The day John Watson took America to the top step in Formula 1 by winning for Penske in Austria

Jul 02, 2023 8:49am UTC

Hall of Fame F1 JournalistDavid Tremayne

John Watson, Penske-Ford PC4, Grand Prix of Austria, Osterreichring, 15 August 1976. John Watson

Only three US-owned teams have won Grands Prix that counted towards the Formula 1 world championship.

The legendary Dan Gurney took his beautiful Eagle Weslake to a historic win in Belgium in 1967, and nine years later – and one before Shadow won there – John Watson’s victory in the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix provided balm to Roger Penske’s team after the tragic event the previous year in which Watson’s close friend and fellow driver Mark Donohue had been killed.

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The day John Watson took America to the top step in Formula 1 by winning for Penske in Austria

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