Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
1 000 GPs, and here’s the best 10 since No 1 in 1950
FORMULA One hits a major milestone at the Chinese Grand Prix tomorrow, as when the cars line up for the start of the race it will be for the 1 000th time in the sport’s history.
There has been much drama over the years since the first race at Silverstone in 1950 and here we look back at the 10 best Grands Prix of all time. Driving a McLaren in 1988 was as good as a guaranteed podium but even from pole position at Suzuka, Ayrton Senna was made to jump through hoops to claim his maiden world championship. Admittedly it was self inflicted. After stalling at the start he dropped down to 14th. The fightback however started instantly and by lap four he was into fourth place.
Light showers then hit the track as Senna hauled in the front three, passing Gerhard Berger then benefiting from Ivan Capelli’s electrical-based retirement.
He made his final move on the home straight to take the lead after Alain
Prost was held up before pulling away comfortably. Senna then eased to a then record eighth win of the season to land the first of his three world championships. There was a very brief moment in 2005 when it looked like Ferrari could challenge for the title. It came on a thrilling afternoon at Imola. Quite typically around that time Kimi Raikkonen led before being forced to retire, handing the lead to Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard looked set for a straightforward charge to victory, until Michael Schumacher was released from traffic he was stuck behind. The second half of the race saw all eyes on the world champion who was by far the quickest driver in the field and after the final round of pit-stops emerged just behind Alonso.
For the final 12 laps the German tried everything to get past, but with shades of Nigel Mansell vs Ayrton Senna in 1992 at Monaco, the Renault driver kept his cool as well as the lead to claim a famous win. The last hurrah from the great Juan Manuel Fangio and it may have been his greatest of all given the incredible gutsy drive he had to produce at the daunting and highly demanding Nurburgring circuit.
Fangio’s main threat for the race was the Ferraris of Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins who had opted to run on full tanks without pit-stops. The Argentine elected instead to run soft tyres and a lighter fuel load – necessitating a pit-stop.
After pitting from the lead, a mechanic’s error saw him lose an additional 30 seconds and he emerged in third place, 48 seconds behind Collins. From there the charge started. He broke the lap record nine times in the last 10 laps before securing his final F1 win. “I have never driven that quickly before in my life and I don’t think I will ever be able to do it again,” he reflected. “This is appalling, the worst start to a Grand Prix I have ever seen in my life.”
You know you have seen quite a chaotic few seconds when even commentator Murray Walker is left stunned by events.
The race started with a 13-car collision in torrential weather conditions and never seemed to ease up once it got going again.
Damon Hill took the lead on the restart but was passed by Michael Schumacher who from then on looked set for an easy victory. However, blinded by rain, he drove into the back of David Coulthard, putting them both out the race. Hill retook the lead but was being rapidly caught by Jordan team-mate Ralf Schumacher. With Jordan set for their first win and one-two, Hill pressured team boss Eddie Jordan into preventing Schumacher from passing, claiming that allowing them to race would risk both drivers colliding and failing to secure a historic result. Jordan relented and Schumacher eventually obeyed the command not to pass Hill who went on to seal his final Formula One victory. Gilles Villeneuve’s last F1 win before his tragic death less than a year later is also arguably his best, with the Canadian showing all his strengths in raw speed, overtaking ability, driving skill and masterful tactical awareness.
Despite the best efforts of Jacques Laffite, John Watson, Carlos Reutemann and Elio Angelis, Villeneuve’s ability to put his car in the right place at the right time saw him take victory by just 0.22 seconds – with just over a second covering the top five. Monza will always be a legendary track and will continue to be one of the crown jewels for as long as it remains on the F1 calendar as a high-speed circuit. Yet it used to be even quicker, with the classic 1971 race the last held at the track before safety measures saw the implementation of chicanes seen today to slow down speeds.
Peter Gethin’s won back then – his only ever F1 race for Matra by just 0.01 seconds from Ronnie Peterson’s March – the closest ever winning margin in an F1 race.
Until the 2003 Italian Grand Prix it was the fastest ever race recorded with an average speed of over 240km/h. The ultimate ending to a season? It’s not often you see a world championship decided at the final race these days – let alone one settled at the final corner.
Lewis Hamilton went into the race with a seven-point advantage over Felipe Massa as the duo slugged it out trying to win their first title, with the Brit needing just fifth place to become champion.
Given the McLaren’s advantage over many of its rivals this looked a simple task but rain played its part. It started to fall in the latter stages of the race, and Hamilton as well as all of the front runners barring Timo Glock pitted.
Aside from pit-stops, Massa effectively led the whole race from pole position and was ready to be crowned world champion as he crossed the finishing line. That was because a Hamilton error meant he was passed by Sebastian Vettel for fifth.
But as the rain intensified, Glock’s grooved tyres had lost all grip and following the final corner Hamilton passed the
Toyota to reclaim fifth and snatch the title away from Massa – leaving a previously celebratory Ferrari garage stunned. Even by the seventh race of the 2011 season it was clear the world championship would be falling into the lap of Sebastian Vettel but he took one almighty punch in Montreal on his way to defending his title.
The race was hit by heavy rain, so much so that it was stopped for two hours. Vettel was leading but after the restart Jenson Button’s afternoon turned round dramatically, with the McLaren scything through the field before reaching Vettel on the final lap. The German ran wide under pressure allowing the Brit, who had been in the pits six times, to take one of F1’s most famous and incredible victories. The day when one small river at Turn 3 caused utter chaos... and produced one of the most bizarre races of all time.
Following a safety car start due to a downpour in Interlagos, Rubens Barrichello was passed by David Coulthard, before handing the lead back to the home favourite, as chaos reigned behind them.
Three drivers, including Michael Schumacher, spun off on successive laps at turn three which remained wet throughout the race. Barrichello then dramatically ran out of fuel, handing the lead back to Coulthard before he made a scheduled pit stop to what he thought would briefly hand team-mate Kimi Raikkonen the advantage.
The McLaren star though made a small error allowing the Jordan of Giancarlo Fisichella to take a shock lead.
This then turned into a shock win when Fernando Alonso crashed heavily into the debris left by a Mark Webber accident seconds before – bringing out the red flag which ended the race. Fisichella’s car then caught fire amid pit-lane celebrations and the Italian then saw his race win taken away from him due to a timing error, before corrections a few days later saw him eventually awarded his first race win. On the opening lap there was high drama when in the wet, pole sitter Michael Schumacher crashed out shortly after the Station hairpin – with four more drivers failing to get a lap in. Then race Damon Hill’s Renault engine in his Williams expired. Then new leader Jean Alesi was forced to retire with suspension issues, handing the lead to Olivier Panis who claimed his only F1 win and the last for the Ligier team in a race where just four cars crossed the finish line.
|