Mercedes 560SEC
If there is one marque closely identified with the life-style of a contemporary Grand Prix driver, it must be Mercedes-Benz. Over the last few years you have been able to measure the aspirations of budding F1 aces as they climb the ladder to fame and fortune by noting which model they drive. The not-so-rich opt for 2.3-litre 190 16-valve saloons, while the established stars and...
All the colour of F1's decade of extravagance
Formula One has never reflected its times better than during the 1980s. Motorsport was a microcosm of the world at large, characterised by a lust for absolute power and extreme wealth, set against a shifting political backdrop. A colourful, vulgar, tragic, overblown and (sometimes) magnificent time — for the planet and its most explosive sport.
Rainer...
John Michael Hawthorn, our first British World Champion Driver, has been done no favours as increasingly frequent Grand Prix races have devalued the currency and distorted the record book.
He started only 45 World Championship GPs… and won three. They put him level with Johnny Herbert (161 Grand Prix starts), Thierry Boutsen (163), Heinz-Harald Frentzen (156) and Didier Pironi (70). A more...
Feb 18: Toyota Team Europe is rocked by the resignation of three of its top rally engineers.
Feb 20: At a meeting near Heathrow, manufacturers involved in the World Rally Championship propose a two-wheel drive, two-litre Group A class, designed as a training ground for young drivers. It is quickly dubbed 'Formula Two'.
Feb 21: Frenchman Jean-Marc Gounon signs to lead the DAMS European F3000 team...
A foregone conclusion for Prost? - or will Schumacher spring a major surprise?
Has there ever been a season in which there has been so much uncertainty even before the racing begins?
Back in 1990, of course, Ayrton Senna was the bete noire of F1 after his outburst against FISA following the exclusion from victory in the Japanese GP that he always believed cost him that year's World Championship....
The best of everything Francorchamps, August 28 If there is a better driver than Ayrton . . . No, wait a minute, I said that last month. Let's start again. If there is a better circuit used for Formula One racing today, I'd like to see it.
The Nationale Circuit de Francorchamps with its 6.94 kilometres (4.3 miles) of impressive descents and climbs and tight first-gear hairpin in the south-east...
Finding the right niche
John Watson's Grand Prix career effectively finished a few days after the 1983 South African Grand Prix. After five years as a member of the Marlboro McLaren squad, he found himself dropped from the 1984 line-up when Alain Prost unexpectedly came onto the market following a split with the French Renault Elf team. Suddenly, the man who had almost seemed "part of the...
CORRADO FABI became 1982 European Formula Two Champion by a bare one point with a final round victory in his March-BMW at Misano, Sicily. Fastest in practice, but with Johnny Cecotto (March-BMW) and Thierry Boutsen (Spirit-Honda) also in the running for the title, the young Italian made the bold decision to start a wet race on slicks. To the team's relief, the circuit began to dry and Fabi...
Le Mans, June 19th, predictable but interesting
Having celebrated the 50th running of Le Mans last year, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest did not make such a fanfare about the 60th anniversary of the 24-hour race, though the parade of old cars and previous winners has now become a regular and popular feature of the preliminaries. Porsches dominated the entry list with 11 of their type 956 Group C...
The circle is neatly completed as
Renault — and its industry soulmate Michelin — carry the champion's number one in Formula One this season. For it was exactly 100 years ago that they carved out the commandments for grand prix success: technical innovation, detailed preparation, a tyre advantage, carefully choreographed pit work and neat, fast, consistent driving to a pre-arranged strategy. That...