F1 classic races - Singapore

IN A new series, I will be looking back at six classic races every weekend from the country about to stage an event in the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship.  As Singapore has only held three races before and not all of them have been classics, here is a varied selection of events from events no longer on the F1 calendar, plus one from the Singapore Grand Prix.  The races come from between 1991 and 2010.  Enjoy the archive!

1993 – Portugal

LAST: Title for Prost came in Portugal 1993, before retirement

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Benetton Ford), 2^nd: Alain Prost (Williams Renault), 3^rd: Damon Hill (Williams Renault)

THIS was the weekend which saw Alain Prost announce his retirement from Formula One at the end of the season, paving the way for Ayrton Senna to join Williams for 1994.  Senna would have a new team-mate for this race, with flying Finn Mika Hakkinen promoted into the McLaren race team.  Hakkinen sensationally outqualified Senna and was racing well, when he crashed heavily out of the final corner, fortunately without any injury.  By that stage, Senna had already disappeared with engine trouble.  Ferrari had their most competitive weekend of the season, with Jean Alesi leading the first stint and Gerhard Berger making a dramatic exit into the barriers from leaving the pitlane!  In the end, the race turned into a tactical battle between Prost and Michael Schumacher for victory.  Schumacher abandoned his plans for a second tyre stop and showed his gritty determination to win his first Grand Prix of a frustrating season.  However, second place was good enough for Prost to seal his fourth world championship.  

1995 – Pacific

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Benetton Renault), 2^nd: David Coulthard (Williams Renault), 3^rd: Damon Hill (Williams Renault)

THE TI Aida circuit in Japan was never a favourite with the drivers, but the 1995 event, moved to a late season date following the Kobe earthquake earlier in the year became the setting for the championship decider.  David Coulthard started on pole and dominated for the majority for the race, but defending champion Michael Schumacher fought back from a poor start to snatch second place from the Ferrari’s of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger.  He closed in on Coulthard and once again, the Benetton’s superior strategy came into force in overwhelming the Williams.  Schumacher won the race and wrapped up his second successive drivers title.  Damon Hill was a distant third and had to concede defeat to the class act of 1995.  Michael Schumacher did it his way!

1997 – Luxembourg

WINNER: Jacques Villeneuve (Williams Renault), 2^nd: Jean Alesi (Benetton Renault), 3^rd: Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Williams Renault)

LITTLE did we know it at the time, but this would turn out to be Jacques Villeneuve’s final ever win in Formula One.  It put him nine points clear of Michael Schumacher with two races remaining and it owed to a huge slice of luck.  Held at the Nurburgring, Mika Hakkinen had taken pole position for the first time in his career and drove into the distance, backed up by David Coulthard.  Then, in two nightmare laps for McLaren, Coulthard stopped with an engine failure on the pit straight.  Moments later, Hakkinen was pulling onto the grass with the same problem, which meant his elusive first victory would have to wait.  Villeneuve led home Jean Alesi, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Gerhard Berger to a Renault 1-2-3-4 Grand Slam.  Jacques cause was aided by Ralf Schumacher’s acrobatics at the first corner which took out his Jordan team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella and his own brother.  Michael was less than amused!

2001 – USA

WINNER: Mika Hakkinen (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 3^rd: David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes)

JUST two weeks after the terrorist attacks on America, Formula One put a smile on the faces of the US people again in the first major sporting event to be held in the country since that fateful September 11 day.  McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen recovered from a grid penalty to take an excellent win in the penultimate race of his career.  On a two-stop strategy, Rubens Barrichello pushed Hakkinen all the way, until a rare Ferrari engine failure with four laps to go robbed him of a brilliant podium.  Despite being outfoxed by Hakkinen and brilliantly passed by Juan Pablo Montoya, Michael Schumacher was second whilst Jordan’s Jarno Trulli won an FIA appeal against a technical disqualification a month later to get his fourth position back.  Both Williams BMW cars retired, with a dying engine ending Montoya’s hopes of back-to-back wins.  The 2001 US Grand Prix was also the final race commentated in F1 by the legendary Murray Walker, who hung up his mic for ITV in emotional fashion.  At least he left on a high from a wonderful event in the light of such tragedy.

2005 – San Marino

WINNER: Fernando Alonso (Renault), 2^nd: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 3^rd: Alexander Wurz (McLaren Mercedes)

WHEN Kimi Raikkonen claimed pole position and starting cruising away in the opening laps, it looked like Imola 2005 was going to be a typical procession.  However, McLaren’s reliability jinx struck again, as driveshaft failure on the ninth circuit ruled Raikkonen out of proceedings.  Fernando Alonso took the lead and built a significant cushion over the rest of the chasing pack, led by BAR’s Jenson Button.  In the midfield was Michael Schumacher, following a mistake in qualifying which left him 13^th on the grid.  When others infront pitted, the Ferrari was unleashed and started lapping two seconds faster than anyone else on the track.  He passed Button easily and hunted down Alonso.  Overtaking was incredibly difficult on the Autodromo Enzo E Dino Ferrari track and try as he might; Schumacher couldn’t find a way past Alonso, down to the Spaniard’s amazing defensive driving.  Alonso held on to take a significant victory, his third in a row.  Jenson Button finished third, but BAR were caught cheating with fuel being used as ballast discovered after the race.  The team lost their Imola points a fortnight later and got banned for two races for the indiscretion.  UK viewers complained in their droves after ITV took an ill-judged commercial break with three laps to go of the race, right at the heat of the Alonso/Schumacher battle.  Many believe this was the death knell in their F1 coverage, which ended three years later.

2010 – Singapore

CLASH: The shunt with Webber last year wrecked Hamilton's hopes

WINNER: Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), 2^nd: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing Renault), 3^rd: Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing Renault)

LAST season, Fernando Alonso held off a charging Sebastian Vettel to take a brilliant victory on the night streets of Singapore.  Despite two Safety Car periods, the Spaniard held off Vettel all the way.  A minor brush with the barriers in qualifying cost Vettel the pole position and ultimately, the race.  Third place was enough for Mark Webber to retain his championship lead, whilst fourth spot kept Jenson Button in the race.  However, Lewis Hamilton’s title bid took a fatal blow, as he controversially clashed with Webber after a Safety Car period.  Despite minor contact, terminal damage was done to the McLaren and ended his race.  The most spectacular image of the season came when Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus blew up and caught fire on the pit straight, with the brave Finn having to double up as a temporary fire marshal to extinguish the rapidly increasing flames.

The Senna movie - A fitting tribute

By Simon Wright (Personal Review)

ON TUESDAY lunchtime, I went to the cinema to watch a motor racing movie about one of my heroes, who really appealed to me, Ayrton Senna.  When The Senna Movie was announced for commission at the beginning of last year, I was looking forward to seeing the final piece of work.  Senna’s life, both on and off the racetrack was certainly full of theatre and deserved the proportions of a movie on a big screen.

     Ayrton Senna was only 34 years old when he was killed, crashing into a concrete wall on the Imola circuit during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.  Although I’d heard a lot of positive reviews about the movie from motorsport experts, commentators and from the Senna family themselves, I did hope this would be a moving that would give depth to his life and be a fitting tribute.  Maybe it was concern from The Social Network, which showed how Facebook was created, but struggled to appeal to me when I saw it in November last year, but I was hoping that The Senna Movie wouldn’t go down a similar route.  My plaguing doubts turned out to be completely whittled away.

     When I came out from the film, I realised that I had witnessed a piece of sporting drama in the big screen that had really captured the imagination.  Even being a motorsport fan, I saw some never-before-seen footage and learnt more about the great Brazilian’s life.  The main focus point of the movie was the two controversial clashes with Alain Prost at the Suzuka circuit which decided the 1989 and 1990 world championships.  I saw footage of the driver’s briefings from both years which were very interesting.  In 89, Senna looked a serious figure, one who seemed to be fed up with the politics already before the Japanese event.  Prost seemed far more relaxed about the whole situation.  That was surprising, considering it was Prost who couldn’t cope with Ayrton’s attitude and had already decided to quit the McLaren team at the end of the season.  A year later, Senna looked even more fed up with the politics in the sport, especially against the controversial FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre.  He was convinced that Balestre was cooperating with his fellow countryman Prost for the championship both seasons.  In 1990, Senna walked out of the drivers briefing after Nelson Piquet raised a controversial point about the chicanes at Suzuka and he was furious that the other drivers agreed with Piquet, who disliked Senna anyways.  When pole position was refused to be moved onto the cleaner side of the grid, the consequences became inevitable for the tangle in the first corner.

SMASH: This crash led to another clash between Senna and Balestre

     A year later, Senna clashed again with Balestre, this time over chicanes at the German circuit, Hockenheim.  Ayrton had escaped unharmed from a spectacular crash in practice for the Mexican Grand Prix, which had been made worse by the lack of absorption from the tyre barriers.  He was furious to find tyre stacks put at the end of the three long straights on the Hockenheim track.  He bickered with Balestre, insisting that cones should be used in place for safety.  This time, the other drivers agreed with the world champion and it is believed that this confrontation of views led to Balestre’s downfall and eventual departure as FISA president.

     Senna’s death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix rocked not just the world of Formula One and sport, but the worldwide news, which showed the significant impact he had on the sport.  His country Brazil went into national mourning.  Brazil was going through some difficult times and alongside Pele, Ayrton Senna gave them a glimmer of hope and belief that united a country full of divisions.  Watching Senna in the movie on that Imola weekend was sad.  He never smiled on the weekend and looked to be occupied with other matters.  It was interesting to see new camera angles of the terrifying startline crash which saw spectators injured, Ayrton’s reaction to Roland Ratzenberger’s fatal accident on the Saturday, his fury at how slow the Safety Car was going whilst the debris was being collected up, moments before his demise. 

     I was only five when Ayrton Senna was killed.  I remember fuzzily watching some of the race on Eurosport, although I can’t honestly remember the accident.  However, Senna was one of my inspirations in life and his legacy on the sport will never be forgotten.  Ironically, another of my inspirational figures in Nelson Mandela, who at the time, was being sworn in as the president of a previously divided South Africa.  He is still missed, even 17 years on from the tragic accident.

     The Senna Movie is a chilling, emotional and passionate piece of theatre and I’d urge everyone, even those who don’t have any following with motorsport to watch the movie.  It is very powerful and a fitting tribute to a Brazilian legend.   

F1 classic races - Europe

IN A new series, I will be looking back at six classic races every weekend from the country about to stage an event in the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship.  This is my selection, of races held under the banner of the European Grand Prix, largely at the Nurburgring, with servings from Jerez and Donington Park between 1993 and 2010.  Enjoy the archive!

1993 (Donington Park)

EFFORTLESS: Senna completes 'The Greatest Lap Ever,' passing Prost

WINNER: Ayrton Senna (McLaren Ford), 2^nd: Damon Hill (Williams Renault), 3^rd: Alain Prost (Williams Renault)

AYRTON Senna’s greatest drive came on a damp and soggy Easter weekend in 1993.  The Brazilian started fourth on the grid and got crowded out at the start, dropping to fifth.  Unbelievably, he took the lead by the end of the first lap in the ‘Greatest First Lap’ ever driven.  First, he slipped down the inside of Michael Schumacher into Redgate and then drove around the outside of Karl Wendlinger’s Sauber at the tricky Craner Curves.  After a couple of fantastic corners, he muscled his way past Damon Hill and went after Alain Prost, edging past Prost in the Melbourne Hairpin section.  He went on to win by a full minute.  Wendlinger was taken out on the first lap by a hopeless Michael Andretti whilst Prost made seven comical pitstops on his way to third.  He only got the podium after Rubens Barrichello cruelly stopped with four laps to go; his Jordan starved of fuel pressure when a rostrum in just his third ever race was on the cards.

1995 (Nurburgring)

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Benetton Renault), 2^nd: Jean Alesi (Ferrari), 3^rd: David Coulthard (Williams Renault)

THIS was the day when Michael Schumacher virtually wrapped up his second championship with a stunning drive, that even Damon Hill couldn’t complain with.  On a day when Hill needed to win, he drove appallingly.  He made a bad start and then blew his chances by trying an ambitious lunge on Jean Alesi which saw the Williams front wing removed.  Recovering and chasing down team-mate David Coulthard, Hill lost control on lap 59 and smashed into the tyres.  Alesi had been brave enough to start on slicks on a damp track and led from the 11^th lap onwards.  However, he struggled to hold off a quicker Schumacher on worn rubber and with four laps to go, the German made an aggressive move in the final chicane which looked risky, but paid off.  Alesi backed off and Schumacher went on to record his eighth win of a sensational 1995 season. 

1997 (Jerez)

WINNER: Mika Hakkinen (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Jacques Villeneuve (Williams Renault)

THE title decider in 1997 was between Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve.  Schumacher was one point ahead heading to Jerez, and the title rivals started on the front row together after an unbelievable qualifying session that saw Villeneuve, Schumacher and Heinz-Harald Frentzen set the same exact time of 1.21.072!  At the start, Villeneuve got Wheelspin and dropped to third behind the two Germans.  Frentzen let Jacques go on lap nine, allowing the Canadian to closedown Schumacher’s 4.1second advantage.  On lap 47, the Williams driver made his move into the Dry Sac bend.  He slithered down the inside, as Schumacher made a blatant attempt to turn in on his title rival.  It was significant contact, but Villeneuve continued, whilst the Ferrari rebounded into the gravel trap and out of the race.  The Williams was damaged and Villeneuve backed off dramatically on the last lap, to allow the McLaren’s of Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard through, as he only needed fifth for the title.  Consequently, this meant that Hakkinen won his first race in Formula One, at his 96^th attempt.  Schumacher was blamed and vilified for the collision with Villeneuve and got a fine and expulsion from the final 1997 driver’s championship table for his actions.

 

1999 (Nurburgring)

WINNER: Johnny Herbert (Stewart Ford), 2^nd: Jarno Trulli (Prost Peugeot), 3^rd: Rubens Barrichello (Stewart Ford)

JOHNNY Herbert gambled correctly in an ever-changing race which left the world championship wide open and gave the Stewart team their maiden victory, before Jaguar took over in the year 2000.  The race started dramatically, when Alexander Wurz, attempting to avoid Damon Hill’s slowing Jordan, clipped Pedro Diniz’s Sauber.  The Brazilian was launched into a terrifying barrel roll, which saw the rollover hoop collapse, but Pedro escaped unharmed.  Heinz-Harald Frentzen saw his title hopes die as his Jordan coasted to a sudden halt out of the pits, whilst leading.  David Coulthard also lost his championship chances by chucking his McLaren off the road in wet conditions.  Giancarlo Fisichella was another leader who spun off and a puncture ruined Ralf Schumacher’s hopes of a maiden victory after he had driven faultlessly.  Herbert had only started 14^th, but was on the right tyres at the right time to win.  Prost earnt their best ever result, courtesy of Jarno Trulli, as title rivals Mika Hakkinen and Eddie Irvine floundered in fifth and seventh places.  Irvine wasn’t helped by a cataclysmic pitstops when the mechanics only put three wheels on his car!

2005 (Nurburgring)

WINNER: Fernando Alonso (Renault), 2^nd: Nick Heidfeld (Williams BMW), 3^rd: Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari)

A LAST lap grandstand finish was set-up by a seriously vibrating tyre on Kimi Raikkonen’s leading McLaren.  Raikkonen led from the start, but made a mistake at half-distance and took a trip across the gravel, which gave Nick Heidfeld a brief lead.  Later in the race, Kimi flat-spotted his tyre badly lapping Jacques Villeneuve’s Sauber, which allowed Fernando Alonso close right up on the McLaren.  As tyre changes were not permitted in 2005, the Finn had to battle on, but as he begun lap 60 (the final lap), the front suspension collapsed under extreme stress and pitched Raikkonen off the circuit at turn one.  Alonso was left to collect the unlikely spoils and strengthen his grip on the world championship.  Three-stopping Heidfeld and Rubens Barrichello were promoted onto the podium, whilst a pitlane speeding penalty cost David Coulthard a rostrum; he finished fourth for Red Bull.  A first-lap accident took out Mark Webber in the second Williams and spun Juan Pablo Montoya down to a distant seventh place finish.  So, it was a black day for McLaren and a pivotal day in the world championship battle of 2005.

2007 (Nurburgring)

WINNER: Fernando Alonso (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Felipe Massa (Ferrari), 3^rd: Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing Renault)

FERNANDO Alonso overcame severe thunderstorms and a strong Ferrari challenge to claim a much-needed victory in 2007.  The race build-up was dominated by a serious accident for Lewis Hamilton in qualifying, caused by a faulty wheel gun.  Although he spent the night in hospital, Hamilton was allowed to start from tenth on the grid, but he ended up having a bad day.  First, he collected a puncture when the BMW Sauber drivers of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica stupidly collided on the second corner of the race.  Next, he went off at the first corner in conditions more akin to a swimming pool flood!  The monsoon downpour claimed Jenson Button, Adrian Sutil, Nico Rosberg, Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi and Hamilton lost a lap sitting in the gravel.  The race was suspended until conditions improved, which left Marcus Winkelhock, a one-off replacement for the sacked Christjian Albers in the Spyker team, in the lead.  Winkelhock was soon gobbled up by the quicker cars however.  Kimi Raikkonen retired with a hydraulic failure and a bad tyre choice left Hamilton stranded in ninth.  Alonso hunted down Felipe Massa and passed the Brazilian with three laps to go to claim a sensational and dramatic victory.  Mark Webber finished third for Red Bull.

F1 title deciders

THE result of yesterday’s Brazilian Grand Prix means that we have a four way showdown for the driver’s world championship for the first time in the sport’s sixty year history.  Come Sunday afternoon in the twilight of Abu Dhabi, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber or Sebastian Vettel will be celebrating world championship glory.

Here are ten fantastic finales from years gone by. . .

1976 – Fuji (Japan)

TITLE CONTENDERS: James Hunt (CHAMPION), Niki Lauda

NIKI Lauda was lucky to survive a near-death experience when he crashed on the classic Nurburgring track and the Austrian was badly burned.  As the season went on, his advantage had been whittled down to nothing, and in the final event at the Fuji Speedway, he pulled off early on, refusing to risk his life in such dangerous conditions.  McLaren’s charismatic Brit James Hunt, now only needed 3^rd to wrap up the title, but suffered a puncture whilst leading.  A late fightback saw Hunt charge back up into the 3^rd spot that he required to snatch the title from Lauda and become 1976 champion.

1981 – Las Vegas

TITLE CONTENDERS: Carlos Reutemann, Nelson Piquet (CHAMPION), Jacques Laffite

HELD at Caesars Palace, a car park decided this 1981 title battle, which in an unremarkable setting saw a thrilling finish.  Williams Carlos Reutemann held a one point lead over Brazilian Nelson Piquet, with Ligier’s Jacques Laffite a further five points adrift.  Reutemann started on pole, but his general inconsistency shone through at the crucial point.  Unhappy with the handling of his car, the Argentine – who is now a leading politician in his home country slipped out of the points.  Piquet scrambled across the line in 5^th place, just ahead of Laffite to snatch his first championship.

1984 – Estoril (Portugal)

TITLE CONTENDERS: Alain Prost, Niki Lauda (CHAMPION)

ALAIN Prost had narrowly missed out on the world championship with Renault in 1983, and heartbreak struck him the following year, by the narrowest of margins.  Prost, now driving for McLaren dominated the Portuguese Grand Prix and won easily.  However, his canny and very experienced team-mate Niki Lauda, leading Prost by three and a half points going into the race only needed a second place to clinch his third championship.  Despite starting only 11^th, Lauda fought through to second place to deny Prost of his maiden title by half a point, still the closest margin ever.

1986 – Adelaide (Australia)

TITLE CONTENDERS: Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost (CHAMPION)

NIGEL Mansell looked set to button up his first world championship Down Under in 1986, but grave misfortune was to strike the plucky Brit.  A dramatic tyre explosion down the long backstraight finished his chances of winning his maiden title.  Concerned about whether the same plight might happen to the other car, Williams went cautious and pitted Nelson Piquet for fresh tyres.  This handed Alain Prost’s McLaren the lead, the race and as the unlikely outsider – the championship in the most dramatic of all showdowns.

1994 – Adelaide (Australia)

TITLE CONTENDERS: Michael Schumacher (CHAMPION), Damon Hill

1994 was a season full of triumph and tragedy.  The shocking death of Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna at the San Marino Grand Prix put a cloud over the whole season, as did allegations of cheating by the Benetton team.  Going into the final event, German supremo Michael Schumacher led Damon Hill by a solitary point, and in the Adelaide race, they went wheel-to-wheel.  On Lap 36, Schumacher made an unforced driving error and smashed into a wall at Wakefield Bend.  An unsighted Hill came around the corner and dived for the inside.  Schumacher turned in and the pair collided.  The Benetton was launched into the air and out of the proceedings, but his actions left Damon with a damaged wishbone and out of the race in the pits.  Schumacher was champion in bitter circumstances.

1996 – Suzuka (Japan)

TITLE CONTENDERS: Damon Hill (CHAMPION), Jacques Villeneuve

DAMON Hill was the overwhelming favourite for the 1996 championship, but a catalogue of late-season nightmares gave his rookie Williams team-mate Jacques Villeneuve a sniff at the title.  Nine points behind, it was always going to be a tough ask for Villeneuve, and although he took top spot in qualifying, a dreadful start saw the Canadian relegated to 7^th.  A right-rear wheel flew off on Lap 36 and left Jacques buried in the gravel.  Hill led from start-to-finish to claim an emotional championship success in his last race for the team, which also left BBC commentator Murray Walker “with a lump in his throat!”

1997 – Jerez (Spain)

TITLE CONTENDERS: Michael Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve (CHAMPION)

JEREZ was the setting for the final race in 1997, with Michael Schumacher holding a one point lead over Jacques Villeneuve.  It started with an amazing qualifying session, when the two title contenders and Heinz-Harald Frentzen set the same exact time of 1.21.072.  In the race, Schumacher got away better and led Villeneuve until Lap 47, when the Canadian pulled off a brave lunge down the inside of the Ferrari at Dry Sac corner.  Schumacher repeated his 1994 actions and deliberately turned in, but it was his car that ended in the gravel and out of the event.  Villeneuve limped around to finish 3^rd and clinch the championship in only his second season in the sport.  Schumacher was excluded from the final standings for his actions.

1999 – Suzuka (Japan)

TITLE CONTENDERS: Mika Hakkinen (CHAMPION), Eddie Irvine

EDDIE Irvine’s big chance to win the drivers’ championship was in 1999, when Michael Schumacher broke his leg at the British Grand Prix.  Schumacher returned for the final two races, and helped Irvine win in Malaysia to take the title battle to the wire, with the Ulsterman four points clear of Mika Hakkinen.  At Suzuka though, previously an Irvine expert track, he struggled – crashing heavily in qualifying and finishing a distant 3^rd in the race, over a minute off the winner.  Schumacher took pole position, but Hakkinen beat him off the grid and dominated from there to win and become a back-to-back champion.  Irvine went to Jaguar for 2000 and his career dithered into oblivion.

2007 – Interlagos (Brazil)

TITLE CONTENDERS: Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen (CHAMPION), Fernando Alonso

THE 2007 season was a sensational season, as McLaren and Ferrari battled for supremacy.  In his rookie season, Lewis Hamilton looked set to complete the incredible story, as he was four points ahead of his team-mate Fernando Alonso going into the final round.  Sadly, it all went wrong in Brazil for Lewis, who went off on the first lap trying to pass Alonso, then lost nearly 45 seconds when his gearbox got stuck in neutral.  Seventh place was all he could manage, whilst his tempestuous team-mate Alonso was third.  However, the outsider, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen – who had been 17 points behind Hamilton with two races to go, won the race after Felipe Massa backed off and let him through at the final round of stops.  It was enough to give the flying Finn a very unlikely title success.

2008 – Interlagos (Brazil)

TITLE CONTENDERS: Lewis Hamilton (CHAMPION), Felipe Massa

FOR the second successive year, Lewis Hamilton went to Sao Paulo seven points clear of a Ferrari driver.  This time, it was the local driver Felipe Massa.  Massa went into the weekend with nothing to lose and was in total command, taking pole position and surviving a variable condition race to win.  Hamilton ran a secure 4^th for most of the afternoon, only requiring 5^th for the title.  A late rain shower saw Lewis drop behind the Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel and down into sixth spot.  Luckily, Timo Glock’s Toyota (on dry tyres) was left stranded by the late downpour and the McLaren was able to pass on the last corner of the last lap to clinch the championship in the most unbelievable manner.

Ayrton Senna - A Genius Remembered

This year, the legendary Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna would have celebrated his 50^th birthday.  Sadly, he isn’t around to cherish this amazing anniversary – sixteen years after he tragically perished at the wheel of the Williams FW16 in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.  However, this opportunity gives me the chance to produce my memories of Ayrton Senna: The Man, and Ayrton Senna: The Genius behind the Wheel of a Racing Car.  Forget Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher: In my opinion, Senna was the greatest ever human being to drive in Formula One.

Senna was very successful in the junior formulae in Brazil and in England.  He had begun karting at the tender age of four.  For him, racing was in his blood and so to, was his will and desire to win.  To him, second place wasn’t acceptable; he felt it was first of the losers.  He underlined that ruthless streak early on in his career, in the tense and exciting duel with Britain’s Martin Brundle for the 1983 British Formula 3 Championship.  Senna dominated the first half of the season, Brundle the second half and it left Ayrton to pull off some crazy overtaking attempts that often ended in accidents.  Eventually, he overcame Brundle in the season finale at Thurxton, and Formula One beckoned.

Despite testing for McLaren and Williams in the winter of 1983, Senna opted to sign on for the Toleman team, an unfamiliar name to many in the sport.  Immediately, Senna made an impression, despite his inferior equipment.  He came so close to winning his maiden race that season too.  In Monaco, Senna made full advantage of the awful weather conditions, to charge through from 12^th on the grid.  He pulled off some stupendous overtaking moves, with the confidence that suggested he would be a champion in future waiting.  Only the insistence of race leader Alain Prost got the race red-flagged, though the half points would eventually cost him the 1984 championship.  Senna insisted that he would have won if the race had run just one more lap.  The determination to succeed was firmly there.  Podiums at Brands Hatch and Estoril followed, but Senna knew that Toleman was not a long-term stay.  He went to Lotus for the next three seasons, convinced that this might be the team that could deliver him the world championship.

In only his second race for the famous British marquee, Senna won in Portugal – in very similar conditions to those of Monaco 1984.  Second placed Michele Alboreto was the only driver not to be lapped, in a clinical and masterful performance in the wet.  Not only did Senna edge himself into a great wet weather runner, he developed a close association with the Japanese manufacturer Honda in his time at Lotus, and also the amazing skill he had to pull off a flying lap when the chips were down.  Eight pole positions went his way in 1985, and this skill remained in Senna’s book all the way through to his untimely death.  Although Schumacher has beaten this statistic now, it took him twelve years to do it after Ayrton’s death.  Sixty-five pole positions in 161 races, over 33% is one of the most impressive ratios I’ve ever seen.  In his three years with Lotus, Senna achieved 3^rd place in the 1987 championship and six wins, including a maiden triumph on the streets of Monte Carlo.  However, the British team was on a steady rate of decline and Ayrton elected to jump ship, taking Honda with him to McLaren.

Frustrated by seeing the more superior Williams of Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell often get the better of him, despite his undoubted talent, Senna was convinced the switch to McLaren would finally give him the success it craved.  There, he was partnered with the Frenchman, Alain Prost, the golden boy of McLaren at the time.  Fireworks would explode between the pair, though not initially.  The 1988 McLaren Honda was the most dominant car in Grand Prix history, winning 15 of the season’s 16 races.  If Jean-Louis Schelesser hadn’t rammed Senna in the closing stages at Monza, it could well have been a clean sweep.  Senna won eight races, to Prost’s seven – though the ‘Professor’s’ consistency meant he went on to score more championship points.  However, on a countback system, which the sport used at the time, Senna knew that victory in the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix would be enough for his first championship.

The start was a disaster, Senna squandering pole position, and dropping to 14^th by Turn 1, giving Prost a colossal advantage.  Very quickly, Senna showed the superiority of his McLaren, and charged through the pack.  By Lap 16, he was fourth and eleven laps later, was challenging for the lead.  When Prost was trapped in backmarkers, Senna seized his opportunity and squeezed past his team-mate on the start-finish straight.  It was a clinical piece of overtaking, and a drive that thoroughly deserved to win the championship.  Prost was very gracious in defeat, admitting that Senna had been the better driver during the campaign.  Apart from a moment in Portugal, when Ayrton had nearly put Alain into the pit wall, their battle had been clean and a joy to watch in 1988.  Sadly, the next two years bought politics and accusations to the heartfelt of the game.

Race two of 1989 was the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.  Prost and Senna had entered a gentlemanly agreement, that the man who approached the breaking point for the Tosa hairpin first, would go onto win the race.  Senna took pole position and led on the first lap.  However, when his good friend Gerhard Berger crashed at Tamburello and his Ferrari burst into flames, the race required a restart.  Prost made the better start, and led approaching Tosa.  Senna, presuming that the agreement only meant on one attempt, stole the lead into the hairpin and drove into the distance.  Perhaps a gentle misunderstanding, but Prost, who finished over a minute adrift, refused to talk to Senna again.  

1989 was not a lucky year for the Brazilian, losing certain victories in USA, Canada and Italy due to mechanical problems, whilst he was taken out in Portugal by the already disqualified Mansell.  Once again, Suzuka would be the deciding factor in the championship battle, this time with Prost the overwhelming favourite.  Senna had to win, to stand any chance of taking the fight to Adelaide.  He lost the lead with a poor start, and harassed Prost all afternoon, with little chance of getting ahead.  On Lap 47, he closed up and made his move into the final chicane.  Prost, knowing that Senna had to win turned into the corner and the accident was inevitable.  The two McLaren’s interlocked wheels and slid to a halt.  Prost unbuckled his belts and walked away, but Senna kept his engine running and restarted.  However, he needed outside assistance from the marshals to get going again.  Despite needing to pit for a new nosecone, catching and overtaking the Benetton of Alessandro Nannini, Senna won and was promptly disqualified, for the outside assistance offence.  Prost was champion.  Ayrton was furious, almost refusing to race in Australia, threatening to walkaway from the sport he loved, believing that a conspiracy had been set-up against him, by Prost and the unpopular FISA president, Jean-Marie Balestre.  More allegations and accusations followed, and Senna’s super license was revoked.  Had he driven Formula One for the last time?

The following March, he was back, having apologised for his actions and won the season opener in Phoenix.  Once more, the fight for supremacy was between Senna’s McLaren Honda and Prost, who had swapped seats with Berger and moved to McLaren’s arch-enemies, Ferrari.  For the third successive year, Japan was the deciding point for the championship saga.  This time, it was Prost who needed to win to keep his title dream alive.  Senna took his customary pole position, but bitterly complained all weekend that pole position was on the dirtier side of the grid.  He campaigned for it to be changed, and Prost actually agreed.  The officials granted Senna’s request, but Balestre refused to back down.  Consequently, Senna vowed that if Prost turned into Turn One first, he would regret it.

Twenty-four hours later and Senna sprinted away, but Prost got the better start and took the immediate advantage.  Senna looked for a gap on the inside of the first corner that was simply always going to disappear.  The result was catastrophic.  The McLaren and Ferrari disappeared into a cloud dust, the pair clambered out of their battered motorcars, neither talking to the other but the outcome of the 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship had been decided in a matter of seconds.  Replays clearly put the blame fair and square at the Brazilian’s door, though he defended his actions long after the event.  It was a second title for Senna, but bittersweet and distasteful in the circumstances.  Only at the same event a year later, with Balestre gone and replaced by Max Mosley did Senna admit that he deliberately ran Prost off the road in 1990.  He will and desire to win couldn’t be faulted, but in attempting to knock another car out on purpose was a hideous crime, which on a normal UK road would land you with at least a driving ban, and possibly a jail sentence.

In 1991, Senna won his third and last drivers title, for the umpteenth time at Suzuka, the deciding point of most title battles.  Prost fell away and was fired by Ferrari before the season’s end, so it left for a renewed rivalry to remerge between Senna and ‘Il Leone,’ Nigel Mansell.  Senna won the first four races in 1991, but as the Williams Renault became the stronger package during the campaign, Senna grew frustrated, realising that McLaren were being out developed by a rival for the first time in his stint with the Woking team.  Eventually, reliability and a terrible pitstop in Portugal shot Mansell’s 1991 title dream, but not for the worth of trying.  He went wheel-to-wheel with Senna, sparks flying at some 200mph down the backstraight of Spain’s Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, one of the sport’s most iconic images.

As the Williams team mastered the active suspension and traction control systems, McLaren drifted further behind the game and Senna had to work especially hard for any of his later victories in his career.  1992 was a major disappointment, as Ayrton finished 4^th in the final standings, with just three wins, compared to the nine of the dominant Mansell.  Honda pulled out of F1 at the end of the season, and Senna questioned whether he should remain in the sport, especially when Prost ‘vetoed’ him not to drive alongside him at Williams in 1993.  Senna was incensed with this, but pot, kettle, black spring to mind when he did the same thing in 1986, to deprive Derek Warwick of a Lotus drive.  One of his greatest victories came in Monaco 1992, when he managed to hold off a hard-charging Mansell, who clambered all over the back of his McLaren in the last five laps. 

However, he had saved the best for last on a damp, dull Easter weekend in 1993.  The venue was Donington Park for the European Grand Prix.  Senna, now in a McLaren Ford had qualified 4^th and made a bad start, squeezed out by the uncompromising Michael Schumacher on the rundown to Redgate.  Undeterred, he out-accelerated the young German on the exit, and then swept past the fast-starting Karl Wendlinger in his Sauber around the outside of the Craner Curves.  Next target were the dominant Williams and just three corners later, he went inside Damon Hill to move into second.  He tore into Prost’s early advantage and finally, outbraked his chief rival into the Melbourne Loop.  He had gone from 5^th to 1^st by the end of the first lap, definitely the greatest lap in Grand Prix history.  Senna won the race from Hill by nearly a full lap.

For 1994, Senna got his dream move to the almost unbeatable Williams Renault squad.  With Prost having retired, and Mansell conquering the IndyCars scene in America, this was Senna’s chance to add to his forty-one victories.  Sadly, the partnership that promised so much never came to fruition.  Senna didn’t like the handling of the FW16, and had a miserable first two races.  He spun off and stalled his engine in Brazil, chasing down Schumacher’s Benetton, then was tipped off by an over-ambitious Mika Hakkinen into the first corner of the Pacific Grand Prix.  Arriving at Imola, Senna had no points, Schumacher twenty.  Autosport magazine claimed he was a man under pressure.  He didn’t show it though, focused on his goal to bring Williams back to the top, after an unconvincing start.  He blitzed the entire field in San Marino, setting the quickest times in every single session.  However, accidents to his countryman Rubens Barrichello and the death of Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger in qualifying deeply affected Senna.  Deep down, he didn’t have the passion to race.  Some say he was not on the best of terms with his family, due to his burdening relationship with Adriane Galisteu.  Others suggest he believed that Schumacher and Benetton were cheating their way to success, by using the now banned electronic aids.  Either way, he put those issues aside, dropped his crash helmet and went out to race.  A startline accident put the race under caution behind the Safety Car.  On the restart, Senna charged away, determined to pull away from the pest that was Schumacher.  On Lap 7, he entered the flat-out Tamburello bend when his Williams refused to turn into the corner.  The rest they say is history….

Ayrton Senna may have not endeared himself to everyone.  However, his skill behind the wheel of a racing car cannot be questioned, nor could his charitable work he put in for many local Brazilian and worldwide charities.  His speed, desire and commitment to win were immense, even if some of his tactics had to be questioned.  A devote Christian, Senna believed that God would save him on the racetrack.  His death brought shock to the whole world – and the funeral that followed brought Brazil to a complete standstill.  Chillingly, he had predicted that the new regulations for the 1994 season would bring serious accidents, possibly even bring the horrible fatality that he feared could happen.  On May 1^st 1994, the world lost a famous icon, and although Williams found replacement drivers easy to come by, Formula 1 will never see the likes of him.

Ayrton Senna is a legend who leaves an endearing legacy to many, and is a sporting legend that will never be forgotten.

21st March 1960 - 1st May 1994