The 1950s were a remarkable era in Formula 1 history, with Mike Hawthorn, who was born on this day, one of its charismatic stars. Renowned for wearing a spotted bow tie while racing, Hawthorn was affectionately known by French F1 followers as 'Le Papillon', or 'The Butterfly'. Article continues under video A racer from 1952, Hawthorn spent most of his F1 career with Ferrari, winning the French and Spanish Grands Prix in 1953 and 1954 respectively in a Ferrari 500 and then a 553. Remarkably, it was to be another four years before Hawthorn, who was once described by Juan Manuel Fangio as "a nice, young fellow", was to take the chequered flag again, and for what proved to the final...
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