| BIOGRAPHY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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Full Name | Peter John Arundell | |
| Nationality | British  |
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| Born | 8 November 1933, Ilford |
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| Died | 16 June 2009, King’s Lynn – 75 years |
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| Website | |||
| FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CAREER | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entries | Races | Non-Starts | Best Grid | Wins | Podiums | F/L | Pts | DNFs | ||
| 13 | 11 | 2 | 4/20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 3 | ||
| First Grand Prix | Last Grand Prix |
| 1964 Monaco Grand Prix | 1966 Mexican Grand Prix |
| Season | Team | Chassis | Engine | Races | Poles | Wins | Podiums | F/L | Pts | Rank |
| 1963 | Lotus | 25 | Climax 1.5 V8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1964 | Lotus | 25 | Climax 1.5 V8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 8th |
| 1966 | Lotus | 43 33 33 |
BRM 3.0 H16 BRM 2.0 V8 Climax 2.0 V8 |
1 5 1 |
0 0 0 |
0 0 0 |
0 0 0 |
0 0 0 |
0 0 1 |
17th |
| FORMULA 1 NON-CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Event | Team | Chassis | Engine | Result | |||||
| 1963 | Solitude Grand Prix Mediterranean Grand Prix |
Team Lotus | 25 | Climax V8 | 2nd 2nd |
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| 1964 | News of the World Trophy Syracuse Grand Prix Aintree 200 BRDC International Trophy |
Team Lotus | 25 | Climax V8 | 2nd 3rd 3rd 3rd |
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| 1966 | South African Grand Prix | Team Lotus | 33 | Climax V8 | 3rd | |||||
| OTHER CAREER HIGHLIGHTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Poles | Wins | Podiums | F/L | Pts | Rank |
| 1961 | Monaco Junior Race | Team Lotus | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 1st |
| 1964 | French Formula 2 | Team Lotus | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 10th |
| 1966 | British Saloon Car | Team Lotus | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 38 | 3rd |
Biography
Peter Arundell should have been a star on the Formula 1 World Championship stage, but his time in the limelight was cut short by a massive Formula 2 accident at Reims.
He began his racing career in a MG TC in 1957, later going on to race a Lotus XI and then a Lola sports car. Victory in an end-of-season Formula Junior race in a front-engined Elva was enough to impress Team Lotus founder Colin Chapman, who signed the Essex driver to his Formula Junior team for 1960. Arundell repaid Chapman’s faith by beating, on occasion, teammates Jim Clark and Trevor Taylor.
While Clark progressed to Formula 1, Arundell stayed on for another season with Team Lotus as number-two to Taylor and the highlight of his season was victory in the Monaco Junior race.
Remaining for a third season as team leader, Arundell romped to the BARC Formula Junior Championship title with 18 wins from 25 starts.
He should have graduated to Formula 1 in 1963, but decided to forego a drive at a rival team and instead committed himself to another season of Formula Junior. A superb drive in the non-championship Formula 1 Syracuse Grand Prix netted him second place, and he repeated the feat at the Mediterranean Grand Prix. Surely, by now, he would land a seat in the World Championship.
Chapman duly awarded him a drive for the 1964 season, and Arundell – resplendent in his vermillion red crash helmet – repaid him with a podium on debut at the Monaco Grand Prix, and repeated the feat next time out at Zandvoort. His performances were equally impressive on the non-championship stage, with a second place at the inaugural News of the World Trophy, and a trio of third placings at the Syracuse Grand Prix, Aintree 200 and International Trophy.
Arundell was also on the grid for the inaugural Formula 2 Championship, placing third at the Pau Grand Prix and second at the Grovewood Trophy race. Then came the fateful race at Reims, where his spinning Lotus was T-boned by Richie Ginther and Arundell’s car was sent into an earth bank. Thrown out of the cockpit, a severely concussed Arundell suffered a broken arm, collarbone and femur.
A lengthy rehabilitation kept him out of the cockpit for 1965, but Chapman promised him a place in the team when he could return to full fitness. He returned to the F1 stage at the non-championship South African Grand Prix on New Year’s Day, placing third. As the season progressed, however, Arundell did not. To be fair, his equipment was not up to the task either and his sole points’ finish was a sixth place at Watkins Glen.
When Chapman signed Graham Hill for the 1967 season, Arundell was squeezed out.
He moved to the United States and later founded the Mystique software company – its most notorious claim to fame was the production of a number of unlicensed pornographic video games.
Serious illness triggered his return to the United Kingdom, although his ill health did not prevent him from outings at occasional historic festivals. After a lengthy ill spell, he passed away at the age of 75 in 2009.
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