John Michael Hawthorn (10 April 1929 – 22 January 1959) was a racing driver, born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, England, and educated at Ardingly College, West Sussex.

Mike Hawthorn made his competition debut driving his 1934 Riley Ulster Imp, KV 9475, winning the 1,100 c.c. sports car class at the Brighton Speed Trials on 2 September 1950. In 1951, driving a 1½-litre T.T. Riley, he entered the Motor Sport Brooklands Memorial Trophy, a season-long contest run at Goodwood, winning it by one point. He also won the Ulster Trophy Handicap at Dundrod and the Leinster Trophy at Wicklow that year.

With the Drivers' World Championship being run for two litre Formula Two cars in 1952, due to the shortage of competitive 4.5 litre F1 cars, Hawthorn was able to enter the sport at the highest level, when a friend obtained the agreement of John Cooper to provide Hawthorn with a competitive lightweight Cooper-Bristol. His debut at Silverstone was sensational, he won his heat and finished second in the final, outclassing much of the best British and International talent.

Graeme Murray Walker, OBE (known as Murray Walker; born 10 October 1923,Hall Green, Birmingham, England) is a former Formula One (F1) motorsport commentator. For most of his career he worked for the BBC, but when it lost the contract for F1 coverage to the company ITV, Walker continued his commentating after the change of broadcaster.

He has a distinctive, enthusiastic commentary style. Since 1978, British television commentary of the Formula 1 seasons has been used by other broadcasters right around the world, including Australia and Japan. He is known for comments in the heat of the moment that could have a humorous interpretation; for example, it has been stated that as a car arrived for a pit stop during a race he uttered a Spoonerism by saying "...I'll stop the startwatch!". Of an injured, absent driver "He's watching us from hospital with his injured knee." "That Williams is unique, except for the car in front, which is identical!. When Nigel Mansell's tyre blew in the closing stages of the final race of the 1986 World Championship in Adelaide, depriving Mansell of a chance to win the title, he exclaimed "...And look at that!...".