New Motor Sport Magazine article: Nelson Piquet - the underrated three-time F1 champion

By Zocchi Massimiliano - Own work, CC0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/
index.php?curid=15885577

Nelson Piquet is a three-time Formula 1 world champion. Yet you would hardly know it. Or you wouldn't if you use as your sole guide the usual debates about F1 greats, at any stretch.

So why is this? The expressed consensus view is that Piquet impressed and won his first two titles at Brabham where all was laid out for him. Then he moved to Williams alongside Nigel Mansell and was 'found out'. But, as is often the case, the consensus view doesn't tell the whole story.

In my latest for Motor Sport Magazine, and with the help of Piquet's long-time Brabham team manager Herbie Blash, I seek to unravel the mystery.

You can have a read here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/single-seaters/f1/nelson-piquet-the-underrated-three-time-f1-champion

New Motor Sport Magazine article: Ayrton Senna - the forgotten great drives

By Instituto Ayrton Sennaderivative work: Karpouzi - This file
was derived from:  Senna 1992 Monaco.jpg, CC BY 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28935488

Monaco 1984. Estoril '85. Donington '93. Some of the great drives by the revered Ayrton Senna fall from the tongue, and are harked back to regularly.

But even so there are some Senna Formula 1 performances that are about as magnificent but perhaps crowded out from the retro features.

So, on what would have been the late great Brazilian's 60th birthday, for Motor Sport Magazine I have looked back at some of the somewhat more forgotten, but still sensational, Senna drives.

You can have a read about them here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/single-seaters/f1/ayrton-senna-the-forgotten-great-drives

New Motor Sport Magazine article: Alesi vs Senna: the battle for victory in Phoenix

By ALESI_Jean-24x30-1999.
jpg: Studio Harcourtderivative
 work: Materialscientist (talk)
 - ALESI_Jean-24x30-1999.jpg,
 CC BY 3.0, https://commons.
wikimedia.org/w/index.
php?curid=15699671

Thirty years ago today, Jean Alesi in a Tyrrell announced himself to Formula 1 with an incredible performance, including an incredible battle with Ayrton Senna's McLaren-Honda, in Phoenix for the United States Grand Prix of 1990.

In my latest for Motor Sport Magazine, I tell the tale.

You can have a read here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/single-seaters/f1/alesi-vs-senna-the-battle-for-victory-in-phoenix

New Motor Sport Magazine article: Prost's greatest drives in Formula 1

By StuSeeger - photo taken by StuSeeger. Source: Flickr,
CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/
w/index.php?curid=1058979

Today Formula 1 legend and four-time drivers' champion Alain Prost reaches his 65th birthday.

His F1 career of course had no shortage of high points. And to celebrate Prost's personal  landmark today, I have for Motor Sport Magazine looked at five of what were even his finest races from his decade-plus time in F1.

You can have a read of it all here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/single-seaters/f1/alain-prosts-greatest-drives-in-formula-1

New Motor Sport Magazine article: When Ayrton Senna was nearly banned from F1

By Gabriele - Cropped from Image:
Ayrton Senna Imola 1989.jpg. Original at
 https://www.flickr.com/photos/gabriele/
46502612, CC BY 2.0, https://
commons.wikimedia.org/w/
index.php?curid=1036511

Imagine Ayrton Senna being banned in advance from the 1990 Formula 1 season.

That rather than claiming the second of his three world title he'd been forced to sit the season out. And that the driver replacing him in a race seat at all-conquering McLaren Honda was Jonathan Palmer.

Imagine too that this followed weeks wherein McLaren as a team being kept off the grid looked a possibility too.

It all seems unthinkable. But almost exactly 30 years ago it, briefly, happened.

For Motor Sport Magazine I tell the tale. You can have a read here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/single-seaters/f1/when-ayrton-senna-was-nearly-banned-from-f1

New Motor Sport Magazine article: The races that never happened: F1's cancelled grands prix

Hamel Alrayeh [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org
/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Today the not-exactly-surprising confirmation has landed that the forthcoming Chinese Grand Prix, scheduled for April 19, is at least postponed due to coronavirus.

But as with most things in Formula 1, grands prix being postponed or cancelled is far from being new.

So for Motor Sport Magazine I have taken a look at five notable previous times that F1 races were canned.

You can have a read here.

New Motorsport Week article: When Jim Clark took part in the RAC Rally

Leo A Capaldi [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

Fernando Alonso has been keeping us entertained recently, by having a go at the Dakar Rally. This is the latest leg of his outlier path of being a Formula 1 star trying his hand at other motorsport disciplines.

But it's also a throwback path, as such an existence used to be common. And even making the large shift from F1 all the way to rallying is not entirely new.

For Motorsport Week I look back to 1966 and Jim Clark taking on the RAC Rally, the Rally GB of its day. And he performed sensationally.

You can have a read of the tale here: https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/25827

Pedro Lamy's 1994 Silverstone Testing Accident, by Ibrar Malik and Ben Green

This is a special blog to celebrate the launch of the audiobook: Team Lotus, Struggling Beyond The Post Colin Chapman Era.

This blog has been co-written by Ben Green, who is the proud owner of the Lotus Formula 1 car Pedro Lamy crashed during that Silverstone test in May 1994, just prior to that year's Spanish Grand Prix. If you have read the book: 1994 The Untold Story of a Tragic and Controversial F1 Season, you'll know Lamy's crash and its subsequent fallout, was hugely significant to F1 that year. Ben's Lotus chassis is the 107C (chassis no 1).

This is the (restored) Lotus 107C that Lamy almost was killed in during that fateful day at Silverstone in May 1994. Ben purchased the chassis from Team Lotus during 1995, along with a heap of spares.
     
1994 Lotus 107C
At the end of the 1993 season, Team Lotus's finances were in a bad way. The newly released book: Team Lotus, Struggling Beyond The Post Colin Chapman Era details how and why Team Lotus got there by the early 1990s.

Its Chris Murphy-designed 107B was fast but unreliable, while its complex active suspension and customer Cosworth HB engines had drained resources. Along came Honda with the Mugen brand and an updated 1989 ZA5 V10 engine, a no-cost factory option.

New Motorsport Week article: 1962 - December F1 and the changing of the guard

Bilsen, Joop van / Anefo / neg. stroken, 1945-1989,
2.24.01.05, item number 913-9470 [CC BY-SA 3.0 nl
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/nl/deed.en)]

As we creep towards Christmas, imagine that in the here and now the Formula 1 season still had a race to do. Imagine too that the F1 championship had yet to be decided, and it would be resolved in that lingering final round.

And imagine too that the race is to take place between Christmas Day and New Year.

Well in 1962, uniquely, all of this came together. And that was far from the only thing striking about the season, which was one of remarkable change.

For Motorsport Week I look back at the seismic season. You can have a read here: https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/25625

2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix review for Motor Sport Magazine

By Jitesh Jagadish - https://www.flickr.com/photos/
jiteshjagadish/5178417174/, CC BY 2.0, https://
commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12075188

Picking a classic Abu Dhabi Grand Prix of yore is tricky. Partly as it's been on the Formula 1 itinerary for only a decade. But mainly that the Yas Marina circuit seems to be a place that militates against racing cars racing against each other.

In my latest F1 retro for Motor Sport Magazine I look at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix's most notable moment, which aptly owed much to not being able to overtake. The 2010 championship finale.

I tell the convoluted tale here:
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/f1/alonso-loses-f1-title-vettel-call-was-pits-2010-abu-dhabi-grand-prix

2003 Brazilian Grand Prix review for Motor Sport Magazine

By Marlon Hammes, cropped/retouched by Morio - Interlagos
SP from flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/
w/index.php?curid=2751483

Interlagos has good claim to be Formula 1's equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle. Anything it seems can happen here, from the sublime to the - literally - ridiculous.

But no Brazilian Grand Prix squeezed so much craziness in as the 2003 edition - and it did so both into the race and afterwards.

In my latest F1 retro for Motor Sport Magazine I tell the incredible tale. You can have a read here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/news/f1/rain-fire-and-wind-change-2003-brazilian-gp-may-be-f1s-craziest-race

1984 Dallas Grand Prix review for Motor Sport Magazine

By twm1340 - 1984 United States Grand Prix, Fair Park,
Dallas, Texas, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.
org/w/index.php?curid=3361655

These days the United States Grand Prix - the latest of which is this weekend - is pretty well established at the Circuit of the Americas, near Austin, Texas.

Yet F1 has had another Texan host, that for the Dallas Grand Prix in 1984. That one is often dismissed by history as a fiasco, crumbling track and all.

But it had bags of potential, and could have gone on to became one of F1's most important rounds.

For Motor Sport Magazine, in my latest F1 historic look-back, I tell the tale. You can have a read here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/f1/formula-1-it-s-not-only-engines-whine-1984-dallas-grand-prix

1970 Mexican Grand Prix review for Motor Sport Magazine

By John Chapman (Pyrope) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2640878

In the latest of my Formula 1 retro look-backs for Motor Sport Magazine ahead of a grand prix weekend, I look at the Mexican Grand Prix's infamous 1970 edition.

It didn't have all that much to recommend it on-track, but it was notorious for what happened just off it. As it was, as Autocourse put it, "lined with human guard rails". Thanks to a vast crowd turning up, and them proving to be beyond control.

I therefore look back and tell the tale. You can have a read here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/history/f1/f1-race-lined-human-guard-rails-1970-mexican-grand-prix

New Motorsport Week article: Formula 1’s only ‘cancelled’ race – the 1985 Belgian Grand Prix

PSParrot [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/2.0)]

It looked fleetingly last weekend like the Japanese Grand Prix could be called off, with the impact of Typhoon Hagibis.

But the race went on. As in Formula 1 it always does in the end. Literally, as it may surprise to learn that never once in F1 history has a race been scratched after the meeting has got underway.

Well, apart from one time. Sort of. Then the race did happen, but some three months after the Friday running.

This was the Belgian Grand Prix in 1985. In my latest for Motorsport Week I tell the story:  https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/24833

1994 Japanese Grand Prix review for Motor Sport Magazine

Martin Lee from London, UK [CC BY-SA 2.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]

The latest of my historic F1 articles for Motor Sport Magazine is here. And it's from the rich retro treasure trove that is the Japanese Grand Prix - the latest of which is this weekend.

And the one I've gone for is a classic tale of proving your doubters wrong. Damon Hill entered the 1994 Japanese Grand Prix viewed roundly as an impostor in that season's championship fight up against the imperious Michael Schumacher.

But in the most trying circumstances Hill showed he was much more than that.

I tell the tale via this link: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/f1/i-was-driving-different-level-damon-hill-s-1994-japanese-grand-prix

2017 Russian Grand Prix review for Motor Sport Magazine

By The Russian Presidential Press and Information Office -
http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/54410/photos, CC
BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/
w/index.php?curid=58525254

For my latest retro classic F1 race article for Motor Sport Magazine, I had the tricky task of writing about a classic Russian Grand Prix. Tricky, as the Russian race has only been on the calendar since 2014 and, more to the point, in the time since it has hardly been known for providing thrilling fare.

But in 2017 we had a pretty decent one, on a couple of levels. Valtteri Bottas was just three races on from the F1 equivalent of winning the lottery, getting the Mercedes drive. However he already was under pressure.
Yet he always excels at the Sochi track and did do again. Not only did he lead his prestigious team-mate Lewis Hamilton by some way he beat what had looked like untouchable Ferraris to take his first ever F1 win. And he did so under extreme pressure.

For Motor Sport I tell the tale. You can have a read here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/f1/bottas-makes-his-f1-breakthrough-2017-russian-grand-prix

2010 Singapore Grand Prix review for Motor Sport Magazine

chensiyuan [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

My latest historic F1 review for Motor Sport Magazine is here, and this time it's for the forthcoming Singapore Grand Prix.

I resist the temptation to re-tell Crashgate for the nth time, and instead look back to the 2010 race. It's a race that stands up on its own merits. And Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel had a race of their own.

It wasn't one of those thrill-a-minute affairs, rather it was one of those ultra-intense ones. But no less gripping for that.

You can have a read of me telling the story here: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/f1/alonso-and-vettel-s-game-two-players-2010-singapore-grand-prix

Autosport retro article on the Arrows A2

In this week's Autosport magazine you'll find a four-page in-depth retro feature by me in the Engineering supplement, exploring the extraordinary Arrows A2 from 1979.

MPW57 [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by/3.0)]

The A2 wasn't big on results - but it was very big on ambition as well as in striking looks.

I speak to those who were there at the time - including designer Tony Southgate, team boss Jackie Oliver and driver Jochen Mass - to explore why the car didn't begin to make good on its lofty aim of taking Arrows to the front of Formula 1 in a single bound.

And with it I look at a not-entirely fanciful sliding doors moment the A2 created with Williams, which at the same point of history was launching into its dramatic rise.

1971 Italian Grand Prix review for Motor Sport Magazine

By Unknown - http://60years.autosport.com/?year=1971,
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org
/w/index.php?curid=29477842

My latest classic Formula 1 race retro review for Motor Sport Magazine is here. This time it's for this weekend's race, the Italian Grand Prix.

Of course, there is no shortage of Italian Grands Prix in history to pick from, and - in a unique level of ubiquity - all but one are at Monza. But one even so stands out. The 1971 race.

Many cite it as the finest Formula 1 grand prix of all. For a long time it was the fastest. In more than one sense it was the closest too.

It even managed to be remarkable in other ways.

You can have a read of my take on the extraordinary race via this link: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/f1/best-formula-1-race-ever-1971-italian-grand-prix

New Motorsport Week article: When Jordan and Heinz-Harald Frentzen partied like it’s 1999

By Paul Lannuier from Sussex, NJ, USA -
Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Jordan Mugen-Honda), CC BY-SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4296965

Almost exactly 20 years ago something extraordinary, ever so briefly, looked a genuine possibility. A Formula 1 world championship for Jordan and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

This from a proper independent squad with a customer engine - and one routinely dismissed as a 'party team'. And from a driver who'd arrived washed up and derided.

Of course, for the title to be on it needed extraordinary circumstances as well as an extraordinary effort. The 1999 campaign provided both.

And with but a few cards falling another way they would indeed have scaled F1's ultimate peak.

For Motorsport Week I tell the tale. You can have a read here: https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/24229