Jim Rathmann

Jim Rathmann, an American driver born in 1928, appears in the World Championship record books through the Indianapolis 500, which counted toward the Formula 1 World Championship from 1950 to 1960. He made twelve starts between 1950 and 1960, driving American oval-racing chassis from Wetteroth, Kurtis Kraft, Epperly and Watson.

His returns were remarkably consistent for the era: points-scoring years in 1952, 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960 brought him a career total of 29 points and four podium finishes. He was classified tenth in the World Championship standings in both 1952 and 1957.

The peak came in 1960, his final season, when he took victory at the wheel of a Watson — his only World Championship win — along with eight points and eighth place in the standings, the best championship position of his career.

Rathmann's record of one win and four podiums from twelve starts, all earned at the Indianapolis 500 during its years as a championship round, places him among the more successful of the American oval specialists whose names entered the Formula 1 statistics of the 1950s.