Les Leston

Les Leston

Born	(1920-12-16)16 December 1920 Bulwell, Nottinghamshire, England
Died	Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, England
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	1956 – 1957
Teams	Connaught, Cooper, BRM
Entries	3 (2 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1956 Italian Grand Prix
Last entry	1957 British Grand Prix

Alfred Lazarus Fingleston (16 December 1920 – 13 May 2012), better known as Les Leston, was a British racing driver, born in Bulwell, Nottinghamshire.

He started racing in a Jaguar SS100 before acquiring a Cooper and his own Leston Special. He become a Cooper works driver in 1954 and took the British Formula Three championship in the same year. He participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 September 1956. He scored no championship points. Leston won the Luxembourg Grand Prix in 1952.

Following retirement from racing, Leston manufactured and sold aftermarket parts for cars, such as steering wheels and gear shifters. Later he expanded into clothing, and was instrumental in pioneering the development of safety equipment such as flameproof overalls and properly constructed crash helmets. In the 1960s Leston became a Formula One pit reporter for the BBC, until he was replaced by Barrie Gill.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	WDC	Points
1956	Connaught Engineering	Connaught Type B	Alta Straight-4	ARG	MON	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA Ret	NC	0
1957	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T43	Climax Straight-4	ARG	MON DNQ	500	FRA					NC	0
	Owen Racing Organisation	BRM P25	BRM Straight-4					GBR Ret	GER	PES	ITA

References

• Les Leston profile at The 500 Owners Association