Mike Thackwell

Mike Thackwell, a New Zealander born in 1961, made two Formula 1 World Championship starts four years apart. He first appeared in 1980 at just nineteen years of age, one of the youngest drivers to start a World Championship Grand Prix at that time.

After that early debut, Thackwell was absent from the championship until 1984, when he returned for a single start with the RAM team. Neither appearance yielded championship points, and his Formula 1 record closed at two starts across two widely separated seasons, a career notable more for the precocity of its beginning than for its length.