Auto Racing Commentary

Until the 70’s, non-championship Formula 1 races were an important part of the racing calendar. In the 50’s, in fact, sometimes there were more non-championship races than those valid for the championship. These were different times, of course. In the 50’s the official calendar comprised about 8 races, rather than the 20+ of our days. While in the 50’s most non-championship races were still held in Italy and France, by the 70’s, the vast majority was held in England, at Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Oulton Park. Such non-championship races were also held as trial for future official events, such as the Argentine Grand Prix of 1971 and the Brazilian Grand Prix of 1972.   After 1983, Non-Championship F1 races, including the traditional Race of Champions were gone. Not only was the calendar full, but TV money and sponsorship ensured teams and drivers did not need to boost their coffers with prize and start money paid in such races, which was not much, at any rate. Such r...

I was reading an excellent blog posting on the supposed McLaren M23 owned by Antonio Carlos Avallone. In fact, the M23 was not an M23, but rather the only McLaren M25 ever built, designed by McLaren in 1973 specifically to house a Chevrolet engine, to be used in Formula 5000. It was tested by Howden Ganley, and purchased by Avallone at the beginning of 1974. The M25 was based and very similar to the M23, and it was also similar to the wedge shaped McLaren Formula Indy of the day. The story is real, and there is a twist. There were legal proceedings in England against Avallone, filed by David Hepworth, not by BRM or Louis Stanley as reported elsewhere, concerning a BRM P154 that had burned in a fire in a ship on the way to the Avallone promoted Copa Brasil series 1972. For a long time a fancy story circulated, saying the ship was full of European cars that were going to take part in the Copa Brasil, seemingly an excuse for a weak grid that was fielded at the end of the day. ...

WHAT MAKES A FORMULA 1 DRIVER A CHAMPION? Carlos de Paula   With Michael Schumacher’s retirement, I am almost positive that we will have a new Formula 1 champion in 2007. Although I do like Fernando Alonso, and believe he is the most complete Formula 1 driver of the current era, after MS’ departure, I was not at all impressed with McLaren’s 2006 performance, so I am betting on a red car winning the title. See my preview on the site’s home page .   Michael’s retirement also brought about the search for the “new Michael”, just like there was a search for a “new Fangio”, “new Clark” and “new Senna”, in the past. You know, that driver you just knew was going to win the championship one day, sooner or later.   After 57 editions of the Formula 1 championship, one reaches the conclusion that there is no such a thing as a sure bet. The current crop of serious candidate for “certain champions” includes Robert Kubica, Lew...

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 Bene...