John Marshall Watson (born 4 May 1946) is a British former racing driver and broadcaster from Northern Ireland, who competed in Formula One from 1973 to 1985.

In a June 2023 interview with F1Weekly podcast Watson said the team flew to London Sunday evening after the race, and Penske did not recognize him in the hotel lobby Monday morning.

His Brabham-Alfa Romeo let him down throughout the season but, despite this, he gained his first pole position in the Monaco Grand Prix and qualified in the top ten no fewer than 14 times, often in the first two rows.

The closest he came to victory was during the French Grand Prix, where he dominated the race from the start only to be let down by a fuel metering problem on the last lap which relegated him to second place behind eventual winner Mario Andretti.

[5] In 1978, Watson managed a more successful season in terms of race finishes, even out-qualifying and out-racing his teammate Niki Lauda on occasion.

Later in the 1981 season, the strength of the McLaren's carbon fibre monocoque (designed by John Barnard) was demonstrated when he had a fiery crash at Monza during the Italian Grand Prix.

[7] After James Hunt's abrupt retirement after the Monaco Grand Prix in 1979, Watson was the only full-time competitive British F1 driver up until the end of his career.

At the first ever Detroit Grand Prix in 1982, he overtook three cars in one lap deep into the race on a tight, twisty track that was difficult to pass on; working his way from 17th starting position on the grid, he charged through the field and scored a victory in the process.

In what was Jaguar's first appearance at Le Mans since 1959, Watson briefly took the lead of the race towards the end of the first hour when the faster Porsche 956s and Lancia LC2s pitted.

Driving with American Tony Adamowicz and Frenchman Claude Ballot-Léna, they failed to finish the race due to engine trouble though they were classified in 28th place.

[11] Watson also finished second in the 1987 season alongside Jan Lammers in the TWR Silk Cut Jaguar XJR-8 when they won a total of three championship races (Jarama, Monza and Fuji).

[13] From 1989 to 1996 he worked as a Formula One commentator for Eurosport alongside Andrew Marriott (1989-1990), Richard Nicholls (1990–1992), Allard Kalff (1992–1994) and Ben Edwards (1995–1996).

Watson currently provides expert commentary on the GT World Challenge Europe alongside regular Blancpain television commentator David Addison.