Mike Beuttler

Michael Simon Brindley Bream Beuttler (13 April 1940 – 29 December 1988) was a British Formula One driver who raced privately entered March cars. He was born in Cairo, Egypt.

Mike Beuttler

Born	(1940-04-13)13 April 1940 Cairo, Egypt
Died	29 December 1988(1988-12-29) (aged 48) Los Angeles, California, USA
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1971–1973
Teams	Non-works March
Entries	29 (28 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1971 British Grand Prix
Last entry	1973 United States Grand Prix

He was a talented Formula Three graduate from the late 1960s, who then graduated to Formula Two and then to Formula One in 1971.

The finance for the team came from a group of stockbroker friends from whom the team took its name – at first Clarke-Mordaunt-Guthrie Racing, and in 1973 it became Clarke-Mordaunt-Guthrie-Durlacher Racing. This approach of funding the team earned his car the nickname of the "Stockbroker Special".[1]

He raced on one occasion, at the 1971 Canadian Grand Prix, for the works March team. Beuttler's best result was a seventh place in the 1973 Spanish Grand Prix.

While Beuttler did not achieve a points-scoring finish during his career in Formula One, he did achieve five top-ten finishes in the 28 races in which he competed, results that would have delivered points by today's championship regulations.

When his backers suffered amid the 1973 oil crisis,[2] Beuttler retired from racing the following year, at the age of 34, after competing in the 1000km of Brands Hatch.[3]

Personal life

Beuttler is often described as the first openly gay Formula One driver,[4][5] although former Autosport editor and friend Ian Phillips has described Beuttler as "semi-closeted", adding "I’m not sure anybody really knew. We all just kind of suspected it. Because people weren’t open about being gay in those days and he took this lovely girlfriend to all the races which I suspect was just to distract because people didn’t come out as being gay in those days."[2] Beuttler remains the only known LGBT+ male driver to have raced at that level to this day.

While little is known about his life after his career in motorsport, he eventually moved to the United States, where he died of complications resulting from AIDS in 1988, in Los Angeles, aged 48.[6]

Beuttler was also the brother-in-law of politician Alan Clark.

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	WDC	Points
1971	Clarke-Mordaunt-Guthrie Racing	March 711	Cosworth V8	RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR Ret	GER DSQ	AUT NC	ITA Ret							NC	0
	STP March												CAN NC	USA
1972	Clarke-Mordaunt-Guthrie Racing	March 721G	Cosworth V8	ARG	RSA	ESP DNQ	MON 13	BEL Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 13	GER 8	AUT Ret	ITA 10	CAN NC	USA 13				NC	0
1973	Clarke-Mordaunt-Guthrie-Durlacher	March 721G	Cosworth V8	ARG 10	BRA Ret	RSA NC													NC	0
		March 731					ESP 7	BEL 11	MON Ret	SWE 8	FRA	GBR 11	NED Ret	GER 16	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	CAN Ret	USA 10

References

1. "Mike Beuttler". www.espn.com. ESPN. 1 November 2009.
2. "Mike Beuttler: The Pioneer in Yellow". Racing Pride. 8 May 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
3. "Mike Beuttler was to this day the only openly gay driver in F1 history". www.globoesporte.globo.com. Globo. 13 April 2020.
4. "An interview with Matt Bishop". www.racingpride.com. Racing Pride. 11 September 2019.
5. "Meet the British drivers competing in the new W Series". www.shropshirestar.com. Shropshire Star. 3 May 2019.
6. "» Remembering Mike Beuttler – Richard's F1". Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2016.

• Philippe Vogel et le sport automobile (French)
• mikebeuttler.hautetfort.com/
• www.comultipress.fr/spip/spip.php?article165