james-hinchcliffe

Born in North York, Ontario, and raised in Oakville, Hinchcliffe attended his first IndyCar race with his father at 18 months old and later watched Jacques Villeneuve win the 1995 Indianapolis 500 on television — an event he credits as the spark for his racing ambitions. He received a go-kart for his ninth birthday and entered competitive motorsport in 2003, finishing third in the Bridgestone Racing Academy F2000 series. In 2004 he was the top rookie in Formula BMW USA with three wins, and in 2005 finished third overall in the Star Mazda Series with three victories.

In 2006 Hinchcliffe joined the Champ Car Atlantic Series with Forsythe Racing, winning at Portland and scoring two other podiums. He also provided commentary for the Eurosport coverage of Champ Car events in 2006 and 2007 — his first taste of broadcasting.

Hinchcliffe raced for A1 Team Canada in the A1 Grand Prix series. At the Czech round in Brno he led the feature race for the majority of the distance but clashed with eventual winner Alex Yoong, dropping to fifth. He contested rounds in Beijing and New Zealand, consistently racing in the lower half of the top ten.

He returned to the Champ Car Atlantic Series in 2007 with Sierra Sierra, finishing fourth in the standings, then went back to Forsythe Racing for the 2008 Atlantic Championship, again placing fourth but this time taking a win in race two at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

For 2009 Hinchcliffe moved to the Indy Lights series with Sam Schmidt Motorsports, finishing fourth in points without a win. In 2010 he signed with Team Moore Racing, claiming three victories and five further podiums to finish second in the championship behind French rookie Jean-Karl Vernay. That year he also served as driver analyst for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network for the Indianapolis 500.

Hinchcliffe joined Newman/Haas Racing mid-season in 2011, making his series debut at Barber Motorsports Park. He collected his first career top-five at Long Beach in just his second start, then claimed top-ten finishes at São Paulo and Milwaukee. He started his debut Indianapolis 500 13th and ran competitively before crashing on lap 101, finishing 29th.

At the season-finale Las Vegas Indy 300, Hinchcliffe made wheel-to-wheel contact with Wade Cunningham, which contributed to a chain-reaction crash that led to the death of Dan Wheldon and the cancellation of the race. Points were reset to pre-Las Vegas standings, confirming Hinchcliffe as the 2011 IndyCar Rookie of the Year ahead of J. R. Hildebrand. Newman/Haas Racing subsequently withdrew from IndyCar, leaving Hinchcliffe a free agent.

Hinchcliffe joined Andretti Autosport for 2012 in the No. 27 car — the same number previously used by Gilles Villeneuve and Jacques Villeneuve. At the 2012 Indianapolis 500 he qualified second overall, carrying a pair of gloves belonging to the late Greg Moore, the Canadian driver he credits as his inspiration. On race day he overtook pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe on the opening lap and finished sixth.

In 2013 Hinchcliffe claimed his first IndyCar victory in the season opener at St. Petersburg. He later won the São Paulo Indy 300 with a last-corner overtake on Takuma Sato, ending Will Power's winning sequence. In 2014 he suffered a concussion after being struck by debris at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis but received medical clearance to race within five days.

Hinchcliffe joined Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for 2015 in the No. 5 car. He won the second race of the year in New Orleans, then suffered a life-threatening accident during practice for the Indianapolis 500 when a suspension failure disintegrated the right side of his car. A suspension component penetrated the cockpit tub and punctured his thigh, causing severe blood loss. Emergency surgery at Methodist Hospital and rapid intervention by IndyCar safety crews were credited with saving his life. Ryan Briscoe and Conor Daly substituted for the remainder of the season.

Hinchcliffe returned stronger in 2016, winning the pole position for the 100th Indianapolis 500 — a landmark achievement twelve months after his near-fatal accident there. He finished seventh in the race and finished the season thirteenth in the championship. He also led much of the Firestone 600 at Texas, eventually finishing second in a photo finish to Graham Rahal. In 2017 Hinchcliffe won again at Long Beach, his first victory in two years.

For 2018, Leena Gade — the first female lead race engineer in IndyCar history — joined as Hinchcliffe's lead engineer. At the 2018 Indianapolis 500 he failed to qualify for the race for the first time in his career. He rebounded to win at Iowa in July. In 2019 the team — by then renamed Arrow McLaren SP — did not renew his race seat, replacing him with Oliver Askew and Pato O'Ward. Hinchcliffe remained under contract for sponsor appearances while pursuing other opportunities.

Andretti Autosport signed Hinchcliffe for three races in 2020. He finished 18th at Texas, 11th in the Indianapolis Grand Prix, and seventh in the Indianapolis 500. He then replaced the fired Zach Veach for the final three races of the season.

For 2021 Hinchcliffe drove the No. 29 car co-entered by Steinbrenner Racing for Andretti full-time, achieving a best finish of third at the inaugural Music City Grand Prix. In December 2021 he announced his retirement from full-time racing and joined NBC Sports as a commentator.

Hinchcliffe's media career began informally in 2006 when he was invited into the broadcast booth for a Champ Car race and extended into full coverage by request. He served as IndyCar analyst for NBC Sports from 2020 and joined full-time in 2022 alongside Leigh Diffey and Townsend Bell. He expanded into Formula 1 coverage, appearing for Channel 4 in the United Kingdom and on F1TV. As of 2025 he is one of the main commentators for IndyCar on Fox Sports, alongside Will Buxton and Townsend Bell.

Hinchcliffe became engaged to Canadian actress Rebecca Dalton in July 2018 and the couple married in Ontario on August 3, 2019. In 2016 he competed in Season 23 of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, partnered with professional dancer Sharna Burgess; he finished runner-up to Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez on November 22, 2016. He co-hosted the podcast Off Track with Hinch and Rossi alongside fellow IndyCar driver Alexander Rossi.

On February 17, 2024, Hinchcliffe was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, becoming the youngest inductee ever at 37 years old.

Hinchcliffe's career arc — from IndyCar rookie of the year to near-death at the world's most famous oval to a pole position on the race's centenary — gave him one of the most dramatic personal narratives in American open-wheel racing. His subsequent emergence as a respected broadcaster has extended his influence well beyond his driving years, bridging IndyCar and Formula 1 audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.