Michael Simon Brindley Bream Beuttler (13 April 1940 – 29 December 1988) was a British

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

driver who raced privately entered

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

cars. He was born in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, Egypt, the son of Colonel Leslie Brindley Bream Beuttler,

Duke of Wellington's Regiment The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the King's Division. In 1702, Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he di ...

O.B.E. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, and a descendant on his mother's side of the Scottish ornithologist

William Robert Ogilvie-Grant William Robert Ogilvie-Grant (25 March 1863 – 26 July 1924) was a Scottish ornithologist. Early life and education Grant born on 25 March 1863 as second son of Capt. Hon. George Henry Essex Ogilvie-Grant, of Easter Elchies, Craigellachie, Sco ...

, grandson of the 6th Earl of Seafield.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 2003, vol. 3, p. 3551 He was a talented

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

driver from the late 1960s, who then graduated to

Formula Two Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name retur ...

and then to Formula One in 1971. The finance for the team came from a group of stockbroker friends from whom the team took its name – at first ''Clarke-Mordaunt-Guthrie Racing'', and in 1973 it became ''Clarke-Mordaunt-Guthrie-Durlacher Racing''. This approach of funding the team earned his car the nickname of the "Stockbroker Special". He raced on one occasion, at the

1971 Canadian Grand Prix The 1971 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mosport Park on September 19, 1971. It was race 10 of 11 in both the 1971 World Championship of Drivers and the 1971 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. During a Fo ...

, for the works March team. Beuttler's best result was a seventh place in the

1973 Spanish Grand Prix The 1973 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Montjuïc circuit on 29 April 1973. It was race 4 of 15 in both the 1973 World Championship of Drivers and the 1973 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 75-lap race ...

. While Beuttler did not achieve a points-scoring finish during his career in Formula One, he did achieve five top-ten finishes in the 28 races in which he competed, results that would have delivered points by today's championship regulations. When his backers suffered amid the

1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...

, Beuttler retired from racing the following year, at the age of 34, after competing in the 1000 km of Brands Hatch.

Personal life

Beuttler is often described as the first openly gay Formula One driver, although former

Autosport ''Autosport'' is a global motorsport publishing brand headquartered based in Richmond, London. It was established in 1950 at the same time as the origins of the Formula One World Championship. Autosport began life as a weekly magazine in 1950 ...

editor and friend Ian Phillips has described Beuttler as "semi-closeted", adding "I'm not sure anybody really knew. We all just kind of suspected it. Because people weren’t open about being gay in those days and he took this lovely girlfriend to all the races which I suspect was just to distract because people didn’t come out as being gay in those days." Beuttler remains the only known LGBT+ male driver to have raced at that level to this day. While little is known about Beuttler's life after his career in motorsport, he eventually moved to the United States, where he died of complications resulting from

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

in 1988, in

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, aged 48. Beuttler was also the brother-in-law of politician

Alan Clark Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Tra ...

, who had married Beuttler's sister Jane.Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 146th edition, ed. Charles Kidd, David Williamson, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 2000, p. 1494

Complete Formula One results

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key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

References

* Philippe Vogel et le sport automobile (French) * mikebeuttler.hautetfort.com/ * www.comultipress.fr/spip/spip.php?article165 {{DEFAULTSORT:Beuttler, Mike 1940 births 1988 deaths English racing drivers English Formula One drivers March Formula One drivers European Formula Two Championship drivers AIDS-related deaths in California World Sportscar Championship drivers Gay sportsmen LGBT sportspeople from England Sportspeople from Cairo LGBT racing drivers 20th-century LGBT people