Notes on the cars at Monaco and Jarama

The short report ot the Monaco GP that was rushed into the June issue of Motor Sport precluded any mention of the mechanical activities of the Formula One teams, so for those who are interested in such things we combine the notes on the cars at Monaco and at Jarama, where the Spanish GP took place two weeks after the Monte Carlo event.

Ferrari: The regular three cars, 044, 045 and 046 at Monaco, and 045 and 046 had been altered into “Monaco Specials”. It was felt that what was needed for the tight street circuit was a car that would flick from one direction to the other with ease and would have an inherent tail-out oversteer to encourage the technique of flicking it round the hairpin bends, especially the downhill ones at Mirabeau and where the old railway station used to be. To encourage this the two cars were fitted with front suspension rocker arms with their centre-line at right angles to the centre-line of the car, whereas the standard T5 rocker arms are angled forwards. This reduced the wheelbase by a few centimetres, at the same time moving the centre of gravity forwards. In addition a very small front aerofoil was used, in conjunction with a larger rear one mounted well forwards, ahead of the rear wheels. The handling was described as being “much more nervous”, in other words the effective polar moment of inertia was reduced and the car could be made to change direction more quickly. Scheckter used 046, and Villeneuve used 045, while the spare car, was as it appeared in Belgium, with standard wheelbase and aerodynamic appendages.

The same three cars were taken to Spain, all in standard trim and had they taken part in the event Villeneuve was going to use 044 (which still uses the Paperwork from 043) and his regular car, 045 was the muletta.

Tyrrell: The blue cars from Surrey came in for some hard times at Monaco. Jarier was in his usual car, 010-1, but Daly took over the newest car, 010-3, and his regular car, 010-2, became the spare. In the wet practice Daly clouted a guard-rail and bent the right-rear corner of 010-3, but it was soon repaired, with new suspension components. At the start of the race the Irishman suffered “brain fade” and caused a multiple accident which delighted the Television world and the Candy sponsors but didn’t amuse Ken TYrrell or Jean-Pierre Jarier at all. 010-3 spun through the air and landed on 010-1 so that both cars were left derelict at the first comer of the race. 010-3 ended up with its front wheels splayed out and the right rear corner demolished, while all appendages were crumpled and the underside of the monocoque was severely mutilated. The engine and gearbox were probably salvable. As this was the first time 010-3 was being used in a race its racing life was remarkably short! In landing on its team-mate it smashed up the front of 010-1 and the right-rear corner.

For Spain 010-1 was totally rebuilt for Jarier, Daly returned to 010-2 and a brand new car was completed and kept in reserve though not used. This was 010-4. In the race the rear brakes of 01-2 failed and.Daly went off the track.

Brabham: This was another team that suffered mecanical mahem at Monaco. In the wet session on Thursday Piquet understeered out of control into a guardrail, crumpling the left front corner. Zunnino had an accident, with almost identical results, in BT49/02, which left the team with one serviceable car, which was BT49/07. Piquet took this over for the second practice and the race, while another car was rushed out from the Chessington factory, together with another monocoque, BT49/03, was more or less complete when it arrived and Zunino used it on Saturday but failed to qualify.

For Spain Piquet retained BT49/07. while his crashed car from Monaco BT49/06 was straightened out and became the T-car. A total rebuild was done on the spare monocoque that went to Monaco and this became BT49/04 which Zunino used.

McLaren: The usual three cars for Watson and Prost at Monaco, M29C/2 for the Ulsterman, M29C/4 for the Frenchman and the M29/1 as the spare, and mechanical stress was very low for the team as Watson failed to qualify for the race and Prost was put out on the first corner by Daly’s accident. For Spain they had the same three cars but M29C/1 had been modified at the front end, with new suspension mountings. Prost tried this car in the untimed test-session on Saturday morning and had the front end collapse under braking, which caused a spectacular crash from which he escaped unhurt, but rather disillusioned about McLaren design and engineering. In the race M29C/4 broke its engine and Watson crashed M29C/2 when he ran over the back of the Ensign.

ATS: Two cars at Monaco, D4/02 which Lammers has been racing and D4/03 which was completed in the paddock workshops at Zolder but not run. It was tried out in the untimed practice but Lammers used D4/02 for the race. In Spain the same two cars were used but their roles reversed and D4/03 was used in the race.

Lotus: Four cars at Monaco, 81/4 (brand new) and 81/2 for Andretti. and 81/3 and 81/1 for de Angelis. Each driver’s second car was in short-wheelbase form, though neither were convinced it was the answer to their prayers! The brand new car, 81/4, refused to start on the first day of practice and in the final practice on Saturday Andretti lost it in a big way and smashed it pretty conclusively against the guard-rails. There was no possibility of repairing it so he was forced to use the unloved 81/2 for the race. As various little troubles arose during practice de Angelis flitted from 81/3 to 81/1 but ended up by racing 81/3, as scheduled.

In Spain Andretti had 81/2 back in standard wheelbase form and de Angelis had 81/3, while they had to share 81/1 as the T-car, it too being back to standard wheelbase.

Ensign: MN14 was actually completed in the paddock at Zolder but not used. It was at Monaco as the reserve car to MN12 and was given a run during practice, but neither Ensign managed to qualify. In Spain MN14 (with short wheelbase) was used for the race and MN12 (with original wheelbase) became the team’s spare car.

Renault: No problems or major changes in the Renault team, Jean-Pierre Jabouille in RE23 and Rene Arnoux in RE24 at Monaco, with the AP power-brake system on the spare car RE22. The same trio were taken to Spain, but not raced.

Shadow: Even with a new car the Shadow team cannot get out of the non-qualifier group. At Monaco Lees had DN12/1 while Kennedy still used DN11/3, but in Spain a second DN12 was produced for the Irishman. Due to the withdrawal of three factory teams both Shadows got in the race but DN12/2 had a short race as Kennedy spun off on the second lap.

Fittipaldi: The mixture of Fittipaldi Automotive and the remains of Walter Wolf Racing struggle on without much progress though dogged determination nets the occasional result from other teams’ misfortunes. They still run the original three cars, F7/1 and F7/2 built from the bones of the Wolf cars, and F7/3 the totally 1980 Fittipaldi. Team leader Emerson Fittipaldi continues to use F7/1 while Kosberg continues with F7/2, occasionally having to use the third can in practice when he breaks his own. At Monaco he did not qualify and EF raced F7/1. In Spain the shortage of competitors allowed both drivers to qualify, EF in F7/1 and Rosberg in F7/2. During the Friday afternoon practice at Jarama Fittipaldi used the spare car.

Alfa Romeo: There was still some “cloak-and-dagger” stuff about the Autodelta team at Monaco, with four cars in the paddock but only three in the pits, the fourth one being left hidden away under the transporter. Depailler was in 179/03 and Giacomelli in 179/02, and the team-leader used 179/01 as well during practice. This was the car with the smaller and more compact V12 engine mounted lower. It was not raced. Some confusion arises with the Alfa Romeo team as they classify entities as Vettura, which are made up from Telaio (chassis) and Mature (engine). Vatura No 5 is the experimental car, built from Telaio 179/01 with the first of the new series engines.

In Spain they entered three cars, 179/03 for Depailler, 179/04 for Giacomelli, and 179/02 for Brambilla and in addition they had the experimental car built around 179/01. Due to the FOCA/FISA dissension none of the cars raced.

Ligier: As mid-season approaches the Ligier team have reached stability with three cars, changing the detail aerodynamics both above and below the chassis to make the best compromise for any given circuit. In Monaco and Spain the trio were unchanged in basics with JS11/15/04 for Pironi, JS11/15/03 for Laffite and JS11/15/01 as the communal spare.

Williams: This team have also stabilised with three cars, the same in Monaco and Spain with FW07B/7 for Jones, FW07B/5 for Reutemann and FW07B/6 as a cross between a spare car and an experimental car. In Spain Jones made his grid time in the spare car, but raced No 7 after it had been re-adjusted to the settings of suspension and aerodynamics used on the spare car. In the Jarama race FW07B/5 was severely damaged on the left side when Laffite’s Ligier JS11/15/03 ran into it. Also in Spain were two of the 1979 Williams cars, FW07/1 and FW07/3. These have been used in the British National Formula One scene and were at Jarama for Emilio de Villota, Number 3 being used for the race.

Arrows: By reason of the same dogged determination as Fittipaldi the Arrows, driven by Jochen Mass, has been achieving results, though the multitude of minor changes made to the cars have not produced much improvement. Mass races A3/4 and Patrese A3/5 with A3/1 as the spare. In Zolder Patrese crashed A3/3 and the salvable parts were removed and used to build up a new car around a new monocoque, hence the appearance of A3/5 at Monaco. The same cars were taken to Spain.

Osella: At Monaco a second car appeared but was not used. This was FA1/2 and Cheever raced it in Spain, with the original car being used in practice. — DSJ.