At the end of the 1977 season Jochen Mass found himself edged out of McLaren, who replaced him with Patrick Tambay. After three and a bit seasons with the British…
The mantelpiece at his home in Monaco has been creaking, these past years, under the weight of invitations to appear at what the Germans call ‘old timer’ events all over…
"Thierry was a very smooth and stylish driver, a quiet man, not that forceful, and a very gentlemanly person who was always a pleasure to have in the team. "He…
1958 Formula 1 Argentine Grand Prix At first it looked as though the Italian teams had stolen a march on the British Grand Prix teams, by being ready for the…
There is precious little room in motor racing for ifs, buts and might-have-beens. As Keke Rosberg is fond of saying, if his aunt had a moustache and balls she’d be…
Teddy Mayer 1935-2009 Teddy Mayer passed away at home in Surrey at the end of January. Mayer, 73, was a stalwart of McLaren Cars through most of the company’s first…
"Stand back, they are all going off on a warm-up lap. Bonnier is very late starting; something wrong with a rear-wheel fixing; did his mechanic strip the studs?" "Here they…
Great Read
Big breath. I have to go there. The matter has to be raised. So best get it out of the way, no point pussyfooting around the edges. So I look…
Great Read
Having scaled the heights of back-to-back wins in both the drivers' and constructors' championships in 1959-60, Cooper found the terrain beyond steeply downhill. In 1961 it finished fourth in the…
Great Read
People – not the cars – are the essence of motor racing history. Unlike the chicken and the egg there's no doubting which comes first. The Maserati 250F was the first…
In a book shop the other day, I noticed by chance a volume on the life and, for want of a better word, works of Mark Thatcher (no, please, stay…
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The lights blinked yellow before the day-glo car hit the wall. The puff of dust as it dived into Turn 1 had told USAC chief observer Walt Myers all he…
Bruno Giacomelli 1990 LIFE F190 Italy's economy boom threw up some strange F1 outfits, but none stranger than life, whose bizarre W12 engine gave 440BHP less than the Honda unit…
In recent years there's been a spate of new circuits in world championship use, and I mean tracks not merely new to Formula One, but tracks new, period, built in…
Great Read
No one got hurt in the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis in 2005, but otherwise it was one of the most disastrous days in the history of Formula 1. Michelin,…
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Not even the brilliance of Michael Schumacher, who sat in the wheel tracks of the Williams for the last 20 laps of the European Grand Prix, could deprive Jacques Villeneuve…
