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Formula 1 - Specials

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0  1970 Review - The Uncrowned Champion

1970 was the year of transition in Grand Prix racing; the season that pitched the old guard against a feisty new breed of racers intent on pushing Formula One forward into the new decade. Nothing symbolised this battle more than the cars used by top contenders: Jackie Ickx’s Ferrari 312B relied on brute force to compensate for its outdated styling, whereas Jochen Rindt’s Lotus 72 showed that radical aerodynamics represented a brave and (potentially) faster way forward. And with the technological battles came a fascinating season’s racing. Jackie Stewart was the defending champion but took nothing for granted. When different drivers won the first four races, Stewart, and the world, knew that the Championship was wide open. Thrilling battles ensued until triumph and tragedy came together in one fatal collision: on the 5th of September 1970 Championship leader Jochen Rindt died during practice at Monza. He was to become the sport’s first posthumous champion.

1  1971 Review - Great Scot

At the start of the 1971 F1 season Ferrari was still the team to beat, and the brute force of the V-12 engine threatened to destroy everything in its wake. However, it was the addition of Stewart and Tyrrell into the Championship that challenged the balance of power. It made for an epic season that pitted mechanical muscle against driving skill. And as the season progressed Stewart and Tyrrell developed a magical formula that combined radical aerodynamics with Stewart’s sublime talent. It became clear that the might of the prancing horse could (and would) be tamed. This review doesn’t just show the action from the season – it tells the story. The 1971 Formula One season was the year the tyre-war intensified as the first slicks hit the tarmac, the year driver safety became a genuine concern and the year of Niki Lauda’s first Grand Prix.

2  1972 Review - Young Gun The Emmo Express

All eyes were on the defending champion Jackie Stewart and expectations were high that he would repeat the total domination of the previous year. He made his intentions clear with an emphatic win in the 1st GP – cruising home half a minute ahead of the chasing pack. However, there was another driver intent on stealing his crown: Emerson Fittipaldi, a whirlwind of talent and youthful arrogance in his iconic black and gold Lotus 72. And it turned out to be a thrilling season of on-the-limit action that climaxed at Monza – Fittipaldi’s spiritual home. Stewart’s broken clutch put him out of the race, ensuring Fittipaldi’s place in the record books: at just 25 years of age, ‘Emmo’ became the youngest-ever World Champion. The action wasn’t confined to the track. The season was full of behind-the-scenes politics, pit-lane rivalry, tyre-wars and battles for aerodynamic supremacy. The superb pit-lane footage and driver interviews featured in this review get right to the source of the intrigue.

3  1973 Review - Reign of Stewart

Jackie Stewart had won the Formula One championship in 1971 but Emerson Fittipaldi was the reigning champion. At the start of the 1973 F1 season there was no question regarding his intention, Jackie Stewart wanted his title back. It was Fittipaldi who laid down the gauntlet, winning three out of the first four races. However, Stewart refused to buckle under pressure, and consistent displays of driving genius with the Tyrrell wondercar brought him right back into contention. By the halfway point of the season, Stewart led the Championship by a single point. From this, he turned on the style, transforming his slender lead into something that was simply unassailable. He retired from Grand Prix racing at the end of the season as champion – with his position as one of the all-time greats assured. There was more to the season than the battle between the big guns. Safety regulations made a big impact on car design – but not on safety – as fatalities unfortunately returned to the championship.

4  1974 Review - Down to the Last Race

1974 was the year of change in Formula One. Defending champion Jackie Stewart had retired from racing, creating a power vacuum that sucked a host of racers, old and new, into the battle for the Championship. And what a season! Predicting the outcome of each race was impossible as the drivers battled to come to terms with closer racing brought about by faster cars with better tyres. It was reliability as much as driving skill that kept the leaderboard in a state of constant flux. By the final race of the season Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren), Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) and Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell) were locked in a fascinating three-way battle for the title. It went right down to the wire.

5  1975 Review - Lauda and Ferrari No.1

1975 was the year the prancing horse got its spring back. The early decade had been a challenging period for Ferrari, as they struggled to find a body shape that would do justice to the brute force of the V12 engine. Enter Niki Lauda and his brand new car - the Ferrari 312T; an irresistible combination that would prove to be unstoppable. But it wasn’t plain sailing all the way. 1975 was an unsettled season full of disagreements and problems that saw four races stopped prematurely for safety reasons and the Canadian GP cancelled over money issues. Lauda shone through these gloomy times, winning four out of five mid-season GPs to take the championship away from his closest rival, defending champion Emerson Fittipaldi. When he secured the championship/constructor double in front of a frenzied Italian crowd at Monza, the world knew that Ferrari was back.

6  1976 Review - Hunt for the Title

The reigning Champion, Niki Lauda in the Ferrari, started the 1976 season as the favourite for the Championship. His nearest rival, Emerson Fittipaldi, made the patriotic switch from McLaren to the Brazilian funded Copersucar team. This left a hole at McLaren... it was filled by the ambitious British hopeful with the playboy image, James Hunt, to set the scene for a dramatic season of racing. Tyrrell stole the limelight early on in the season, not for their results, but through the unveiling of their revolutionary six-wheeled P34 - it certainly was a unique sight to F1 fans. Hunt quickly adapted to life at McLaren and, unfazed by Lauda's early dominance, continued to pick up valuable points and podium finishes. The 1976 season however will probably be best remembered for Niki Lauda's horrific accident at the Nurburgring that nearly ended his life and saw him rushed to hospital with major burns. His resilience and dedication to racing saw him make a remarkable recovery, returning six weeks later to ensure a thrilling climax to a season that ended with only one point separating 1st and 2nd place in the championship. Again it was the last eventful race in the rain in Japan that decided the title.

7  1977 Review - Lauda's Comeback

1977 saw Niki Lauda start the season, scarred but fit. And determined to put his horrific accident in ’76 behind him. The first race of the season, in Argentina, provided a maiden victory for the Wolf team, which was followed by an extremely successful debut season, ending with Jody Scheckter taking second place in the championship. The season didn’t start so well for Lauda, and it wasn’t until the third round that he secured his first victory. However, his celebrations at Kyalami were muted, as the safety regulations in Formula One were once again brought into question. Young Welsh driver Tom Pryce was killed instantly in a collision with a marshal, crossing the track to assist with a retired car. The marshal also died. Despite Lauda’s poor start and total of only three wins for the season, he picked up points at all but three GPs, and was rewarded for his consistency with his second championship victory. The title was secured with two races left to run, and with relationships between driver and team frail, Lauda chose not to complete the season. Instead Ferrari gave the drive to a young and ambitious Gilles Villeneuve.

8  1978 Review - Magic Mario

Ferrari and Lauda had now gone their separate ways despite winning the championship together in ‘77. Lauda moved to Brabham and Ferrari took on the young Gilles Villeneuve. Frank Williams and Patrick Head formed Williams Grand Prix Engineering, mounting their first title challenge with Alan Jones in the driving seat. Tyrrell had reverted back to four wheels from their radical six-wheeled P34, and this year it was Brabham who turned heads with the introduction of their BT-46B ‘fan car’. On its first Grand Prix in Sweden it took first place only to be banned from future competition by the FIA. The Lotus Type 79 ‘wing car’ was regarded as the best outfit, piloted by the experienced pairing of Mario Andretti and Ronnie Peterson. The Lotus team capitalised on their advantage and with two rounds left to race, it was only Peterson that had any chance of catching Andretti. Formula One still hadn’t made safety a paramount concern, and at Monza it paid the price. An early crash left Peterson with fatal injuries, delivering another blow to Formula One and reaffirming the need for tighter controls. This tragedy gave Andretti the title and despite not finishing at Watkins Glen and coming 10th in Montreal, Lotus had secured enough points to take the constructors title by 28 points.

9  1979 Review - Maranello Mastery

1979 saw Carlos Reutemann move to partner Mario Andretti at Lotus as Jody Scheckter took his seat at Ferrari. Wolf filled the gap left by Scheckter with James Hunt, and McLaren gave John Watson a drive in place of Hunt. The type 79 ‘wing car’ had offered Lotus a great advantage in aerodynamic grip during the previous season. But for this year, many of the teams had incorporated the technology into their designs. Over the first two races Ligier appeared to have made up the most ground with Jacques Laffite taking the victories. In round 3, Ferrari laid down the team’s intentions, giving the new 312T4 model its successful debut. As the season progressed Williams’ reliability improved and Alan Jones demonstrated the team’s pace, winning four out of the last six races. For Williams and Jones it was too little too late. The consistent performances from the Ferrari team had paid off, and despite only having three victories throughout the season, Scheckter took the title. 1979 also saw Formula One say its goodbyes to two of the decade’s greatest characters: James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Hunt quit racing after the Monaco Grand Prix claiming to be fed up with Formula One, and Lauda retired at the penultimate Grand Prix in Montreal.

10  1980 Review - Double First Williams and Jones

1980. The new decade brought a record number of entries for the start of the season. Expectations were high that the champions of ’79, Ferrari and Jody Scheckter, could be beaten. Enter Team Williams and Alan Jones - the new force in a bright new era for Formula One racing. But it took the entire season before the victory was in the bag. Jones took the opening race, but then faltered. Brabham’s Nelson Piquet took advantage in the interim, completing a spectacular double in the Dutch and US GPs to lead the championship with two races remaining. It was up to Williams and Jones to pull out all the stops to seize the title.

11  1981 FIA Review - Start to Finish

The 1981 season was dominated by two clashes - on track Williams vs. Nelson Piquet of Brabham; and off track FISA vs. FOCA in the battle for control of the World Championship. As well as the squabbling Williams team-mates (Reutemann and Jones) 1981 also featured the awesome Gilles Villeneuve. This review has the best of the action, makes sense of the politics (just!) and bearing in mind that it was the first in-depth season review in Formula One polishes up remarkably well.

12  1982 FIA Review - End of Season Review

The 1982 Formula One season was the 33rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on January 23, 1982, and ended on September 25 after sixteen races. The combination of technical and sporting regulations used during this season prompted many complaints about safety before and during the season. The season saw two fatalities and many serious accidents. Ferrari driver Gilles Villeneuve was killed in an accident during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder after hitting the March car of Jochen Mass. Italian driver Riccardo Paletti died at the Canadian Grand Prix when his Osella car hit the back of Didier Pironi's stalled car at the start of the race. Pironi, who had been Villeneuve's teammate, suffered massive injuries to his legs in another qualifying accident at the German Grand Prix and never raced in Formula One again.

13  1983 FIA Review - The Official End of Season Review

Though controversial the 1983 season was quite entertaining and, with ground effects banned, one that did not see any drivers suffer serious injury. What a shame, then, that the technical quality of the footage is not very good, and the commentary is simply appalling. Apparently trying to be funny, the commentators (Brian Kriesky and Barbara Rosenblat) act as a married couple with the ‘wife’ barging in with hopelessly wooden lines about how cute the drivers are. No, it’s not even funny in an ironic way, it’s just plain painful. That and the dodgy video quality and audio reproduction make this an unpleasant viewing experience. Kriesky’s inability to pronounce ‘Prost’ correctly is the icing on the cake. There are at least some good races of note and another championship decided at the final round. Nelson Piquet’s Brabham was running on illegal ‘exotic’ fuel for most of the year but this fact is totally overlooked by the commentary. After Brabham’s flirtation with refuelling in 1982 it was de rigeur in 1983, and adds as little to the entertainment as it does these days.

14  1984 FIA Review - Two Till the End

The full story of the 1984 FIA Formula One World Championship is a gripping one dominated by the McLaren-TAG-Porsche MP4/2 -and the battle to the end between team-mates Niki Lauda and Alain Prost. ‘84 was also the year the racing world witnessed a new name soon to be on everyone’s lips - Ayrton Senna; new fuel rules gave all teams plenty to think about...and in Germany, curious crowds flocked to the modern new Nurburgring. Written and narrated by Clive James

15  1985 FIA Review - Deservedly Prost

The 1985 formula one season saw continued success for the McLaren-TAG team. After missing out on the championship by just half a point the previous year, Alain Prost would ultimately secure his first of four titles by a 23-point margin. The Formula One writer Koen Vergeer remarks that "it was about time, everyone knew he was the best",[citation needed] reflecting a general feeling that Prost had been unlucky to finish runner-up twice, to Nelson Piquet and Niki Lauda. The reigning champion Lauda competed in his final season of Formula One but was unable to match Prost for results, winning just once at Zandvoort despite being close to his team-mate in terms of pace. For much of the season the points table was headed by Ferrari's Michele Alboreto, who enjoyed his best season in F1. He won the Canadian and German Grands Prix, and was on the podium eight times. Ferrari's results faded badly in the second half of the season as other emerging drivers took the fight to Prost. Among these were Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell, both of whom scored their first victories in 1985. Lotus team manager Peter Warr had replaced Mansell with Senna going into the season, a decision which initially seemed justified when Senna took a superb win in the wet at Estoril. However Mansell fought back with Williams, and chalked up two victories near the season's end, including his famous breakthrough win at Brands Hatch. Mansell would go on to mount a serious title challenge in 1986. Perhaps the fastest combination of the year was Keke Rosberg in the other Williams, who used the powerful Honda engine to set a new lap record around Silverstone in qualifying for the British Grand Prix - becoming the first man to lap at an average speed of over 160mph. He finished third in the standings after wins on the street circuits of Detroit and Adelaide, but lacked the reliability to overcome Prost. 1.5-litre turbo engines had become universal by 1985, heralding the extinction of the Ford Cosworth DFV. Between 1985 and 1986 Formula One engines would achieve the highest levels of power ever seen in the sport, before serious restrictions and their 'phasing out' began in 1987. The power output of the engines was controlled in racing conditions by means of a strict fuel limit; however in qualifying trim teams were commonly able to increase the boost of their engines for optimum power. This fuel economy was key to successful race strategy in 1985; Mansell recalls the added interest of planning his fuel use in his autobiography. It also proved costly for Ayrton Senna, who lost victory just four laps from home at Imola when he ran out of fuel. After Prost was disqualified for an underweight McLaren, victory fell to the other Lotus of Elio de Angelis. 1985 also saw a welcome return to the calendar of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. Although shortened from its dangerous 1960's form, it remained a challenge for the drivers. Unfortunately it also caused one of the few cancellations of Grands Prix in the sport's history, when the new all-weather track surface broke up badly during practice. Extensive repairs were needed and the race was rescheduled for later in the year; Senna was the winner, with Prost finishing on the podium again to take a big step towards his first championship. The Dutch Grand Prix was the last Grand Prix for Stefan Bellof, who died in the World Sports Car Championship race at Spa Francorchamps in the famous Eau Rouge corner. He was the reigning world champion in this series, but decided against running for the Porsche factory team in 1985, to concentrate on formula 1, but was still driving in various WSC races for the private Brun team. Until his death Stefan Bellof was one of the rising stars in racing, being rumored to having an offer to drive for Ferrari in 1986. The summer of 1985 was remembered as the sadest weeks for German racing, as both German formula one drivers, Manfred Winkelhock and Stefan Bellof died within three weeks in WSC races.

16  1986 FIA Review - All Over Down Under

The season culminated in a points battle between the Williams duo of Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell versus McLaren's Alain Prost at the final race, the 1986 Australian Grand Prix. Mansell's tire blew in spectacular fashion and Piquet, traveling near Mansell at the time of the tire disintegration, was brought in for an unscheduled pit stop soon afterward by Williams to check for any damage done by the debris. Prost won the championship.

17  1987 FIA Review - A Painless Half-Nelson

Mansell fans, steel yourselves - this is anything but painless. 1987 saw Piquet take his third title, but he often profitted at the misfortune of his despised team-mate Mansell, whose title challenge finally collapsed when he shunted in practice at Suzuka and injured his back. The video highlights for the year are presented by the late Peter Ustinov and commentated on by Simon Taylor. Ustinov is entertainingly off-the-wall and Taylor is more engaging than on earlier films. The film serves the season well from a historical perspective, charting the progress of the Jim Clark Cup drivers and Colin Champman Cup (these were one-off championships for drivers and teams respectively with normally aspirated machines during the turbo heyday) and keeping an eye on major developments. Not least of which being Honda’s defection from champions Williams to Lotus, who were never to win another race. Williams’ domination of 1987 was such that the quality of the racing suffered. However, most of the major race (and pre-race) action is present, including even Stefan Johansson’s grisly accident with a deer in Austria. Johansson was fine, the deer was a write-off.

18  1988 FIA Review - Honda... All Fired Up

The pre-season was a very contentious time, with many theories of the championship flying around. Would the Honda engines prove successful with McLaren? Would Ferrari be able to continue the trend set by the last two rounds of 1987 where Gerhard Berger took successive victories? Would Williams be able to continue their success without Honda and Nelson Piquet? Could World Champion Piquet succeed in defending his title with the Honda powered Lotus? The Jim Clark and Colin Chapman cups had been withdrawn as the "atmospheric", naturally aspirated engines were making a return as the sole engine for 1989, with severe restrictions on turbos for this season. Many teams took the gamble of using Judd or Cosworth V8 engines, to get an extra year in to get used to the new regulations, whilst other teams like Ferrari and McLaren decided to make the most of their turbo experience and made one last turbo car to hopefully bring the most of the cars despite the regulations. With Ferrari being the only completely stable option, many agreed that Gerhard Berger would be in serious contention, and this was supported in his second place behind Alain Prost's McLaren as well as securing the fastest lap for the Scuderia. Remarkable, also, was Nigel Mansell's recovery from his accident in Japan to score a front row position for his non-turbo Judd-powered Williams on his first race back. Ayrton Senna suffered from a failure at the races beginning, eventually being disqualified after switching to a second car. At the time he had risen up to second place after starting from the pits. At Imola, however, it was plain to see what all the teams had feared. Gordon Murray's MP4/4, combined with the championship winning Honda Turbo, made a mockery of the rest of the grid. Even the Lotus-Hondas of Piquet and Nakajima were left a lap behind race winner Senna, with team-mate Prost less than five seconds behind him. At the front of the grid, things were as tight as ever, however for everyone else it had become a race for third. Despite what many expected, the championship would hardly be considered boring with the McLaren onslaught peaking with the drivers fighting in several feuds. At Monaco, after Alain Prost set the fastest lap, Ayrton refused to accept that his team-mate could be driving faster than he was, especially after Senna out qualified Prost by over a second. Senna pushed and after scoring the fastest lap, he had a lapse in concentration and hit the wall. Berger picked up second place behind Prost. In Mexico, it was nearly a repeat of San Marino. McLaren 1-2, with this time only one driver on the lead lap. Gerhard Berger had picked up his third podium in four races, giving him the edge on Piquet and Alboreto for the title of "Best of the Rest" - The race for third. Canada again proved a repeat of the McLaren onslaught, this time Boutsen's Benetton being the only other car on the lead lap, and 50 seconds behind. This was repeated in Detroit, however this time Boutsen failed to stay on the lead lap as Senna took his second victory in a row, making it six out of six for McLaren and Honda. The following race at Paul Ricard saw another 1-2 for McLaren, this time with Prost at the helm for his home Grands Prix, followed by the Ferraris of Alboreto and Berger, with only the former on the lead lap. Piquet raced a brilliant race, despite lacking second gear, to come through for a fifth place. At the wet British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Nigel Mansell surprised all by scoring a second place for an atmos car for his first finish of the season after seven races of DNF's, a result which definitely pleased the hordes of British fans who were still gripped in Mansell-mania despite the driver's (or rather, the car's) lack lustre performance through the year. The podium was rounded off by Nannini, proving that Silverstone's long straights, although showcasing the high speed of the turbos, was not a good race for the to-be-banned cars, with the efficiency of the atmos cars proving a much better deal, albeit Senna still dominating in his McLaren, proving once again his skill as a wet weather driver. Germany proved a return to the year's trend, with again long straights of Hockenheim showcasing the brute strength of the turbos, with the only atmos car on the lead lap behind both McLaren and Ferraris respectively being Capelli's March. Senna took the win to Prost, with Berger taking the bottom step of the rostrum. At the following grand prix at Hungary, Senna secured his 24th pole position, securing the third highest total after legendary champions Jim Clark and Fangio, backing his qualifying effort up with a victory, less than a second in front of team-mate Prost. This was Senna's sixth win of the season, and third on the trot, with Prost on just four wins. The 1988 Belgian Grand Prix showed Prost one thing: to not change his set-up at the last minute. All through the year, Prost's better feel at setting up a car was not only noticed by his team-mate, but mimicked. Senna had used Prost's set-ups for every race thus far, and the race at Spa was no different. This annoyed Prost, and he changed his aero-settings at the last minute, hoping to give himself an edge over the pole-sitting Senna. At the start, Prost took the lead after Senna suffered wheel spin but was caught and passed half way around the track. Senna went on to secure the victory to Prost, a distant second. Third and forth was filled by the two Benettons, however their places were stricken long after the season had ended, giving Capelli his first podium of the year. The 1-2 for McLaren signified the end of any statistical hope of Ferrari catching them in constructors championship, securing McLaren one of the earliest recorded constructors victories. Before the Italian Grand Prix, Prost was quoted as saying that, as it was very possible that McLaren would take out a perfect sixteen out of sixteen victories, the winner would be determined between which McLaren driver would take the most wins, and on the change they both took eight, it would be determined on their second places, which at the time Prost had more of despite having less wins. This meant Prost could only let Senna win one more time. Monza, being another high speed circuit, would prove to be another McLaren dominated race, with both sitting on the front row, again with both Ferraris behind. The race fell into regular routine as Senna lead from the start and Prost close behind. However, on lap 35 of 51, Prost's championship hopes seemed to evaporate in a cloud of smoke, leaking from his engine. The tifosi cheered as their drivers were shifted to second and third, and Honda were livid in their engine expiring on a track that was being dominated by the turbo cars. Senna looked set to secure another victory, and albeit seal his championship hopes, when lapping Schlesser, filling in for the still ill Mansell, decided it was wise to do so on one of the track's corners, instead of waiting for the long straight that would follow. Senna accidentally hit Schlesser and was livid, whilst the tifosi erupted; Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto sat first and second. They went on to finish that, unfortunately it was only weeks after Enzo Ferrari's death, with both drivers and team dedicating the victory to him. This race would prove to be the only chink in the McLaren's perfect year and their only double retirement. The following grands prix at Portugal proved to be an exciting affair, for all but Ayrton Senna who suffered race long with fuel troubles. He ended sixth while Prost kept his championship hopes alive to secure his fifth race of the year. Then at Spain, he secured his sixth, again in an attempt to delay an almost inevitable eighth race for Senna - a race that would secure his first of three championships. Senna suffered from similar problems and was lucky to secure fourth whilst Mansell doubled his British Grand Prix efforts and scored another six points. The penultimate round in Japan proved, once again, to be the home of where the title was decided. This time it was the end of the weekend, and not the beginning. Prost made a superb start to the lead, whilst Senna stalled, lucky in the fact that Suzuka had a sloping grid, helping to start his car. Senna knew he had nothing to lose and everything to gain in this race, and knew he could seal the championship here. By the end of the lap he had already made up six positions, and by the fourth lap he was sitting in fourth position. The top six cars were all sitting very close and when the rain started to fall, so did Prost. Capelli took this chance to become the first naturally aspirated car to lead a Grands Prix in over 4 years, thrilling the March team. Unfortunately, this was not to last as his electronics would eventually fail. By then, Senna was hot on the tail of Prost. Prost hated the wet, as much as he hated to lose, and his failing gearbox only added to the Brazilian's chances. When the pair came round to lap some back-markers, as Prost was caught up with de Cesaris, Ayrton went past to take the lead, and set three consecutive fastest laps and setting a new lap record. As he was now out on a wet track with dry tires, as many other drivers were, he signaled to stop the race. However, the race ran its full distance and Honda were reveling in their 1-2 finish, whilst Prost was bitter. He would go on to win in Adelaide, and score eleven more points in total than Senna, but only the eleven highest scores counted, with Senna's eight wins and three seconds giving him a total of 90 points to Prost's 87. He went on to be a proponent of essentially the 90's scoring system - all results counting to the final results with the winner scoring 10, not 9, points.

19  1989 FIA Review - How to Win a Championship

The 1989 season saw the end to the turbo engines. There were also several other new rules introduced, such as the hectic hour of pre-qualifying, to cope with the huge influx of new teams in the post-turbo era. Half way during the season, the group of teams up for pre-qualifying went under review, with the somewhat successful and reborn Brabham team getting promoted, while other teams were demoted. Another new regulation[1] decreed by FISA was that, in the interest of safety, the driver's feet must be situated behind the front axle-line. Designers, not thinking of the driver's comfort, simply designed smaller and more cramped cockpits. The problem was first highlighted at the first round, the Brazilian Grand Prix, with focus on the Ross Brawn designed Arrows cars. Both drivers, Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever, suffered severe cramping and felt the new regulations were in fact making it more dangerous, with Cheever saying that "if (he) got sideways ... (he) simply cannot correct with the steering wheel" due to his lanky frame.[2] As well as their first 12 cylinder engine since the 1980 season, Ferrari boasted one of the sleekest and highly advanced designs. John Barnard's F1 640 was innovative, with a distinct nose section unlike any other car. The car also featured a semi-automatic electronic gearbox, the first of its kind. The gears were activated sequentially simply by pulling levers on either side of the steering wheel with a button underneath to be used as the clutch to prevent the car from stalling at pit-stops or in the event of an accident. Ferrari's final trump card was their newest recruit, Englishman Nigel Mansell. After an initial offer in 1986, when the feud between him and Nelson Piquet cost both the Drivers' Championship, Mansell had finally accepted to join the team, where he partnered Austrian Gerhard Berger. This made for an impressive line-up, with some saying that they could topple the all-dominating McLarens. The climate of Formula One was one of much optimism in what many saw as a new age, with many revelling in the brutal and much more appealing sounds of the V10 and V12 engines. Thus Brazil proved to be an excitement filled race, and dramatic too. Qualifying had a few surprises too, with Riccardo Patrese scoring a front row position next to the home favorite, world champion Ayrton Senna. Williams and Renault were both surprised by the position, but both highly pleased with Thierry Boutsen qualifying fourth alongside the high powered Ferrari of Berger. The race started with a bang, as Senna's hopes at a home grand prix victory were dashed as he squeezed Berger a little too much. Senna went on to finish two laps down whilst Berger retired on the spot. Double world champion Alain Prost's McLaren had been having problems all weekend, and when his two stop strategy was ruined by a clutch failure, he knew he had to continue the race on one set of tires. He finished second. Nigel Mansell secured a surprising win for the Scuderia, with no problems despite ongoing gearbox faults all weekend and winter testing. The final step of the podium was taken by local Maurício Gugelmin. At Imola, last year's trend had returned. McLaren settled on the front row of the grid and stayed that way for the race, with Mansell's Ferrari retiring midway with the aforementioned gearbox issues. Gerhard Berger, despite showing promise by setting the fastest time in the wet Friday qualifying, suffered a brake problem and careened off the track at Tamburello at an intensely high speed. The race was stopped after just the third lap. Berger miraculously survived with but a broken rib, shoulder bone and burns to his back and hands. He gave a thumbs up and the race was restarted not too long after. Senna went on to win in 1988 fashion, with Prost second. Patrese's engine failed and Boutsen disqualified, so the third place was taken up by the Benetton Ford of Alessandro Nannini. Gabriele Tarquini was able to bring his barely-prequalified AGS in sixth for a well celebrated point. After the Grand Prix, Prost was disgruntled and said he wished to not make a comment on the race, other than that "orders were not respected". Senna refused to comment on the matter. Before the race at Monaco, Prost said he wanted "nothing to do with (Senna)" and refused to speak with him. With Berger out, the always short grid of Monaco was one car shorter. Senna had scored his third pole of the season, with the number 2 car of Prost again alongside. March introduced their new 1989 design.[3] Senna went on to win by almost a whole minute to Prost while the Brabham of Stefano Modena went on to secure a valuable third for the rekindled team while Michele Alboreto secured his first points since leaving Ferrari for Tyrrell. At Mexico, Gerhard Berger made a return despite continued pain in his fingers. However, transmission and gearbox problems again forced the strong Ferraris from point scoring positions for the third race straight. While they lamented their results, McLaren and Senna took a third win on the trot by a differing choice of tires. Prost's choice sent him down the order to fifth. Alboreto doubled his efforts in Monaco by scoring a third with Patrese sneaking in a second. The United States Grand Prix had a new destination, this time in the hot desert of Phoenix, Arizona. It was a new place, but the same old dirty and dusty street circuits. Senna made the most of his skill in the wet and scored another pole. Prost again playing second fiddle by over a second. Prost won the race, while Senna suffered an electric problem. Williams ended up being the only team to finish with both cars as the dirty track and unforgiving concrete walls ended six races, with the heat and dust cutting out many more. One driver, Nannini, even suffered from driver fatigue and had to retire, with the Ferrari V12s cutting out from identical alternator failures. Patrese's second gave him third place in the championship, while Prost took the lead. An ecstatic Cheever celebrated he and his teams first podium of the season, at his own home grand prix. The Canadian Grand Prix again provided many retirements, but also with a new winner. Boutsen scored a 1-2 finish for Williams, the first non-McLaren team to do so since Ferrari in Monza the year previous. Andrea de Cesaris picked up third for Dallara. In France, Prost secured a home pole position, while fellow Frenchman and future grand prix superstar Jean Alesi made his debut for the Tyrrell team, replacing Alboreto despite his two strong results. This proved to pay off as the Frenchman secured a fourth place finish, with Nigel Mansell ending Ferrari's run of retirements with a secure second. This almost did not happen as the Brazilian Gugelmin caused a major first corner accident, flying into the air and crash landing onto Mansell's rear wing. Luckily, no one was hurt and all drivers managed to take the restart. Swede Stefan Johansson also scored the Onyx team's first points. The British Grand Prix proved much the same - McLaren front row, Senna retiring, Prost winning, and Mansell scoring a home ground second to please the British fans, whose Mansellmania coupled with the tifosi made for hysteria. Nannini scored a third while both Minardis scored points. At this, the half way point of the championship, Prost's lead over Senna had increased to 20 points. Despite much talk, he downplayed the thought of a third championship. "I don't want to start talking about the championship, getting into all that," he said, "but I'm much happier now, yes. Motivated again. I've had no engine problems since Mexico, which is nice, and also I'm pleased to see Ferrari getting more competitive: both Nigel and Gerhard can win races and that can only help me."[4] In Germany, however, Senna's bad luck ended after scoring a treble - pole, fastest lap and the win. Alain suffered gearbox troubles, while Berger's pointless season continued with a tire puncture robbing him of a possible podium. Mansell picked up a third place and mused everyone's thoughts: "If any of the circuits in the world is ideal for McLaren-Honda, it's Hockenheim."[5] The dirty Hungaroring provided an almost gripless practice and qualifying, that eventually led to the first non-McLaren pole position of the year - Riccardo Patrese made a Senna-like performance with a 0.31 gap between himself and Senna himself. Another surprise was the equally impressive Alex Caffi, who scored third with a time less than a second slower than that of Patrese - in a car that had been notoriously midfield. The Ferraris, however, suffered badly. Mansell wasn't only just able to crack the 1:21's, while Patrese's time was an impressive 1:19.7, whilst Berger constantly complained of gear shift troubles - even asking the team to change the gearbox pre-race, which they didn't. This eventually cost him a point scoring position, as the gearbox went on to fail. Countering this was Mansell's impressive 12-to-first race, even over taking Ayrton Senna in the area he excelled most, lapping back markers. Mansell made an impressive move on a track notorious for mediocre and unpassable races. He went on to compare the race to his win at Silverstone two years earlier and dedicated it to the late Enzo Ferrari, a year after the Old Man's death. Caffi's race was the exact counter-point of Mansell's - despite a strong start he finished a lonely seventh: no points. Senna scored a second with Prost again suffering problems and finishing fourth. Patrese retired from the lead and Boutsen finished third. A wet Spa showcased Senna's wet weather skills at their best. 'Magic' (Senna's nickname during the wet[6]) shone that day to give him another win despite engine troubles that also befell Prost with Mansell in third saying that problems like that he could certainly use - he finished less than two seconds behind Senna. The Italian Grand Prix sealed the end of two things: Gerhard Berger's terrible season (he scored a second place on both the grid and race) and Prost's love affair with McLaren. Having been on the wane for some time, he sealed its end after announcing his switch to Ferrari for the next year, and giving the trophy he had won to the tifosi. Ron Dennis' usual composure was shattered and he hurled his trophy at the driver's feet, storming off. Prost said it was an unsatisfactory win and Boutsen made do with a gifted podium after Senna's late race retirement. The thirteenth round at Estoril turned many frowns and furrowed brows upside down, while it kept the McLaren men's exactly where they were. Berger won whilst Mansell took out the world champion in a controversial black flag situation. Prost scored another podium, with his twelfth point finish, it meant he started to lose points as only his best eleven finishes counted. Martini's Minardi scored a fifth place grid and finish while the struggling Onyx in the hands of Johansson finshed third. He marveled at the car's performance on a low-grip track and spoke of optimism for Spain. The new Williams, however, suffered near-simultaneous and identical motor blow-outs. Up until then they looked promising. In Spain, Senna, now in a position where he must win all three remaining races, took a thirty second victory over Berger with another thirty to Prost. Alesi scored another strong fourth place for the Tyrrell team. Then the Formula One circus arrived at Suzuka, Japan for the now infamous penultimate round for the championship. Prost, after saying he would not leave the door open for his teammate, who he felt had made far too many risky moves on him.[7] Senna took pole, but Prost beat him away from the grid and lead by 1.4 seconds by the end of the first lap. By lap 15, however, Senna was all over the back of Prost's McLaren after moving through both Williams and Benettons. He whittled down Prost's 5 second lead to just under a second by lap 30, but the latter pulled a few seconds ahead by the 35th lap. By the end of lap 46, with 7 to go, the gap was just over a second. Senna, further back then he had been earlier in the race, made a move on Prost in the chicane before the start-finish straight. True to his word, Prost closed the gap and the two skidded into the escape road and both engines stalled.[citation needed] Prost had won the championship and jumped from his car. Senna, however, got a push from the marshals and returned to the track. He worked his way past both Williams and the Benettons again, to take a three second victory. However, his altercation with Prost seven laps earlier meant he had missed the chicane, and not completed the lap. He was disqualified and Nannini reveled in his first grand prix victory. The new Williams FW13s finished second and third, putting them five points ahead of the Ferrari team in the race for second. McLaren went to appeal the decision. With the matter hanging in the air, Senna went on record saying it was a plot and conspiracy against him by FIA and FISA president Jean Marie Balestre who he said favored Alain Prost. Eventually, after sealing the 1991 championship, he went on to make a searing attack at the two, feeling he had still been robbed.[citation needed] The final round at Adelaide saw the race run under heavy rain. Prost elected to withdraw at the end of the first lap in such torrentially wet conditions and would score no points. Senna, who still had a slim chance of winning the championship, pending the appeal, saw no choice but to race. By lap ten, he had over 30 seconds to the Williams pair and counting. Instead of relaxing, he continued to push in poor visibility. On lap 13, he ran into the rear of Brundle's Brabham and sealed the championship for Prost. The Williams scored a double podium finish with Boutsen winning, despite being a strong proponent of not starting in such conditions. Nearly 20 years on, this championship is still a hotly contested debate as to whether Senna would have won if not for the Suzuka incident, as well as the incident itself being a point for argument. Many Senna fans join his beliefs and accuse Prost of cheating, while others firmly believe it was Senna's own intimidating driving style that ended his hopes. Others blame Balestre for disqualifying him for missing the chicane, with drivers agreeing a year later that driving backwards just to make the chicane against on-coming cars is suicidal.[citation needed] Some pro-Prost people point to Senna's crash at Adelaide saying he had lost the championship there, while others say he wouldn't have been as aggressive had he won at Japan fairly. However, his failure at Adelaide is often forgotten in the argument over the Suzuka chicane. Regardless of the debates, Prost secured his third championship while Senna had to wait another year to score his second. Williams and Renault had begun their partnership that would eventually lead to four drivers championships and five constructors championships.

20  1990 FIA Review - 78 to 71... A Clear Decision

Pre-season * McLaren retained champion Senna, now partnered by Gerhard Berger. * Ferrari signed Alain Prost, Senna's great rival and former team-mate, to partner Nigel Mansell. * Williams retained their 1989 pairing of Thierry Boutsen and Riccardo Patrese. * Benetton completed the signing of triple champion Nelson Piquet alongside Alessandro Nannini now entering his third year with the team. * Lotus, having lost Piquet, and experienced Japanese driver Satoru Nakajima to Tyrrell, signed Derek Warwick and young Irish driver Martin Donnelly. During the off-season, Zakspeed had withdrawn from Formula One and returned to sports car racing while Rial had folded after two unsuccessful seasons in F1. New team Life appeared on the grid, powered by their own unconventional engine design and piloted by Gary Brabham, son of Jack Brabham, and Bruno Giacomelli.

21  1991 FIA Review - Nearly Mansell

Pre-Season * McLaren retained their successful 1990 lineup of Senna and Gerhard Berger * Williams re-signed their former driver Nigel Mansell on the promise that he would be the top driver in the team after several years as number two to Nelson Piquet at Williams and then Alain Prost at Ferrari. He was partnered by Riccardo Patrese, retained from 1990. * Ferrari kept Alain Prost as lead driver and replaced the departed Mansell with Jean Alesi, a young driver who had impressed at Tyrrell. * Benetton began the season with two experienced Brazilian drivers: Roberto Moreno and triple world champion Nelson Piquet. During the season, Moreno was replaced by German rookie Michael Schumacher. * Former greats Lotus had had a torrid 1990 with a severe accident for Martin Donnelly, loss of title sponsorship from Camel and a management buyout. The new cars, white and British Racing Green after decades of yellow or black, were piloted by rookie drivers Mika Häkkinen and Julian Bailey, though Bailey was eventually replaced by Johnny Herbert. Three teams that started the 1990 season would not make the start of the 1991 season: EuroBrun had failed to complete the season. Onyx Grand Prix also pulled out during 1990, but went as far as designing a 1991 car before finally folding, while the absence of Life surprised no-one. The Osella team was now Fondmetal, though driver Olivier Grouillard was retained along with the 1989 Osella car and most of the staff. The only entirely new team for 1991 was Jordan Grand Prix, a successful team in International Formula 3000. Their drivers were Bertrand Gachot and Andrea de Cesaris, though Gachot's incarceration for assault partway through the season would mean that Michael Schumacher, Alessandro Zanardi and Roberto Moreno also drove the car. A change to the points system in 1991 saw the winning driver now awarded 10 points instead of 9 as previously. More significantly, points from all races would now count towards the championship, instead of only each driver's best eleven results as previously.

22  1992 FIA Review - Well Done Nigel

Pre-season The four major teams all kept at least one driver from 1991, with the two main title challengers both fielding unchanged driver lineups. * McLaren kept drivers Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger from the 1991 season * Williams likewise retained Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese. * Ferrari replaced Alain Prost with Ivan Capelli * Benetton retained Michael Schumacher, now paired with Martin Brundle. Further down the grid, the Jordan team took a risk by replacing both drivers after their successful debut season, while the impoverished Coloni team had been sold and renamed Andrea Moda Formula.

23  1993 FIA Review - Senna Fights Back

Pre-season 1993 saw a major shake-up of drivers, especially among the top teams. Across the grid a number of experienced drivers retired or moved to other series and new faces emerged. * Williams completed the signing of Alain Prost, returning to the sport after a "sabbatical" year. Nigel Mansell opted not to remain with the team to defend his title and moved to Indy Car racing in the US. Prost's team-mate would be Damon Hill, son of Graham Hill and Williams's test driver in 1992. The absence of the defending champion meant that Williams could not use the number 1 on their cars, so the cars were numbered 0 and 2, with Prost electing to use number 2. * Uncertainty also surrounded the McLaren team, whose iconic driver Ayrton Senna was reluctant to re-sign for 1993 as the team had lost their Honda engines and were not expected to be competitive with their customer Ford engines. McLaren signed Michael Andretti, a successful IndyCar driver, and Mika Häkkinen who had impressed for Lotus in 1991-92. Senna eventually signed on a race-by-race basis for the team and was partnered by Andretti for most of the season. * Benetton retained Michael Schumacher, but Martin Brundle was replaced by Italian veteran Riccardo Patrese, released by Williams. * Scuderia Ferrari likewise retained Jean Alesi, but Ivan Capelli and Nicola Larini had both disappointed in 1992 and Gerhard Berger returned to the team after three years away. * Ligier reunited British drivers Martin Brundle and Mark Blundell: the two had previously driven for Brabham in 1991 but to the relief of commentators everywhere had seldom troubled the TV coverage. * Jordan had lost both drivers to retirement after a frustrating 1992. Young Brazilian Rubens Barrichello made his debut with the team while a number of drivers filled the second seat: Ivan Capelli, Thierry Boutsen, Marco Apicella, test driver Emanuele Naspetti and finally Eddie Irvine. * Sauber were the only new team in this year's grid, a Swiss team with Ilmor engines and much-publicised backing by Mercedes. Their driver line-up saw Karl Wendlinger who had impressed in two races for March the previous year, paired with JJ Lehto. * Veteran British driver Derek Warwick signed for Footwork after three years out of the sport, alongside Aguri Suzuki. In all, only seven drivers who lined up on the grid in South Africa were with the same team they had been with the previous year: Schumacher, Senna, Alesi, Johnny Herbert at Lotus, Andrea de Cesaris for Tyrrell, Aguri Suzuki and Christian Fittipaldi at Minardi. The worldwide recession in the early 1990s had taken its toll: the March and Fondmetal teams had folded in the off-season, while the Brabham and Andrea Moda Formula teams had failed to complete the 1992 season, so the number of drivers and teams overall had reduced, down to 30 drivers competing for 26 grid positions.

24  1994 FIA Review - Who Else But Schumacher

Pre-season The big news in the paddock after the 1993 season was the retirement of defending World Champion Alain Prost after winning his fourth title, and his replacement at Williams by long-term rival Ayrton Senna. It was commonly thought that Senna's move to Williams was a factor behind Prost's retirement. * Williams retained Damon Hill to partner Senna, and test driver David Coulthard would replace the Brazilian following his fatal accident. * McLaren, having lost talismanic driver Ayrton Senna, promoted Mika Häkkinen to team leader and brought in experienced Martin Brundle. Following a year with customer Ford power, the team had works Peugeot engines for 1994. * Benetton kept Michael Schumacher on board, pairing him with JJ Lehto. The team's Dutch test-driver, Jos Verstappen, and Johnny Herbert also drove for the team during the season. * Ferrari retained their 1993 driver line-up of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger. * Sophomore team Sauber replaced JJ Lehto with debutant Heinz-Harald Frentzen to partner Karl Wendlinger, though the Finn would return after injury plagued his time at Benetton. * Jordan retained their final line-up of 1993 with Rubens Barrichello and Eddie Irvine. 1994 saw two teams making a debut. Simtek-Ford paired two rookie drivers; Australian David Brabham and Austrian Roland Ratzenberger. After the latter was tragically killed at Imola, a number of other drivers took the second car. Pacific-Ilmor went for experience with Paul Belmondo and Bertrand Gachot. Following a disastrous 1993, BMS Lola merged with Minardi, the team known as BMS Minardi. Technical changes In order to combat the spiralling costs of running a Formula One team, and to counteract criticism that over-reliance on technology was reducing the drivers to a secondary role, sweeping rule changes were introduced for 1994, most notably banning of all electronic "driver aids" such as active suspension, anti-lock brakes, traction control and launch control. Ayrton Senna was among several observers who said that, with such features removed but no attempt to curtail the speed of the cars, 1994 would be "a season with a lot of accidents". 1994 also saw the reintroduction of refuelling during the race for the first time since 1983, and a 10mm wooden plank was affixed to the underside of every car to prevent ground-effect advantages. Wear was permitted on the plank up to 1mm by the end of the race.

25  1995 FIA Review - He Did It His Way

The 1995 F1 Season featured several dramatic incidents, including seven Grands Prix affected by rain and 4 Grands Prix were red-flagged on the first lap of the race. The Formula One regulations changed prior to the 1995 season. The most significant change was the to the engine capacity. This was reduced from 3.5 Litres to 3.0 Litres, in order to reduce speeds. All of the cars were fitted with cockpit side protection, and the cockpit opening was made larger than the 1994-spec cars. The front and rear wings of were modified to reduce downforce, thereby reducing cornering speeds. These changes were in reaction to the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, who both died of head and neck injuries. Some of the F1 circuits were changed, with larger run-off areas featuring at tracks such as Monza and Imola. The Benetton team had Renault engines for the first time, after running Ford V8s for several years. Michael Schumacher won nine out of the seventeen Grands Prix, and won his second World Championship. Schumacher's main title rival was Damon Hill, who was driving for Williams-Renault. Hill and Schumacher were involved in some very close battles at numerous races, including at the 1995 Belgian Grand Prix, where the two championship contenders fought wheel-to-wheel for extended periods. Johnny Herbert, Schumacher's team mate, won his first Formula One race at the 1995 British Grand Prix. He also went on to win the 1995 Italian Grand Prix, after a collision between Hill and Schumacher. Herbert complained about the Benetton B195's handling, which was very twitchy, but the car suited his team mate Schumacher. Damon Hill received criticism during 1995, after several incidents that were attributed to driving errors. The 1995 British Grand Prix was overshadowed by a controversial collision between Hill and Schumacher, and Hill was widely blamed for the accident.[citation needed] Hill also suffered with mechanical problems in his Williams-Renault. Jean Alesi won the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix, which was his first and only victory in Formula One. Alesi also nearly won the European and Japanese Grand Prix, only being passed by Schumacher with a few laps to go in the former, and retiring with a driveshaft bearing failure in the latter. Nigel Mansell made a brief return to Formula One with McLaren. The McLaren-Mercedes cockpit was initially too small for Mansell, and he had to miss the first two races whilst McLaren redesigned the monocoque. His eventual return for the 1995 San Marino Grand Prix was disappointing, and he was outpaced by Häkkinen. After another disappointing race at the Spanish Grand Prix Mansell and McLaren parted ways, and Mark Blundell drove the second McLaren for the remainder of 1995. Mika Häkkinen was seriously injured in a crash during practice for the 1995 Australian Grand Prix. The fast actions of the medical crew saved his life, and he later returned to the track in 1996. Later that year, Mansell revealed that he intended to "fight for the championship with Williams", but the Williams team chose David Coulthard instead. One of the rookies for 1995 was Taki Inoue who drove for Footwork Arrows. During First Qualifying for the 1995 Monaco Grand Prix his car stalled on the track, and the session was stopped in order to recover the car. A course car driven by Jean Ragnotti was travelling too fast and Ragnotti was unsighted by the barriers on the twisty circuit. Ragnotti's car crashed into Inoue's stranded car, flipping the Arrows. Inoue was knocked unconscious but he recovered and took part in the race on Sunday. At the 1995 Hungarian Grand Prix Inoue's car retired with a mechanical problem. He got out of his car and grabbed a fire extinguisher in order to put out a small fire on his car. Inoue then walked into the path of a course car, and was knocked over. Inoue bounced off the front of the car and collapsed on to the grass. He suffered minor leg injuries.

26  1996 FIA Review - A Champion and a Gentleman

The 1996 Formula One season was the 47th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 10, 1996, and ended on October 13 after sixteen races. Damon Hill took his World Championship two years after being pipped by a point by Michael Schumacher, making him the only son of a World Champion to win the title himself. Hill who had finished runner-up for the past couple of seasons was not seriously threatened this year, though near the end, teammate and newcomer Jacques Villeneuve mounted a title challenge going into the final race of the season. Williams easily locked up the constructors title as well, as there was no other team strong enough to post a consistent challenge throughout the schedule. This was also the beginning of the end of Williams' 1990s dominance, as it was announced that Hill and designer Adrian Newey would depart at the conclusion of the season, with engine manufacturer Renault also leaving after 1997. Two-time defending drivers' title holder Schumacher had moved to Ferrari and despite numerous reliability problems, they had gradually developed into a front-running team by the end of the season. Defending champion Benetton began their decline towards the middle of the grid, having lost key personnel due to Schumacher's departure, and failed to win a race. Olivier Panis took the only victory of his career at the Monaco Grand Prix. This year saw the introduction of the '107% rule', which meant all cars had to be within 107% of the pole position time in order to qualify for the Grands Prix. The season also saw the car numbering system change. Previously teams had kept the same two numbers from season to season, only exchanging with the previous champion's team. Now the numbers were based on the teams' performance in the previous Constructor's Championship. Forti went bankrupt after the British Grand Prix. It should be noted that Damon Hill qualified on the front row (i.e. 1st or 2nd) for every race of the season - a feat that has yet to be repeated since.

27  1997 FIA Review - Down to the Last 30 Minutes

The season started in Australia, with Canadian Jacques Villeneuve taking the fourth pole position of his F1 career. The moment was short-lived, however, as Villeneuve was out at the first corner after colliding with Johnny Herbert. McLaren's David Coulthard went on to win the race, the second of his career, with Michael Schumacher finishing second and Mika Häkkinen finishing in third place. Villeneuve once again took pole position in Brazil, and once again he was off at the first corner. Luckily for him the race was restarted, and the Canadian took the lead on lap 49 from Gerhard Berger. The Austrian finished second and Olivier Panis continued his impressive form from 1996 with third place. For the third time in a row, Jacques Villeneuve was again on pole position for Argentina. However, he was spared another first corner collision, and instead it was Michael Schumacher who collided with Rubens Barrichello. With Schumacher out, Eddie Irvine went on to challenge Villeneuve for the lead, and he made several attempts to pass the Canadian's Williams but failed on all his attempts and had to settle for second. Ralf Schumacher, in his first full season, managed to get onto the podium after he finished third. Villeneuve continued his run of consecutive pole positions in San Marino. Villeneuve's German team-mate, Frentzen, won his first and only, Grand Prix for Williams after he finished just over a second ahead of Michael Schumacher, with Eddie Irvine coming third. Frentzen managed to end Villeneuve's run of pole positions in Monaco. For the second time in successive seasons, the Monaco Grand Prix was raced under very wet conditions. Michael Schumacher won his first race of the season with his future Ferrari team-mate, Rubens Barrichello finishing in second and earning Stewart's not only their first podium finish, but their first points finish and their first finish of any kind. Irvine took the final step on the podium for the second time in a row. In Spain, Williams continued to dominate the qualifying session, as Villeneuve, for the fifth time this season, took pole and Frentzen made sure Williams occupied both slots on the front row. Villeneuve went on to win the Grand Prix, with fellow French-speaking drivers, Olivier Panis and Jean Alesi, coming second and third respectively. Williams' run of consecutive pole positions was broken in Canada where Michael Schumacher took pole; Rubens Barrichello's Stewart split the two Williams in third place. Schumacher went on to win the Grand Prix, with ex-Ferrari driver Jean Alesi finishing second and Giancarlo Fisichella coming in third. Schumacher earned his second pole of the season in France; he was accompanied by Frentzen on the front row. The two would stay in their respective positions at the end of the race, with Eddie Irvine in third. Villeneuve earned his sixth pole of the season in Britain, with team-mate Frentzen partnering him on the front row. After Hakkinen retired from the lead, Villeneuve went on to win the race with Alesi and young Alexander Wurz coming third to make it an all Renault-powered podium. Michael Schumacher failed to complete the race after he retired with a wheel bearing problem. Gerhard Berger, who hadn't competed at the previous Grand Prix because of the illness and the death of his father, managed to get pole position for the German Grand Prix. Fastest lap and race victory followed, which would ultimately be Berger's and Benetton's final win. Michael Schumacher came second and Mika Häkkinen came third. The next race, in Hungary, was one of the most memorable races in the 1997 season. Michael Schumacher took pole with Villeneuve partnering him on the front row. Damon Hill, in an Arrows which hadn't qualified as high as ninth before the Hungarian Grand Prix, qualified up in third place. The start of the race saw Hill overtake Villeneuve's Williams and on lap ten, the Brit overtook Schumacher to take the lead. Hill kept the lead for the final rounds of pit stops, but coming into the finale of the race, Hill reported that his Arrows was having problems, and in the end, Jacques Villeneuve took the lead on the final lap of the race and went on to win the race, achieving the milestone 100th Grand Prix victory for Williams. After two very exciting Grands Prix, fans were hoping that Belgium would prove to be an exciting one as well. Villeneuve took pole position with Alesi's Benetton completing the front row. The race was wet and Villeneuve dropped down to fifth place, while his championship rival, Michael Schumacher, won the race by starting an intermediate tyres (as opposed to full wet). Fisichella came second, followed by Frentzen in third. Alesi got his first, and only, pole position of the season in Italy with Frentzen coming second. David Coulthard won the race; his second of the season, pole sitter Alesi came second and Frentzen came third. In Austria, Villeneuve managed to get his seventh pole position of the 1997 season; the Canadian was partnered on the front row by Finnish driver, Mika Häkkinen. Villeneuve went onto win the Grand Prix with Coulthard and Frentzen joining him on the podium in second and third respectively. Michael Schumacher finished 6th after receiving a drive-through penalty. The next race was the so-called "Luxembourg Grand Prix", actually staged at the Nürburgring in Germany. Mika Häkkinen, who had qualified second at the previous Grand Prix, managed to earn pole. McLaren looked set for a 1-2 finish until both cars broke down in quick succession. Villeneuve was therefore gifted a win, while title rival M.Schumacher was taken out at the first corner. Alesi and Frentzen completed the podium, making it, for the second time in the 1997 season, an all Renault-powered podium. Japan saw Villeneuve, for the eighth time that season, take pole position. Villeneuve was disqualified from the race, after failing to slow down under yellow flags during qualifying. He raced under appeal, but finished only fifth. Michael Schumacher won the race, while Frentzen came second and Irvine came third. Villeneuve's Williams team dropped his appeal after the race, leaving Schumacher one point ahead of Villeneuve in the Drivers' championship, meaning that the title would be decided at the season finale in Jerez. Some commentators recalled the 1994 finale, which saw a title deciding collision between Schumacher and Damon Hill. At Jerez, the qualifying session was noteworthy, as three drivers, Villeneuve, Schumacher, and Frentzen, all registered the same fastest qualifying time; Villeneuve was awarded pole position since he had set the time first; this would be the final pole of his F1 career. At the start of the race, Schumacher had a good start, overtaking Villeneuve to take the lead. By lap 48 Villeneuve was catching up to Schumacher and attempted to overtake. Braking later than the German at the Dry Sac corner, Villeneuve had the inside line and was slightly ahead when Schumacher turned into him, his front right wheel connecting with the sidepod of the Williams car. Schumacher retired on the spot and Villeneuve went to take third place and earn four points, enough to take the 1997 title. Schumacher was later punished by the FIA for causing an avoidable accident and was disqualified from the Championship, although his race results (grid position, finishing position, points) still counted towards his official statistics. In the race itself, Mika Häkkinen went on to take his first ever career victory. If it was on the current points scoring system (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1), Schumacher would have been champion even with one race to go. The same could be said of the 1994 championship, however, where under the current points system Damon Hill would have been champion.

28  1998 FIA Review - Flying Finn First at Finish

The season had many rule changes, including the introduction of grooved tyres and making the cars narrower to reduce downforce. It was clear that McLaren had adapted to the new rule changes best as Mika Häkkinen comfortably won the first two races, with team-mate David Coulthard finishing second in both. With Goodyear making steps forward before Argentina, Michael Schumacher was able to win there and take second at Imola, both slow and twisty circuits. At Spain, however, the fast corners favoured McLaren and again they raced away to another 1-2 finish. A further win for Häkkinen in Monaco gave him a 17 point lead over Coulthard with Schumacher a further 5 points behind. Schumacher fought back to win the next 3 races, while mistakes and bad luck cost both Häkkinen and Coulthard points. After the British Grand Prix Schumacher had closed the gap to Häkkinen to just 2 points, while Coulthard was 26 points behind his team mate and looking unlikely to be able to fight for the championship. Wins in Austria and Germany for Häkkinen proved that McLaren still had the strongest car, but a strategic master stroke in Hungary allowed Schumacher to take the win and close the gap to Häkkinen to just 7 points. The start of the Belgian Grand Prix saw one of the worst accidents in F1, with over half the cars on the grid involved, and four drivers unable to take the restart almost an hour later due to lack of spare cars. An action packed race saw Häkkinen spin out at the restart, whilst Schumacher was leading comfortably before crashing into David Coulthard's McLaren whilst trying to lap the Scotsman. This led the way for Damon Hill to take Jordan's first win, with his team mate Ralf Schumacher finishing second. The team made Ralf Schumacher hold station behind Hill to reduce any chance of a collision between the two Jordan drivers. Schumacher bounced back to take a surprise victory at the Italian Grand Prix, and with Häkkinen finishing only fourth after brake problems the championship was level with 2 races to go. This result also brought Ferrari back into the constructors world championship, being just 10 points behind. However, Häkkinen managed to beat Schumacher in a straight fight in Luxembourg and win the final race in Japan, clinching his first world championship and the constructors championship for McLaren. Reigning champions Williams had a poor season overall, with only 3 podium finishes. However, in Japan they managed to secure 3rd in the constructors championship, ahead of Jordan and Benetton.

29  1999 FIA Review - The Champion on the Track

1999 proved to be a blinder in more ways than one - the last championship of the Millennium, Damon Hill’s GP swansong, Schumacher’s horrific accident, Hakkinen’s superb performance for McLaren, last-minute controversy over Ferrari‘s technical ‘aberration’, a will-he-won’t-he season for Irvine and the impact of new stars Frentzen, Schumacher Jnr and Diniz. This official review highlights the very best of the action from every race using digital TV footage previously only seen on pay-per-view television and includes a season preview, post-race analysis, exclusive driver interviews, news and informed commentary not available anywhere else.

30  2000 FIA Review - They've Done It at Last

2000 heralded another season packed full of exciting F1 action. Ferrari wasted no time putting the pressure on McLaren, underlining just how competitive they had become. Michael Schumacher’s early dominance threatened to conclude the championship before it had really begun. But once McLaren found their form first David Coulthard and then Mika Hakkinen challenged for the title. Appropriately 2000 was a landmark year. Williams BMW employed the youngest ever British driver, twenty year old Jenson Button, big cats Jaguar opened their first F1 season, hoping to follow on from previous success in sports car racing and the US hosted its first F1 race for nine years, attracting the biggest spectator crowd the sport has witnessed in recent times. The season saw a wave of emerging talent such as Pedro de la Rosa (Arrows), and notably Jarno Trulli (Jordan), who ran strong at the Nurburgring and Monaco respectively. But no one looked close to challenging the sport’s contemporary stars Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) and Mika Hakkinen (McLaren). With the aid of Ferrari’s master strategist Ross Brawn, Michael Schumacher’s persistence and determination clinched the championship title for the third time. This video captures the season’s most awesome moments, including unique footage previo

31  2001 FIA Review - What a Class Act

What a season! Records tumbled, new boys rocked the establishment and one man wrote his name into the history books. Michael Schumacher - 9 wins, 123 points and 14 podium finishes - has stood out head and shoulders above the rest. Not that he’s had it all his own way. The tyre war between Bridgestone and Michelin sent lap times tumbling and helped Williams break the stranglehold of Ferrari and McLaren. 3 wins for Ralf made it 12 in total for the Schumacher family in 2001. Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen staked their claims as stars of the future and Fernando Alonso shone at Minardi after they just made it in time for Australia. This year saw the end of an era. Double World Champion Mika Hakkinen and veteran Jean Alesi said goodbye to Formula One, for now at least. And if you thought the return of traction control in Spain would take the edge off the racing, think again.

32  2002 FIA Review - Michael's Record Year

Ferrari 221 points - 221 points for the rest of the field. Last year Michael Schumacher stamped his name in the history books; this year he shattered the records and raised the game in modern Formula One. A record-breaking 11 race wins, 144 points and never once finishing off the podium, Schumacher stormed his way to a fifth World Championship - a feat only matched by the great Juan Manuel Fangio. There was one record he had to concede. Juan Pablo Montoya is the fastest man in Formula One, smashing a 17 year record held by former Williams driver Keke Rosberg. Witness this mind-blowing event as the Colombian screeches through the 19,000rpm barrier in his Williams. See Kimi Raikkonen stake his claim as the new Flying Finn and provide tough competition at McLaren for David Coulthard. But it wasn't just about the front runners. F1 debutantes Toyota scored points in their first race and welcomed Mika Salo back after a year long break, while Australian Mark Webber brought unexpected joy to perennial underdogs Minardi.

33  2003 FIA Review - Michael & Co. The Dream Team

2002 was marked by one team's dominance, but 2003 was anybody's game. Drastically improved displays from McLaren, Williams and Renault made life extremely tough for Ferrari and Michael Schumacher. New regulations, and a shift in the balance of power in the tyre war, ensured that predicting the winner of each race was never easy, and as for the Championship... Eight different drivers stood on the top step of the podium. Three of them secured their maiden victories in FORMULA ONE! Kimi Raikkonen calmly took the title right down to the wire in only his second season with a top team! Juan Pablo Montoya upped his game and came so close. Nothing could faze Fernando Alonso. He became the youngest F1 race winner in history! Go on board with him as he laps Michael Schumacher!

34  2004 FIA Review - Michael Does It Again

The 2003 season was unprecedented, but 2004 was just remarkable. Thirteen wins out of eighteen handed Michael Schumacher his record breaking seventh FIA Formula 1 Drivers Championship Title. To say that Michael's ruthless domination of the sport was the only story of 2004 is just not true. McLaren and Williams fell by the wayside with only one win each, leaving Renault and BAR to pick through the pieces.This year marked Jenson Button's meteoric rise to become a genuine Championship contender. Ride on-board with Jenson as he hits almost 19,000 rpm taking his first ever pole position in Imola.Witness Jarno Trulli prove his critics wrong seizing pole position and victory at the glittering street circuit of Monaco. Then watch as it falls apart on the last lap at the Formula 1 Mobil 1 Grand Prix De France 2004.Listen to Takuma Sato's team radio at the start of a race, experience the return of Jacques Villeneuve and the crash that put Ralf Schumacher out for much of the season.2004 saw East meet West with new circuits in Bahrain and China that brought out the best and worst in Michael Schumacher.

35  2005 FIA Review - Fantastic Fernando

With spaniard fernando alonso crowned as his nations first formula 1 title holder in brazil, the fight was now on to win the constructors championship. It was going to be tough for his team renault to regain the lead after mclaren moved in front by two points with its 1-2 finish at interlagos. Mclarens mp4-20 was clearly the class of the field, but was alonsos r25 strong enough to take on kimi raikkonen and juan pablo montoya? Let the battle commence! This official review features the best coverage from every round, including practice and qualifying sessions, plus mind-blowing on-board lap

36  2006 FIA Review - Once Again

In 55 years only seven men have won back to back World Championships. 2006 changed all that. Fernando Alonso became the eighth member of the elite group and the youngest. The season kicked off with new drivers, new teams and a brand new knockout format for qualifying. RENAULT picked up where they left off with six wins out of eight. By Canada they looked to have it in the bag, but the might of Michael Schumacher and Ferrari should never be discounted. USA was the turning point, with everything falling in FERRARI’s favour. After China the frontrunners were equal on points but Michael had the advantage with one more win under his belt. The battle for both titles would be won and lost in the last two races. Watch Button’s fiery exit in Australia and his blaze of glory in Hungary. Ride on board with Liuzzi as Räikkönen drives over him! Feel the emotion as Massa wins in Brazil and Michael Schumacher bows out of FORMULA ONE, after a charge through the field. Michael at his best.

37  2007 FIA Review - Kimi Made It at Last

The 2007 Formula One season was the 58th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It began on 18 March and ended on 21 October after seventeen Grands Prix. An appeal by McLaren regarding the legality of some cars in the final race could have altered the championship standings, but on 16 November, the appeal was reportedly rejected by the International Court of Appeal, confirming the championship results. Räikkönen entered the final race in third position in the drivers' standings, but emerged as champion after the chequered flag, a feat that had been accomplished only by Giuseppe Farina in 1950. A major talking point of the season had been an espionage controversy involving Ferrari and McLaren, which led to McLaren being excluded from the World Constructors' Championship. As a result, Ferrari clinched the championship at the Belgian Grand Prix. The 2007 season was significant in that it heralded the end of the existing Concorde Agreement between the existing Formula One constructors and Bernie Ecclestone. In particular, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Honda (collectively the Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association) had a number of outstanding disagreements with the FIA and Ecclestone on financial and technical grounds. They had threatened to boycott Formula One from the 2008 season onwards and instead stage their own rival series, before signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix. The 2007 Australian Grand Prix was the first time since the 1986 Spanish Grand Prix that there was a Formula One field without a Cosworth engine. Honda F1 ran with an "Earth livery" on their RA107 car, the first time since 1968, when sponsorship in the sport became widespread, that a team ran sponsor-free for an entire season.

38  2008 FIA Review - Luck Does Not Come Into It

So you thought the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship was close? Well, 2008 was unbelievable! After 5,480 kilometres of racing the title was decided in the very last one. It was Formula One at its very best: seven drivers won races, from five different teams, while four drivers headed the Championship standings. Kimi Räikkönen wanted to defend his title but it was team mate Felipe Massa who led Ferrari's charge. Robert Kubica emerged as a surprise threat. But it was Lewis Hamilton who got the job done.

Formula 1

Season 0