Grid draws, blue flags and ERA smoke: Technical tales from F1’s front line
From grid draws and blue flags to ERA smoke, memories from Formula 1’s front line recall Leyton House struggles, lost promises and a changing paddock shaped by growing sponsorship.
An accountant sacked F1’s future design legend in 1990 – then watched helplessly as Newey’s final creation proved the accountant spectacularly wrong
By
Motor Sport
The excellent article on Leyton House F1 [The team that fired Adrian Newey, March] brought back memories. I was their insurance broker at the time along with many other F1 teams and their principals. There was certainly frustration with the new management appointment. I recall sitting with Simon Keeble trying to sort out their insurance programme (payment) and several employees presented ‘chits’ for items needed, only to be dismissed with, “too expensive or not necessary”.
It was a pity they eventually folded as the car was an excellent design. I know that Ian Phillips and Adrian Newey were unhappy. I agreed to extend their insurances for a couple of months as I was assured more finance would be forthcoming. Of course it wasn’t and we lost £10,000 as a result, the only loss I incurred with any motor sport client.
I have witnessed a major change in the premises, staff numbers and equipment over the years, all possible due to the gradual increase in sponsorship and a certain Mr Bernie Ecclestone.
I thoroughly enjoyed the article on Eau Rouge/Raidillon [Eau Rouge: a deadly fascination] in the March 2026 issue. In the 1980s I was part of a small group based at Oulton Park who had the privilege of being invited to marshal at the Dutch, Belgian and German grands prix, in addition to the British. At the 1986 Belgian Grand Prix we were allocated to the post on the blind brow at the top of Raidillon; what a place!
While the Tarmac layout at the top of Raidillon looks similar 40 years after I was there, the surroundings have changed somewhat. Where there is now a wide run-off area and the outlet road from the ‘old’ pitlane, the enclosed photos (shown right) show just 6ft of grass and Armco barrier. Behind the barrier there was another 4ft of grass and a steep drop into the valley. The panel of barrier being repaired seemed to have a magnetic effect on the support races as evidenced by the multiple tyre marks on the Tarmac. Zero margin for error.
Blue flagging from the brow, from just before where the public road rejoined the circuit, was a challenge. As the first photo demonstrates there was a view of the cars coming down the old pitstraight and then they disappeared at the bottom of Eau Rouge before bursting back into view. In essence, if you felt the need to display the blue flag, you had to do it before the cars reappeared, otherwise they would have been up the straight before the flag was out. You could always tell when Piquet in the Brabham-BMW was on a hot lap as there would be a trail of black smoke coming from the exhaust down the straight.
Richard Newton, via email
Reader Richard Newton was a marshal at Spa 40 years ago – positioned at Eau Rouge
PS: While I no longer marshal, I am a regular spectator at Goodwood and popped into your stand at the Festival of Speed last year and purchased the 1980s In Focus collectors’ special. On noting it was edited by Simon Arron, this sparked a conversation on his untimely demise as he and I almost ‘grew up’ together, he as a cub reporter and I as a rookie track marshal in 1978/79 at Oulton Park. A great guy sorely missed who always stopped for a chat either here or abroad.
The position in horse racing’s starting stalls are decided by a random draw: it adds to the closeness and competitiveness of the racing.
Given the chronic lack of overtaking in F1, now having to be manipulated with various props, would a horse racing draw for grid positions at least give every grand prix a chance of a few exciting laps?
For car designer Peter Stevens, Motor Sport’s Alain Prost celebration was a chance to catch up with old friends, like Steve Nichols, below
Jonathan Bushell
I was reading Mark Hughes’s online article looking back at Tony Rolt [Mostracing drivers are ‘ballsy’ – but Tony Rolt was really brave, online, February 7, 2025], and I saw a picture of him in the ERA. My dad, Dickie Green, was with Wade Engineering in 1950 at the British GP working on Rolt’s car.
In 1976, the Monterey historic races at Laguna Seca were a tribute to Jaguar cars, and Jaguar D-type OKV 3 was shipped over to be driven by Martin Morris. I was assigned, by my father, to be the mechanic on the car for the weekend. I was 18.
Tony Rolt drove the car during the parade and I went with him in the other seat, protected only by a flat cap and a pair of goggles. We were doing over 130mph coming in to Turn 2, with Phil Hill behind us in Cunningham’s long-nose D. Anyway, we had a blast, and Martin Morris won the Jaguar race that day with OKV 3.
I enclose a picture of dad at Le Mans in 1955 taken by Marcus Chambers. By now Dickie was the number two man at MG, having been at Aston Martin since ’52. My mum, then Doreen Sherwood, joined Aston Martin in January 1949 as the secretary in the experimental department, which would later become the racing department.
For car designer Peter Stevens, Motor Sport’s Alain Prost celebration was a chance to catch up with old friends, like Steve Nichols, left
Dad hired Ken Miles in 1955 to drive the MG EX182 in the Le Mans 24 Hours, and it was Ken who convinced my dad to come to America and was his sponsor! But it’s nice to see Tony being remembered. I sent his son Stuart, who was for a time chairman of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, a picture of his dad at Monterey in 1976.
Michael Green
Michael Green’s dad Dickie, Le Mans ’55, working for MG; he’d hired Ken Miles for the 24 Hours
It is very seldom, even for someone as lucky as me, to be invited to a glorious evening with the truly modest heroes of motor sport. That Motor Sport could attract such a group says a lot about the magazine and its standing within the sport. Whether it was the charming and modest Alain Prost, four-time Formula 1 champion, or the even more relaxed John McGuinness, seven-time winner of the Isle of Man Senior TTs, this was an evening when egos were never on display. And this was a dinner without a tedious lengthy prize-giving, where there was time to cruise between tables to gossip with past team-mates or old friends.
The whole thing was brilliantly knitted together by Karun Chandhok who invited everyone, from new TV pundit Bernie Collins (the clever strategist from Sky F1) to ex-Formula 1 chief mechanic Jo Ramirez, to chat on stage about their future or their past. And present team principal of Haas, Ayao Komatsu, what a relaxed yet inspirational man – he amused us all.
A big thank you to the event sponsors including BRM who were my table-mates for the evening, Richard Mille, Amalgam with some wonderful F1 models and RPM.
