F1 no longer the “ultimate expression of the driver’s art”

THERE WAS UPROAR when the FIA announced that Formula 1 would lower its engine limit from 2.5 to 1.5 litres from 1961. But it proceeded, and the new “tiddlers”, with their far lower power-toweight ratios, engendered a sea change, as newly retired F1 ace Tony Brooks described for Autocar.

“It’s not even necessary to be delicate with the accelerator in the middle of a curve, as in most conditions there is insufficient power to cause the rear of the car to do anything very vicious. The roadholding is so good that a large proportion of the work that a driver had to do with, say, a Maserati 250F is now done by the chassis. It’s very rare today to see a driver passing by superior cornering, not braking, or out-accelerating by superior accelerator control.”