His love of cars started at age nine when he first drove a guest's car around the block during a party at his house. Then when he was 12, his aunt helped him buy a Model T. He entered the University of Southern California in 1945 to study business however he dropped out in 1947 to work on cars and once in a while to drive. In 1949 he was working for a Jaguar dealership that sent him to England as a Jaguar trainee to study maintenance. When Hill returned from England, he began his racing career.

However, his years working as a mechanic would be of immense help in racing, as he knew exactly how far he could push the automobile and still be safe. And while his driving friends crashed and died all around him, Phil never had a serious accident in all his years of driving.

In 1954 he finished second in the Pan-American race, which resulted in an invitation to drive in the Le Mans. Four years later, Phil, driving with his Belgian teammate, Olivier Gendebien, became the first American-born driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He did this driving on slick asphalt through a torrential rain behind the wheel of a car that had a braking problem. However endurance racing was Phil's forte and he would win Le Mans two more times. His first Formula One race was the 1958 French Grand Prix held at Reims, France. Phil was driving a Maserati.

When Phil won the Formula 1 in 1961 he was competing against the German driver, Wolfgang von Trips. Phil moved into the lead during the first lap and Von Trips was trying to catch up but collided with Jim Clark's Lotus and spun out of control plunging into the crowd and killing him and fourteen spectators. Hill went on to win the race and did not learn of the deaths until afterwards. When a reporter asked Hill if he were going to quit racing, Hill replied that he didn't know. But later he told the reporter that everyone dies sooner or later and it was a fine thing that Von Trips died doing something he loved, without suffering and without any warning. Phil was always nervous prior to the race and would be observed chain-smoking and polishing his goggles. Once behind the wheel however, he was calm and totally in control. Phil parted company with the Ferrari team the following year but kept on racing until 1966 when he retired. After leaving racing, he wrote articles for various car magazines and collected vintage cars. He also served as a judge at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Phil died on August 28, 2008 of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was respected by all of those connected with racing as an excellent driver who had competed and survived when the sport was far more dangerous than it is today.