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.

F1 classic races - Belgium

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 from the classic Spa-Francorchamps circuit between 1991 and 2010.  Enjoy the archive!

1992

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Benetton Ford), 2^nd: Nigel Mansell (Williams Renault), 3^rd: Riccardo Patrese (Williams Renault)

22-YEAR old Michael Schumacher achieved the first of his 91 career victories, just one year after he made his incredible Grand Prix debut at the same track.  The young German achieved the feat with a brilliant piece of thinking after an off-track excursion.  Schumacher slipped behind Martin Brundle when he took a trip across the grass and had a look at his team-mate’s degrading rear tyres.  He decided to pit earlier than his rivals and on a drying track, his gamble paid off.  Ayrton Senna’s did not.  Having taken a surprising lead, Senna elected to stay on his worn wet tyres, but it backfired and left him finishing down in fifth place.  Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese finished second and third, with these results good enough to seal the constructor’s championship for the utterly dominant Williams FW14B.

1995

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Benetton Renault), 2^nd: Damon Hill (Williams Renault), 3^rd: Martin Brundle (Ligier Mugen Honda)

A SENSATIONAL drive from 16^th on the grid after a problematical qualifying session saw Michael Schumacher triumph in the 1995 Belgian Grand Prix.  He had an epic scrap with arch rival, Damon Hill, which included a spot of controversial wheel-banging at Les Combes on lap 22.  Schumacher, on slicks claimed he legitimately defended his line, whilst Hill, on wet tyres on a wet track thought he had been deliberately pushed off the racing line.  In the end, a stop-go penalty for speeding in the pitlane wrecked Hill’s hopes and he needed to pass Martin Brundle on the final lap to secure second spot.  Pole sitter Gerhard Berger retired with an electrical problem, with his team-mate Jean Alesi also out of luck, courtesy of suspension failure.  There was a nasty moment, when Eddie Irvine’s Jordan caught fire after a refuelling pitstop.  Luckily, with quick pit work from Jordan and Ligier fire mechanics, no-one was injured. 

1998

WINNER: Damon Hill (Jordan Mugen Honda), 2^nd: Ralf Schumacher (Jordan Mugen Honda), 3^rd: Jean Alesi (Sauber Petronas)

ONE of the most dramatic races ever seen in Formula One produced almost everything in absolutely horrific driving conditions.  First, David Coulthard crashed his McLaren exiting La Source and started a chain reaction of cars crashing into one another.  The end result of the carnage saw 13 cars terminally damaged, with four failing to restart and an hour’s start delay.  Amazingly, no-one was hurt.  At the second start, Damon Hill stormed into the lead, squeezing Mika Hakkinen into La Source.  Under pressure from title rival Michael Schumacher, Hakkinen lost control of his car and spun infront of the pack; to be collected by the luckless Johnny Herbert.  Schumacher produced a textbook overtaking manoeuvre to pass Hill on lap nine and was coasting to a dominant victory, when he came across a struggling Coulthard to lap him.  DC lifted off, Schumacher couldn’t see in the appalling visibility and careered into the back of the McLaren.  Both cars were out and what followed, was an angry exchange in the pits between the two drivers afterwards.  Later, Giancarlo Fisichella and Shinji Nakano were involved in a similar, scary incident, which left the Benetton of Fisichella looking like a torpedo.  After the Safety Car made an appearance, Ralf Schumacher was told not to overtake Hill, so Jordan could secure a 1-2 finish for the first time.  Ralf’s body language on the podium spoke volumes afterwards.  So, the way was clear for Hill to claim a fantastic victory for the Irish team, with Jean Alesi getting a well-deserved podium for Sauber.

F1 1998 - GP Belgique_G.FISICHELLA(Benetton... by parisiano60

2000

WINNER: Mika Hakkinen (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 3^rd: Ralf Schumacher (Williams BMW)

HAVING dominated qualifying, everyone expected Mika Hakkinen to run into the distance and hide in 2000.  However, on a wet track early on, it was Michael Schumacher who made the early running.  Schumacher’s cause was helped by Jenson Button’s ambitious move on Jarno Trulli into La Source on lap four, which took the Jordan out and hindered Button’s progress.  Seven laps later, Hakkinen had a half-spin at Stavelot, gifting Schumacher the lead.  However, on a drying track, the Ferrari was much slower than the McLaren, especially in a straight line.  With four laps remaining, Hakkinen got into the slipstream out of Eau Rouge and used Ricardo Zonta’s backmarker BAR to dummy Schumacher and pass him on the inside, with the German stuck on the outside and Zonta probably not knowing what he had just witnessed.  It was a masterful move from Hakkinen, undoubtedly his greatest ever Grand Prix victory.

2004

UNTOUCHABLE: Raikkonen was in a class of one in 2004

WINNER: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 3^rd: Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari)

MICHAEL Schumacher made history in 2004, when he finished second to become a seven-time world Formula One champion.  However, he was beaten fair and square on the day by Kimi Raikkonen, who drove brilliantly to record McLaren’s first victory of a difficult and trying season.  The race started with chaos at La Source, with numbers of cars getting damaged.  Mark Webber and Takuma Sato tangled at Eau Rouge, whilst Raikkonen’s diffuser was broken in contact with Felipe Massa.  Having been hit by Webber at the first corner, Rubens Barrichello needed a new rear wing, but didn’t lose a lap in the pits, thanks to a Safety Car period.  The Renault’s led the early stages, but Jarno Trulli fell away dramatically with a mysterious lack of pace and Fernando Alonso was left beached in the gravel with an oil leak.  Michelin received heavy criticism, after witnessing three tyre blow-outs, which ruined David Coulthard’s race and caused the DNF’s of Jenson Button and Juan Pablo Montoya.  Button’s came after a 200mph blow-out sent him careering into the side of the helpless Minardi of Zsvolt Baumgartner.  Through all of the chaos around him, Raikkonen drove meticulously from tenth on the grid to record a magnificent victory.  However, he would have to share the limelight with Schumacher on this historic day.

2009

WINNER: Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), 2^nd: Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India Mercedes), 3^rd: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing Renault)

IF HE hadn’t been passed on the KERS by Kimi Raikkonen after a Safety Car restart, Giancarlo Fisichella and Force India will have probably won.  A shock pole and a wonderful second spot was the dream ticket for the team and for the ageing Italian, who moved to Ferrari as stand-in for the injured Felipe Massa on the back of this amazing result.  It was a bad day for championship leader, Jenson Button, as he was taken out on the first lap by Romain Grosjean’s Renault.  However, with his main championship rivals, Rubens Barrichello in 7^th and Mark Webber out of the points in 9^th, little damage had been done to Button’s lead.  Third place kept Sebastian Vettel just about in touch with the leader. 

F1 classic races - Germany

THIS BLOG HAS BEEN DONE EARLIER THAN THE SCHEDULED DATE OF THE GERMAN GRAND PRIX, DUE TO MY IMPENDING WORK PLACEMENT IN LONDON NEXT WEEK!

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 staged under the German Grand Prix between 1991 and 2010.  Enjoy the archive!

1994

WINNER: Gerhard Berger (Ferrari), 2^nd: Olivier Panis (Ligier Renault), 3^rd: Eric Bernard (Ligier Renault)

FERRARI’s victory drought of nearly four years came to an end in the 1994 German Grand Prix, but it won’t be remembered for Gerhard Berger’s dominant victory from pole position.  Instead, it will be remembered for the frightening refuelling fire involving Benetton’s youngster Jos Verstappen.  Verstappen was in fifth place when he came in for a scheduled pitstop.  A fuel filter had been removed and petrol escaped from the refuelling rig, before the Benetton went up in flames.  Amazingly, Verstappen escaped with only minor burns, as did several of his team’s mechanics.  This race would also be remembered for a massive pile-up at the start of the race.  Ten cars were wiped out including Johnny Herbert, Mika Hakkinen, Mark Blundell, Michele Alboreto and Eddie Irvine.  Hakkinen was blamed and earnt a one-race ban for his troubles.  Damon Hill failed to capitalise on a rare engine failure for Michael Schumacher by clouting Ukyo Katayama at the third chicane on the first lap and winding up out of the points.  The high attrition rate allowed the uncompetitive Ligier Renaults of Olivier Panis and Eric Bernard to finish on the podium.  Oh and did I ever forget to mention that Gerhard Berger won this race for Ferrari!

1997

WINNER: Gerhard Berger (Benetton Renault), 2^nd: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 3^rd: Mika Hakkinen (McLaren Mercedes)

IT WAS one of the greatest comebacks in sport.  Gerhard Berger came back from a sinus infection and the tragic death of his father in an aeroplane crash to record his final victory in F1 for Benetton.  He began in pole position and made an unfancied two-stop strategy work.  However, he did earn some fortune, as Giancarlo Fisichella’s Jordan suffered a puncture whilst leading.  Fisichella retired cruelly with suspension damage which allowed the home favourite Michael Schumacher to finish second.  Neither Williams finished; Heinz-Harald Frentzen after a first lap collision with Eddie Irvine and Jacques Villeneuve spun off whilst trying to pass Jarno Trulli’s Prost.

1999

WINNER: Eddie Irvine (Ferrari), 2^nd: Mika Salo (Ferrari), 3^rd: Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Jordan Mugen Honda

MCLAREN should have secured a 1-2 at the home of Mercedes-Benz, but they blew it, as they did traditionally in 1999 and Ferrari took the maximum points instead.  David Coulthard touched Mika Salo’s Ferrari early on and damaged his front wing.  Later, a stop-go penalty for cutting the chicane whilst passing Olivier Panis compromised DC further and he finished a distant fifth.  World champion Mika Hakkinen was cruising to another victory when a refuelling rig problem at his sole pitstop dropped him to fourth.  A lap later, he passed Heinz-Harald Frentzen, but suffered a 200mph tyre blow-out entering the stadium.  He careered headfirst into the tyres, but escaped unharmed.  Salo drove brilliantly all weekend, but handed certain victory over to team-mate and championship contender Eddie Irvine.  Frentzen completed the podium procedure and there was another notable drive from Ralf Schumacher, coming through from 11^th on the grid to a fourth place finish.

2000

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

RUBENS Barrichello charged through from 18^th on the grid to win his maiden Grand Prix in an event full of crashes, overtaking and even a lunatic running across the track during the race.  The 2000 race started spectacularly when home favourite Michael Schumacher tangled with Giancarlo Fisichella, sending both into the barriers at the first corner.  Like in 1999, the McLaren’s of Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard dominated the early stages before the disgruntled Mercedes employee walked across the road just after half-distance.  The Safety Car came out and Hakkinen was preferred over Coulthard by McLaren, leaving DC stranded back in sixth.  Another Safety Car was deployed after Jean Alesi and Pedro Diniz collided and this was followed by the rain.  Hakkinen and Jarno Trulli elected to pit for wet tyres, but Barrichello stayed out on dry weather tyres and as only the stadium section was damp, it turned out to be an inspired gamble.  The emotion on the Brazilian’s face as he broke down on the podium with his national flag showed how much it meant to him.  The two McLaren’s survived to finish second and third and Jenson Button starred in the Williams.  Having been forced to start at the back of the grid, Button finished an inspired fourth, his best result of a sensational rookie season.

2003

WRECK: Raikkonen's car in tatters, seconds into the 2003 race

WINNER: Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams BMW), 2^nd: David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Jarno Trulli (Renault)

THE weekend was dominated by BMW Williams at ‘Hotenheim!’  Their drivers, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher were quickest in every single session, but Ralf was out seconds into the start of the race.  He wandered across the circuit on the rundown to turn one and squeezed Rubens Barrichello between him and Kimi Raikkonen.  The result was the three cars made contact, with Raikkonen’s McLaren connecting hard with the tyre barriers.  All three drivers; championship contenders were eliminated on the spot.  With Ralf out of the way, Montoya was left to win as he pleased, by over a minute.  There was a battle royal for second spot between Jarno Trulli, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and David Coulthard throughout the race.  Schumacher and Coulthard both passed Trulli, but fate dealt Michael a rare blow, as he picked up a puncture with just three laps to go.  He limped back to the pits and salvaged seventh place.  Coulthard finished second; his first podium since Australia and Trulli, despite being laid by a flu bug all weekend, came third for his first rostrum since Nurburgring 1999.  The result moved Williams to the top of the constructor’s championship and Montoya to within six points of Schumacher.

2009 – Held at the Nurburgring

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

HAVING fought back from a leg breaking shunt in pre-season, Mark Webber finally ended years of bad luck and misfortune to win his first Formula One Grand Prix.  Webber started on pole position, but his aggressive defence on Rubens Barrichello in the rundown to turn one earnt Webber a drive-through penalty.  Despite this, he put in the drive of his life; at times lapping over one second quicker than his nearest challengers.  The cooler track temperatures, coupled with a three-stop strategy and a faulty fuel rig turned a possible podium for Barrichello into a very frustrated sixth place result.  Afterwards, he launched an extraordinary attack on his team for making him ‘lose the race.’  Sebastian Vettel was outshone by Webber on his home ground all weekend, but completed a Red Bull 1-2, whilst Felipe Massa made a welcome return to the podium for Ferrari.  Force India lost the possibility of their first points in the sport, when contact with Kimi Raikkonen left Adrian Sutil without a front wing.  Sutil was left back in 16^th at the end, when fifth place was possible at the finish.

F1 classic races - Canada

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 in Monaco between 1991 and 2010.  Enjoy the archive!

1991

WINNER: Nelson Piquet (Benetton Ford), 2^nd: Stefano Modena (Tyrrell Honda), 3^rd: Riccardo Patrese (Williams Renault)

NIGEL Mansell totally dominated the 1991 event, but he endured the curse of Murray Walker and the race ended up being won by his bitter rival, Nelson Piquet.  It was Pirelli’s last win in Formula One before they got involved in the sport again this season.  The Williams Renault was turning into the fastest car and they annexed the front row in qualifying.  Mansell beat his team-mate Riccardo Patrese off the startline, with Ayrton Senna giving vain chase in third.  On lap 25, Senna went out with electronic issues, which had also claimed his team-mate Gerhard Berger.  The scene was set for a Williams 1-2, but Patrese’s gearbox starting misbehaving and he dropped to fourth.  On the last lap, Mansell was waving to the crowd in celebration, whilst Walker was using his line ‘his first win of the 1991 season for BBC viewers.’  Round the Casino hairpin and the Williams ground to a halt, with a sudden gearbox failure.  It let Piquet in for a lucky win, whilst the impressive Stefano Modena earnt his best ever Grand Prix finish in a Tyrrell Honda. 

1995

SOLE: Win for Jean Alesi in his career came emotionally in 1995

WINNER: Jean Alesi (Ferrari), 2^nd: Rubens Barrichello (Jordan Peugeot), 3^rd: Eddie Irvine (Jordan Peugeot)

ON HIS 31^st birthday, Jean Alesi secured an emotional and popular victory in Montreal.  To add fuel to the fire, the Frenchman was driving Ferrari No.27, driven in the past by the Canadian darling, Gilles Villeneuve.  Michael Schumacher had been storming to an easy win, but the champion suffered a gear selection problem, which robbed the German of certain victory.  Thanks to a late tangle between Martin Brundle and Gerhard Berger, Schumacher still finished fifth.  Alesi only just made it to the line, as he spluttered to a halt out of fuel on the slowing down lap.  For once, his luck held together when he needed it most.  Gearbox failure left an unhappy Damon Hill on the sidelines and this allowed the two Jordan’s of Rubens Barrichello and Eddie Irvine through into an unlikely double podium result for the underperforming squad.

1998

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 2^nd: Giancarlo Fisichella (Benetton Playlife), 3^rd: Eddie Irvine (Ferrari)

IN AN incredible event, Michael Schumacher produced a stirring comeback drive to win and relight a fading championship challenge.  He was helped by a miserable day for the all-conquering McLaren’s, who both retired.  Mika Hakkinen’s gearbox got jammed at a restart, whilst David Coulthard pulled off with transmission failure.  There had been a restart after Alexander Wurz clipped Jean Alesi and barrel-rolled his Benetton three times into the gravel trap.  On the second start, Ralf Schumacher spun his Jordan wildly, and Alesi, limping around with no front wing after contact with Eddie Irvine, was collected by Jarno Trulli.  The Prost car ended up on the top of Alesi’s spare chassis.  Irvine recovered from a puncture to finish a fighting third.  Even after the McLaren’s disappearance, Schumacher Snr didn’t make life easy for himself.  On lap 20, he returned to the racetrack after a scheduled pitstop and pushed the Williams of Heinz-Harald Frentzen off the circuit.  Patrick Head was furious, and with good justification.  Schumacher was given a stop-go penalty and then survived a vicious attempt by Damon Hill to put him in the wall on his comeback charge.  Hill was accused of dangerous weaving by his former enemy, and his luck ran out, as his throttle cut out, which wrecked his podium chances.  On a charge, Schumacher hunted down the long-time leader Giancarlo Fisichella, got ahead after his second stop and went onto record a stunning victory.  After his rolling antics early on, Wurz did very well to finish a superb fourth in the spare Benetton.

2005

WINNER: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 3^rd: Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari)

THIS was a case of waiting for your rivals to falter and Kimi Raikkonen did that in 2005.  Raikkonen was behind the two Renault’s and his team-mate for the majority of the afternoon, but benefited from their dramas to win in Canada.  First, Giancarlo Fisichella crawled around to retire with a total hydraulic failure, gutted to lose a potential race victory.  Next, runaway championship leader Fernando Alonso made a rare mistake touched a wall and terminally damaged his rear suspension.  Finally, Juan Pablo Montoya was so incensed by a poor McLaren strategy call, that he exited the pits with the red light still on during a Safety Car period.  The Colombian was promptly disqualified.  Raikkonen survived a late steering scare to hold off Michael Schumacher for his third win of the season, whilst Rubens Barrichello came through from a pitlane start to finish third for Ferrari.

2007

LUCKY: Kubica escaped serious injury from this smash in 2007

WINNER: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber), 3^rd: Alexander Wurz (Williams Toyota)

A STAR was well and truly born in this event in 2007, as Lewis Hamilton overcame four nerve-racking Safety Car periods to earn his first ever Formula One victory.  His feat was overshadowed by a sickening crash for the BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica.  On lap 27, shortly after the first Safety Car period to recover Adrian Sutil’s crashed Spyker, Kubica clipped the Toyota of Jarno Trulli on the rundown to the Casino hairpin.  The Pole’s front wing went underneath his chassis, launching him airborne and violently into the crash barriers.  The car totally disintegrated and the remains rolled back across the road to the opposite guardrail.  Incredibly, Kubica escaped with just a sprained ankle and would miss only one event in his full recovery.  Aside for one lap during the first Safety Car, Hamilton led throughout and stayed cool under intense scrutiny, on a day when the more experienced got into trouble.  Both Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella were disqualified for repeating Juan Pablo Montoya’s mistake in 2005, by charging back into the race with the red light still on at the pitlane exit.  Hamilton’s team-mate, Fernando Alonso went off the track four times at the first corner during the race, and finished a lame 7^th, having been sensationally passed in the closing stages by Takuma Sato’s Super Aguri Honda.  Hamilton cruised over the line relatively comfortably to head home Nick Heidfeld’s BMW and Alexander Wurz, who secured his first podium for ten years.  He’d started down in 19^th on the grid, which highlighted the chaos that was Canada 2007.

2010

WINNER: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Jenson Button (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)

LEWIS Hamilton managed his tyres the best last season to earn back-to-back wins on Formula One’s return to North America following a one year sabbatical.  Hamilton led Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso home, in the only event that saw drivers having to make multiple pitstops on a dry racing day.  Had it not been for some rotten luck in traffic against Jarno Trulli and Karun Chandok, Alonso might well have stolen the win for Ferrari.  Sebastian Vettel nursed a gearbox issue to finish fourth, just ahead of team-mate Mark Webber, who’d tried a different race strategy in an effort to win, but wound up fifth.  In his comeback season, Michael Schumacher drove appallingly and got criticised for squeezing Robert Kubica onto the grass and Felipe Massa into the wall.  He finished in 11^th.

Tom Walkinshaw loses cancer battle

OWNER of the rugby union side Gloucester Rugby and ex-F1 team Principal Tom Walkinshaw passed away on Sunday night.  He was 64, losing his brave battle with long cancer.

Born in Scotland in 1946, Tom was a keen racing enthusiast from an early age and began racing in 1968 in Formula Ford.  He won the production class in the British Touring Car Championship in 1974 and raced as high as Formula 2.  However, it was his success as a team owner that made Tom Walkinshaw a famous name in the motor racing industry.

He established TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) in 1976, and began a very fruitful partnership with Jaguar in sportscars.  Before this, he won the European Touring Car Championship title in 1984 in a Jaguar and came third two years later alongside Win Percy in the legendary Australian touring car battle, the Bathurst 1000.

In 1988, Tom retired from driving and decided to concentrate on management, and it bought immediate results.  Their motorsport portfolio increased very rapidly, and it was Jaguar where the main success came.  

They won the World Sportscar title in 1987, winning eight of the ten races.  A year later, the Jaguars stormed Le Mans.  Johnny Dumfries, Andy Wallace and Jan Lammers took the honours and Walkinshaw was also responsible for poaching technical director Ross Brawn from Arrows, and making him into a legendary force in sportscars.  Sauber Mercedes dominated the 1989 event, with a 1-2 finish, but the Jags returned to the winners’ rostrum in Le Mans in 1990.  With Sauber not returning, the Jaguar team overcame a stiff challenge from Porsche to take a historic 1-2 finish.  Lammers, Wallace and Franz Konrad were second, behind John Nielsen, Price Cobb and Martin Brundle.  It was Brundle’s greatest career achievement and the BBC commentator remembers Tom’s passion for Le Mans; “He was a mentor to me; an entrepreneurial racer and a great tactician.”

FIERY: Verstappen's 94 fire spelt the end at Benetton for Tom

At the British Grand Prix in 1991, news brokethrough of TWR’s 35% buyout in the Benetton Formula One team.  Walkinshaw would join Flavio Briatore in owning the team and took the talented Brawn with him to Benetton.  It was Walkinshaw’s insistence of the talents of Michael Schumacher, who’d raced for Sauber Mercedes in sportscars against Tom’s Jaguar squad that gave Briatore the belief to poach Schumi from under Jordan’s noses at Monza in 1991.  In 1994, he played an instrumental part in Schumacher’s first world championship title.  However, he was seen as the controversial villain in the team and parted company with Benetton at the end of the season.  Walkinshaw was seen to challenge the black flag against Schumacher at the British Grand Prix.  A race later, and a fuel filler was removed at the German Grand Prix, which led to a catastrophic refuelling fire for Dutchman Jos Verstappen.  Although a junior member of the team was officially blamed, it is widely claimed that Walkinshaw gave permission for the filler to be removed, hence on an FIA deal, ending his career with the newly-crowned top team in Grand Prix racing.

Tom wound up at the Benetton-owned Ligier team for 1995, and then a falling out with Briatore led to a deal for him to take sole control of the team fall through.  Consequently, he bought out Jackie Oliver’s Footwork team in 1996 and renamed it Arrows.  His persistence saw Yamaha engines come onboard, Bridgestone tyres to make their debut a year earlier than planned and encouraged world champion Damon Hill to join the ambitious programme.  The programme was a disaster.  The car was massively uncompetitive and although Hill came so close to winning the Hungarian Grand Prix, until a throttle problem on the last lap cost him the race to Jacques Villeneuve, Hill and Walkinshaw parted company at the end of the season, and not on the best of terms.  Damon, who now owns the BRDC valued Walkinshaw’s ambition; “He was a very big-hearted guy who put everything he had into motor racing in all of its forms.”

FADING: Tom with Briatore and Bernie in his final F1 season

Afterwards, it was largely downhill in Formula One for Tom Walkinshaw, although there were a few highlights.  On the track, there was a double point’s finish in Monaco in 1998 and Verstappen ran as high as second in the 2001 Austrian and Malaysian Grand Prix’s.  Off-track, he secured a massive sponsorship deal with the mobile phone giant Orange for 2000, but it wasn’t enough for the failing Arrows team.  The Arrows team went bust at the end of the 2002 season, after failing to pay Jaguar its fee for Cosworth engines.  The team’s last appearance in F1 came at Hockenheim in 2002.  Although his TWR team helped Rickard Rydell and Volvo to a British Touring Car Championship title in 1998 and he continued to run a touring car team in Australia, his major involvement in motorsport was finished.

At the same time as the Arrows team was disappearing out of F1, Walkinshaw started to turn his attentions towards rugby union.  He was the chairman of Premiership rugby from 1998-2002 and pumped plenty of money into his role as Gloucester chairman.  Although he turned the club into a leading force, he was unable to turn that money into success on a domestic or European scale.

Tom Walkinshaw (14 August 1946 - 12 December 2010)

Some will say he had a ruthless and dark side to his business, but Tom Walkinshaw was a mild, generous and kind man, who didn’t quite achieve the success he craved, especially in motorsports ultimate pinnacle.  However, he was a massive presence and a real hard-worker and he will be missed, both in the rugby and motor racing circles.

RIP Tom