GAY FORMULA 1 DRIVERS

They say that the two things that interest people the most is sex and money, in general, but as well as on the internet. I can attest to that. I have literally thousands of posts published in dozens of websites, in several languages, and the one racing post that got the most attention was one about the wealthiest formula 1 driver in the world!  

As for sex, I ran an experiment in a blog. I published a post saying “Nude pictures of [a certain young Hollywood actress girl-next-door looking who shall remain unnamed]”. There was no picture of the young actress on the blog, undressed or dressed, just a black box. The reader was instructed to Pass the mouse on top of the picture, and right hand click three times, because the pictures were so ”hot”. You cannot imagine how many people clicked on the thing! In fact, in less than a month, there were over 100,000 hits on the post, over 10,000 in one day! Eventually people caught on that it was a joke, and the number of visitors dropped considerably. I got no bombs in the mail.

As for sex and formula 1 drivers, well, there were a few that liked to brag about their success with the ladies, such as James Hunt and Nelson Piquet father. Personally I find that in poor taste. At least Formula 1 drivers did not go as far as American basketball player Wilt Chamberlain, who claimed to have had over 20,000 partners in his sporting career, and a Brazilian soccer player, now coach, the humbler Renato Gaucho, claimed to have bedded 5,000 women. That was in pre-Viagra days. Where exactly these folks found the time to have sex with these many women, during short career spans, I do not know…

As for the subject of homosexuality and Formula 1, I am reminded of a famous driver (who shall remain nameless as well) who was asked in an interview if there were any gay formula 1 drivers, responding that if there were, he would “do him”. I suppose that is a confession of sorts, or sheer ignorance that both the active and passive partner in a homosexual relation are considered homosexual! I suppose the joke turned against him…  

Sports car great Hurley Haywood recently “came out” declaring himself to be homosexual. Hurley provided that information in his autobiography and even his Wikipedia entry contains that information. To my knowledge, no other major race driver has found it necessary to expose that area of his(her) life, and certainly no formula 1 driver.

In forums and private conversations, one hears all types of stories, claiming that “x” or “y” is or was gay. One such driver apparently was not at all uncomfortable with his sexuality, but was a fearsome fighter and would still beat the crap of anybody who insinuated anything…As evidence people refer to weird and early deaths, including from AIDS, living in San Francisco, and the fact that so and so driver was rarely seen with women in public. This, to me, is an invasion of privacy. As far as race drivers go, what really interests me is how they do on the track, their results, their careers; and their sex lives do not really interest me.

So, I am sorry if I disappoint you. This post will not elucidate any curiosity you might have about gay Formula 1 drivers. Are (were) there any? Sure. Do I care? No. Just remember that one of the first men to undergo a sex change operation was a British race car driver and former RAF pilot, Robert Cowell, back in the 40s. So anything is possible. Do not worry, I will not post any black box and instruct you to pass over and right-hand click three times to reveal any names…Don't click on the white helmeted guy either...

AN UNUSUAL FORMULA 1 BROADCASTER

As far as Formula 1 broadcasters go, Brazil’s RGT is among the longest-running in the game - probably number 1 - for it has been showing Formula 1 races year year since 1972. It played a key role bringing international motor racing back to Brazil in 1970, providing promotional support to several tournaments held in the country until Brazil was firmly placed in the official GP calendar. It was a good bet for RGT, for Emerson Fittipaldi not only became a 2-time World Champion, something it could only dream back in early 1970, but the country has also produced two other world champions, including a driver widely reckoned the best ever, Ayrton Senna.

Notwithstanding this enviable track record, RGT's race announcer, Galvao Bueno, is widely criticized by many in Brazil, accused of a style that mixes annoying and overly enthusiastic cheerleading (for Brazilian drivers, often seeing marvelous performances where there are none), soccer game coverage techniques, poor focus on what is really going on in the track, recalcitrant knowledge of the sport’s history, racing dynamics and mechanics, and questionable analytical skills. Despite these shortcomings, Galvao, who incidentally also announces Brazilian national team soccer games and dabbles in other sports coverage, remains the mainstay of RGT Formula 1 cover for decades.

Brazil has been non-stop on the calendar since 1973, a status that few countries can match at present – I can only think of Britain, Italy and Monaco. Yet, not all is rosy for the Brazilian race. In the medium term, there is talk of privatizing the Interlagos circuit, which might result in its ultimate destruction. In the short term, for the first time since 1970 there is no Brazilian driver in Formula 1, and the pipeline looks grim. This of course does not sit well with Galvao’s unusual and spirited race coverage, for there is nothing to cheer about. So he rants on and on about Ayrton’s past achievements…

That is enough to make RGT a most unusual Formula 1 broadcaster, but there is more.

RGT is by far the top TV broadcaster in Brazil, and a true media empire, encompassing radio stations, newspapers, magazine and internet publishing. Among other things, it is one of the top producers of soap operas in the world, which are sold in several markets. In these, RGT unashamedly makes merchandising for a variety of products, including cosmetics, clothing, cell phones, cars and even Uber. It even managed to do merchandising in a soap opera staged in the Middle Ages… 

However, RGT is known to have a pet peeve – it does not like giving free promotion to anybody.

In that connection,  RGT is unique in that it refuses to call the formula 1 team Red Bull, what it is, Red Bull. It is consistently called RBR during race coverage, newscasts, and other company media (in fairness, in the traditional car magazine Auto Esporte, also published by the conglomerate, every once in a while the name Red Bull appears). There must be some bad blood, somewhere, or a more plausible explanation.

To Brazilian broadcaster RGT, there is no Red Bull Formula 1 team...

Yet, RGT sees no problems calling Ferraris, Renaults and Mercedes what they are. For the first two, there is a clear explanation. Recently Jeep (FIAT group, therefore, Ferrari) and Nissan (Renault group) were involved in merchandising actions in Brazilian soap operas. As for Mercedes, there are at best some tens of thousands of people able to even think of buying a Mercedes car in Brazil, and many probably do not even watch the channel. However, there are millions that can buy a can of Red Bull everyday, millions that do watch the channel. So Mercedes is properly identified, Red Bull becomes RBR.

I suppose that Red Bull has never advertised in any of RGT’s media, and understandably refuses do so in Formula 1, for owning two teams is expensive enough. As Dieter Mateschitz has a reputation for standing his ground, RGT remains the only broadcaster in the world to call Red Bull RBR.

If you are wondering what RGT stands for, well, as long as they refuse to properly identify Red Bull, I refuse to identity them properly.  

Much more information about racing in the 70's can be found in my book MOTOR RACING IN THE 70'S - PIVOTING FROM ROMANTIC TO ORGANIZED. It is a 472-page book about racing in the period,  with 242 photos, covering Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3, Formula 5000, other lower formulae, Formula Indy, NASCAR, Touring Cars, Sports Cars, Can Am, Trans Am, IMSA, DRM, local racing scenes, main driver profiles, plus long lists of makes that raced in the period, main drivers and racing venues from 85 countries, year highlights, performance and financial analysis of the sport. It can be bought at Amazon shops in the USA, UK, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, Australia, Japan, 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732674426

GRAND PRIX CURIOSITIES

By Carlos de Paula

 

Japanese Masahiro Hasemi goes down in history as the single GP driver with a 100% fastest lap performance. It is true that he raced a single time, in the Japanese Grand Prix of 1976, driving the Kojima, and some have disputed the accuracy of this fastest lap. Notwithstanding, Kojima has a 50% fastest lap performance, as the manufacturer only raced twice, in the Japanese Grand Prix of 1976 and 1977.

 

Few GP drivers end their careers with fourth place, most closing the book with retirements. However, three very prominent drivers did so. Juan Manuel Fangio drove to fourth place after a very strong drive at the French Grand Prix of 1958. Forty-eight years later, the man who shattered Fagio’s 5-championship record that at once seemed impossible to surpass, Michael Schumacher, also ended his F-1 career driving to a superb fourth place in the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix. Curiously, the man Schumacher replaced as Benetton’s number 1 driver for 1992, Brazil’s Nelson Piquet, also ended his F-1 career with a fourth place in the 1991 Australian Grand Prix.

 

Eery coincidence  I- Americans Phil Hill and Mario Andretti won their single championships under similar circumstances, wrapping up the title in Monza. As an additional coincidence, both lost their teammates in their title winning race, Wolfgang Von Trips in Hill’s case, Ronnie Peterson in Andretti’s. Adding to the coincidence, neither Hill nor Andretti would ever win further Grand Prix after winning the title, and both Von Trips and Peterson ended up runners up to their champion teammates!

 

Hill and Andretti were not alone. Quite a few other drivers never won a race after their single championship years. Mike Hawthorn retired after 1958 and Jochen Rindt died before actually being crowned champion in 1970. Two other drivers did not have the benefit of such excuse: Jody Scheckter and Jacques Villeneuve would never win again after their successful campaigns in 1979 and 1997, respectively.

 

A few champions were born in different countries than their stated nationality: American Andretti was born in Italy, Austrian Rindt was born in Germany and Finn Keke Rosberg was born in Sweden.

 

The only two drivers who managed to win their official championship GP debuts were Giuseppe Farina, winner of the inaugural championship event in 1950 (Britain) and another Italian, Giancarlo Baghetti, who won in France in 1961. However, these were not both drivers’ Formula 1 debuts: Farina had been driving at the highest level since the late 30’s, while Baghetti had already driven in two non-official Grand prix (winning both). This was pretty much the end of Baghetti’s success in the Grand Prix circuit, in fact he turned out to be one of the most unsuccessful GP winners ever.

 

Eerie coincidence II: October 6 was a dark day for two years running at Watkins Glen. In 1973, Francois Cevert was killed in practice for the US Grand Prix, while Helmut Koinnig was killed during the race in 1974.

 

The race with the lowest number of starters was the ridiculous US Grand Prix of 2005: six. It was only one of two races with 100% of starters finishing the race, the other being the Dutch GP of 1961, where a more impressive 15 cars started and finished the Grande Epreuve.

 

There were two cars named ATS, with no relation whatsoever to each other: the unsuccessful Italian operation of 1963/64, among others funded by a Bolivian tin impresario(!!), and Gunther Schmidt’s operation, that lasted from 1978 through 1984. Schmidt also has the honor of taking another (unsuccessful) crack at GP racing, with Rial in 1988-1989! Both ATS and Rial are wheel brands owned by Schmidt.

 

Between Von Trips’ GP wins of 1961 and Schumacher’s initial GP win in 1992, German drivers had poor performances at the front. For a time they seemed to be getting closer, as three German drivers managed to lead races between 1975 and 1977, in two cases under very unusual circumstances. In the disaster prone Spanish GP of 1975, Rolf Stommelen had found himself leading the race on merit, when the wing support of his Lola collapsed, causing Rolf to crash, and kill five spectators. Rolf would never again lead a GP. His countryman Jochen Mass, who led a single lap of that race, the last one, ended up declared the winner of the half-race, winning half points for his trouble. In the German Grand Prix of 1976, though, Mass was poised to walk away with the race: he was the only driver to start on slicks, on a drying track, and by the end of the first lap he was 30 seconds in front of the second placed car. Unfortunately, Niki Lauda had his terrifying crash, the race was interrupted and Mass’ advantage evaporated in the second start. He would never get to prove that he was able to win a GP on merit. Finally, Hans Stuck led the US Grand Prix from the front row in 1977, only to crash with transmission trouble. Poor Stefan Bellof, who many considered future world champion material, died after a few starts for down on power (and luck) Tyrrel in 1984 and 1985.

 

Chris Amon was not only the unluckiest GP driver ever, but he also was the driver who drove the largest variety of makes, having raced or attempted to qualify a total of 13 marques: Lola, Lotus, Brabham, Cooper, Ferrari, March, Matra, Tecno, Tyrrel, Amon, BRM, Ensign and Williams.  He experienced a large number of engines as well: Climax 1.5, BRM 1.5, BRM 2.0 (V8), BRM 3.0 (V12), Maserati 3.0, Ferrari 3.0, Cosworth 3.0, Matra 3.0, Tecno 3.0.

 

Another prolific driver in terms of variety was Stirling Moss. He drove HWM, ERA, Connaught, Cooper, Maserati, Mercedes Benz, Vanwall, BRM, Lotus. He also practiced a Porsche and a Scarab, and was disqualified  when he took over the Ferguson four wheel drive car from Jack Fairman in the British GP of 1961. Moss was by far the driver with most engine experience: Alta 4 (2.0), Bristol 6 (2.0), Lea Francis (2.0), Maserati 2.5, Mercedes Benz 2.5, Vanwall 2.5, Climax 4 (2.5), BRM 2.5, Climax 1.5.     

 

Moss was also the man who won races in the greatest number of makes: five. He won races driving for Maserati, Mercedes Benz, Vanwall, Cooper and Lotus. A few drivers won races in four different makes: Fangio (Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati), Prost (McLaren, Renault, Ferrari, Williams), Stewart (BRM, Matra, March, Tyrrel).

 

Eerie coincidence III: Lotus lost drivers in three of the six years in which it won the championship (Clark in 1968, Rindt in 1970 and Peterson in 1978). The last man to win in a Lotus, Ayrton Senna (Detroit GP, 1987), died in 1994, the same year in which the make itself disappeared from Grand Prix racing.

 

A large number of French drivers won their first (or only) race at Monaco: Maurice Trintignant, Jean Pierre Beltoise, Patrick Depailler, Olivier Panis. Curiously, the Frenchmen who won more often (Prost, Laffitte, Arnoux), won their first races elsewhere.

 

A few drivers scored pole position in their very first race: Farina (British GP 1950), Mario Andretti (US GP, 1968), Carlos Reutemann (Argentina , 1972), Jacques Villeneuve (Australia, 1997). But for one race, Andretti came close to scoring pole in his last race as well: he was on pole at Italy, 1982, but he also raced one final time at Las Vegas that same year.      

 

Eerie coincidence IV: Shadow lost two top drivers at Kyalamy, South Africa: Peter Revson in practice for the 1974 race, Tom Pryce in the actual race, in 1977.

 

John Watson won five races, but he made a statement when he did. He was the only man to win from lower than a 20th starting place, when he won at Long Beach in 1983, having started a lowly 22nd. He also won another U.S. street race, the Detroit GP, starting 17th.

 

The longest run of single championship winners was 1978 through 1980. Mario Andretti, Jody Scheckter and Alan Jones won single championships. It is curious to note that the 1976 and 1982 title winners were also single timers (James Hunt and Keke Rosberg) so this era was definitely the opposite of what we have today!    

 

Jim Clark was the only driver to win a GP in a 16 cylinder car in the modern era, driving the unloved BRM H16 engined Lotus to victory in the 1966 US Grand Prix.

 

A few GP drivers were born in rather exotic locations, although holding more common nationalities. Brit Mike Beuttler was born in Egypt, while Frenchman Jo Schlesser was born in Madagascar.

 

Many reputable Grand Prix resources report Brazilian Fritz D’Orey died in 1961. In fact, D’Orey had a severe crash at Le Mans the previous year, was reported dead by much of the specialized press, but he is alive and kicking to this day!

 

On the subject of Brazilian drivers, until the arrival of Emerson Fittipaldi in 1970, their appearances were far and few, but things seemed to be changing in the early 1956 season: Brazilian drivers scored points in two races back to back: Landi scored 1.5 points from fourth in Argentina, while Da Silva Ramos scored 2 points from 5th in Monaco. Then, there was a long drought until 1970! 

 

Long spans: Jan Lammers took a whopping ten years to go back to GP racing. He dropped out of the GP circuit for the first time in 1982, and after enjoying a successful career in sports cars, he tried GP racing again in 1992, without success. It also took Mario Andretti ten years to win his single 1978 Formula 1 title, having debuted in 1968.

 

Eerie coincidence V: Roger Penske lost his great friend and long time collaborator Mark Donohue in the Austrian Grand Prix of 1975, through a very freaky accident. In 1976, the Penske team was not only back at the Osterreichring, but it also won the race with John Watson, only to quit GP racing at the end of the year!

 

Bernie Ecclestone actually tried to qualify a 2.5 Connaught in two Grand Prix in 1958. He failed both times, becoming much more successful as team owner and Formula 1 supremo. Lotus’ Colin Chapman almost started a single GP in 1956, but surprisingly, it was not in a Lotus: he was slated to drive a Vanwall. He did not start the race and was supposed to start 5th!

 

The last GP driver to wear an open faced helmet in a GP event was Finn Leo Kinnunen, in 1974.

 

Arrows, known as the make which run more GP races without scoring a single win, almost won its second Grand Prix! Riccardo Patrese qualified 7th and had worked his way up to the front in the debuting team’s FA1 design.

 

Jean Pierre Jabouille apparently knew how to win GPs better than just plainly scoring points. He won two Grand Prix, including the first ever by a turbo-engined GP car, and scored only one additional time, a 4th place, out of 49 starts!

 

The Rob Walker team was by far the most successful privateer team, having won seven races with Stirling Moss, one race with Maurice Trintignant and one race with Jo Siffert. One of Ferrari’s 1961 wins (Baghetti) were achieved by a FISA entered car, but it was really a works entry. Additionally, Jackie Stewart won the 1970 Spanish Grand Prix driving a non-factory March. Nominally at least, Emerson Fittipaldi did not win the 1972 World Championship in Monza driving a factory Lotus: the car was entered under the name World Wide Racing. The Italian judiciary was still looking into Rindt’s 1970 death, and Colin Chapman was advised to enter the team under a different name, just in case, lest the judiciary impound his equipment. But it was still the Lotus works!

 

In 2006, the national level championship that by far boasts the largest number of former formula 1 drivers is the Brazilian Stock Cars championship, six. The following ex GP drivers are racing in the championship: Chico Serra, Ingo Hoffmann, Christian Fittipaldi, Tarso Marques, Raul Boesel and Luciano Burti.

 

Lola, the top racing car manufacturer, was involved in Formula 1 as a chassis suppliers, several times from the early 60s until the 90’s. When it did decide to enter the championship as a works team, in 1998, with plans for a proprietary engine, no less, the company almost folded, the effort lasting a single race. The entry was to be funded by a novel, yet rather naïve, sponsorship scheme through Mastercard. Lola initially provided chassis to teams such as Bowmaker and Reg Parnell, in the first years of the 1.5 liter formula. Next, it was involved  with Honda, in 1967/1968, and then the manufacturer quit F-1. In 1974 and 1975, Lola provided chassis for Graham Hill’s team. It would also provide chassis for the short lived Beatrice/Force team, in 1985/1986, settling the longest with the Larrousse team from 1987 to 1993. The marque won a single race, the 1967 Italian Grand Prix, mostly identified in the record books as a proprietary Honda chassis, and led in other occasions.