Fuji in 1984 and again in 1987, and adding a victory in the 1,000 km of Monza in 1987 to his list of achievements.

Watson's last appearance in Formula 1 came in 1991, when Eddie Jordan chose him to launch the new Jordan Grand Prix team, putting him behind the wheel of the inaugural 191 chassis. Those first laps would soon be followed by the debut of a future legend, Michael Schumacher, a few months later. Watson's career, marked by flashes of genius and a cascade of misfortune, remains a poignant reminder of how close he came to the highest honor in the sport.