F1 classic races - Abu Dhabi

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 Abu Dhabi has only staged two Grand Prix races, here is a selection of races between 1991 and 2010 of events that no longer feature on the F1 calendar, plus one event in Abu Dhabi.  Enjoy the archive!

1995 – Argentina

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

HAVING spun out of a comfortable lead through suspension failure in Brazil, Damon Hill’s response came with a crushing victory on F1’s return to Argentina.  The first event at Buenos Aires in 22 years also brought a new pole sitter in the shape of young Scot David Coulthard.  Electrical problems curtailed his race, but his presence on the Grand Prix scene was here to stay.  Hill played the patient game in the early stages and then set a string of quick laps around the pitstops to build up a commanding lead.  Jean Alesi recovered from causing a first corner pile-up, which led to a race stoppage to finish second ahead of an off-colour Michael Schumacher, who had to settle for third, over a minute behind his chief rival.  Gerhard Berger produced a brilliant recovery from a dreadful 81.7 second pitstop to claim the final championship point in the second Ferrari.

1997 – San Marino

MAIDEN: Victory for Frentzen in 1997, his high point at Williams

WINNER: Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Williams Renault), 2^nd: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 3^rd: Eddie Irvine (Ferrari)

WITH no points from the first three races, Heinz-Harald Frentzen was already under pressure to deliver at Williams.  His response at Imola was impressive, as he held off a faster Ferrari of Michael Schumacher to claim his maiden F1 success.  Jacques Villeneuve had started on pole position for the fourth race in a row, but gearbox problems intervened at his second pitstop.  Schumacher had jumped Frentzen at the start, but quicker pit work from Williams got their man out infront and he grittily held on until the chequered flag.  Gerhard Berger’s 200^th Grand Prix ended early, when he spun on a damp patch on lap four.  Eddie Irvine kept rising star Giancarlo Fisichella at bay to secure a double podium finish for Ferrari on home soil.

1998 – Austria

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

WET qualifying for the first time since Belgium 1994 provided a jumbled up grid, which had Giancarlo Fisichella on pole position, Jean Alesi a brilliant second for Sauber and the likes of David Coulthard languishing back in 14^th spot.  Coulthard was then involved in a collision with the two Arrows cars on the first lap, limping back with damage.  Front row men, Fisichella and Alesi’s races ended on lap 22, with a collision at the Remus Curve.  For a while, Michael Schumacher looked likely to overwhelm Mika Hakkinen, but he ran wide on lap 17, bouncing across the gravel and ripping the front wing off his Ferrari and dropping him back to 15^th.  After a feisty and exciting scrap with his brother, Ralf – he used team orders to pass Eddie Irvine and recover to third, behind Coulthard, who stormed back to second.  However, Hakkinen was untroubled at the front to record his fifth win of the season, to show his true championship mettle.

2003 – USA

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 2^nd: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Sauber Petronas)

WITH three men in the title running, the 2003 US Grand Prix in changeable conditions played a significant role in the destination of the championship.  A collision with Rubens Barrichello on the third lap handed the stewards with a difficult decision on whether to penalise Juan Pablo Montoya.  He was given a drive-through penalty and by being on the wrong tyres when conditions worsened, his championship hopes died.  The mixed weather played into the hands of Ferrari and Michael Schumacher.  Despite only qualifying 7^th, the German showed his class again in such variable weather to claim his sixth victory of the season.  Kimi Raikkonen kept his mathematical hopes alive by finishing a strong second, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen benefited from a brilliant call to change to intermediates at the right time, by getting an unlikely podium finish for Sauber.  His reward was the sack!  Jenson Button was on course for a maiden podium finish, until his BAR Honda engine expired whilst running second at half-distance.  A European heatwave mid-season had handed the initiative in 2003 to the Michelin runners, but at Indy, Ferrari played their wild card of the Bridgestone intermediate tyre which took Schumacher to the brink of achieving more history.

2006 – Bahrain

ENOUGH: Excellent pitwork kept Alonso ahead in 2006....just!

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

THE first race of 2006 saw four teams arriving in desert believing they had equipment that was good enough to win the season opener.  McLaren’s chances took a knock when a rear wing failure saw Kimi Raikkonen spin out in Q1.  Starting 22^nd, he charged through the pack to finish third.  Honda’s Jenson Button had an great scrap with Juan Pablo Montoya throughout the race, eventually winning the dice to come home in fourth.  Even Williams threatened serious pace, with debutant Nico Rosberg coming home a sensational 7^th and recording fastest lap, the youngest driver to do so.  In the end, the battle for victory came down to a fight between Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso.  Schumacher claimed pole position in the new knockout qualifying formula and led the first two stints of the race.  Despite heavy traffic, Alonso’s Renault team produced a top-class pitstop that was just enough to squeeze out ahead of Schumacher.  Alonso won the race, but Schumacher and Ferrari had shown that they were going to be serious challengers again in 2006. 

2010 – Abu Dhabi

WINNER: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing Renault), 2^nd: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Jenson Button (McLaren Mercedes)

FORMULA ONE’s first ever four-way title showdown ended with a nail-biting and tense finale in Abu Dhabi.  The favourites for the title were Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber, with the Spaniard eight points clear going into the final event.  The outsiders were Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, with both men qualifying on the front row.  A nasty accident between Michael Schumacher and Vitantonio Liuzzi on the first lap brought the Safety Car out and sent cars such as Nico Rosberg and Vitaly Petrov into the pits to make their mandatory pitstops.  As the softer tyre began to wear out, both Webber and Alonso pitted early, handing the initiative to Vettel.  Ferrari had made a strategy blunder and covered off the wrong Red Bull driver.  This allowed Rosberg and Petrov to jump the pair and with the lack of overtaking opportunities, both drivers remained stuck behind the Russian for the rest of the afternoon.  Vettel won the race and with both Alonso and Webber failing to finish in the top four, it was enough for Sebastian to become the youngest ever F1 world champion.  Red Bull did the double and it began the Vettel dynasty in Formula One.

F1 classic races - Japan

1994

WINNER: Damon Hill (Williams Renault), 2^nd: Michael Schumacher (Benetton Ford), 3^rd: Jean Alesi (Ferrari)

SUZUKA 1994 began in truly awful conditions.  Michael Schumacher started on pole position, but nearly half the field fell off the road early on as aquaplaning took hold.  When Gianni Morbidelli and Martin Brundle went off heavily at the Degner complex; Brundle’s accident badly injuring a marshal, the race was eventually stopped.  Despite concern over a restart, the rain relented and the fans that stayed witnessed a battle of aggregate timing to decide the race between Schumacher and Damon Hill.  Hill’s one stop strategy gave him the time advantage, but on worn tyres, he was struggling against the fresher Benetton in fast diminishing light.  However, Damon held onto win by 3.3seconds and took the title showdown to that controversial finale in Adelaide.  Nigel Mansell had a similar exciting battle with Jean Alesi and passed the Frenchman into the chicane on the final lap.  However, on the timing rule, Alesi was the final driver on the podium.

1996

WINNER: Damon Hill (Williams Renault), 2^nd: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 3^rd: Mika Hakkinen (McLaren Mercedes)

WITH a nine point lead over rookie team-mate Jacques Villeneuve, Damon Hill could only throw away the 1996 championship.  He qualified second, behind Villeneuve and people thought it would be a cautious drive.  However, he stormed into the lead from the start and despite an early vicious attack from Gerhard Berger, which left the Austrian needing to pit for damage, Damon was largely untroubled.  Villeneuve had a horrible start and dropped to sixth, struggling to keep up with Mika Hakkinen and Eddie Irvine.  On lap 36, a rear wheel pitched off the Canadian’s car and sent him into the gravel trap.  Hill coasted home, ahead of outgoing champion Michael Schumacher and Hakkinen, leaving Murray Walker literally with a lump in his throat and the perfect way to end Grand Prix on the BBC chapter one!

1997

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 2^nd: Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Williams Renault), 3^rd: Eddie Irvine (Ferrari)

HE WAS under pressure to deliver after some suspect performances in Austria and at the Nurburgring, but Michael Schumacher once again produced a stirring drive at Suzuka to win and take the title lead with one race to go.  His rival for the championship, Jacques Villeneuve, had to race under appeal after he had been initially excluded from the meeting following his fourth yellow flag infringement of the season during Saturday morning practice.  On Sunday, Villeneuve’s only intention was to destroy Schumacher’s race, but his plan backfired.  Ferrari’s plan was to get Eddie Irvine into the lead and pull enough of a lead out, so Villeneuve could not slow everyone down.  Better pit work from Ferrari got Schumacher ahead of the desperate Canadian, before Irvine slowed down and let his team leader through.  Damon Hill’s Arrows badly held Schumacher up in the closing stages, which gave Heinz-Harald Frentzen the chance to attack.  However, Schumi held on and with Williams dropping their appeal after the event, Villeneuve lost his two points for Suzuka and went to Jerez a point behind.  At least Frentzen’s ability to overhaul Irvine for second place in the race did secure the constructor’s championship for Williams.

2000

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

THIS was a true battle between the modern greats of the sport; Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen.  Schumacher took pole position after a fierce scrap in qualifying, but like in 1999, Hakkinen made the better start.  They traded fastest laps throughout, as they left the rest standing.  David Coulthard, who came third, finished over a minute behind.  A sprinkling rain shower saw McLaren pit Hakkinen a bit earlier for his second stop.  He got held up badly behind Pedro de la Rosa’s Arrows and this allowed Schumacher to set the quick times required to get out ahead of his only title rival.  Mika kept pushing to the end, but Michael held his nerve to win the 2000 event and the world championship for the third time; Ferrari’s first driver’s title since 1979.  At last, the Schumacher/Ferrari combination had delivered and it started a new era of utter domination in F1.

2005

WINNER: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault), 3^rd: Fernando Alonso (Renault)

PASS: Raikkonen is about to complete his epic drive in 2005

KIMI Raikkonen produced the finest win of his Grand Prix career, in a titanic 2005 race, one of the best ever in the history of the championship.  After wet qualifying, the likes of Raikkonen, new world champion Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya started near the back of the grid.  Montoya was eliminated on the first lap, crashing heavily out of the final corner while attempting an ambitious move around the outside of Jacques Villeneuve.  Alonso showed his determination, as he drove flat out around the outside of Schumacher’s Ferrari at 130R on lap 16 in a stunning move.  Gradually, Raikkonen hauled himself upto second place, but Giancarlo Fisichella still had a healthy 20 second cushion infront.  Alonso used more bravery to pass Mark Webber’s Williams on the grass with five laps remaining to snatch third, but Fisichella switched off and was powerless against the relentless Raikkonen.  Kimi charged upto his gearbox and then drove past him into the first corner around the outside of the Renault as they started the last lap.  This was a day when man and class in driver tolled over the usual combination of driver/machinery and kept the constructors championship battle alive to the finale in China.

2007 (Fuji Speedway)

WINNER: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Heikki Kovalainen (Renault), 3^rd: Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

UNDER pressure from Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton delivered a masterful performance to win in terrible weather conditions at Fuji Speedway.  With Suzuka’s facilities needing an urgent update, Fuji staged the event for two seasons (2007 & 2008).  The race began behind the Safety Car, with Ferrari’s curious decision to start on intermediate tyres sending their drivers to the back of the field.  Hamilton pitted later than Alonso when racing got underway and cleared some important traffic, which Fernando couldn’t.  Despite a collision with Robert Kubica, Lewis continued to pull away at the front whilst Alonso ended up crashing out of the event.  After another Safety Car, which saw youngster Sebastian Vettel blot his copybook and crash into the back of a furious Mark Webber, Hamilton drove away again as he pleased to earn a vital win.  Kimi Raikkonen produced a similarly great drive against adversity to finish third behind Heikki Kovalainen.  Kubica ended up with a drive-through penalty for his clash with Hamilton, before losing a ferocious last lap dice over sixth with Felipe Massa’s Ferrari, which had echoes of Gilles Villeneuve/Rene Arnoux at Dijon in 1979.

F1 classic races - Hungary

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 Hungary between 1991 and 2010.  Enjoy the archive!

1992

FINALLY: Mansell achieves his goal, although Senna won the race

WINNER: Ayrton Senna (McLaren Honda), 2^nd: Nigel Mansell (Williams Renault), 3^rd: Gerhard Berger (McLaren Honda)

ONE man dominated the 1992 world championship, but it was a charging drive that earnt Nigel Mansell his coveted crown.  Starting second behind team-mate Riccardo Patrese, Mansell made a bad start, dropping behind both McLaren’s of Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger.  He fought back past Berger and when Patrese spun off, the championship looked secure.  However, a puncture forced Nigel into the pits and back down to sixth spot.  Catching Senna was a forlorn task, but ‘Our Nige’ ensured he fought for his title.  First, Michael Schumacher was catapulted off the road when his rear wing flew off in the direction of Budapest airport!  The Lotus of Mika Hakkinen and Martin Brundle were easily dispensed with and finally, a bullish pass on Berger got Mansell back into second spot, even when third was enough for the title.  After many near-misses, Nigel had done it at last!

1997

WINNER: Jacques Villeneuve (Williams Renault), 2^nd: Damon Hill (Arrows Yamaha), 3^rd: Johnny Herbert (Sauber Petronas)

THE Damon Hill/Arrows combination always looked like it would fail and so it did; but for one magical weekend in Hungary.  The world champion recaptured his 1996 form to qualify his underpowered chassis in third spot.  Hill jumped past Jacques Villeneuve into the first corner and then sensationally overtook Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari on lap 11 into the first corner.  Blistered tyres and a spare chassis finished Schumacher’s podium chances and he wasn’t the only one suffering.  Giancarlo Fisichella spun off trying to pass the Ferrari; Mika Hakkinen lost engine power on his McLaren and Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s bad luck continued when the fuel filler cap refused to open at his pitstop.  After seeing off the threat of David Coulthard, Villeneuve pursued in vain, but cruel luck was about to strike.  Hill’s throttle started cutting out with three laps to go, leaving him a sitting target.  On the last lap, Villeneuve used the grass on the exit of turn three to steal victory from Damon’s deserved grasp.  Johnny Herbert came home in an excellent third for Sauber.

1998

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 2^nd: David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Jacques Villeneuve (Williams Mecachrome)

HALFWAY through the 1998 race and Michael Schumacher’s world championship hopes looked to be in tatters.  The McLaren’s were walking away into the distance and Schumacher was struggling to pass Jacques Villeneuve’s Williams Mecachrome.  Ross Brawn came up with an absolute masterstroke and brought Schumacher in for an early second stop, turning his race into a three-stopper.  His searing pace was unleashed and when the McLaren team tried to respond, they crucially lost track position.  Even a brief excursion onto the grass on lap 52 couldn’t halt Schumacher’s charge and he started lapping three seconds quicker than anyone else.  By lap 60, his advantage was sufficient enough to pit for the third time and retain his lead.  Mika Hakkinen’s challenge faded thanks to a faulty shock absorber, which relegated the Finn to a lapped sixth, behind David Coulthard, Villeneuve, Damon Hill’s Jordan and a flu-ridden Heinz-Harald Frentzen.  Even today, this remains one of Michael Schumacher’s greatest ever victories.

2001

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

THIS was nowhere near a classic, but it was a title clincher.  David Coulthard had to beat Michael Schumacher to stand any hope of launching a title fightback.  It became ever more unlikely when Schumacher lapped 0.7secs quicker than anyone else in qualifying.  He took off at the start and wasn’t seen for the remainder of the afternoon.  The main scrap was between Coulthard and the second Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello.  DC lost out at the start to the Brazilian, but slick McLaren pit work got the Scot out ahead in the first round of pitstops.  However, Ferrari turned the tables at the second stops and Barrichello leapfrogged ahead again.  The path was clear for Schumacher to take his seventh win of the season, his fourth world drivers’ championship and to equal Alain Prost’s record of 51 GP victories.  With Barrichello second, the constructor’s championship was also sealed in Ferrari’s favour, having scored nearly double the points of nearest rivals McLaren.  For Ferrari, it was the perfect day and years of Maranello domination were well and truly underway.

2003

WINNER: Fernando Alonso (Renault), 2^nd: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams BMW)

THE remarkable Fernando Alonso had gone off the boil in mid-season and Jarno Trulli had outpaced him in the last three events.  When Trulli went quickest in Friday’s qualifying session, with Alonso down in sixth, it looked like we were in for more of the same.  However, Alonso stormed to pole position on Saturday and never looked back.  He was massively helped by Mark Webber’s much slower Jaguar getting into second position in a chaotic start.  Webber held up the rest of the opposition, allowing Alonso to build up a 30 second cushion in the first 15 laps.  Rubens Barrichello’s championship challenge ended when he suffered a calamitous rear suspension failure.  After spinning at the second corner, Ralf Schumacher produced a stirring fightback to fourth position, but his title chances also looked dead and buried.  This was because his team-mate, Juan Pablo Montoya survived a scrappy spin in the closing stages to finish third.  Kimi Raikkonen was an excellent second and it set the championship up for a grand finale, especially as Michael Schumacher qualified and finished a very distant and lapped eighth.  At least he started; Ralph Firman fractured his heel and missed the race after a terrible crash in practice, but this was Alonso’s weekend, as he stole Bruce McLaren’s record to become the youngest ever Formula One winner.  That was until a young German called S. Vettel came on the horizon of course!

2006

WINNER: Jenson Button (Honda), 2^nd: Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber)

BOTH Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher entered the race with grid penalties.  Alonso had been penalised for brake-testing Robert Doornbos in Friday practice, whilst Schumacher overtook Alonso and new BMW driver Robert Kubica under red flags on Saturday morning.  On a wet day, the unpredictable took place.  Alonso produced a great drive and looked set to win from 15^th on the grid.  However, a wheel nut came loose after his second pitstop, which left him spinning helplessly into the barriers.  Schumacher couldn’t take advantage though; retiring with suspension damage after minor contact with Nick Heidfeld with just three laps remaining.  Kubica’s later disqualification still earnt the German a fortunate point.  All this opened the door for Jenson Button to storm through from 14^th on the grid to claim his first Grand Prix victory.  Pedro de la Rosa was a notable second for McLaren, recording his first podium finish.

F1 classic races - Britain

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 at Silverstone between 1991 and 2010.  Enjoy the archive!

1994

HOME: Success for Hill amidst controversy in 1994

WINNER: Damon Hill (Williams Renault), 2^nd: Jean Alesi (Ferrari), 3^rd: Mika Hakkinen (McLaren Peugeot)

MICHAEL Schumacher was coasting away with the 1994 championship, but lost his head at Silverstone, which turned the season on its head.  Having been beaten to pole by 0.003secs, Schumacher overtook Damon Hill’s Williams on the formation lap, not once – but twice!  Although he leapfrogged Hill at the first round of pitstops, Schumacher was shown the black flag on lap 22.  The Benetton team challenged the decision, with the German ignoring the order to come in and serve a five-second stop-go penalty for another seven laps.  Hill won the race, whilst Schumacher was disqualified afterwards and banned for two races for his transgression.  Mika Hakkinen earnt a much-needed podium for the McLaren team, despite a last lap run-in with Rubens Barrichello, but team-mate Martin Brundle’s Peugeot engine erupted in a ball of flame when the lights turned to green, leaving the Brit furious and stunned.

1995

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

THE championship contenders clashed, which allowed the popular and usually unlucky Johnny Herbert to register his first ever Grand Prix win.  Damon Hill was on pole again, and led the early exchanges, but Benetton once again outdid Williams on strategy and had Michael Schumacher infront.  On lap 46, Hill, desperately wanting to take advantage of fresher tyres, made a desperate dive up the inside into the Priory bend and took the pair off into the gravel.  Hill insisted it was a racing incident, whilst the champion pointed the blame squarely at Damon’s door.  Herbert inherited the lead, but lost it to David Coulthard.  However, the Scot got a pitlane speeding penalty and dropped to third, so Herbert got his lead back and won the event.  Rubens Barrichello had a lucky escape when his Jordan nearly flipped the gravel trap after late contact with the McLaren of Mark Blundell.

1998

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

FORTY laps into the 1998 race and Michael Schumacher’s chances can’t have looked great.  On a wet day, his Ferrari was no match for the dominant McLaren’s of Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.  However, Coulthard spun off on a puddle whilst lapping the Benetton of Giancarlo Fisichella.  With the rain level intensifying, Hakkinen spun off at Bridge and did some front wing damage to his car.  The Safety Car was deployed and Mika’s 40 second lead was washed away.  On lap 51, he ran wide at Becketts and Schumacher powered past, opening up a 20 second lead.  However, rather than a time penalty, he was wrongly given a ten second stop-go penalty with three laps to go.  The offence was for passing Alexander Wurz under waved yellows whilst Jos Verstappen’s Stewart was recovered.  On the last lap, Schumacher entered the pitlane to serve his penalty, crossing the startline in the process.  He effectively won the race in the pitlane.  McLaren appealed the result, but lost in the Court of Appeal, meaning Schumacher made it three wins in a row.  

1999

WRECKED: Schumacher's title hopes after his 1999 failure

WINNER: David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Eddie Irvine (Ferrari), 3^rd: Ralf Schumacher (Williams Supertec)

DAVID Coulthard’s first triumph at Silverstone was overshadowed by the accident that ruined Michael Schumacher’s title chances.  Schumacher made a bad start from the front row of the grid and dropped behind Coulthard and team-mate Eddie Irvine.  As red flags were waving due to the stalled cars of Jacques Villeneuve and Alex Zanardi, Schumacher went to overtake Irvine on the Hangar Straight when he suffered a rear brake failure and pitched off the road at Stowe gravel trap, hitting the tyre barriers head-first.  Despite attempting to exit the cockpit on his own, the German realised his leg was trapped in the wreckage and had to be treated by marshals with a broken tibia and fibula in his right leg.  On the restart, Mika Hakkinen led away, but lost a wheel and was forced to retire with a faulty wheel hub.  Irvine overshot his pit box on his first stop, handing the lead and the race to an overjoyed Coulthard.  Considering he didn’t know the well-being of his brother, Ralf Schumacher raced brilliantly to a podium result for the Williams team and Damon Hill led a lap and finished a fighting fifth on his final British Grand Prix appearance.

2003

WINNER: Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), 2^nd: Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams BMW), 3^rd: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren Mercedes)

RUBENS Barrichello won a crazy race in 2003, after pulling off some stunning overtaking manoeuvres.  He started from pole, but slipped to eighth on lap 11 as crazed religious lunatic Neil Horan ran onto the Hangar Straight and started waving signs about the bible as the cars were doing almost 200mph.  The Safety Car was sent out and the scramble saw the likes of Juan Pablo Montoya, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso tumbling down the order.  Barrichello produced amazing passes on Ralf Schumacher, Trulli and Kimi Raikkonen and was a great winner of a great race which was full of overtaking.  Raikkonen ran wide at Stowe with 11 laps to go, gifting Montoya second place.  Michael Schumacher fought back from 14^th place to fourth to maintain his title advantage.  By use of a lucky strategy, 2002 CART champion Cristiano da Matta did a great job to lead the race for 17 laps, before finishing seventh.

2008

WINNER: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber), 3^rd: Rubens Barrichello (Honda)

UNDER pressure from two dismal performances in Canada and France, Lewis Hamilton arrived at Silverstone in desperate need for a result.  He produced a mesmerizing drive to win by an entire minute, lapping at times, some seven seconds a lap faster than anyone else.  His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen claimed his first ever pole position, but was all at sea on raceday and finished a lapped fifth.  Hamilton was under pressure from Kimi Raikkonen early on, but Ferrari made the decision to keep Kimi on old tyres and the move backfired.  Raikkonen dropped down to 11^th, before recovering to fourth.  Renault made a similar mistake with Fernando Alonso, which left the Spaniard down in sixth.  At the height of a tropical downpour, Nelson Piquet and Robert Kubica were caught out and lost possible podium finishes.  With championship leader Felipe Massa having a dire day, spinning five times and ending up last, this allowed the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld and Honda’s Rubens Barrichello to take the final two podium positions.  Barrichello’s came from 16^th on the grid, when the Honda team took a gamble on extreme wet weather tyres and started lapping 15 seconds quicker than the midfield.  However, the 2008 British Grand Prix belonged to McLaren and Lewis Hamilton who showed he was the new ‘rain master.’

F1 classic races - Australia

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 the first selection, of races in Australia between 1991 and 2010.  Enjoy the archive!

1991 (Adelaide)

TORRENTIAL: Senna holds off a determined Mansell

Winner: Ayrton Senna (McLaren Honda), 2^nd: Nigel Mansell (Williams Renault), 3^rd: Gerhard Berger (McLaren Honda)

THE final race of the 1991 championship was meant to be a happy and relaxed occasion.  In the end, it turned into a farce.  In fact, it was stopped after 14 laps, due to torrential rain.  It is the shortest race in world championship history and only half points were awarded.  Ayrton Senna started from pole and led the whole race, but came under pressure from Nigel Mansell’s Williams.  The rain intensified on the Adelaide street circuit and it wasn’t long before Jean Alesi, Nicola Larini and Pierluigi Martini all crashed in a straight line on the backstraight.  As aquaplaning got worse, Mansell was caught out and smashed backwards into the barriers just before the race was eventually red-flagged.  He was carried away in an ambulance with minor injuries.  The race was a sad end to Nelson Piquet’s distinguished career.  The Brazilian finished fourth for Benetton, but was bitterly disappointed to retire from the sport after three world titles in such a damp squib.

1994 (Adelaide)

DECIDER: Hill and Schumacher collide

Winner: Nigel Mansell (Williams Renault), 2^nd: Gerhard Berger (Ferrari), 3^rd: Martin Brundle (McLaren Peugeot)

THE first championship showdown in Adelaide since 1986 was between Michael Schumacher’s Benetton and Damon Hill’s Williams.  Only one point covered the two drivers coming into the race and they were in a class of two.  It ended controversially when Schumacher’s Benetton understeered off the track on Lap 36 at Westfield Bend.  Hill, unsighted lapping Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s Sauber missed the German’s contact with the concrete barrier and immediately dived for a gap on the inside at the next corner.  Schumacher turned in and contact was inevitable.  Michael’s car was launched into the air and ended in the tyre barriers.  Sadly for the British fans, Hill’s wishbone had been bent in the contact and after a slow lap back to the pits, was forced to call it a day.  Nigel Mansell, in his last drive for Williams had started on pole position and overtook Gerhard Berger on Lap 63, when the Ferrari driver went down an escape road.  He won fantastically to earn Williams the constructor’s championship.

1999 (Melbourne)

Winner: Eddie Irvine (Ferrari), 2^nd: Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Jordan Mugen Honda), 3^rd: Ralf Schumacher (Williams Supertec)

AFTER 81 attempts, Eddie Irvine won his first Grand Prix for Ferrari, but it was a gift given to him by the dominant McLaren Mercedes team.  Reigning champion Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard were 1.3secs ahead of the opposition and led by 16 seconds inside of 14 laps.  A spectacular rear wing failure for Jacques Villeneuve in the BAR Supertec saw the Safety Car obliterate the McLaren’s lead.  Seconds later, Coulthard pulled into the pits to retire with a gearbox problem.  When the Safety Car withdrew, Hakkinen was crippled by a throttle issue and Irvine took the lead into the first corner.  The Finn only lasted another three laps before retiring in the garage.  Michael Schumacher was also struck down by reliability problems including a puncture and recurring gear selection problems.  He finished out of the points in 8^th place, allowing Irvine to step out of Schumacher’s shadow and earn his day in the sun Down Under.

2003 (Melbourne)

Winner: David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams BMW), 3^rd: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren Mercedes)

THE biggest shake-up in the rules and regulations since 1997 mixed-up the field and put an end to the Ferrari F2002 dominance.  Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello grabbed the front row of the grid, but changeable conditions opened the door for the Michelin-shod cars.  Barrichello crashed on lap six and Schumacher made a late switch to dry tyres on a drying track.  Kimi Raikkonen came through from 15^th on the grid and took command of the race.  The Finn even managed to have the cheek to stick Schumacher on the grass at turn one during an epic scrap.  However, Raikkonen edged 1kmh over the pitlane speed limit and earnt himself a drive-through penalty.  Schumacher was back infront, but needed to pit again when his barge boards fell off like a broken down Meccano set.  Juan Pablo Montoya inherited the lead, but the Colombian spun his Williams on the exit on turn one and this allowed David Coulthard to come through almost unnoticed from 11^th on the grid.  The Scot recorded his second Australian Grand Prix triumph and his 13^th win in the sport, ultimately his last.  With Schumacher only managing fourth behind Montoya and Raikkonen, it was the first race since Nurburgring 1999 that neither Ferrari had managed to make the podium.

2006 (Melbourne)

Winner: Fernando Alonso (Renault), 2^nd: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Ralf Schumacher (Toyota)

JENSON Button produced a stunning lap on Saturday afternoon to secure pole position, but his Honda Racing car was all at sea in the cooler conditions on Sunday.  He was never able to get his tyres upto temperature after four Safety Car restarts and to compound his misery, his Honda engine exploded in a bull of flame on the penultimate corner of the race.  Fernando Alonso avoided all the chaos and led the majority of the race, to win in relaxed fashion.  Kimi Raikkonen came second, despite needing a new front wing during a pitstop and Ralf Schumacher recovered from a drive-through penalty to secure a great podium for Toyota.  Juan Pablo Montoya failed to finish, when he killed his engine by pressing an ignition switch following a wild and wacky trip down the grass.  Ferrari had a miserable weekend, as neither car finished in the top ten in qualifying and then, both Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher crashed out of the race in dramatic fashion. 

2009 (Melbourne)

FAIRYTALE: Button and Barrichello complete an epic story

Winner: Jenson Button (Brawn Mercedes), 2^nd: Rubens Barrichello (Brawn Mercedes), 3^rd: Jarno Trulli (Toyota)

AVOIDING the controversy of the double diffusers, which erupted on the opening weekend of the 2009 season, a fairytale story was unfolding at Brawn GP.  In November 2008, Honda announced their immediate withdrawal from Formula One, putting the team up for sale and leaving many members of the team in limbo.  After tense and frustrating negotiations, Ross Brawn completed a management buyout and with limited testing, turned up at the final pre-season test nearly a second quicker than their rivals.  The car reignited the failing careers of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello and the pair secured the front row of the grid in qualifying.  In the race, Button led throughout, whilst Barrichello had to battle through the field, after making a poor start and making contact with Mark Webber on lap one, which damaged his front wing.  The race finished behind the Safety Car, after Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica tangled, whilst dicing for second spot with three laps to go.  This completed the Brawn fairytale, with Jarno Trulli winding up third after a pitlane start.  This is after Lewis Hamilton was excluded in Malaysia, following evidence was produced that he had lied to the Melbourne stewards after the race for a Safety Car incident with Trulli. 

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

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.