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. Watson won five Formula One Grands Prix across 12 seasons.

Watson competed in Formula One for Brabham, Surtees, Lotus, Penske and McLaren. He finished third in the 1982 World Drivers' Championship with McLaren. Watson also competed in the World Sportscar Championship, finishing runner-up in 1987 with Jaguar.

Upon his retirement from motor racing, Watson became a commentator for Eurosport from 1989 until 1996. Since 2022, he has served as the lead commentator for GT World Challenge Europe, and also commentated on the 2022 Miami Grand Prix for F1TV.

Watson was born in Belfast and educated at Rockport School, Northern Ireland. Watson's Formula One career began in 1972, driving a customer March-Cosworth 721 for Goldie Hexagon Racing in a non-Championship event: the World Championship Victory Race at Brands Hatch. Watson's first World Championship events came in the 1973 season, in which he raced in the British Grand Prix in a customer Brabham-Ford BT37, and the US Grand Prix, where he drove the third works Brabham BT42. Neither was particularly successful, as in the British race he ran out of fuel on the 36th lap and his engine failed after only seven laps in the United States event.

Watson scored his first World Championship point in the 1974 Monaco Grand Prix, while driving for Goldie Hexagon Racing. He went on to score a total of six points that season, driving a customer Brabham BT42-Ford modified by the team. He failed to score Championship points the following year, driving for Team Surtees, Team Lotus and Penske Cars. At the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix he had the chance to score his first win. He was in second position, behind Mario Andretti, until he had to stop in the pits for checks after his car started to suffer vibrations. Andretti retired later, and after rejoining the race Watson finished in eighth, his best Championship result in 1975. In non-Championship races he fared somewhat better, taking second place in the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, and fourth at the International Trophy race at Silverstone.

Watson secured his first World Championship podium with third place at the 1976 French Grand Prix. Later that season came his first victory, driving for Penske in the Austrian Grand Prix, having qualified second on the grid. After the race he shaved off his beard, the result of a bet with team owner Roger Penske. 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.

In the third race of the 1977 Formula One season, the South African Grand Prix, Watson managed to complete the race distance, scored a point, and took his first ever fastest lap. His achievements were overshadowed, however, by the deaths of driver Tom Pryce and a track marshal, Frederik Jansen van Vuuren. 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. Problems with the car, accidents, and a disqualification meant that he raced the full distance in only five of the 17 races. 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.

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. He managed three podiums and a pole, and notched up 25 points to earn the highest championship placing of his career to that point.