The Non-Championship F1 races of the 70s and 80s

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 races also allowed drivers and teams which generally did not shine in the World Championship to do well. Surtees was the best example. An avid participant of such races, Big John won two editions of the Gold Cup in Oulton Park, in 1970 and 1971. Stommelen led the Argentine GP of 1971. In 1972 Surtees cars did really well in non-championship races: Hailwood (2nd in the Race of Champions), de Adamich (2nd in Valellunga and 3rd in the Race of Victory), Pace (2nd in the race of Victory), Surtees (3rd in the International Trophy) and Schenken (3rd in the Gold Cup) all got podium positions in such races, a feat that only Hailwood managed in a single race of the F1 Championship (in Monza, 2nd place). In 1974, Jochen Mass was second in the International Trophy, in 1975 John Watson was second in the Race of Champions and in 1976 Alan Jones was second in the Race of Champions. If only Surtees did so well on the World Championship…

Another feature of such races was the inclusion of Formula 5000 cars in some of the races until 1975. Starting in 1976, only Formula 1 cars took part in these races. If on one hand, the fields got smaller, there was less drama on the track, for F1 drivers often complained of some of the slower F5000 cars. 

In the 1973 Race of Champions Peter Gethin managed to win the race driving a F5000 Chevron-Chevrolet, because the best F1 cars all had mechanical issues.

These races allowed some drivers (and some cars) who did not have the best of luck earning points in Championship races to finish in the top 6: Tony Trimmer (6th in the 1971 Spring Trophy, 3rd in the 1978 international Trophy, 4th in the 1973 Race of Champions), Luiz Bueno (6th in the 1972 Brazilian Grand Prix), Raul Boesel (5th in the 1983 Race of Champions), Brian Henton (4th in the 1977 and 1983 Race of Champions) Patrick Gaillard (6th in the Spanish GP of 1980), David Purley (6th in the 1977 Race of Champions, driving the LEC), Bob Evans (6th in the 1975 race of Champions), Ray Allen (6th in the 1971 Race of Champions), Allan Rollinson (5th in the Spring Trophy), Nanni Galli (5th in the Jochen Rindt Memorial race of 1971 and 3rd in the Valellunga race of 1972), Vern Schuppan (4th in the Race of Victory, and 5th in the Gold Cup, 1972), François Migault (5th in the 1974 International Trophy), Jean Louis Schlesser (6th in the 1983 Race of Champions), Skip Barber (6th in the 1971 Jochen Rindt Memorial) and John Nicholson (6th in the 1974 International Trophy, in the Lyncar). Some of these drivers never even started a F-1 race.

A car that raced only in non-championship races was the Safir (which was really a Token in disguise) in the International Trophy and Race of Champions of 1975.  The unloved De Tomaso was driven to third place by Piers Courage in the 1970 International Trophy.

These were not the only Non Championship F1 races of the period. South Africa had its local championship that featured a few F-1 cars until 1975, and the European Formula 5000 championship morphed into an almost Formula Libre championship in 1976, which allowed F-1 cars. Eventually the F5000’s were dropped, and the championship run by older F-1 and F-2 cars. Any time these cars attempted to race in the F1 championship proper, they did very poorly.

Keke Rosberg in the unlikely winner, a Theodore

Some other interesting events in Non-Championship F1 races during the period were:

* The Brasilia race track was inaugurated in a non-championship F1 race held soon after the Brazilian Grand Prix of 1974. The winner, as in the GP, was also Emerson Fittipaldi, and Arturo Merzario had his only podium in F1 in this race, 3rd.

*The first Japanese driver to race in F1 was Noritake Takahara, driving a March in the International Trophy of 1974.

* Jacky Ickx’s last F1 win was the Race of Champions in 1974. Under the rain, of course.

* In the Questor GP of 1971, A.J.Foyt, Al Unser and Swede Savage, all prominent Indycar drivers, ran against F1 machinery for the first and last time, driving F5000s.

* The last time a BRM finished in the top 6 of a F1 race was Bob Evans’ 6th place in the 1975 Race of Champions. The last time a BRM won a race was Beltoise’s win in the Race of Victory, driving the unpopular BRM P180.

* During this period, non-championship F1 races were run in England, Argentina, United States, Brazil, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Spain and France. The latter was the venue of the Swiss Grand Prix of 1975.  

* Run in deluge, the 1978 International trophy had an unlikely podium: Keke Rosberg won it in a Theodore, followed by Emerson Fittipaldi in a Fittipaldi and Tony Trimmer on a McLaren. The top drivers Andretti, Peterson, Lauda and Hunt all  fell victim of accidents.

* A very rare sight in modern Formula 1 was a private Ferrari, run by Scuderia Everest for Giancarlo Martini in 1976. He was 10th in the International Trophy.   

* Tom Pryce won the 1975 Race of Champions in the Shadow DN5, a very good car which failed to score wins in the Championship. This was also Pryce's only win in F1.

* Chris Amon, widely reckoned to be the best F1 driver never to win a race, actually won two Non-Championship races: the 1970 International Trophy, in a March, and the Argentine GP of 1971, in a Matra-Simca. Curiously, both races were 2-heat races. 

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

Carlos de Paula is one of the top Brazilian Portuguese translators in the USA since 1982. And now a top Portuguese AI Translation editor as well. 

The Brazilian Mclaren M23

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.

As far as can be told, the only race car that was lost in this unnamed ship was the BRM P154 of Hepworth, the Englishman who had purchased the BRM P154 program from the works (two cars, parts, etc.) because the factory had built a new Can-Am-Interseries car for 1972, the P167. In fact Hepworth raced this car in the 1972 Interseries (named BRM P154/167 in some places, for it had some updated components from P167) earning a fifth place at Silverstone. 

Due to insurance issues, Hepworth had filed the lawsuit to recover his loss, for the cars had been improperly insured. Hepworth won in the courts, and the M25 ended in his hands. One of the chassis of the P154 exists to this today, in fact, is on sale. Two BRM P154s were produced.

The M25 was to be used very briefly in Formula 5000. The mysterious car was entered in a single 1975 race, under Rikki Pierce's name, by a team called Renoir that included the future world champion Keke Rosberg. The car did not show in Brands Hatch, with the official explanation that "the team had not been formed. " Such ghost entries were common in F5000 races, in fact, often more cars were entered than raced.

In 1976 the car was entered by David Hepworth, who won the car in his lawsuit against Avallone, and it was driven by 1974 F5000 champion Bob Evans in the Shellsport championship, earning a second place and running in only two races in F5000. The car was equipped with a 5 liter Chevrolet engine in those two occasions.

The M25 was eventually bought by Spaniard Emilio de Villota, who put the car in M23 specifications, equipping it with Cosworth engine and racing it in the Aurora Championship in 1977 and 1978 on several occasions. The M25 was not the car used by Villota in the World F1 Championship in 1977 and 1978. Please note that Emilio had a true M23 which he used to run in the World Championship, and which won some races in British Group 8.

The M25-1 survives today and races in classic car races.

An interesting article I wrote in 2007

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, Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen, Sebastien Vettel and Nelson Piquet Jr. Certainly drivers like Fangio, Senna, Michael and Clark were obviously meant to be champions, however, the list of failed “certain champions” is much longer than the sure bets.

 

Take, for instance, Stirling Moss. Widely known as the champion by merit, Moss managed to amass four runner up and three third places in the world championship, with no less than sixteen victories. But he is not alone. The list of “sure champions” who never won the title is indeed very long: Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve, Juan Pablo Montoya, Heinz Harald Frentzen, Jean Alesi, Jarno Trulli, Carlos Reutemann, Jacky Ickx, Dan Gurney, Stefan Bellof, Francois Cevert, Peter Collins, Clay Regazzoni,  Chris Amon, Didier Pironi, Ricardo Rodriguez, Tony Brise, Tom Pryce, Jean Pierre Jarier. Johnny Servoz Gavin, Jan Magnussen, Ivan Capelli, Tim Schenken, Michele Alboreto, Eugenio Castelloti…

 

On the other hand, there are some drivers who seemed destined for anything but grandeur in their Formula 1 career, who ended up achieving much instead. A clear example is Niki Lauda. His early career was not successful. His forays in F-3 were not indicative of a future champion, he was just an average Formula 2 driver, and most of his early wins came in poorly supported sports car races. His first Formula 1 starts, with a self financed March, did not indicate anything special. In fact, it was only late in 1973, when he had been around Formula 1 for two years already, that Lauda appeared to have special skills, after great drives in Germany and Canada in a down on power BRM. When he was hired by Ferrari at the end of the season, many thought the association would not be successful, and the rest is history.

 

Britain has produced at least three world champions that seemed destined for failure in their early careers as well: James Hunt, Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill. Hunt was so accident prone that he was nicknamed “James Shunt”. His patron believed him enough to buy James Formula 1 cars before he proved his real worth in Formula 2. And aboard the March 731, in 1973, James transformed himself into a veritable Formula 1 powerhouse, posting fast laps and podiums in what was essentially an average car. In fact, he finished mighty close to Ronnie Peterson in the last championship race of the year, a little over one second. Lord Hesketh dug deeper into his pocket, building Hunt a proprietary challenger, with which he won the Dutch Grand Prix in 1975. Eventually Hunt made his way into the McLaren team, winning the 1976 handsomely, after Emerson Fittipaldi took the foolhardy step of joining his brother’s Formula 1 team. The fire was gone after a couple of seasons, and Hunt quit mid way through the 1979 season. 

 

Nigel Mansell’s Formula 2 and Formula 3 performances did not indicate a future star in the making. In fact, his first Formula 1 drives were not that impressive, although he did manage a podium in his seventh race, at Belgium, 1981. He stayed at Lotus from 1980 to 1984, and during this period he was always overshadowed by Elio di Angelis, himself not a stellar driver. By 1984, Mansell was qualifying better, but the best he could do was third places. Mansell seemed at best a solid number 2 driver, who might win a couple of races before the closing of his career. He did catch the eye of Frank Williams, though, who needed to replace Jacques Laffite for 1985, and thereafter appeared a new Mansell, who won the 1992 title in commanding style, posting 31 career wins.

 

Damon Hill began his race car career late, and in spite of a fair performance in Formula 3, by 1992 he seemed destined to join a long list of Formula 3000 drivers who never made it beyond that level. Being hired by the Brabham Formula 1 team for 1992 was anything but a promising move. The team was in its last legs, and Damon managed to qualify a couple of times. However, Damon was also the Williams testing driver, and was surprisingly hired by the team for the 1993 season as a race driver. The Williams car was the class of the field, and soon Damon was posting regular podium finishes, culminating with a run of 3 straight wins late in the season. Frank had obviously found the perfect number 2 driver, who would partner Ayrton Senna well for 1994. It was not to be. Senna died after three races, and Damon was left to carry the Williams fight against the might of Michael Schumacher. He did admirably well, winning the 1996 championship, and a whopping 20 races. Not bad for a driver that appeared heading for the sports’ footnotes.

 

Alan Jones’ first few years in Europe were not good. He seemed stuck in Formula 3 for many seasons, with poor results and no apparent progress. By 1973 his F-3 performance had improved, and in 1974 he was the class of the field in Formula Atlantic, still far from view of F-1 team managers, though. He did find a good backer in former driver Harry Stiller, who bought him a Hesketh for 1975, and Jones impressed enough to be hired by Graham Hill for a few races, scoring 5th in Germany. Luckily Alan was not in the plane that killed Hill and “future champion” Tony Brise in 1975, so in 1976 Jonesy was back in F-1, driving for Surtees. He impressed in the race of Champions, where Surtees cars always seemed to do well, and scored a few championship points. He was not back in F-1 for the beginning of the 1977 season, having been replaced by Brambilla at Surtees, until he was called to substitute the deceased Tom Pryce at Shadow. Jones got the big break he needed scoring Shadow’s single F-1 victory, beginning a very successful partnership with Frank Williams in 1978. This was Williams second attempt at building a F-1 team, having lost his original équipe to Walter Wolf in 1976. Backed by plentiful Saudi money, the Williams was moderately successful in 1978, but an improved Lotus 79 copy, in 1979, transformed Williams into the class of the field. Jones ended up winning the title in 1980, an unlikely proposition back in 1971.

 

This shows that success in the lower formulae is not a recipe for guaranteed success in Formula 1. In fact, a lot of drivers who had very good careers in the lower formula, failed to achieve ultimate success in Formula 1. Among others, Brian Henton, Jonathan Palmer, Bruno Giacomelli, Rene Arnoux, Jacques Laffite, David Walker. Some, like Sebastien Bourdais, will likely not even make it to Formula 1 at all.

 

On the other hand, there are those “sure champions” who ended up winning the championship, but did so unconvincingly. One such case is Jody Scheckter. Very fast and successful from his arrival in Europe, in 1971, Scheckter was winning in Formula 2, by 1972, and by the end of that year he got a chance to drive for McLaren in Formula 1. He impressed greatly, and was back on the team, driving the occasional third car with great speed and gusto. The general opinion was that if only he could survive his over indulgent driving, he would surely be a world champion. After the crash prone 1973 season, Jody was lucky to be hired as Tyrrel’s number 1 driver for 1974, as Jackie Stewart’s heir, François Cevert, another “sure future champion”, had been killed in the last race of 1973. Jody became a more sedate driver from the word go, but was a constant points scorer and occasional winner. He got some of his verve back, when he was hired by Walter Wolf for 1977, but by the time he was placed in a Ferrari, for 1979, Jody had become a somewhat bureaucratic, results driven driver. It did not help the fact that his team mate was Gilles Villeneuve, but not only did his teammate drive better that year, so did Alan Jones. One year after winning the championship, Jody quit Formula 1, after a very poor year at Ferrari.     

 

Keke Rosberg’s championship year, 1982, was also anti-climatic at best. Having become the first champion to win the championship in an year after he went scoreless (1981), it seems plausible to presume that Keke would not be champion if Didier Pironi did not have his terrible accident in Germany. Additionally “anti-climatic” about Keke’s championship year was that, although known as a very fast driver, the title was won on the strength of regularity, hardly Keke’s main trait, and that he almost won the title without a single victory. Too bad Keke would not last much longer in Formula 1, to show what he could do with a top car, such as the Williams-Honda he left in 1985.

 

There are no formulas. For instance, a “driver has to win the championship within “x” years after entering Formula 1”. A clear example of that is Mario Andretti. Having debuted in 1968, Mario won the championship ten years after his debut, in 1978! Just to show there are no formulas, after winning the championship Mario was never again competitive in Formula 1, except for his participation in the 1982 Italian Grand Prix.  Mika Hakkinen also took a while to become champion, having debuted in 1991, and winning his first title in 1998, thus seven years later. Denis Hulme won his championship in his third year in Formula 1, 1967, then he stayed on for an additional eight seasons, never again being a real factor, but winning odd races until his final season, 1974.  

 

Then there are those drivers who won the championship very early on their careers, only to fall on a pattern of failures later on. The most outstanding example of this is Jacques Villeneuve. He came to Formula 1 the best possible way, driving for the best team of the time, Williams. He scored pole on his first race, almost winning it. He went on to win four races on his maiden year, finishing runner-up, then winning the championship the second time out. He spent another year at Williams, then changing to the newly formed BAR team for the 1999 season. After a scoreless initial season in the new team, Jacques would never obtain success at BAR.  Making matters worse, the team instantly became competitive once he left. The ever outspoken JV was hired by Sauber in 2005, leaving midseason 2006 when facing the prospect of fighting for his drive with rookie Robert Kubica.

 

Emerson Fittipaldi came to Formula 1 in the middle of the 1970 Formula 1 season, driving for Lotus. He won in his fourth start, and after an indifferent 1971 season, things worked out in 1972, and he became the youngest world champion. He would still win an additional title, in 1974, and after spending one more year at McLaren, he went to race in his brother’s Copersucar sponsored team. From top driver to also ran, Emerson spent an additional five years in Formula 1, without even a glimpse of the success achieved in the first five seasons.  

 

Jack Brabham is one driver with a curious career. The Australian won three titles, and the bulk of his 14 wins (11 of them, in fact) were scored in championship years, although he was in Formula 1 for a long time, from 1955 to 1970. Brabham had scored only three points from a 4th at the 1958 Monaco G.P., before he began his successful 1959 campaign with a win at Monaco. Brabham began his last season, 1970, with a win in South Africa, and lost two Grand Prix on the last lap, to Jochen Rindt, due to running out of fuel. He was the first driver to win a Grand Prix with a car built by himself and also the first World Championship winner equipped with a rear engined car. You could say he was a win or bust type of guy. Although he raced in 126 Grand Prix, he managed to win five straight in his 1960 championship year, and four straight in 1966. In between the last of those wins, in 1960, and the first in 1966, he won nothing! 

 

So, whoever wins the 2007 will definitely add more confusion to this story. I see only three real possibilities: Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, the last, an outside chance. 

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.