Latest historic articles on AutoClassics - Mika Hakkinen and the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix

By Rick Dikeman [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/
fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], from Wikimedia Commons

Just drawing your gaze towards my latest weekly historic motorsport articles published on AutoClassics.

First off with Mika Hakkinen's 50th birthday coming up at the end of this week for the Motorsport Images slideshow article I looked back at some of the best moments from the double world champion's F1 career, accompanied with some typically stunning photography. Check it out here: https://www.autoclassics.com/posts/reviews/mika-hakkinen-best-f1-moments

F1's first use of the safety car was earlier than you might think. And was chaotic. I therefore spoke to those who were there - Jackie Oliver and Howden Ganley - about the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix, which took place 45 years ago last weekend. You can have a read of the very strange story here: https://www.autoclassics.com/posts/reviews/f1-safety-car-first-use

Looking back: F1's first foray with the safety car

The safety car is very much the part of the fabric of F1 these days. Indeed, it led 24 laps of the 55 laps of the Korean race last weekend, and has led 78 F1 race laps this season. That's more than double that of Felipe Massa!

Having been an integral part of the racing scene in the USA since the year dot, the safety car was introduced to F1 in its current form midway through the 1992 season. Minimising disruption of TV schedules from race stoppages was part of the reason for the move, though a desire to potentially 'spice up the show' in a season in which the Williams FW14Bs (more to the point, Mansell's FW14B) were running away with virtually every race also concentrated minds.

Less well known is that there was an earlier attempt at bringing the safety car, or 'pace car' as it was known then, to F1 races. Given their experience, it's little wonder that the idea was abandoned for almost two decades subsequently.

The year was 1973, and up until that point stopping races wasn't the done thing. Races continued unabated pretty much no matter what, even in incidents of extreme horror such as Lorenzo Bandini's fiery and fatal accident in Monaco in 1967.  Not including the 1950 Indy 500 (technically part of the F1 world championship at the time), the first F1 race to be stopped ahead of time was the 1971 Canadian Grand Prix, which ended a few laps early because of rain and mist.