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Not No1s, but first-rate drives

Nigel Roebuck — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 08:28:19 +0000

Dear Nigel,

There are ‘superstars’ in motor sport, but what has always captivated me are those instances where drivers not considered in the highest echelon have their ‘day of days’ – where they elevate themselves to produce an exceptional performance, not necessarily winning but demonstrating immense skill, determination and, in some cases, courage and integrity.

I’m thinking of Brundle in Canada and Britain in 1992, Warwick getting back in the Lotus after Donnelly’s 1990 crash, Patrese on several occasions in ’91, Tambay at Imola the year after Gilles’ death, Herbert finishing within 10 seconds of the winner at Rio ’89, Hill’s races at Japan and Australia in ’94 when he took the fight to Schumacher. What would you consider to be the standout performances from the ‘not quite number ones’ over the years?

Richard McConnell

Dear Richard,

There have been so many outstanding performances by ‘not quite numbers ones’ over the years, but let me keep it to three that stick in my mind – and three that ended in victories that were not inherited flukes, but well deserved.

First, I think of Jean-Pierre Beltoise at the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix. The weather was foul for that year’s race – not only torrentially wet but also, more surprisingly, distinctly cold. I can still remember the wind howling in from the sea. JPB, driving for BRM, qualified fourth but made a fantastic start – no rolling starts in the wet after laps behind the safety car in those days – and passed Ickx, Fittipaldi and Regazzoni before Ste Devote, thus taking a lead he was never to lose. Beltoise pulled away at a prodigious rate, and what says everything about his drive is that, after two-and-a-half hours, he took the chequered flag 40 seconds ahead of Ickx, himself acknowledged as a supreme wet weather driver.

Next comes Clay Regazzoni, and while I could have picked his perfect drive at the Nürburgring in 1974, instead I’ll go for Long Beach in ’76. From pole position – more than half a second quicker than Ferrari team-mate Lauda – Clay took the lead at the start and simply left everyone behind. There wasn’t the hint of a mistake, and on days like this you wondered why Regazzoni didn’t always drive this way.

Last, I’ll go with Riccardo Patrese at the 1991 Portuguese Grand Prix. It’s often forgotten that through the first half of that season Patrese out-qualified Williams-Renault team-mate Mansell every time out, and Riccardo was very much a factor that year. At Estoril his engine blew in final qualifying and he was allowed out in the T-car only at the very end of the session, once it had been established that Nigel didn’t need it. In a fury Riccardo took pole position, ahead of the McLarens of Berger and Senna – and Mansell. On race day no one could hold Patrese – who beat Senna by more than 20 seconds…

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Racing’s confusing ladder system

Gordon Kirby — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:19:56 +0000

Racing’s confusing ladder system

In her blog this week ‘Does Formula 2 get your vote?’, Gillian Rodgers and some of the comments from readers have hit on a key point about the sorry state of international single-seater racing’s ‘ladder system’. The absurdly confused jumble of formulae that now exists in place of the old system of F1, F2, F3 and Formula Ford surely is one of the FIA’s biggest failings. The old ladder system thrived for a few decades but was subverted by the easy acceptance of a plethora of manufacturer-driven spec-car formulae by the FIA and many other national sanctioning bodies.

Some will argue that it’s a crime against the sport, but most everyone who’s been around motor racing for any period of time will shrug their shoulders and remark, ‘That’s motor racing’s way of doing business.’ And I guess they’re right.

Still, well do I remember a season I spent in the UK almost 40 years ago helping my friend David Loring run his Merlyn FF1600 in the three leading British Formula Ford championships of those days. Back then the ladder system was very clear, and after winning four FF1600 championships in the United States and Canada in 1971, Loring was anxious to race Formula 3 in Britain and Europe. But financial realities meant he had to race Formula Ford, which was a bit of a letdown.

Some bad luck and a few accidents strained our budget even more and David was disappointed to finish the year with ‘only’ five wins, one track record (at Mallory Park) and sixth in the primary British Oxygen FFord championship. Still, it was a great pleasure and a tremendous learning experience for us both to enjoy a season in the UK when the old system was at its height.

David ran more than 30 races that year and close to half of them were on the same card as an F3 race. Another four or five accompanied F2 rounds (in addition to a roaring European F2 championship there was a British F2 series in ‘72 won by Niki Lauda) and three times we raced at F1 races (in those days there were half a dozen non-championship F1 races in England).

The point is that there was a clearly defined ladder from Formula Ford through to F1 and there was also a real fan following for F2, F3 and FF1600. It was very clear who the up-and-coming stars were and people were anxious to see how the new boys would do each year in the next step on the ladder to F1. Guys like Emerson Fittipaldi and Jody Scheckter made their names in Formula Ford and F3, just like Jim Clark had done a decade earlier in Formula Junior and F2.

I cannot help believe that it would be a great thing for the sport to recreate a new version of the old system and many fans seem to believe the same thing. But there’s no impetus or enough desire within the sport’s political structure to make it happen, is there?

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Proud farewell to a legend

Damien Smith — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 07:36:05 +0000

Proud farewell to a legend

As months go, this was one we’ll never forget. The pages were flowing and the deadline was looming as usual when we heard Bill Boddy had died. We’d had some warning that the sad day was coming, but still it shook us all. WB, our founder editor, was 98 years old. As someone said, that’s a lot of laps and it was a more than a decent stint. But he was so vital to this magazine for so long, and to the whole automotive world for that matter, that his passing was always going to hit us hard, no matter how old he might be.

Bill had already filed his stories for the September issue, which goes on sale this week, and we thought it fitting to run them as usual. Elsewhere, we cleared some space and deputy editor Gordon Cruickshank set to work polishing the obituary he always knew we’d have to publish one day.

For Gordon, this was a busy and difficult time. Thankfully, he’d already finished his fabulous cover story on taking a factory semi-Lightweight Jaguar E-type and Stirling Moss’s famous Ferrari 250SWB to the Scottish highlands, for the (significant) pleasure of modern Jaguar design guru Ian Callum. Now he prepared to pay his respects to WB, the man he had worked for and with for 30 years. As we passed The Bod’s final pages, we both paused for a moment. It felt odd that we’d never be doing this again.

You might have read obituaries in the UK’s broadsheet papers, but if you’ve read Motor Sport for some time and the WB initials mean anything to you, please do take the time to read our tribute. Gordon, you’ve done him proud.

The cover story took a lot of organising and there was a collective sigh of relief when it all came together so beautifully. The idea sprung from our old 20 Questions road car column, which ran last year. Ian Callum had been quizzed, and when asked what would be his dream drive, he replied 250SWB on the fantastic roads surrounding Ullapool.

A few weeks later, Gordon received a message from his friend Clive Beecham who happens to own the 250SWB – the Rob Walker Moss car that Stirling twirled so effectively around Goodwood and such during 1961. Clive said to Gordon, “if Ian would like to do it, he can”. It was an offer Ian was not about to turn down – even if our scheduling meant a clash with the launch of his new Jaguar C-X75 supercar, itself a significant day in the history of his beloved employer.

In this E-type 50th anniversary year, we knew this was the perfect opportunity to get a Lightweight involved. Comparing the two standout GT cars of this – and any other – generation just seemed obvious. Oh, and I guess I don’t really need to tell you this, but Ian had a ball…

Fortunately for Gordon, he didn’t have to write everything in the issue. Our regular team also pitched in with some great stories. Editor-in-chief Nigel Roebuck reflects on a great British GP and the Indy 500 celebrations at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and also discusses modern F1 with a typically forthright Niki Lauda; Andrew Frankel delivers an exclusive track test in the super-rare and very special Mercedes-Benz W165 Silver Arrow (see below); and Simon Taylor meets saloon and sports car ace John Fitzpatrick for lunch. I remember squelching around a sopping Brands Hatch in 1983 watching him win the 1000Kms in his J David Porsche 956, sharing with Derek Warwick. It was the last big win of an amazing career, and when he met Simon the stories flowed thick and fast.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Fitz caps a special issue of Motor Sport. But it’s WB who, for me, has made it one that will always be a landmark. An era is at an end.

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Lewis’s learning curve

Nigel Roebuck — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 09:49:27 +0000

Lewis’s learning curve

Dear Nigel,

So what are we to make of Lewis Hamilton’s recent form? He’s had a couple of bad results while Jenson got the glory in Canada and Vettel scurries off towards the title…

Is there anything fundamentally amiss with LH at the moment or is it just a case of a couple of moves not coming off? Should his speed have been rewarded with a fuller trophy cabinet by now, and how long will he give McLaren to come up with a consistently competitive car before looking elsewhere for a drive?

James Davison

Dear James,

Perhaps – although I doubt it – I’m the only one who’s getting a little bored with all this…

It seemed to me that the moves Hamilton put on Massa and Maldonado in Monaco, and then on Webber and Button in Montréal, were almost bound not to ‘come off’, in the sense that in every case contact was virtually guaranteed. Niki Lauda was criticised by some (including Lewis) for his critical remarks in Canada, but if they were a touch inflammatory, I thought Niki was right to suggest that Lewis needed to calm down.

I’m also getting a little bored, to be honest, with Hamilton’s moaning about the team letting him down and the car not being good enough – Martin Whitmarsh, after all, always defends Lewis when something goes wrong that is the fault of the driver. When have you ever heard Vettel being publicly critical of Red Bull, or Alonso of Ferrari?

I think that part of Hamilton’s problem is that he arrived in F1 at the top – he came in with McLaren, and that year, 2007, the team had unquestionably the fastest car. Lewis’s achievements in his first season were astonishing – he missed the World Championship by only one point, and the following season he won it, albeit with some luck on his side at the final race in Brazil.

Because so much success came his way so early in his F1 career, it now seems as if he regards that level of competitiveness from his car almost as a right, but life isn’t like that. Unlike virtually all his contemporaries (including team-mate Jenson Button), Hamilton never had to go through a time of driving poor cars, and learning how to cope with difficult times, and these days gives the impression it’s a crisis if the McLarens are off the pace for two or three races.

At his best – as he was at the Nürburgring – Lewis is a fantastic racing driver, and a consummate racer, but of late I think he’s let himself down with some petulant behaviour, and he needs to sit down and think things through. No racing driver – whoever he is – has the divine right to expect a wholly competitive car every fortnight; team principals and designers and engineers and mechanics are human, after all, and sometimes – like racing drivers – they don’t get it right…

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F1 back at the ‘Green Hell’?

Nigel Roebuck — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 09:18:57 +0000

F1 back at the ‘Green Hell’?

Dear Nigel,
Is there any possibility of competitive single-seater racing ever returning to the old Nürburgring circuit? It seems so sad that the greatest circuit ever built is not hosting a big event. I know there are dangers associated with the track, but car design has made massive strides since the 1970s when Formula 1 cars last raced there. Modern circuits are fine but seem to lack any real challenge to the drivers.
Jacqueline Carter

Dear Jacqueline,

A return of ‘competitive single-seater racing’ to the original Nürburgring, the Nordschleife? Unfortunately, I’d say there’s about as much chance of Gordon Brown admitting to destroying the British economy. Zilch, in other words.

In 1970 the Grand Prix drivers collectively decided they would not participate in the German Grand Prix there, after which the event was switched – at extraordinarily short notice – to Hockenheim.

We have to remember that this was an extraordinarily dangerous time in motor racing. Feelings were running very high when the drivers met in London to discuss the matter of the Nürburgring: that morning they had been to a memorial service for Bruce McLaren, and the day after they were due to attend the funeral of Piers Courage. Three months later Jochen Rindt was killed in qualifying at Monza, becoming the sport’s first posthumous World Champion.

Safety had long been a subject barely discussed – motor racing was dangerous, always had been, always would be – but now, thanks especially to the efforts of Jackie Stewart, that was changing. For some years changes to the Nürburgring had been requested, and ignored – there was no doubt that the track was regarded as sacrosanct, that the German Grand Prix would always be run there no matter what, and when the drivers opted to boycott it, the organisers were more than shaken.

It worked, though. At once work began on the old, 14-mile track and when the drivers returned there, in 1971, they found it greatly changed – not in terms of the actual circuit layout, but in the way it had been opened up. Vast numbers of trees had been felled, Armco barriers installed in places where there had been none, and there were even minimal run-off areas in places.

The purist in a man like Chris Amon was dismayed in a way, for, as he said, knocking all the trees down took away much of the challenge, in the sense that a driver could now see much further ahead: part of the satisfaction, he said, had always come from committing to a corner when you couldn’t see all the way through it.

Even Amon agreed, though, that the changes had been necessary – and no one for a second thought that the Nordschleife had suddenly become safe. It was merely less perilous than before.

“It’s very nice to reminisce about the Nürburgring,” says Stewart, who won there three times, “on a cold winter’s night, sitting by a log fire! Of course it was an incredibly satisfying circuit to drive round – but I don’t believe there was ever a driver who didn’t feel relief when he drove out of there…”

True enough – and what finished the Nürburgring in terms of Formula 1, of course, was the accident in 1976 which so nearly killed Niki Lauda. The race was immediately red-flagged, and when it was eventually restarted Amon – of all people – declined to take part. Like many drivers, he had stopped at the scene of Lauda’s accident, and what he couldn’t accept was the length of time it had taken for rescue crews and medical personnel to reach Niki. Chris and Hans-Joachim Stuck, indeed, took it upon themselves to find a field telephone, to alert race control to what had happened.

Amon was that day driving an Ensign, which had already suffered suspension failure more than once that season, and well knew that if a car were going to break anywhere it was more likely to happen at the ‘Ring, with all its ‘yumps’, than anywhere else. Were that to happen, he said, he would hope that marshals and doctors could be swiftly on hand, but from what he had seen of the Lauda accident that was not the case. It was impossible to provide adequate cover at a 14-mile track.

I’ve driven countless laps of the Nürburgring in a variety of road cars, some very quick, and a few years ago had a never-to-be-forgotten lap in a Merc with Bernd Schneider, but I’ve never really been able to conceive of what it must have been like to go round there at F1 speeds.

A few years ago, for a BMW publicity stunt, Nick Heidfeld drove one of the team’s F1 cars – with greatly increased ride height to cope with the undulations and surface – round the Nordschleife. Although he didn’t go hard he was entranced by the experience, and very regretful, he said, not to have raced in an era when circuits like this were in use for F1. That said, Heidfeld admitted that he simply couldn’t imagine how a German Grand Prix must have been in those days…

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Systems overdrive

Nigel Roebuck — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:43:20 +0000

Systems overdrive

Adrian Newey isn’t a fan of KERS, but why he would be? Yes, it provides an 80-horsepower boost for a few seconds a lap, but a genius like Adrian has subtler ways of going faster than employing a ‘push to pass’ button, and that’s what it amounts to. At a time when FIA president Max Mosley was insisting that Formula 1 needed drastically to cut its costs, so the governing body introduced KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System), the argument being that it was ‘green’ in concept and the beginning of a path down which F1 must proceed if it were to have any chance of long-term survival. And if it cost a massive amount of money to develop, well, too bad, start serving up cheaper Parmesan in the motorhomes…

For all its green credentials, KERS would never appeal to a man like Newey. For one thing, it is a component on an F1 car over which he has no control; for another, it necessarily screws up the purity of his designs. With or without KERS, the minimum weight limit of an F1 car is 640 kilos, so if you don’t run KERS – as with Red Bull at Melbourne – you run an equivalent weight of ballast, and that’s fine, because you can position ballast and use it to your car’s best advantage. Sebastian Vettel utterly dominated the Australian Grand Prix in a car of perfect balance – without KERS.

Melbourne, though, was a bit of a special case, for it lacks a straight of any consequence. Come Sepang, with two extremely long straights, and KERS simply had to come into the reckoning – even for Red Bull. Even though his team, concerned about a potential problem, requested that he not use it for a portion of the race, Vettel still won again. But Webber, whose system was inoperative from the start, was decidedly hampered. In the circumstances Mark’s fourth place was a great achievement, but on the long straights his lack of KERS invariably kept him from getting within the requisite one second of the car in front – which meant, of course, that he was unable to deploy his ‘moveable rear wing’, otherwise known as DRS (Drag Reduction System).

All initials and systems, contemporary F1, isn’t it? Fernando Alonso had the opposite problem: his KERS was working, but his DRS wasn’t…

Over time all manner of things have been considered to improve the quality of the racing – or, at least, to permit changes in the order. That’s why refuelling was originally brought back, for example, and why, at different times, there has been talk of weight penalties for successful cars (as in the Trophee Andros ice racing series), and more recently proposals of rallycross-style ‘short cuts’ on the circuits – and even sprinkler systems to create ‘rain’.

All these ideas have been a tacit acknowledgement of F1’s ‘lack of overtaking’ problem, and I confess that whenever anything like this comes up I find myself thinking, ‘What would Ayrton or Gilles have made of this?’ Or, come to that, Jenks? And it doesn’t take me long to arrive at an answer.

I really wasn’t surprised that Niki Lauda contemptuously dismissed the ‘moveable rear wing’: “Completely crazy – now the FIA decides where you can overtake…”

Some suggest that these systems are no different from adjustable boost in the turbo era, whereby you could temporarily award yourself some extra horsepower (at the same time knowing that it was eating into your restricted fuel allowance for the race). But that argument is hardly valid – if a following driver whopped up his boost to pass you, there was nothing to stop you doing the same to defend your position.

All cars were operating to the same rules at all times in the race, that’s my point, and surely that is fundamental to anything calling itself ‘Grand Prix racing’. DRS strikes me as akin to investing in the best running shoes for all competitors – and then putting stones in some of them.

By common consent, wet races are invariably far more exciting – hence the ‘sprinkler’ idea – but why is that the case? It’s not rocket science; it’s because there is less grip. No, we can’t un-invent downforce, but surely we can come up with a set of aerodynamic rules that permit cars closely to follow each other through fast corners, perhaps generating downforce from shaped underbody, rather than relying absolutely on external appendage.

“Ah, here’s the purist – the keeper of the flame…” Max would murmur when I arrived at one of his functions, and I couldn’t – and can’t – take issue. I’ve loved Grand Prix racing all my life, and I’ve never cared to see artifices introduced to turn the sport into ‘The Show’, particularly systems – like KERS and DRS – which involve no element of driving skill. Of course I want to see better racing as much as anyone – but it has to be real. Remember the Hanford Wing, which undoubtedly increased the amount of overtaking in CART events on superspeedways, but rendered the races farcical? ‘I pass you here each lap, and you pass me there…’

F1 has surely become way too convoluted and complicated. Some years ago I asked Patrick Head what he would do to improve F1. “Oh, ban wings,” he said immediately, somewhat to my surprise. Then he laughed. “But that would never happen – think of all that lost advertising space…”

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The reader survey results are in…

Ed Foster — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:54:30 +0000

The reader survey results are in…

Ahead of our Hall of Fame event next Tuesday (February 15), the Motor Sport team sent out a survey to everyone registered on our website.

Usually these things are well beyond my pay grade, but this time I managed to get a quick glimpse of the results. Some were quite predictable – Jim Clark was voted the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time ahead of Ayrton Senna and Juan Manuel Fangio – but others weren’t.

Here are some of the results…

Which is the most memorable F1 car of all time?

1)    Lotus 72
2)    Maserati 250F
3)    1988 McLaren MP4-4

What was the best ever rivalry between F1 drivers?

1)    Alain Prost vs Ayrton Senna (with a staggering 68.5 per cent of the vote)
2)    James Hunt vs Niki Lauda
3)    Juan Manuel Fangio vs Sir Stirling Moss

Which circuit in 2011 do you expect to produce the most exciting F1 race?

1)    Spa-Francorchamps
2)    Silverstone
3)    Montréal

Which will be the most improved team on the F1 grid in 2011?

1)    Mercedes
2)    Williams
3)    Lotus (quite a good call, although even if its cars are comparatively three seconds a lap faster than they were at the end of last season they’ll still be a second off the pace)

Out of the rookie drivers new to F1 for 2011, who do you think will excel?
1)    Paul di Resta (should be right on the pace)
2)    Pastor Maldonado
3)    Sergio Pérez

Which team do you think will be the main contender for the constructors’ title in 2011?

1)    Red Bull
2)    McLaren
3)    Ferrari

Which driver would you tip to win the 2011 drivers’ championship?

1)    Fernando Alonso (with the above answer in mind, it doesn’t say much for everyone’s view on Massa!)
2)    Lewis Hamilton
3)    Sebastian Vettel

So there you have it. What are your thoughts? Do these answers really represent what you think?

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Ferrari did right by Alonso

Nigel Roebuck — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 09:36:58 +0000

Ferrari did right by Alonso

Dear Nigel,

I have long picked Fernando Alonso for this year’s Formula 1 World Championship and still think it can happen, but I am growing more displeased with the thought that I might be right.

Would you agree that it will leave a bad taste – and confirm a poor precedent – if Alonso were to win given how he is demanding (and being granted) undisputed first-driver status so far in advance of it being necessary?

Pat Kenny

Dear Pat,

Personally, I am growing rather weary of the anti-Alonso sentiment which seems rife in this country. It stems, I guess, in part from his season as Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate at McLaren, and in part from the ‘team orders’ imposed by Ferrari at Hockenheim this year, which obliged Felipe Massa to allow Alonso through into the lead.

What I find staggering, I must say, is that for countless years Michael Schumacher demanded – and got – absolute number one status at Ferrari, and I don’t recall anything like the criticism of him that Alonso has lately received. In those years if you signed for Ferrari as Schumacher’s team-mate, you accepted that you were there to work for him, like a domestique in the Tour de France, and it was implicit from the first race on.

Such has not been the situation at Ferrari this season – and neither was it during the three years in which Kimi Räikkönen partnered Massa.

At Hockenheim, if you recall, Alonso comfortably out-qualified Massa, but at the start poleman Sebastian Vettel chopped him so abruptly that both lost time, and Massa had the opportunity to nick past both and lead into the first corner. Thereafter it was Massa-Alonso-Vettel, and if the aerodynamic rules were different and did not render overtaking an equal car nigh impossible, I don’t doubt that Fernando would got past Felipe, for he is a quicker driver, and that’s the end of it. As it was, he was stuck there in Massa’s ‘dirty air’, and unable to find a way by.

Yes, I was hard on Felipe, I grant you, for he made no mistakes and deserved to win the race. As I have written before, though, at the time Ferrari had recently been through a bad period, and was being left behind by Red Bull and McLaren. Like any other team they wished to see one of their drivers win the World Championship, and here they were finally, running 1-2 in a Grand Prix.

Going into that race, the points situation was this: Hamilton 145, Button 133, Webber 128, Vettel 121, Alonso 98, Rosberg 90, Kubica 83, Massa 67. If Ferrari was to catch McLaren and Red Bull, Alonso, with 31 more points than Massa, was obviously far better placed to do it – and a quicker driver, to boot.

Like everyone else, I didn’t like to see the two red cars change positions in the ‘ordered’ way they did – there was nothing subtle about it, and they would have brought far less opprobrium down on themselves if they’d done it in the time-honoured tradition of telling Massa to ‘save fuel’, or taking a little longer on his tyre stop. As it was, they cack-handedly got the message across – ‘Felipe, Fernando is quicker than you – have you understood?’ – in a manner which fooled no one. As David Coulthard said, though, “Every team in pitlane imposes team orders, and anyone who says they don’t is a liar…”

As I pointed out in my last column, it is only for the last eight years that ‘team orders’ have been against the rules. Prior to that, they had been a standard feature of Grand Prix racing since Job was a lad: remember McLaren’s ordering Ayrton Senna to let Gerhard Berger through on the last lap at Suzuka in 1991?

In the last few weeks Ferrari has really come on strong, and Alonso – with victories at Monza and Singapore – now lies second in the championship, 11 points behind Webber. He may win it, he may not, but if he should win it by fewer than seven points – the difference between first and second at Hockenheim – Ferrari’s decision will be fully vindicated. Put it another way, if it had not told Massa to let Alonso through, and Fernando then went on to lose the championship by seven points or fewer, I doubt that Luca di Montezemolo would see the funny side.

The fact is that Red Bull and McLaren each have two World Championship contenders in their cars, and Ferrari does not, as was the case in 1958 when Phil Hill was ordered to let Mike Hawthorn through in Casablanca, and in 1964 when Lorenzo Bandini was ordered to do the same for John Surtees in Mexico City. Without team orders, neither Hawthorn nor Surtees would have won the World Championship…

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My essential reads

Nigel Roebuck — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 09:36:36 +0000

My essential reads

Dear Nigel,

I have just started to put together a modest library of motor racing books. As someone who seems to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the sport, and whose opinions I respect hugely, I would be fascinated to learn your five favourite motor racing books so that I can ensure they are included in my next Amazon order…

Hugo Pring

Dear Hugo,

Not sure I can keep it to five! I think there’s a small core of ‘must-have’ books on motor racing, but of course everyone’s choice is very personal and depends on enthusiasm for the writer’s work, and his choice of subject.

In my own case, I must start with Denis Jenkinson, and I would have both The Racing Driver and also A Story Of Formula 1. What next? I would have the first volume of BRM by Doug Nye for its wealth of detail and anecdote, and For The Record by Niki Lauda because it so truly reflects the man and his irreverence and sublime lack of political correctness.

I would also have All But My Life by Stirling Moss and Ken Purdy, which changed the way the motor racing biography was written, and It Beats Working by my friend Eoin Young, because it’s funny and reads in part like a diary of much of my own professional life. Essential, too, is The Chequered Year by Ted Simon, a brilliant warts-and-all dissection of a Grand Prix season (1970) by a man who was leaving the sport, and knew he wouldn’t have to face anyone afterwards…

Given my passion for American racing in the 1950s and ’60s, I would also need Fabulous Fifties – American Championship Racing by Dick Wallen, a labour of love if ever I saw one; and Stand On The Gas which is by Joe Scalzo, and deals with the golden era of sprint car racing.

There, that’s nine, and I haven’t really made a start on it…

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July’s audio podcast

Ed Foster — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:09:22 +0000

July’s audio podcast

Welcome to another Motor Sport audio podcast. There was no avoiding the team orders scandal from Hockenheim, but we also have a look at the Formula 1 driving standards, the relationship between Vettel and Webber and whether it’s too late for Schumacher to start producing the results.

Anyway… enjoy and do let us know what you think. We’ll be back on air later this month or early next month with another guest so ‘stay tuned’.

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

April’s audio podcast

Ed Foster — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 09:41:03 +0000

April’s audio podcast

Welcome to another Motor Sport audio podcast. This month we take a look at the first three races, the drivers, the teams and of course the racing.

One of our favourite parts of doing these podcasts is the variety of questions that we get sent in so if you haven’t yet done so, make sure you ask the team a question for next month by clicking here.

And because it features so much in this month’s recording… here’s that radiator…

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A milestone in F1 history

Damien Smith — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:04:19 +0000

A milestone in F1 history

Sixty years ago, the world was still recovering from the ravages of a world war. But it’s always remarkable how quickly people return to normal life after such devastation. By 1950, Grand Prix racing was already very well re-established, even if the cars (and most of the drivers) dated back to the immediate pre-war era. As a new decade began, the time was right to launch the first World Championship.

At the Bahrain Grand Prix last month Formula 1 acknowledged its heritage by celebrating the diamond anniversary of the World Championship in fitting style. All the living World Champions bar two (Kimi Räikkönen and Nelson Piquet) congregated at the desert circuit, along with a collection of fabulous cars from the past 60 years. Such a gathering is unlikely to ever happen again.

As F1 marks the anniversary, we at Motor Sport have decided to do the same. We’ve chosen this, the May issue, because it was on May 13 1950 that Silverstone hosted that landmark Grand Prix, the first to carry the weight of World Championship status.

To celebrate, we pooled some of the best motor racing writers to tell the story of 60 glorious years of GP action.

Doug Nye kicks things off with an overview of the 1950s. Now, as he says in his article, Doug was only a young child when the World Championship was born, but he was always a “good listener”. There is no better authority alive to look back at the decade of Fangio, Hawthorn, Moss, Mercedes and so on.

Into the 1960s, and Eoin Young takes up the story. The Kiwi was smack in the middle of it all back then, working with his mate Bruce McLaren and as a respected journalist, among other things.

We chose Alan Henry to tell the story of the 1970s. AH built his formidable reputation in the decade of flares and fuel shortages, enjoying friendships with the likes of Ronnie Peterson and Niki Lauda.

Our own editor-in-chief Nigel Roebuck covers the 1980s, an era as volatile as any he has known in the sport. It was the decade of the ‘superpowers’ – Villeneuve, Prost, Senna, Mansell and those magnificent turbos. For Nigel, the memories are recalled with a clarity as if they were yesterday.

Seasoned newspaper journalist Maurice Hamilton steps up for the 1990s and regular Motor Sport man Adam Cooper brings the story right up to date with the most recent decade. The ‘magnificent six’ put 60 years of F1 history into context just perfectly.

To complement the story of the decades, Simon Taylor lunched with the man who has started more Grands Prix than any other (except Rubens Barrichello, who took the lead in the longevity stakes two years ago). Yes, it’s Riccardo Patrese. He’s a true Italian gent, who tells us of his racing life, from enfant terrible to respected veteran. Former editor Simon Arron also makes his first appearance in our pages since 1996 to bring us the story of those Bahrain 60th anniversary celebrations.

It’s been a pleasure and a treat putting this issue together. There was a palpable sense of excitement in the office as each of the decade features landed and we began to build the pages. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed making it.

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Theories on Button and Byrne

Nigel Roebuck — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:08:00 +0000

Theories on Button and Byrne

Dear Nigel,
I’m going to be cheeky as I have two burning questions, hopefully you will answer them both?

1. I’m still a little mystified by Jenson Button’s transfer given his genuine affection for ‘his’ old team. My only theory is that he had a strong inkling that Michael Schumacher was on the way, Nico Rosberg would be demoted to test driver, and it would have been him against Schumacher – in a team run by Schumacher’s old buddy! Knowing how all Schumacher’s team-mates got treated, what would you do… any thoughts on the truth of that?

2. I’ve just read Crashed & Byrned, the book about Tommy Byrne – what a talent we missed out on! How do you think he measured up to Ayrton Senna? And why did no other Formula 1 teams pick up this guy after his McLaren test?
Tim Davison

Dear Tim,
I’m intrigued by your theory as to why Button left Brawn (Mercedes) for McLaren, but I really don’t think that’s the way it happened. It’s true that Ross and Michael Schumacher always had an unusually intuitive working relationship, and that each was only too aware of the other’s contribution to their success, but I don’t believe that Michael came seriously into Ross’s thoughts until Jenson decided on his move.

The jury is still out on why he – very quickly – opted to sign for McLaren. It’s clear that his first visit to the McLaren Technology Centre had a big effect on him, and it’s not difficult to see why: for one thing, you walk into the lobby area, and the first thing you see is a long, long line of cars that have taken Hunt, Lauda, Prost, Senna, Häkkinen, Hamilton et al to the World Championship.

McLaren people tell me that they positively know their financial offer to Button was less than that from Brawn, so I don’t think it’s a matter of money. That said, in the normal course of negotiation, what happens is that it starts with the driver’s manager pitching for an unrealistically high retainer, while the team, for its part, starts off with an offer rather less than it is prepared to pay. At that stage the serious talking begins, until a mutually agreeable figure is arrived at – or not. I’m told that Button’s management was offended by the initial offer made for Jenson’s services, and that by the time the true offer came in, it was too late to keep him from the clutches of McLaren.

Another thing: I’m not sure Mercedes was as enthusiastic about keeping Button as was the existing team. I also think – curious as it may seem – that Button quite fancied the idea of going up against Lewis Hamilton in equal cars.

As for Rosberg, there would have bee no question whatever of his being relegated to test driver at Mercedes – Nico signed his contract long before Button decided to leave, long before Schumacher came on the scene.

Now, Tommy Byrne. It’s a great book, and Byrne undoubtedly had enormous natural talent, which, as you say, we missed out on. Why? Well, as you’ve read the book, I think you’ve probably got some insight into that already. A very great deal of modern F1 is bound up in PR, image and all that stuff, and somehow it’s difficult to imagine Byrne talking the talk and walking the walk, isn’t it? Mention his name to F1 folk who were around at that time, and it’s cleared that Tommy got a lot of people’s backs up: sometimes talent alone is not enough.

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Top 10 drivers revised

Nigel Roebuck — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:25:46 +0000

Top 10 drivers revised

Dear Nigel,
Based on what you have seen in last 30 years, how would you review your Top 10 list that was published in the book (itals) The Grand Prix Drivers (Racing heroes from Fangio to Prost) issued in 1987? Many thanks in advance for your attention.
Piero Dessimone

Dear Piero,
How nice to be reminded of that book we – Denis Jenkinson, Alan Henry, Maurice Hamilton and I – did all those years ago. The decade about which I was asked to write was the ’60s – a touch illogical since I didn’t start writing about F1 until 1971, but nevertheless a task I much enjoyed.

We compiled out Top 10s in 1987, and at the time I rated the drivers thus: Stirling Moss, Jimmy Clark, Alain Prost, Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jackie Stewart, Gilles Villeneuve, Ronnie Peterson, Niki Lauda, Jochen Rindt.

Were I compiling the list now, it would read as follows: Stirling Moss, Jimmy Clark, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jackie Stewart, Gilles Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher, Jochen Rindt.

Well, perspectives change a little as you get older…

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Will Schuey be another Lauda?

Rob Widdows — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:07:05 +0000

Will Schuey be another Lauda?

Everywhere I go these days the hot topic is Michael Schumacher. Will he or won’t he? Everyone wants to know. And this got me thinking back to 1984.

I can hardly believe that more than a quarter of a century has passed since I stood at Paddock Bend watching Niki Lauda win the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. It was late July, a hot day, with a huge crowd and the start of an extraordinary domination by the McLaren MP4/2 TAG Porsche. Between that weekend and late October, every GP was won by either Lauda or Alain Prost.

Lauda was two years into his Formula 1 comeback. In 1982 he’d won his third race, so we all knew he’d lost none of his skill. Now only Prost stood between him and another world title. The other thing about that ’84 season was fuel stops had been banned and tank capacity reduced. This posed no problems for the crafty Austrian. But he was 35 years old, not 41 as Schumacher will be this year. And, by mid-season, he had the best car.

Lauda’s victory at Brands was typically measured, the former champion looking after his fuel and tyres while Prost and Nelson Piquet stormed away from the front row of the grid. Lauda was happy to watch and wait. But on lap 12 Jonathan Palmer crashed at Clearways and the race was stopped. After Palmer’s stricken RAM had been removed to safety the race resumed over 60 laps. Prost went into the lead but retired with a broken gearbox, leaving Lauda to fend off Piquet. But the Brazilian fell away with a broken turbocharger on the Brabham-BMW and Lauda cruised home ahead of Derek Warwick in the Renault RE50. Job done. And no points for Prost.

A young Brazilian named Ayrton Senna was on the podium that day, having finished a determined third in the Toleman-Hart. But that’s another story.

What we learnt at Brands was that a ‘senior citizen’ can come back, win races and claim another championship, even if it was by only half a point. But he had a strong team-mate in Prost, a man six years his junior – and a man on a mission after quitting Renault to join McLaren.

I’m not suggesting that all this has any bearing on the return of Schumacher. But it is fascinating to look at seasons past, especially a year in which it appeared that at least three drivers were in with a strong chance of winning. Schuey will need the best car, and he’ll need some luck. We know about his racecraft and his – and Brawn’s – ability to make the best of the rules…

Tomorrow Schumacher starts testing at Valencia in the new 2010 GP2 car, by special permission of the FIA and rival teams. It is a sign of his intent.

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

A life less ordinary

Damien Smith — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:00:06 +0000

A life less ordinary

The Rat is 60! Hard to believe, isn’t it? But however high the number, it’s impossible to think of Niki Lauda as ‘old’. He remains as sharp, opinionated and deeply immersed in Grand Prix racing as ever 24 years after he walked away from the cockpit for the last time.

These days Lauda is a star TV pundit and is still a popular figure in the paddock. Alan Henry has known him for the best part of 40 years, so who better to celebrate an era-defining life in motor sport and write our cover story for the March issue?

I say era defining, but the truth is Lauda achieved much more. His career peaked at Ferrari in the 1970s when he was undoubtedly the most complete driver on the grid. And what a story: galvanising a rejuvenated Ferrari to a pair of World Championships, a colourful, amusing yet fierce rivalry with the great James Hunt and the most famous escape from an accident in the sport’s history. His subsequent return to the cockpit within six weeks is the stuff of legend.

But perhaps his greatest achievement was returning to Formula 1 over two years after retiring, and making his mark on the turbo era with a third title. Staggering, when you think about it. Within Alan’s interview, on page 45, we’ve run a big photograph of Lauda in the 1974 312B3, and the contrast to the 1985 McLaren MP4/2 pictured below it speaks volumes. The sport had changed dramatically in his time, and Niki had adapted brilliantly.

Beyond the interview, we feature the March 721G, a car that along with its predecessor, the ambitious 721X, almost ended Niki’s career before it really got going. Andrew Frankel visits Porsche’s fabulous new museum in Stuttgart (we all want to go, right now), Simon Taylor lunches with Mini legend Paddy Hopkirk, and for something a little different for Motor Sport’s readers, we meet the Schumacher of US drag racing. And I mean that literally…

Meanwhile, here at Motor Sport we are looking forward to the new season (we’re even starting to like the look of those new Grand Prix cars. Funny how quickly you get used to something), and another exciting year for the magazine is well and truly underway.

And to those of you who visited our stand at the Autosport International show at the NEC in January, thanks for stopping by. It was good to see so many people and I hope you enjoyed the show.

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Summertime in Sweden

Rob Widdows — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:30:44 +0000

Summertime in Sweden

Sunday June 8 will go down in the diary as one of those special motor racing days.

Breakfast with Stefan Johansson, surely one of the truly great guys in the sport. He’s back in Sweden to drive a March 761 in the Ronnie Peterson Historic Grand Prix.

“I just love driving still,” he tells me, “ and I’m so lucky to be doing what I’m doing and still to be on the pace. I wanted to break Niki Lauda’s lap record this weekend but we don’t have any new tyres. Hey, but I’m pretty close to Ronnie’s times from 1976.” They’re all the same, these drivers, always so damn competitive. But they’re not all as friendly and lucid as Stefan.

A blast through the forests in the sunshine to Anderstorp, villages waking up to another unseasonably warm day in Smaland.

Into the pitlane, where Cosworths are being warmed up in preparation for the second of the weekend’s F1 races. Johansson won the first, easily, the man still as sharp and tidy as ever.

Along comes the King of Sweden (above). We chat about Ronnie, about what he did for his country, and about His Majesty’s love of motor racing. He is the most charming of men, totally relaxed in this environment, and clearly loves his motor racing. He has quite a collection of cars, among them a Porsche 911, Ferrari 456, and a real AC Cobra. He arrived at Anderstorp, as a King should, in a white Rolls Royce of the type that is made at Goodwood these days.

Alongside the King, with a beaming smile, is Nina – Ronnie and Barbro Peterson’s daughter – who has come with her family to present the prizes.

Dave Brodie is here. He was best man at Ronnie’s wedding and Ronnie best man at his. “Oh, he was such a great guy, a real star in every way,” says Brodie, “we had some great times and of course he was a wonderful race driver. Losing him was an absolute tragedy.”

Historic racers who have opted to go to Monza for the TGP race are missing a great event. Swedes who have gone to the beach – it is unusually warm for early June – are missing a wonderful tribute to a sportsman who put their country on the international motor racing map.

Out comes the black and gold Lotus 79, chassis three, to be driven today by Mr Johansson who has already been out in Ronnie’s little yellow Tecno in which he won the F3 race at Monaco. “The vibration was so bad I had to lift on the straight,” laughed Stefan.

Almost best of all, the Lotus is being prepared by the old boys from Hethel. Rex Hart and Bobby Clark, who were looking after Ronnie in 1978, are back with their car. Bobby is 73 years old now, though he looks years younger. “ All that racing,” he says, “ kept me young.” And he’s not an inch taller than he was, standing just above the big black rear wing as he fits the air starter. “It won’t start if we leave it sitting out in the heat much longer,” says Rex, who reckons Peterson was by far the fastest man never to win a championship in modern times. “Quicker than Mario, quicker than Emerson, but maybe not as well managed,” says Rex. Helping out is little Ake Strandberg, the Swedish mechanic who worked with Ronnie in karting before moving to England and joining his driver at March and at Lotus. Everybody wants this picture.

Along comes Neil Trundle, wearing a grey Stetson made specially to celebrate McLaren’s 1988 world championship year. A band around the hat proclaims that extraordinary season. “I made him wear it,” says Neil’s wife, “ he never wears it these days.

“What a great event,” says Neil, “ and all the old guys here, fantastic. And Lewis on the pole in Montreal, what a lap, we saw it on TV in the paddock last night. He’s a star alright.” Shame it all ended in the pitlane. I missed all that as the TV in my hotel did not receive the one channel that broadcasts the Grands Prix. This morning’s newspaper had just five paragraphs on the race. And five pages of football.

And that reminds me of one Pontus Wedlund, a Peterson fan who insisted on showing me the tattoos on his legs. On the right, a Peterson helmet and autograph and on the left, the badge of Stockholm’s AIK Solna, his favourite football club. Seemed like a pretty fair division of loyalties. Let’s hope AIK remains in his favour as tattoos are, well, for ever.

So, a truly superb weekend of motor racing at Anderstorp, the track itself untouched since last the Grand Prix cars were here. We need more days like these.

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine