#Alain: ayrton was so good he won more but i had | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

blackswaneuroparedux · 4 years

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penman47 asked: Your pages on Stirling Moss and Graham Hill have brought back fond memories of my passion for Formula 1 racing and the Grand Prix races from 1963 through1972. Mechanical failures often plagued Stirling Moss, Graham Hill and Jimmy Clark as man put machine to test. My question would be who of the three would come out on top driving the same mechanically perfect car at say the British Grand Prix Silverstone.

Thank you for your question @penman47

I received this question just before the sad news about the recent untimely death of the legendary Sir Stirling Moss. It feels prescient to respond now after a bit time to pass to reflect with a more sober perspective rather than let sentiment and emotion cloud any judgement.

In my family we are, it is fair to say, racing nuts. My grandfather had the racing bug and drove classic cars at amateur meets like Goodwood through his friendship with Freddie Richmond and was involved heavily in the RAC Club. He was fortunate to see all three of these racings icons race. He saw all of Jim Clark’s five victories at the British Grand Prix and regularly went to Monaco to see Graham Hill win there five times. He saw Stirling Moss race too and he was there for the Glover Trophy at Goodwood in 1962 when Stirling Moss had his career ending accident. Without taking anything away from the modern era drivers like Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, and Lewis Hamilton - all of whom he thinks are a credit to motor racing - he is very much of his era. As a proud Scots, he thinks Jim Clark was the best he ever saw.

My father got the racing bug too but was more of a Le Mans fan when he was growing up because spectators were closer to the action than F1. He had inherited and also built up his own classic car collection that he sometimes races at Goodwood. He was a wee laddie when he saw Clark and Hill race but he doesn’t fully recall because he was too young to fully remember. He loved watching James Hunt, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost but had a grudging respect for Nikki Lauda. He never saw Stirling Moss race but knew him quite well through Goodwood and at the RAC Club in London. I know his head says Jim Clark but his heart says Stirling Moss was the best British driver.

For one of my older brothers, who has a thing for speed as I do, he was always a big Ayrton Senna fan. Again as a small boy he saw Ayrton Senna race and was part of the converted to consider him as the greatest driver of all time. Senna’s bravery was his own inspiration to take part in the Dakar Rally and other endurance races.

It’s indeed one of my unmet ambitions to ride in the Dakar Rally but it’s always been on the back burner. I would like to ride with my brother because he has the experience but he and I are too competitive and we would fight over who was the better driver - for the record, I know I am.

My mother - being Norwegian - is left to make dry sarcastic remarks about boys and toys whenever my grandfather, father and us siblings talked about racing. But she’s not immune to the glamour of F1 racing either. I’ve been told by my aunts that when my mother was at her Swiss boarding school, and later learning to be a ski instructor in the Alps, she would descend upon Monaco during the Grand Prix with her friends and enjoy the social side of racing i.e. the partying side of Formula One racing. But she’s quite buttoned up about her partying past. Meanwhile she and my other siblings continue roll their eyes when the subject of racing comes up.

But speaking for myself, speed has been my drug of choice and flying combat helicopters in the army for a time helped satiate that need. When I left I felt empty and bereft. But if flying single craft planes and gliders gives me weird sense of peace these days (when I can make the time to do so), I get a decent rush from riding motorbikes hard and fast on the open country roads (forget about the urban traffic congested cityscape). Racing the odd fast car I managed to get my hands on through pliant boyfriend or good friend has given me a brief thrill too but it’s been spoiled often with my driving companion screaming in my ear or pissing their pants as I take the turn hard. With my penchant for crashing - tsk, more like a graze - I’m not allowed any where near my father’s classic cars.

I have been to Grand Prix races, including ones at Silverstone, Spa-Francochamps, Singapore, Shanghai, Suzuka, Yas Marina, Monza, and Monaco, from the time I was at boarding school. I would either go as a guest of my grandfather or father or even with some school friends who lived in Monaco and had links to get entry into the drivers’ paddock. But these days it’s more likely because of wrangling a corporate hospitality invitation that I would have the chance to go - sometimes if I plan my calendar fortuitously and Lady Luck smiles upon me I can catch two birds with one stone e.g. do a business trip to Shanghai and stay on to see the Shanghai Grand Prix. So I follow racing avidly if I can. For me of course the amazing Lewis Hamilton is the driver of our generation along with Michael Schumacher’s imperious reign at the top. And I do like the cut of Max Verstappen’s gib too.

Of course it’s hard for me to credibly assess who was the better driver between Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, and Jim Clark because I wasn’t a direct witness but not many today were either. But I consider myself a racing fan and I have seen old footage. I have also read about the history of Grand Prix racing and listened to others whose expert views I respect. So I hope what I offer is just an educated opinion at the end of the day but I recognise the heart will come into it because racing - at least in the vintage years - was quite romantic even as it morphed into something more glamorous in later decades.

Anyway, your question just added more fuel to the fire in our family discussions over our recent Zoom calls.

I have to say upfront that I consider Jim Clark as the greatest British driver of all time. I’m with my grandfather on this one and I always enjoy playing contrarian to my father(!). But all things considered Jim Clark was on a different level to both Stirling Moss and Graham Hill. And why I think so I hope I can lay that case out below.

It’s important to put all three drivers in their racing context.

Firstly, they all didn’t race at their peak at the same time and in the case of Moss in a different era. But there was some overlap between Moss and Clark and Hill. Stirling Moss had active career from 1951-1961. Graham Hill had his active years between 1958 to 1975. And Jim Clark was only active for eight years from 196O to 1968.

Secondly, unless you’re a racing fan or have seen old film footage, it really is hard to convey to our present times just how dangerous driving was in that era. It was known as the Killer Years in Formula One history. Back in the days when the British government leached up to 97 per cent from a race driver’s income, a racer had at least a 40% chance of dying at the wheel, so tragedies were commonplace. Some prodded the tiger once too often and ran out of luck. It really is hard for us to fathom the extreme danger Grand Prix drivers put themselves under when they hared around the track as one mistake might well cost them their life or a body of broken bones.

And thirdly, it may sound simple to say this, but they drove extremely fast at very high speeds. The temptation again is to look at vintage racing cars in the light of modern super engineered racing cars and think they were easy to drive.

Few drivers in the history of motor sport can prove they’ve won the elusive Triple Crown. Only Graham Hill can. Formula One world champion in 1962 and 1968; winner of the 1966 Indianapolis 500; winner of the 1972 24 hours of Le Mans and five time Monaco GP winner. An incredible achievement that underlines the fact that Hill was one of the most complete drivers of his time. He was fast, but not the fastest. Talented, but not the most talented. The best, but not always and everywhere. Explosive, but predictable. Professional, but with enough self-mockery to pull his pants down at dinner parties, running up and down the tables. Hill drove his cars throughout the most dangerous years of the sport. Calmly and reserved, while he tried to fight off virtuoso's like Jim Clark, Jochen Rindt and Jackie Stewart.

When Stirling Moss drove on the track, he was there to race, not to eke out championship points. And to do it fast, faster than anyone else. For a driver whose competitive peak coincided with one of motor racing’s most dangerous periods when death regularly stalked all drivers, a time when average lap speeds escalated while safety precautions stood still, Moss’ courage and achievements were even more astonishing. Moss knew all about that: witness the serious leg injuries he suffered during practice for the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix, a race in which compatriots Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey both died, or the career-ending aftermath of his accident during the 1962 Glover Trophy at Goodwood.

But for his own unswerving sense of fair play, he could have pipped Mike Hawthorn to become Britain’s first world champion in 1958. Moss won four races to his rival’s one, but the latter benefited from greater reliability and consistency. The pivotal moment came in the Portuguese Grand Prix, from which Hawthorn was initially stripped of second place for receiving a push-start after slithering off the track. Moss was among those who came to his defence.

To this day Moss has won more world championship grands prix than any other driver never to have secured the championship, despite the ever-escalating number of such races. He has always maintained that he’d like to remembered as “a driver who preferred to lose while driving quickly than to win by driving slowly enough to get beaten”. For a few years, after the retirement of the great Juan Manuel Fangio in 1958, he was the finest and most famous racing driver in the world. He was so good that Ferrari not only wanted him to drive for them but were prepared to have the car painted blue, the team colour of his friend Rob Walker. And it is worth remembering that Enzo Ferrari rated Moss ahead of Fangio and placed him alongside Tazio Nuvolari. He is, perhaps then, the ultimate proof that raw racing statistics sometimes mean very little when you are natural racer.

Jim Clark’s raw racing statistics spoke volumes for his achievement and the astonishing records he set, a few of which still remain unsurpassed. More than that he has been hailed as one of the top three drivers of all time in any reputable survey. His achievements were a reflection of the awe and admiration many of his driving peers and others since his untimely tragic death have held about the man and the racer.

Clark began matching Stirling Moss’s speed in the second half of the 1961 season, and took over the Englishman’s mantle in 1962 when Moss was injured in a crash at Goodwood on Easter Monday. Clark narrowly lost the World Championship that year to BRM rival Graham Hill, after his Lotus developed an oil leak while dominating the finale in South Africa. Two years later he lost another championship to an oil leak, literally on the last lap of the season-closing Mexican GP. The honours fell instead to John Surtees. But in 1963 and 1965 Clark was unstoppable in Colin Chapman’s green and yellow Lotuses, and their driver/engineer relationship was symbiotic.

Jim Clark not only won his second title in 1965 but he did so by leading every single lap of every race he finished in the 1965 season. Therefore, he won every race he finished with what we now call lights to flag victories. It was an incredible feat which has been unmatched by the other truly greats of the sport, Fangio, Senna, or Schumacher.

In 1963 only some obfuscation by the establishment at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in favour of the traditional front-engined roadsters prevented him from beating Parnelli Jones to victory on his Indy 500 debut in Chapman’s rear-engined Lotus ‘funny car’. He led the 1964 Indy 500 race before his rear suspension broke, and in 1965 dominated the event and became the first Briton to win this iconic race since Dario Resta in 1916.

Clark remains the only man in history to have won the Formula One World Championship and the famed Indianapolis 500 in the same year (1965).

His tally of 25 victories was a record at the time. It has since been surpassed by several other drivers, but none in so few races. Clark's came in just 72 starts, a win ratio surpassed only by Alberto Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio.

Likewise, his tally of 33 total pole positions was first passed by Sebsatian Vettel, with only Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton ahead of Clark. But in percentage terms, Clark is ahead of them all. He was on pole for 45.2% of his races - only Fangio, on 55.8%, did better.

Those numbers give a sense of how Clark towered over his era, a period when he made many grands prix mind-numbingly boring, so completely did he and his Lotus dominate them. Yes, the Lotus was often the best car, but Clark's supremacy was not in doubt. His two titles in 1963 and 1965 were exercises in crushing superiority, and he would have won in 1964 and 1967 as well had it not been for the notoriously poor reliability of Lotus's cars.

But does any of this tell us which of the three would have won between the three of them at the British Grand Prix as you suggest?

Graham Hill may have been the monarch of Monaco - his nickname was after all ‘Mr Monaco’ with his magisterial six wins between 1963 and 1969, a record only bettered by the great Ayrton Senna - but much to his regret he never won a British Grand Prix race.

Stirling Moss won two British Grand Prix races in 1955 driving a Mercedes car and in 1957 where he shared a drive in a Vanwall car with Tony Brooks.

Jim Clark won the British Grand Prix an astonishing five times. In 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 he won driving the same Lotus-Climax car and in 1967 he won with a Lotus-Ford car. His five victories were a record that stood through the subsequent decades until Alain Prost equalled Clark’s tally in 1993 (Prost won on and off between 1983 and 1993). Clark’s record was only surpassed in 2019 when Lewis Hamilton won his amazing sixth victory at the British Grand Prix (with perhaps more to come). Even more remarkable was how peerless Clark’s domination was as he won four British Grand Prix races consecutively. It was yet another amazing record that belonged to Jim Clark until Lewis Hamilton joined him in the record books with four straight wins (2014-2017).

It might be churlish to point out that Stirling Moss, like Graham Hill, never won at Silverstone even when he raced there. Clark won three times.

In those days the British Grand Prix was not always held at Silverstone. Between 1926 and 1986 the venue track chosen rotated between Brooklands and Silverstone, then Aintree and Silverstone, and later Brands Hatch and Silverstone. Only from 1987 onwards to the present day did Silverstone become the established venue race track of the British Grand Prix.

Moss’ two British Grand Prix victories were both achieved at Aintree (1955 and 1957). The British Grand Prix races that Moss did compete at Silverstone he retired due to engine or axle trouble.

In contrast Clark won his first British Grand Prix victory at Aintree in 1962, and another one at Brands Hatch in 1964 but the other three victories were at Silverstone.

So one would have to give the win to Jim Clark on paper.

But some may argue yes, that’s all well and good but who was the fastest driver and who really was the better driver?

Here again the stats speak for themselves. The all time list of fastest laps set during their respective careers gives us some clue because the tracks they drove on were the same during their eras. Graham Hill is 34th on the all time fastest laps set with 10 fastest laps in the Grand Prix races he drove in a 17 year career (1958-1975). Stirling Moss is 15th on the all time fastest - one position above Ayrton Senna - where he set the fastest laps in 19 Grand Prix races in his 10 year career (1951-1961). Jim Clark is 7th on the all time fastest laps set by a Grand Prix driver. He recorded 28 fastest laps in Grand Prix races in his 8 year short racing career (1960-1968). Only Mansell, Vettel, Prost, Raikkonen, Hamilton and Schumacher as 1st stand ahead of him. What makes Clark’s achievement staggering is that he was competing in an era where technology was in the Bronze Age compared to the modern marvels of technology, aerodynamics, and speed. It’s also worth noting all the other drivers had much longer racing careers than Clark did before his untimely death. At the 1968 South African Grand Prix - his last before his death in Hockenheim ring in Germany 3 months later - Clark won way ahead of the pack led by Graham Hill who came in second. He was comfortably on his way to another world championship with more records to be smashed.

Clark still holds the record of eight Grand Slam race wins - that is winning pole position, putting in the fastest lap, and leading every lap of a race to the win. Only Lewis Hamilton comes close with six and Schumacher and Ascari with five. He achieved this twice at the British Grand Prix in 1962 (Aintree) and 1964 (Brands Hatch). Again it needs to be emphasised that Clark did all this while driving in the most dangerous era of Formula One - The Killer Years - where death of drivers and lack of driver and track safety was all too common. This is simply astonishing.

Of the three, Jim Clark was the fastest. I think this isn’t just about stats it’s also the they way they drove that made all three such great racers. All three certainly had limitless courage that even now demands total respect and awe. In particular it’s breath taking watching old film footage of Moss driving his most famous and greatest victory of all was the 1955 Mille Miglia in which he covered 1,000 miles of open Italian roads at an average speed of 97.96mph in 10 hours, seven minutes and 48 seconds.

But the fastest doesn’t make you best of course. When it comes to judging who was the best I think what their peers and contemporaries thought of them counts a lot in coming to some conclusions as to who was the best driver.

Sir Jackie Stewart, three times world champion and a team mate of Jim Clark as well as friends with all three drivers, is worth listening to.

Many think that Graham Hill wasn’t the most natural driver. This isn’t said to slight him or doubt his abilities but to acknowledge his approach to driving. As Jackie Stewart said, “Whereas Jimmy [Clark], Stirling, to a certain extent myself, would drive around a car’s handling problem, Graham would fiddle with the car until it was right. Graham would take very different lines around a corner to others, and I know because sometimes I was following him.”

Sir Stirling Moss has echoed Stewart’s comments. “I’d go along with Jackie and say that Graham didn’t have a natural ability to drive a car extremely quickly. But having said that, when I was to choose a partner for a sports car race at say, the Nürburgring, I would always choose Graham because he was so reliable. Quick, but unlikely to do anything stupid.”

Jackie Stewart’s comment unearth one of secrets of why not only was Jim Clark the fastest but also the best of the three. Simply put Clark knew how to take corners and know when to brake.

It must be stressed that both Moss and Clark knew how to take corners and mastered the art of breaking to a level very few drivers reached whatever car they were driving.

Moss was certainly a pioneer in taking corners and knowing when and when not to brake. Moss - especially at his peak in the Lotus - would cut into the corner early and with the brakes on.

Most drivers run deep into a corner before turning the wheel. In this way a driver could complete his braking in a straight line, as is the standard practice and one everyone did and still do, before setting the car up for the corner. But natural drivers like Moss (and Clark) preferred to cut into the corner early and even with their brakes still on to set up the car earlier. In this way such drivers almost make a false apex because they get the power on early and try to drift the car through the true apex and continue with this sliding until they are set up for the next bit of straight. In other words, the result is a smooth line as you come out of the turn and race on at faster and more seamless speed.

Clark would take this to the next evolutionary step from Moss - also in a Lotus - as cars became more mechanically challenging to handle. Clark placed a big premium on braking. In his book At the Wheel (1964) he expounded on this belief, "The most important thing you can learn in racing: how to brake. Often, if I want to go through a given corner quicker I don’t necessarily put the brakes on any later than usual, but I might not put them on very hard, and take them off earlier. Where you are led into the trap is leaving your braking too late and having to run deep into the corner and brake at the last moment, you might certainly arrive at the corner quicker, but there is a psychological tendency to brake much harder than you need to and therefore over-brake."

A good example of this is looking at footage of the 1965 French Grand Prix in Clermont-Ferrand where Jim Clark won from pole position and set the fastest lap around this new track that no one had driven on before (see below)

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Fast forward to the 9 minute mark you will see all the top drivers of that era tackling a fast downhill left - unfortunately you don’t see Graham Hill, who had an off day and ended up 13th I think - but the point remains valid.

Jim Clark drives a Lotus in this 1965 French Grand Prix race and is bombing away from the rest of the pack as was his usual MO. The interesting thing to notice is the turn. Clark’s Lotus is 2-3 feet inside the painted white line as he turns into the corner. It’s really more of a smooth elegant sweep into the corner. Clark clearly turns in much more earlier with the brakes - as we now know - are lightly caressed. Clark smoothly glides through out of the turn as he disappears from view carrying crucial extra speed. Then the rest come and the difference is soon clear. Jackie Stewart’s BRM P261 car grazes the line and grappling with more understeer than he might have liked finds himself to the right of the dotted line when he comes out of the turn. The V8 Ferrari of the great John Surtees also grazes the line with a similar result. Dan Gurney’s Brabham BT11 car crosses the painted line and he pays for his aggressive stance by sitting cross the road’s dotted centre line. On this track at Clermont-Ferrand there were forty-eight corners in its five sinuous miles to perilously navigate and Clark using this MO had the nonchalant confidence and consistency as well as the driving artistry to increasingly pull ahead of the chasing pack to victory.

Analysing the Clark technique, Peter Collins (a former team manager at Team Lotus and Williams, and an avid Clark fan), who knows more about what makes great drivers than most, made a key observation, “His driving was incredibly fluid even in dramatic moments. Watching the first laps of various races you got a very strong impression that he was mentally more ahead of the car than was the opposition. Watching him leading at the ’Ring in 1967, for instance, the impressive thing was that there were no dead moments in transition from braking to turn-in, to throttle on. He was able to drive an understeering car in a four-wheel drift and judge the exits to perfection.”

Graham Hill, who was a good friend of Jim Clark’s as well as being a fiercely competitive rival on the track, knew better than most and so I shall let him have the final say on this. Hill in his penned eulogy to Jim Clark noted his mastery of taking the corner, “For a driver, the excitement of racing is controlling the car within very fine limits. It's a great big balancing act, motor racing. It's having the car broken away and drifting and doing exactly as you want it to do and getting around the corner as quickly as you can, and knowing that you've done it, and hoping that it is better than anyone else has done. You are aiming at perfection and never actually getting it. Now and then you say, "That's it. That's how I want to do that corner. Now beat that, you bastards." This is the essence of racing, and at this, Jimmy, in his era, was unsurpassed.”

A word must be said about the cars these drivers drove. Racing cars in that era were extremely fast but also extremely unreliable. One can only lament how many world championships Moss, Hill, and Clark would have won if not for some mechanical car failure that did cost them dearly. In the case of Clark, he agonisingly lost the world championships in 1962 and 1964 due to oil leaks in the final race both times.

Of the three Hill was the most technical, not surprising given that he started life with the Royal Navy as a technician specialist. When he was racing Hill took notes of every test, every practice, every race and how his car handled specific track conditions and setups. He was constantly on top of his mechanics with these early versions of telemetry and his expertise on engineering meant that the difference between mechanic and driver was nothing more than a grey area. According to some of the mechanics who worked with Hill, it was sometimes impossible to please him. Both Moss and Clark by contrast didn’t really bother with that side but rather they just jumped into the car and worked around the problems on the track relying on their natural flair and genius. That’s how brilliant they both were.

So how would Moss and Clark fare if they both had the same car and barring any technical issues. There are no certainties but they did both briefly overlap in their careers, as Moss was coming to the end of his and Clark was about to start his ascension. The race that most would point to is the 1961 South African Grand Prix. Stirling Moss was the undisputed world's best in 1961, pulling off some famous victories in inferior equipment, but Clark's performances at the end of the season showed that things were changing. Clark's Lotus Climax 21 car had beaten the slightly older Lotus Climax 18/21 model of Moss in the Natal Grand Prix earlier in the month, but the East London race stepped things up a notch. Clark was fastest in qualifying and started on pole position with Moss +0.2 seconds behind.

Both Clark and his Team Lotus team mate Trevor Taylor led the way at the start but but Moss was soon into second and took the lead when Clark spun avoiding another car. Now Clark charged, despite sustaining gearbox damage, lapping faster than his pole time, and Moss was powerless to stop him coming through to win."Moss pulled in behind Clark and tried to stay in his slipstream but could not keep up with Clark's fast and furious driving and fell slowly, but surely, behind," read Autosport's report. "Clark demonstrated that the world championship is no pipe-dream for him." Clark was a little more circumspect, though beating Moss was clearly a watershed: "I had the satisfaction of beating Stirling twice in two weeks, although, in all fairness, my car was newer than his," he wrote in his 1964 book, Jim Clark - At the wheel.

That Clark was being characteristically modest and magnanimous isn’t the main point to take away. The point is made by Colin Chapman the iconic genius behind Lotus who said of Clark, “when there was no mechanical trouble, Clark absolutely blew away the opposition. One prime example of that was the 1967 German Grand Prix when the Lotus was not an easy car to drive but still Clark got pole in it by a staggering 9 seconds. This also brought out another of Clark’s skills – to drive around problems. He was capable of driving a car with any given setup – he never asked to change the setup to make it to his liking, he went out on track and tried to make the car go faster by adjusting accordingly at corners, which was very easy for him as he had a very smooth driving style and it never looked like he was trying to muscle the car across the corners.”

Once Clark was in front he was almost unbeatable. No matter who you were or how good you were, Clark was quicker and relentless. It was almost game over once Clark took the lead and slowly pulled away from the rest. Graham Hill said in his eulogy to Jim Clark, “He was also particularly competitive, particularly aggressive, but he combined this with an extremely good sense of what not to do. One can be overthrusting—aggressive to the point of being dangerous. Well, this Jimmy was not. But he was a fighter, a fighter that you could never shake off. He invariably shot into the lead and killed off the others, building up a lead that sapped their will to win.”

This is one main reason with all things being equal, Clark would beat Moss and Moss would beat Hill. The really scary thing about Clark’s complete mastery of driving was what Colin Chapman said years later, "I think Jim never drove really 100% - he was so good, he didn’t need it to beat the others. Perhaps only in Monza 1967 he had the knife between his teeth...."

Moss is rightly celebrated as an icon of motor racing. Moss had a fantastic 15 year career on the track and just as importantly he had an even longer one off the track as the fantastic ambassador of Grand Prix racing. Moss lived to be 90 years old and he used that time to deservedly cement his legendary status as a Formula One great. He was a very charismatic and convivial personality. He is revered by contemporary drivers and racing fans because his presence was anywhere and everywhere. No racing event would be complete without the vintage stardust of the great Sir Stirling Moss. At Goodwood and at the RAC Club racing enthusiasts would mill around him and listen to his endless yarns. At race circuits during the Grand Prix season his presence in paddock would stop everything as racers and technical crew were in awe of him.

In contrast Jim Clark’s racing career was tragically cut short to a mere 8 years and yet he had achieved so much at the age of 32 years old. Arguably his death had the greater impact because it was more keenly felt by his peers and those within the racing world. So when he was killed by a puncture during the wet Formula 2 Deutschland Trophy race at Hockenheim on 7 April 1968, after his Lotus crashed into unforgiving trees by the side of the track, race drivers around the world felt death’s hand on their shoulder, and asked themselves, “If it can happen to Jim Clark, what chance do we have?”

The consequence of Clark’s death cannot be stressed enough. Clark’s death was the sacrificial blood price for the more modern era drivers to race with greater driver safety measures in place and safer tracks for spectators that these days we today take for granted. A lot of credit is due to Clark’s close friend and team mate, the great Sir Jackie Stewart, who at the risk of his own personal reputation, pushed hard for the racing world to take driver safety seriously. A lot of danger - and perhaps even the excitement - has been taken out as Moss used to say. But there is no question racing - whilst still relatively dangerous because of the higher speeds they are pushing for those micro margin of victories - is much safer than the dangerous era of Moss, Hill, and Clark.

So why isn’t he more well known or revered by the general public (as opposed to hard core racing fans and those within the racing world)? I suspect it was due to his shyness and aversion to publicity. Clark grew up on a Scottish farm and he was clear to many that this was his roots that he always returned to. While he couldn’t entirely avoid the glamour of the racing world with its hedonistic side effects of women, sex and fast cars - as personified by Graham Hill or James Hunt - Clark eschewed all that in favour of simple living on his Scottish farm. His only indulgence was an airplane that he used to piloted into race circuits in Europe - Hill could fly too and it cost him his life in 1975 in a tragic plane accident. Clark simply loved racing. The proud Scot was a gentleman with self-deprecating charm and modesty to match. He was simply a good and decent man revered by his own peers in his own time.

At Clark’s funeral, Jim Clark Snr, beloved father, confessed to Dan Gurney, a racing rival, that he was the only man his son had feared. Gurney, who died in January 2018, spoke of Clark thus: “It is certainly an honour to have had the opportunity to know him as a team-mate, a friend, and to have competed with him on so many memorable occasions. Jim whipped us so many times that we all sort of got used to it. Naturally, we didn’t like being whipped, but, it is probably a testimony to Jim’s integrity and stature among us, his peers, that we couldn’t help loving the lad in spite of it.”

Elizabeth ‘Widdy’ Cameron, whom Clark nearly married in 1960, and with whom he stayed close despite rising fame, said: “He was very shy. And he was a terrific gentleman. I didn't hear him say bad things about anybody. He was a good, good man and I hope everybody remembers that. He was very special.” Sir Jackie Stewart, the three time world champion and another great British driver, still sheds a tear when he’s asked about Jim Clark. The two Scots were close friends, and three years earlier when Stewart had arrived in F1, he played the Robin role to Clark’s undisputed Batman. “Jim Clark,” he says still, “was everything I aspired to be, as a racing driver and as a man.” When Jim Clark this humble man as a product of his upbringing on a Scottish farm in the Scottish Borders insisted that inscribed on his tomb stone would be, ‘farmer and world champion’.

Of course I never saw Moss, Hill and Clark race but I’m definitely in the camp that considers Jim Clark as not only the greatest British driver of all time but also arguably the best driver in the world of all time alongside that other most naturally gifted racer, Ayrton Senna. There’s not much to differentiate their greatness and genius.

It’s fitting that the final judgement of who was the best driver of the three should rest with their peers and contemporaries. Juan Manuel Fangio, the Argentine great is one of my favourite racers and one who is also considered one of the greatest of all time, said this about Clark in 1995: "He was better than I was - the greatest driver ever." Even the great Ayrton Senna when he went to Clark’s old Scottish boarding school, Loretto, confessed to the schoolboys, "After all - Jim Clark was the greatest driver ever."

The wonderful thing about arguing about who is the best with British icons like Moss, Hill, and Clark as examples is how the past can inspire the present generation of drivers to aspire to greater heights than the peers of the past. Who knows perhaps one day we will be talking about Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen in the same hushed tones of reverence and awe. Then as racing fans we should count our blessings that we can witness their special racing artistry on the track first hand while we can in the same way past generations were in awe of such special talents as Moss, Hill, and Clark.

Thanks for your question.

#question #ask #grand prix #racing #driving #stirling moss #jim clark #graham hill #formula one #britain #british #sports

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Jolyon Palmer column: Fortune favours the cautious in Germany classic

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Jolyon Palmer column: Fortune favours the cautious in Germany classic

Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, who left Renault during the 2017 season, is part of the BBC team and offers insight and analysis from the point of view of the competitors

The German Grand Prix was a race for the ages, one of the most exciting Formula 1 events there has been, and it was all because of the treacherous and constantly changing conditions.

A wet-dry race is usually that bit more exciting and can often throw up surprising results. At Hockenheim on Sunday, this proved to be the case in the extreme.

Races like this are so challenging because they make enormous demands on every member of the team.

Chief among them are the drivers. They have the most difficult task of keeping the car on track in constantly changing conditions, while pushing to the limit for corner after corner, despite never being absolutely sure where that limit is going to be.

The strategists, meanwhile, have to try to call the pit stops and choose the correct tyres at the right time. This is an incredibly tough task, particularly with varying levels of rain falling throughout the race.

Finally, the mechanics have their work cut out because they are up and down like a yo-yo making pit stops: Max Verstappen stopped five times on his way to victory in the Red Bull; his team-mate Pierre Gasly made four as well.

You have to go back to the famous European Grand Prix at Donington Park in 1993, when Williams driver Alain Prost made a record seven pit stops on his way to second place behind McLaren’s Ayrton Senna – who made four – to find similar numbers to these.

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Verstappen wins thrilling wet-dry German GP

Listen: ‘Hamilton crashes & Leclerc has thrown it all away!’

Who could have predicted this podium combination before lights out?

Limiting mistakes was paramount

Because making a mistake is so easy in conditions where so much can go wrong, it is as crucial to limit the errors as it is to push to the limits in every area. Ultimately, that’s how this race was won.

Verstappen’s race wasn’t mind blowing, and neither was Sebastian Vettel’s to second place. Yet they ended with the biggest smiles at the end of the grand prix, along with Daniil Kvyat, who made a shock return to the podium.

Verstappen had a poor start and suffered a spin when Red Bull made a strategy error in pitting him for medium tyres instead of softs, which would have warmed up sooner in the slippery conditions.

Other than that, though, taking into account all the aspects of the team, Verstappen and Red Bull outperformed the competition.

The Dutchman’s pace early on was enough to keep an eye on the leading Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, who were running one-two.

But as the major contenders for the win started dropping like flies, Verstappen just stayed there, putting in laps good enough to never be challenged, and not making any further mistakes.

The team judged everything right after the medium-tyre call halfway through, and Verstappen ultimately had an easy enough drive to the win.

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Appearances can be deceptive

Vettel’s drive to second was nothing spectacular either.

If you just looked at the statistics, it would appear to be one of the best drives in history, coming from 20th – and last – on the grid to second place by the chequered flag.

In truth, though, Vettel lacked pace for much of the grand prix and was languishing in around eighth place from lap six to lap 56, with a high of sixth place at the latter point as Bottas hit the wall ahead.

Kimi Raikkonen in the Alfa Romeo seemed quicker than him in the wetter part of the race. But what Vettel did was produce a mature drive, keeping his mistakes to a minimum.

While many others, including Raikkonen at one point, slithered off the road, particularly at the perilous Turn 16, Vettel just kept plodding away until he reached a point where he was happy and comfortable in the car. Then, in the last part of the race, on soft, dry-weather ‘slick’ tyres, Vettel came alive.

From there, he exploited the Ferrari’s pace advantage over slower midfield rivals – his only competition left bar Verstappen out front – and breezed through for an unlikely second place.

It was the equivalent of a cricket team starting an innings slowly, just hanging in there against the more dangerous bowlers and waiting for the part-time bowlers to come on, and then smacking them around the ground.

Vettel’s maturity shone in this race rather than any supreme driving talent and it earned him a standout and much-deserved result, after a lot of bad luck recently.

Leclerc pays the price for aggression

So what happened to the usual major players?

Charles Leclerc, Vettel’s team-mate, was the first serious player to find the barriers, just after switching to slicks on lap 27.

His was a race in complete contrast to Vettel’s. Like the German, he also had a problem in qualifying, and had to start from 10th on the grid. But he roared up to fourth place in the opening handful of laps, and then had the pace to be challenging for a win, even before other drivers hit trouble.

By the time he switched to slicks, Leclerc was in a genuine second place, behind early leader Hamilton, but his aggressive mentality was ultimately not what this race was about.

Leclerc had already nearly come unstuck a couple of times at Turn 16, which was slippery and critically had the equivalent of an ice rink as its run-off area, because of the oils and rubber deposited on the drag strip that is there.

Finally, through all the bravado of his race, Leclerc pushed one step too far and found the barriers. He accepted the blame for the incident, and called the run-off area unacceptable as well.

In reality, though, this was a moment that highlighted his inexperience once more.

Leclerc is undoubtedly super-talented and will surely win a race before long. But sometimes in his youthful exuberance he can be found guilty of overdriving.

His crash in Baku qualifying was an example, taking too many risks in overtaking when trying to make up ground after Ferrari had messed up his qualifying in Monaco was another. This race is the latest one.

But the 21-year-old is nonetheless on a superb trajectory, and his pain will be softened in the fact that, unlike Vettel when he crashed out of the lead in Germany last year, he was by no means the only driver to find the wall, particularly at that part of the circuit.

“I don’t really care where everyone else finished,” Hamilton said. “I was in the lead and I finished pretty much last.”

An unusually chaotic day at Mercedes

Mercedes looked set for a win, particularly in the hands of Hamilton, but he too proved just how slippery Turn 16 was – and how easy it was to make a mistake like Leclerc’s – as he slithered off on the same tyres a lap later, under safety-car conditions.

This was the beginning of the end for Hamilton. He hit the wall at a time when he shouldn’t have been pushing at all, then was forced into pitting in a manner against the rules, which earned him a five-second penalty.

To compound matters, this time it was the Mercedes pit wall and mechanics who were all at sea in a race.

No doubt they were surprised at Hamilton’s swift decision to pit, and they didn’t know the extent of the damage either, but it was chaos in the Mercedes garage, a team who are usually serenely calm and methodical.

A pit stop nearly a minute long followed and Hamilton tumbled down the order. But his difficult race was compounded by further Mercedes strategy errors.

Hamilton could have somehow still been in contention to win, but Mercedes failed to pit him and Bottas under a late safety car. They then waited too long to pit Hamilton when slicks were the obvious choice shortly after that, and he then fell out of the points positions.

As a driver in this situation, with the laps ticking down, it is easy to overdrive, and Hamilton became the latest man to do so, in a race in which survival was key.

He lost it at Turn One and ruled himself out of any further contention, but at least got back to the pits, unlike Bottas.

Bottas was desperate to pass Lance Stroll’s Racing Point and earn a podium, which would have helped him reduce his championship deficit to Hamilton.

But as the Finn was getting frustrated stuck behind the slower midfield car, he dropped a wheel onto the wet part of the track at Turn One and hit the wall, putting him out on the spot.

The balance of risk and reward

It was the sort of race F1 has not put on for a long time, with so many incidents, safety cars and changing weather conditions.

Anyone who completed this race without issue scored points in the end but it’s never easy to judge this from the outset.

It’s easy to say in hindsight, but it’s just so hard for the drivers to judge how hard to push and how much risk to take when they are lining up at the start of the race.

For the midfielders, though, the strategy gamble is always a bigger lure, because the risk-reward equation is weighed in their favour. And with so many front-runners dropping out, it was Kvyat and Stroll who made the most of it, to finish third and fourth.

Ironically, these two who looked sublime at the end actually ended up in this position because they were further back and had nothing to lose with 20 laps to go.

Stroll was right at the back, ahead of only Robert Kubica’s Williams when he pitted for slicks, and behind George Russell in the other Williams. Kvyat was ninth, five places behind Toro Rosso team-mate Alexander Albon, who also had a tremendous drive.

Inevitably, the drivers further up the order didn’t risk fitting slicks as early as those further back, and Stroll’s mediocre first two-thirds of the race ultimately gave him the lead for a moment.

Credit to both drivers, though. They got themselves into strong positions and didn’t make any substantial mistakes thereafter.

All in all this is the sort of race people love. There was uncertainty right up to the last lap, and it even ended with the feel-good factor of three delighted drivers on an unlikely podium. It was a classic.

#cautious #Germany

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torentialtribute · 5 years

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Sir Jackie Stewart turns 80 next week… Here he opens up to Sportsmail about his extraordinary life

Sir Jackie Stewart turns 80 on Tuesday and celebrates the milestone with a lunch attended by the queen

No sportsman before that can make that claim.

The book of Stewart & # 39; s contacts reads as Burke & # 39; s Peerage and there will be a shortage of famous friends at the Louis XIV-style restaurant at the Royal Automobile Club at Pall Mall for the shindig . ]

But the engineers who have kept him safe during the dangerous racing days that delivered triple world championship titles will be just as cherished guests.

Sir Jackie Stewart will spend his 80th birthday in royal company on Tuesday "

Sir Jackie Stewart will spend his 80th birthday in royal company on Tuesday

However, there are many friends who can't make it.

It is not long before Paul, the butler, has the walls of the apartment with emptied three floors between Geneva and Lausanne, where the cream-colored furniture is immaculate and the dust is collected before it falls in. post-prandial coffee from the terrace overlooking the Mont Blanc, Stewart says: I could have been killed. Almost none of my friends are alive, Jimmy Clark, Jochen Rindt, Francois Cevert, I was close to all those people. "The list goes on,

& # 39; In the 11-year window in which I drove 57 friends and suit died legas, often in horrible circumstances. If you played five years, you were more likely to die than to survive. Those are the statistics. It was brutal. I will not forget the pain of the widows and the fear in the eyes of women who wondered if it was their turn next.

& I sometimes feel guilty. Take Mike Spence, my teammate at BRM (British Racing Motors) the year before. His right wheel came off during training at the Indianapolis 500 and hit him on the head. I saw him at the hospital.

& # 39; It should have been me in that car but I broke my wrist so that I couldn't compete in Indy. & # 39;

<img id = "i-9195b60bc64503d0" src = "https://dailym.ai/2MOtK4P -0-image-a-3_1559941764070.jpg "height =" 943 "width =" 634 "alt =" The racing went great with Jonathan McEvoy of Sportsmail to discuss his incredible life Jonathan McEvoy to discuss his incredible life

The racing went great together with Jonathan McEvoy of Sportsmail to discuss his incredible life [Spencewaseenofandfoldeddriverswhoinevelemaandin1968first9first9first9first9first9first9first9sfarred9hffofthejob-'forGod'ssake'-thatStewartheardthatClarkthedoubleworldchampionhaddiedinHockenheimIwasnotwillingtoacceptthenewsIcalledfromasmallrestaurantnexttothemainroadthattoMadridairportHiswifeHelenansweredthephone'Wedidn'tsayanythingelse'

& # 39; Hello, it's me & # 39 ;, he said. A long silence fell. We both knew what it meant. My great friend, my hero, the man we wanted to be godfather to our second son, Mark, was dead. We burst into tears. & # 39;

Stewart and Clark had excavations in London and the memory of his Stewart pains to this day

I ask him who the greatest British driver in history is. Lewis Hamilton & # 39; s expanding c.v. of excellence, including five world titles, states his claim. But Stewart says unambiguously: & # 39; Jim Clark. & # 39;

Juan Manuel Fangio was the greatest driver of all. Jimmy is the next one. And then I would say Alain Prost. Ayrton Senna was very fast, but Prost hardly moved the wheel – like Jimmy and me. I learned that by watching Jimmy. At Lewis it's hard to tell how good he is because he drives such a good car. You should see him in a less competitive car. Valtteri Bottas is as fast as Lewis this season. Max Verstappen is currently the fastest driver.

& # 39; But I thought Lewis in Monaco won one set of tires in the last race for almost the entire race. & # 39;

This year marks the 50th anniversary of both Stewart & # 39; s first British Grand Prix victory and the first world championship. The last of his titles came in 1973, secured in Monza.

But in practice his teammate, his friend and intended successor as Tyrrell & # 39; s No 1 driver, Cevert, died. & # 39; Francois & # 39 ;, says Stewart, pointing to the Frenchman's picture in the apartment, & # 39; look, great eyes. & # 39;

I found Helen at the end of the bed at the Glen Motor Inn and told her about his intentions to retire, which I had kept secret from her. He looked straight in the eyes and said: & # 39; I am no longer a driver from this moment on. & # 39; & # 39; Now & # 39 ;, she replied, with tears, & we can grow old together & # 39 ;.

]

Lady Stewart is 78 and li in dementia. She comes to the elevator to have lunch with me and offers me a glass of white wine.

Her illness is the reason that she and Sir Jackie, and their Norfolk terriers, Whiskey and Pimm's, are back in Switzerland instead of in their own country pile, Clayton House, in Buckinghamshire. The clinic is close by. Lady Stewart can have her hair done right next door.

Helen was a well-known beauty of the Swinging Sixties – regularly shown in Paris Match – and was a professional witness to the entire field on a round table during his racing days. She is now a grandmother of nine to eight boys and a girl.

Her illness prompted Sir Jackie to be perhaps the last major fight of his life – to find a cure for dementia.

& # 39; Race Against Dementia & # 39; is focused on raising money to train PhD students to the highest standard, using McLaren and Red Bull F1 teams as templates.

He has seen a number of laboratories and finds them too dirty. He is a perfectionist and tends to pluck a loose thread from the shirt of the person he is talking to.

Sir Jackie & # 39; s new focus is on helping find better treatments for people with dementia "

Sir Jackie & # 39; s new focus is on it help find better treatments for people with dementia

There are some major surgeons in England, but the entire medical world, the infrastructure, is not focused on quickly finding Healing, "He says.

& # 39; We need progress yesterday, not next week. That is why Formula One is a great model. There is a grand prix every two weeks and so much. to improve the performance of the car between each race. "

He knows what fighting is. Suspicious stupid at school because he was diagnosed with dyslexia, he didn't fiddle with anything because he missed a spot at the 1960 Olympics in the shooting team. He won all national awards, spirit.

Attention to detail motivates him. For example, he has been a Rolex ambassador for 51 years and has cut the left sleeve of his shirts a bit shorter and wider to show the watch optimally.

When he ran the Stewart Grand Prix in the late 1990s and won a race from a standing start, the team never had a red, only blue-chip carriers such as HSBC.

He has his drivers on public speaking lessons and has unpacked them flawlessly – fits Doug Hayward, shirts from Turnbull and Asser, shoes from George Cleverley.

& # 39; I like doing things right & # 39 ;, he says, proud of his long relationship with companies such as Ford, Goodyear and Heineken. I love dealing with the right people. As my father said: & # 39; If you fly with the crows, you can get shot at, if you sound like the eagles you have to be safe. & # 39;

He calls the deceased King Hussein of Jordan the most remarkable man he has met. I learned a lot from him.

<img id = "i-d7b84da86276e2ce" src = "https://dailym.ai/2QRq9RK 22 / 14517032-0-image-m-8_1559942638518.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-d7b84da86276e2ce" src = "https://dailym.ai/2uS4u1n /1s/2019/06/07/22/14517032-0-image-m-8_1559942638518.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt ="

Jackie leads Jochen Rindt (right) on Silverstone as the first twice in 1969 "

Sir Jackie leads Jochen Rindt (right) at Silverstone as the two compete for first place in 1969

The Queen is the most amazing Princess Grace, he says, made Monaco & # 39; he and her eleven were taken to the Hotel de Paris, where photographers' flashlights got out of hand.

Sean Connery is a friend George Harrison, another buddy with & # 39; one of the best ghosts I have ever met & # 39 ;, lee Rde his son Paul to play the guitar

& I have been very lucky & # 39 ;, says Stewart, World Sportsman of the Year in 1973 and recently found the Trophy to prove it to Debrett & # 39 ; s, who could not find a record of his performance.

He was notified by ABC for his Broad World of Sports broadcasts directed by Jim McKay and is still well known in the United States.

& # 39; While standing in an elevator, I may be recognized, but I am sure when I speak, with my Scottish accent and sound quite high. & # 39; The years – and the urge he has endured in aluminum cockpits – have demanded his right hip and left knee, both replaced at the Mayo Clinic in America, and a new right knee is planned

Over on his Clayton estate House the benches are engraved with the names of his fallen friends. Their death puts new connections in the right perspective. Not only is Stewart 80 next week, but he has never spilled blood as a driver and, more importantly, got out before he killed him. These are awards that are worth celebrating.

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#Sir Jackie Stewart turns 80 next week… Here he opens up to Sportsmail about his extraordinary life"

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torentialtribute · 5 years

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Senna’s most maverick moments: One of F1’s greatest personalities

When he was at the top of the Formula 1 world, Ayrton Senna was as well known for his quirky personality as for his extraordinary talent – but the seeds were sewn long before he won one of his three world titles.

Senna started his F1 career with Toleman in 1984, and Pat Symonds, his racing engineer with the team, remembers an extraordinary story from the US Grand Prix in Dallas in that year, which summarizes Senna's personality on and off the track.

F1 great Ayrton Senna was as well known for his strong personality as his driving style was as well known for his strong personality as for his driving style "

F1 great Ayrton Senna was as well known for his strong personality as for his driving style

Senna had a full career of controversy and rivalry, both on and off outside the circuit

Senna had a career full of controversy and rivalry, both on and off the circuit rivalry, both on and off the circuit

<img id = "i-8456a68a1f846757" src = "https://dailym.ai/2V7emUH" height = "571" width = "634" alt = "<img id =" i-8456a68a1f846757 "src =" https://dailym.ai/2GQShQt 936694.jpg "height =" 571 "width =" 634 "alt =" Senna was also known for his competitive spirit, his desire and for honest racing and philanthropy "

<img id =" i-8456a68a1f846757 " src = "https://dailym.ai/2V7emUH" height = "571" width = "634" alt = " Senna was also known for his competitive spirit, desire for fair racing and philanthropy "class =" blkBorder img-share "

Senna was also known for his competitive spirit, longing for fair racing and philanthropy

Symonds told grandprix.com in 2014: We were looking for a nice good finish but then Ayrton hit the wall, damaged the rear wheel and the drive axle and pulled himself back, which was a shame.

& # 39; The real meaning of this was when I came back to the wells that he told me what was happening and said: & # 39; I am sure the wall was moving! & # 39; and although I have heard every excuse that every driver has ever made, I certainly have never heard of it!

& Ayrton, being Ayrton, with his incredible belief in himself, the absolute conviction, he then told me to go with him, after the race, to look at the place where he had crashed – and he was

& # 39; Dallas becomes a street circuit & # 39; was surrounded by concrete blocks and what had happened – we could tell by the tire tracks – was that someone had hit the far end of the concrete block and that made it turn slightly so that the front edge of the block protrudes a few millimeters . He rode with such precision that those few millimeters were the difference between hitting the wall and not hitting the wall.

Senna blamed a crash on the 1984 US G

That belief in himself, the belief that he had a God-given talent to race and win – Senna was a devout Catholic who would Whether it is what he is or what he is, he is the only one who has his life in the world.

Initially, Senna was married to his childhood love, but after a year in 1982 they were divorced for his commitment to racing.

Lilian de Vasconcelos Souza, his former wife, later said: & I was his second passion. His first passion was racing.

Senna has dated several models and TV stars, including Elle Macpherson, but has never been remarried.

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Off the track, Senna had the string of glamorous girlfriend, including Adriana Galisteu [SennadiespoorlyayearwasmarriedtoElleMacphersonamongothers"class="blkBorderimg-share"/>

who only 1945 was married, also dated from Elle Macpherson, ao "class =" blkBorder img-share "/>

Senna, who had been married for only one year, also dates from Elle Macpherson, among others

He was in a relationship with the Brazilian model Adriane Galisteu when he died in 1994, 34 years old, in the seventh round of the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola

One of the most tragic moments in F1's 1,001 racing history, May 1 marks 25 years ago that Senna lost his life due to his greatest love

After I had not completed the opening two races, I stated that his season would begin there, and his new team, Williams, had made changes to his car that I demanded.

During his career, Senna & # 39; s complex personality manifested itself both in a series of combative and complex rivalries – but also in numerous examples of great sportiness.

As soon as he entered Formula 1, Senna created rivalries in his determination to be No. 1. He pealed Elio de Angelis from Lotus in 1985 after their relationship had deteriorated, after which he vetoed Derek Warwick

His own pit team was also not exempt – in 1988, now at McLaren, I crashed at the Monaco GP. Instead of returning to the pits, I walked back to his apartment in Monte Carlo and only contacted his team later that evening.

<img id = "i-ae490f206df9ede9" src = "https://dailym.ai/2VcOHdu /0659E6E60000044D-6971445-image-a-36_1556616967323.jpg "height =" 417 "width =" 634 "alt =" Senna had a full career of rivalries, and no more fierce than with former teammate Alain Prost had a full career of rivalries, and no more fiercely than with ex-teammate Alain Prost "

Senna had a full career rivalry, and no more Fiery than with ex-teammate Alain Prost

<img id = "i-478fea3c59405bcb" src = "https://dailym.ai/2GQSi6Z" height = "424" width = "634" alt = "The most notorious race between the two was the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix" class = "blkBorder img-share" /

The most notorious match between the two was the Japanese Grand Prix of 1989 the 1989 Grand Prix of 1945

Senna was also hardly milder with age. In 1992, he developed a rivalry with Michael Schumacher, a series of disagreements that resulted in a physical bust-up in German general practice, where Senna Schumacher grabbed the collar after accusing the German of blocking him on the right track

It was his relationship with Alain Prost, however, the one that defines Senna & # 39; s personality through the prism of F1. The pair was just two seasons of teammates – 1988 and 1989 at McLaren – but it caused a rivalry of hatred and love that broke the seasons

The first foundations were laid during the 1988 Portuguese GP when Senna & # 39 ; s

Tension grew between the couple in the following months, culminating in the 1989 Japanese GP, which Senna had to win to deny Prost the title. What turned out is still one of the most controversial races in F1 history.

I tried to catch up with the Frenchman in the 46th round, I cut the chicane and they bumped into each other. Prost retired, but Senna convinced marshals to give him a push start so that he could reach the pits and then win the race – only to be disqualified because the push was considered illegal by the FIA

However, there was also mutual respect between two of the sport's greatest drivers. between two of the greatest riders of the sport "

However, there was also mutual respect between two of the greatest sport riders

Senna also had other rivalries, including bad blood between him and Michael Schumacher "

bad blood between him and Michael Schumacher"

This caused a bitter feud between Senna and FIA- President Jean-Marie Balestre, who accused Senna of favoring his fellow countryman.

Tensions began to re-emerge in 1993 when Prost forbade Senna to join him with his new team, Williams. a & # 39; coward & # 39; in a press conference.

But by the end of the 1993 season – which ended with champion Prost retired from F1 – they had reconciled. This was demonstrated when Senna Prost n after winning the Australian GP. Prost would later carry the funeral of Senna.

This was an illustration of Senna & # 39; s best personality traits – he had a preference for competitive racing, fierce spirit of fair play and his rivalry on the right track, a huge concern for the safety and well-being of others.

Outside the circuit this happened in a large number of charity events and donations to help the poor in Brazil. There were more public shows of humanity and empathy on the circuit.

In 1992, during the qualification for the Belgian GP, Ligier driver Erik Comas suffered a serious crash. Senna was the first to arrive on the spot, got out of his car and ran across the track to help the Frenchman out of the wreck, disregarding his own safety in an attempt to help a co-driver.

<img id = "i-86974e1a378b8eee" src = "https: //i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/04/30/10/12899694-6971445-image-a-38_1556617049497.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" Senna died 25 years ago – May 1, 1994 – in a high speed crash at the San Marino GP in Imola <img id = "i-86974e1a378b8eee" src = "https://dailym.ai/2V4C5ox /12899694-6971445-image-a-38_1556617049497.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-86974e1a378b8eee" src = "https://dailym.ai/2uS4u1n 1s / 2019/04/30/10 / 12899694-6971445-image-a-38_1556617049497.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-86974e1a378b8eee" src = "https: / /i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/04/30/10/12899694-6971445-image-a-38_1556617049497.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" Senna died 25 years ago – May 1, 1994 – in a speed accident at the San Marino GP in Imola

Perhaps he t most moving, however, are his actions before and during the 1994 San Marino GP, a race that was forever overshadowed by his own death.

During qualifying, Simtek driver Roland Ratzenberger died in a collision. Senna went to the scene of the accident, led an official car, and tried to scale up the gate to see Ratzenberger in the medical center.

Senna spent his last morning in conversations with Prost, his great rival and now an average expert, about setting up a driver's association to ensure more safety. Unfortunately, Senna has never seen his brainchild flee.

After 38 of his 41 victories at Grand Prix, Senna unlocked a Brazilian flag from his car while driving in his victory round.

his fatal crash at Imola, an Austrian flag was found in his car, which he wanted to fly to Ratzenberger in tribute. Thinking of both victory and his fellow racer; Senna sums up the racer and the man – because they were one and the same.

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#Senna’s most maverick moments: One of F1’s greatest personalities"

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torentialtribute · 5 years

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The 10 greatest Formula One races of all time

Formula 1 marks an important milestone in the Chinese Grand Prix, as the cars line up before the start of the race, it will be the 1,000th time in the history of sport.

The hi-tech technology that we see today on the networks and garages is far from the small bays at deserted airports that greeted the drivers for the first world championship race at Silverstone in 1950.

Among the changes over the years, there have been incredible races that have helped propel the sport to the popularity it enjoys today. Sportsmail looks at the 10 best grands prix of all time

Ayrton Senna celebrates winning the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix and his first world title "

Ayrton Senna celebrates winning the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix and his first world title [10

Driving to McLaren in 1988

Admittedly

Driving to McLaren in 1988 was a very good stage on a very good stage at Suzuka, Ayrton Senna it was inflicted by himself after braking at the start of the Brazilian dropped to 14th place.

Light showers hit the track when Senna overtook the front three, passed Gerhard Berger and then took advantage of Ivan Capelli & # 39; s electric retirement

The Brazilian then started his teammate to roll in that endured double pain in the form of rear indicators and a difficult gearbox. , Senna made his move straight on the house and took the lead after Prost was stopped before he drove away comfortably.

Despite the threat of more showers,

<img id = "i-1725a7b888239126" src = "https: //i.dailymail .co.uk / 1s / 2019/03/25/16 / 11435130-6826803-image-a-9_1553530773683.jpg "height =" 336 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-1725a7b888239126" src = "https://dailym.ai/2KnhAP2" height = "336" width = "634" alt = "Senna joins McLaren teammate Alain Prost before moving on to win Suzuka teammate Alain Prost before succeeding to win Suzuka victory "

Senna joins McLaren teammate Alain Prost before he died to win Suzuka victory

9. San Marino 2005

There was a very brief moment in 2005 when it seemed that Ferrari could challenge the title – and it was not in the United States when only four opponents made them could record.

It came on an exciting afternoon in Imola. Kimi Raikkonen led the way before he was forced to retire, handing over the leadership to Fernando Alonso

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The Spaniard seemed to be ready for a simple attack on the victory, until Michael Schumacher was released from the traffic he was behind.

The second half of the race saw all eyes on the world champion who was by far the fastest driver

For the last 12 laps the German tried everything to get by, but with shadows from Nigel Mansell against Ayrton Senna in 1992 in Monaco, the Renault driver retained both his strength and the lead and claimed a famous victory.

Fernando Alonso dragged a stunning defense game to stop Michael Schumacher at Imola Michael Schumacher at Imola "

Fernando Alonso pulled off the staggering defensive match to hold Michael Schumacher off Imola

The two riders shake hands after the San Marino Grand Prix after their exciting duel "class =" blkBorder img- shaking hands after the San Marino Grand Prix after their exciting duel "

The two riders shake hands after the San Marino Grand Prix after their exciting duel

The last hurray of the great Juan Manuel Fangio and it was perhaps his greatest of all the incredible drive that he had to produce on dem the nurturing and demanding circuit of the Nürburgring. Fangio & # 39; s biggest threat to the race was the Ferrari & # 39; s from Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins who had chosen to run on full tanks without pitstops.

After a mistake in the lead, a mistake from a technician saw that he lost another 30 seconds and he came in third place, 48 seconds behind Collins.

From there the loading began.

After passing both, Fangio enjoyed the final lap before he achieved his final F1 victory, one in which he reflected: & # 39; I have never driven so fast in my life before and I think not that I will ever be able to do it again. & # 39;

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Ferrari duo Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins lead Juan Manuel Fangio on the Nurburgring

<img id = "i-a260a663f9997d4b" src = "https://dailym.ai/2KnhDuc" height = "423" width = "634" alt = "In his last win, Fangio (center) called in a series of fast laps around Collins (left) and Hawthorn" class = "blkBorder img-

In his last victory ng engaged Fangio (center) a series of fast laps to pass Collins (left) and Hawthorn

7. Spa 1998

& # 39; This is terrible, this is pretty horrible, this is the worst start of a Grand Prix I have ever seen in my life. & # 39;

The race started with a collision with 13 cars in severe weather conditions and never seemed to rise once it got underway

Damon Hill took the lead at the restart but became quickly passed by Michael Schumacher who was then looking for an easy victory. However, blinded by rain, he rode David Coulthard in the back, trying to hit the McLaren driver, leaving them both out of the race.

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Schumacher was so angry that after & # 39; three-wheeled & # 39; his car back to the pitlane that I tried to physically confront the Scot after storming in the McLaren garage. resumed the lead but was quickly picked up by Jordan teammate Ralf Schumacher. With Jordan for their first win and one for two, Hill pressed team boss Eddie Jordan to prevent Schumacher from passing, claiming that they would be able to collide both drivers and fail to achieve a historic result

Jordan admitted, and after a few radio messages, Schumacher finally obeyed the order not to pass Hill who sealed his last Formula 1 victory.

Michael Schumacher drives three wheels back to the pits after hitting David Coulthard Michael Schumacher drives three wheels back to the pits after hitting David Coulthard

Michael Schumacher drives back with three wheels to the pits after hitting David Coulthard

] Damon Hill conquered victory after enforcing team orders to deny teammate Ralf Schumacher "

Damon Hill conquered victory after enforcing team orders to deny his teammate Ralf Schumacher

6. Spain 1981

The last Formula 1 victory by Gilles Villeneuve against his tragic death less than a year later is also demonstrably his best, with the Canadian showing all his strengths in impassioned speed, overtaking power, driving ability and masterful tactical awareness.

At the end of the first round he was second and that quickly became the lead when Alan Jones declined in the Williams

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From there

Yes, rivals, plural. [Bewerken] [lijst toevoegen] Do [bewerken] See Also In the beginning it was only Jacques Laffite in the Ligier that he had to postpone, but by the end of the race he had developed behind the duo including John Watson, Carlos Reutemann and Elio de Angelis.

Despite the best efforts of Laffite and Co., Villeneuve & # 39; s ability to put his car in the right place at the right time, saw him win by just 0.22 seconds – with a little more then one second for the top five

Gilles Villeneuve somehow kept four rivals at bay to win the 1981 Spanish Grand Prix at a distance to win the 1981 Grand Prix "

Gilles Villeneuve somehow kept four rivals at bay to win the 1981 Grand Prix

]

Villenueve (center) is congratulated on his final F1 victory by third-placed John Watson center) is congratulated on his final F1 victory by third-placed John Watson "/>

Ville nueve (center) is congratulated on his final F1 victory by third-placed John Watson

5. Monza will always remain a legendary number and will remain one of the crown jewels while it is still in Formula 1 calendar is like a high speed circuit.

Yet it was even faster, with the classic race from 1971, the last race on the circuit, before security measures saw the implementation of chicanes seen today to slow down the speeds.

What was unusual […] was what was unusual […] the finish in 1971, with Peter Gethin & winning his only F1 race for Matra by only 0.01 seconds from the March of Ronnie Peterson – the closest ever winning margin in an F1 race.

In fact, the top five were covered by just 0.61 seconds with Francois Cevert, Mike Hailwood and Howden Ganley also chasing v ictory up to the line. Until the Italian Grand Prix of 2003, it was the fastest race ever recorded with an average speed of more than 150 mph.

Peter Gethin raises his hand in the field

Peter Gethin raises his hand after he has won by the largest margin ever in an F1 race

The Brit celebrates his victory over Monza and that proved to be the only victory in his F1 career "

The British celebrates his victory over Monza and that proved to be the only victory in his F1 career Monza, the only victory in his F1 career

The ultimate end of a season?

Lewis Hamilton entered the race with a seven-point advantage over Felipe Massa as the duo slugged

Given McLaren's advantage over many of his rivals, this seemed like a simple task, but not for the first time in Brazil, rain.

It started to fall in the final stages of the race, and Hamilton as well as all the front runners except Timo Glock pitted

In addition to the pit stops, Massa effectively led the entire race from pole position and was ready to be crowned as world champion when he crossed the finish line.

But when the rain became more intense, Glock's grooved tires had lost all grip and followed the last corner. Hamilton passed the Toyota to regain fifth and snatched the title away from Massa – leaving a previously festive Ferrari garage stunned.

Felipe Massa looked like he had won the world title after triumphing at Interlagos in 2008] Felipe Massa looked like he had won the world title after triumphing at Interlagos in 2008 "class =" blkBorder img-share "/>

Interlagos in 2008

<img id = "i-8f08f35d0495c862" src = "https://dailym.ai/2UFfQEL" height = "411" width = "634" alt = "But Hamilton's last sigh on Timo Glock saw him pull the world title from the Brazilian" class = "blkBorder img-

But Hamilton's last sigh on Timo Glock saw him robbing the world title of the Brazilian "class =" blkBorder img-share "gasp by Timo Glock saw how he pulled the world title from the Brazilian

Even against the seventh race of the 2011 season, it was clear that the world championship would fall into the hands of Sebastian Vettel, but he took an almighty punch in Montreal on the way to defending his title. ]

The race was hit by heavy rain, so much so that it was stopped halfway for two hours, with Vettel, who had started from the pole position that led the way.

Shortly after the restart, Jenson Button, who had previously become embroiled in teammate Hamilton, had another incident with Alonso that caused the latter to come out of the race.

and the Brit 21st and last.

The German ran wide under pressure causing the Brit, who had been in the pits six times, to take one of the F1's most famous and incredible victories.

Jenson Button passed Sebastian Vettel (background) Jenson Button passed Sebastian Vettel (background) to win the Canadian Grand Prix 2011 "

Jenson Button passed Sebastian Vettel (background) to win the Canadian Grand Prix of 2011

<img id = "i-dc8f04606a4e322a" src = "https://dailym.ai/2KnhFCk "height =" 505 "width =" 634 "alt =" Button shakes hands with Vettel on the podium of last place to win "

Button shakes hands with Vettel on it stage

Button shakes hands with Vettel having come on stage from the last place to win the victory

2. B razile

After the safety car starts due to a downpour

The day that a small river at bend 3 caused total chaos … and produced one of the most bizarre races of all time .

Three drivers, including Michael Schumacher, rode down three consecutive laps in the turn,

Barrichello then ran out of fuel dramatically and returned the lead to Coulthard before making a planned pit

The McLaren star, however, [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] However, the McLaren star made a small mistake that caused the Jordaan of Giancarlo Fisichella,

This then turned into a shock when Fernando Alonso crashed heavily into the rubble left behind by an accident by Mark Webber seconds before –

The drama continued as usual. Fisichella & # 39; s car caught fire during pits driver celebrations and the Italian then saw that his race win was taken from him due to a time error, before corrections a few days later finally saw him win his first race win. Many drivers turned around three, including Michael Schumacher (right) at Interlagos in 2003 "

<img id =" i-54abf13097f9f280 "src =" https://dailym.ai/2uS4u1n 1s / 2019/03/25/16 / 11435084-6826803-image-a-27_1553530887493.jpg "height =" 424 "width =" 634 "alt =" Many drivers turned around at three, including Michael Schumacher (right) at Interlagos in 2003

right) at Interlagos in 2003

<img id = "i-4eeefaeb47f69662" src = "https://dailym.ai/2WPmxkZ /2019/03/25/16/11435086-6826803-image-a-28_1553530892703.jpg "height =" 424 "width =" 634 "alt =" Race winner Giancarlo Fisichella looks on his Jordan on fire in Parc Ferme

Race winner Giancarlo Fisichella looks like his Jordan catches fire in Parc Ferme

1. Monaco 1996

For those who because of the procession flights to the Monaco Grand Prix the events in Monte Carlo in 1996 should serve as a reminder that it can occasionally cause incredible action.

Michael Schumacher crashed shortly after the hairpin bend – with four other drivers who couldn't make it.

The Renault engine of Damon Hill in his Williams will be canceled when he comes out of the tunnel.

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New leader Jean Alesi was subsequently struck by his usual setback when he had to stop hanging problems 15 laps from the end, handing over the lead to Olivier Panis.

While cars continued to retreat, the Frenchman insisted on his only victory in F1 and the last for the Ligier team in a race in which only four cars & # 39; s cross the finish line.

Damon Hill leads Michael Schumacher and Jean Alesi at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix in 1996 – with all three retiring for various reasons in an exhaustion race "

<img id = "i-ea82be303086f96c" src = "https://dailym.ai/2UKRzwU" height = "447" width = "634" alt = "Damon Hill leads from Michael Schumacher and Jean Alesi at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix in 1996 – and all three are retiring for different reasons. exhaustion battle "

Damon Hill leads Michael Schumacher and Jean Alesi at the start of the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix – with all three retiring for

<img id =" i-ea82b13112600d8a "src =" https://dailym.ai/2KmWsbH "height =" 888 "width =" 634 "alt =" Olivier Panis took a shock, with the Frenchman's victory in a French car that the locals laughed "class =" blkBorder img-share

<img id = "i-ea82b13112600d8a" src = "https://dailym.ai/2KmWsbH" height = "888" width = "634" alt = "Olivier Panis took a shock win, with the Frenchman's victory in a Frenc

Olivier Panis made a shock win, with the Frenchman's victory in a French car that is he locals laughed

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