For a country so in love with all things sport, it may come as somewhat of a surprise that the United States of America have laid claim to having just two world champions in Formula 1.

In fact, the last American to compete in the sport was Scott Speed, who took part at the 2007 European Grand Prix. Since then, the closest the famous nation has come to being represented in F1 came last year when Californian-born Alexander Rossi was due to stand in for the badly injured Jules Bianchi, only for Marussia to instead run just the one car for the remainder of the campaign.

There was far more joy for the States back in the 60s and 70s, when Mario Andretti and Phil Hill claimed a World Championship apiece. It is the story of Hill in particular, though, who was born on this day 88 years ago, which particularly strikes a chord.

The Florida native began driving full time for Ferrari in 1959 at the age of 32, where he would go on to earn three podium finishes and a fourth-placed finish overall in his maiden campaign.

The following year, Hill became the first American in nearly 40 years to win a Grand Prix of any sort when he prevailed in Italy. Not content with this, the Ferrari driver went one better the following campaign by claiming success at the Belgian Grand Prix to find himself behind only teammate Wolfgang von Trips in the drivers' standings.

Just two races remained at this stage when a tragic crash at the Italian Grand Prix saw Von Trips lose his life alongside 15 others watching on around the track. Hill would go on to win the race to seal the historic title triumph, but the events which preceded his victory made all the headlines.

Ferrari, out of respect to Von Trips, opted against taking part in the final championship of the 1960 season, which ironically enough was being held in Hill's United States homeland.

Five years after his title-winning joy, Hill called time on his career to instead focus on a different side of the racing industry, building up an award-winning classic car restoration business, before moving into a punditry role for broadcaster ABC.

Hill passed away following a short battle with illness in 2008, leaving behind his wife Alma, two children Vanessa and Derek, and step-daughter Jennifer.

Andretti, who became a fully-fledged American citizen in 1964, would match the feat of his compatriot 16 years later while racing for Lotus Renault. But it is the legacy of Hill which truly set the ball rolling for others to follow suit.