Stalwart Tyrrell chief mechanic Roger Hill

For a country with a population of just five million people, the amount of New Zealander’s who have influenced motor racing is so high, it almost feels like working in motor racing is the default profession for anyone hailing from the island country in the Pacific Ocean.

Currently, both the Formula 1 drivers’ world championship and constructors’ world championship are heading to a team founded by a Kiwi, Bruce McLaren, and the list of New Zealanders who followed McLaren is a long and successful one; to pick just a few names: Phil Kerr and Howden Ganley (both of whom were at McLaren), Bill Stone at March, Allan McCall who went on to found the Tui racing concern, and Max Rutherford and John Bullock who worked with Ken Tyrrell.

When talking about mechanics hailing from New Zealand, one of the most respected and most successful of them all was Roger Hill, who was Tyrrell’s chief mechanic for over 20 years, including during all three of Jackie Stewart’s championships. Hill died on 19 July 2025, aged 84.

Born on 11 November 1940 in New Plymouth, Roger started work in his homeland as a fitter, welder and engine tuner, and also built scramble bike frames and worked in a foundry. In 1965, he was one of a group of six enthusiasts (including the aforementioned Rutherford and Bullock) who came to England for a ‘working holiday’ of scrambling and motocross and ended up staying in England for the rest of his life.

“Setting out to visit the other side of the world was probably a bigger experience than I had really given any serious thought to, but it seemed a good idea at the time,” said Roger.

While in England, he initially found work with a famous speedway engine tuner, Mike Erskine, then got a job at Charles Lucas’s Formula 3 team preparing cars for Piers Courage and Roy Pike as well as Lucas himself. In due course Rutherford introduced Roger to Ken Tyrrell.

As Roger recalled, the job interview with Ken was pretty simple: “I went to see him, shook hands and I had a job. I stayed in that job, effectively, until 1998. I absolutely loved it.”

Although he remained at Tyrrell until the very end, he actually came very close to joining Rutherford back in New Zealand. In 1969, like Rutherford who he replaced as chief mechanic, he was tired of the long hours and arduous journeys and was going to give up racing to return to New Zealand at the end of 1970: “For a couple of years, you have fun and it is enjoyable. But then you begin to get tired of it all. I’ll go on for one more year and then do something else. By then, I will have had enough of it.”

Far from leaving Tyrrell, Hill was such an asset to the team that he became its long-time chief mechanic, ceasing that role only in 1990 when a shake-up orchestrated by Joan Villadelprat led to Chris White replacing him. Nonetheless, he remained at Ockham in a more workshop-based position, although he continued to attend races, until the team finished in 1998.

Hill’s tenure as chief mechanic included all three of Stewart’s F1 world championships, all 23 of Tyrrell’s world championship victories, the 1971 F1 world constructors’ title and spanned a range of both varying designs (the P34 and the ‘high-nose’ 019) and drivers from Johnny Servoz-Gavin to Jean Alesi.

During this time, Hill gained a reputation for solving the seemingly unsolvable, for his adaptability, calmness and unflappability, complete dedication, incredible work ethic and meticulous approach, who not only had the respect of his fellow mechanics but of the drivers too, who had full confidence that they were driving a safe and reliable car.

Post-Tyrrell, he built promotional replicas of F1 cars for a company that worked with Ferrari and Toyota.

Sadly, some of his last years were difficult. His beloved wife, Angela, to whom he was married for over 45 years, died in 2015. He developed dementia a few years later and eventually had to move to a care home. However, pretty much until his dying day, he remained active and lost none of his sparkle and enthusiasm for life, always enjoying visits from his former colleagues.

Jo Ramirez, who worked at Tyrrell with Hill, said: “He was the most meticulous and creative mechanic I’ve ever come across and a joy to work with. Although I had a lot of experience, I still learned a lot from him. Without doubt, he was one of the best race mechanics of all time, as well as a wonderful person.”

Danny Sullivan recalled: “Roger Hill was so quiet that when he spoke it meant a lot. He was very respected and very funny. His few words were always right to the point and said a lot.

“The best example of that was when I got a call from Ken to do a test at Rio to try and obtain the seat for the Formula 1 drive in 1983. There were other drivers there, they looked very professional, and I felt I should be the same. I sat in the car and started fiddling around with everything like them. Roger Hill leant into the cockpit and said, ‘Danny, just drive the bloody car!’ I ended up faster than the others. I was very, very fond of Roger.”

The last word goes to a man whose respect of Roger was so great that, even in his mid-80s, flew directly from Switzerland to attend Hill’s funeral on 26 August.

Sir Jackie Stewart said: “Roger Hill was one of the greatest mechanics the sport has ever known. He was better at his job than I was at mine.”