Here's my latest F1 history article!
It's a real long one, but since I was covering two teams I think it merits it.
Penske and Parnelli might both be long gone from F1, but their efforts certainly influenced today's American F1 teams...
medium.com/@F1Buff/the-...
Absolutely dire direction in the F2 to cut to replays right when everyone is crossing the line on their final qualifying laps
My next article is well underway and should be out reasonably soon™️
Think I'm gonna try publishing my articles on both Medium and Substack going forward so people can use whichever platform they prefer
My Medium is linked in my profile as usual, and my new Substack is available here (there's nothing on it yet though)
f1buff.substack.com?r=7ivweu&utm...
On the topic of cursed car-tyre pairings, here's the 1977 Renault...
Not too bad, although the Barclays on the sidepod was clearly a late addition. I like that there's more white, although I do think it could have been applied better
The permanent roulette wheel wheel covers are tacky as hell though. Not a fan of those
A mix of undergrad (English) and postgrad (History):
1. The Language of the Media
2. Discourse in a Social Context
3. War, Culture & Conflict
4. History Beyond the Nation State
5. Public History: Historians & The Public Sphere
Dennis was doing the least saving of anyone IIRC which makes it even more incredible
While I was rooting for Dennis to win, it was one of those moves where I can't really do anything but doff my cap to a brilliant piece of opportunism
This race also further confirmed my feelings that Rowland, Cassidy and Dennis are the clear top three drivers in FE currently
Fucking hell what a battle in the FE
How on earth Rowland repassed Dennis with no attack mode I have no idea
I think it sometimes has the subtitle "Life on the Limit", which can help a bit
Seems a very strong broadcast team. George Henneberry doing this presumably in addition to Indycar is interesting. I presume she'll be doing the same pitlane reporter job she does there.
Mel Kenyon in his 1972 AAR Eagle 72 at the 1974 Indianapolis 500, sporting a steel roll cage over the cockpit
Mel Kenyon in his 1972 AAR Eagle 72 at the 1974 Indianapolis 500, sporting a steel roll cage over the cockpit
TIL F1 proposed introducing a cockpit roll cage very similar in function to the Halo all the way back in 1977
Mel Kenyon also fitted a similar such contraption on his Eagle 72 at the 1974 Indy 500
Lovely work from the Williams crew there to get Sainz out ahead of Antonelli
Now a net second
I actually started work on this a fair bit before Peter Wright passed away, so hopefully I've done his role in its story justice
I'd also intended for this to cover the entire history of active suspension including its downfall in 1993/94, but that would have been far too long
Took a fair old while, but my latest F1 history article is out now!
It chronicles the rise of active suspension, and its journey from an overlooked fringe technology, to perhaps the defining innovation of the early 1990s
medium.com/formula-one-...
Ahh that explains Larsen's crash a bit more. It's still on her due to tapping the wall, but much more understandable than losing it so dramatically at a seemingly innocuous corner
Yeah this has uhhh, not been the best advertisement for F1A driving standards
Man I was just writing a comment about how Larsen was living up to the Nordic driver tradition of being dynamite in mixed/wet conditions when that happened
Have to feel for Weug. What a horrid way for it all to come to an end
Rather reminiscent of Mugello 2020 I'd say
This is missing Alain Prost's McLaren titles isn't it? (with the caveat like Hill and Andretti that it wasn't his first stint with them)
IMO it was the perfecting of carbon brakes in the mid 80s that really killed F1 around places like Monaco
IK FE is pivoting away from street tracks, but I'm sure we'll still be visiting some, and hopefully the longer braking distances brought about by LiCo will prevent true F1-style processions
I share your concerns over the impact of the new car on racing, but my hope is that with lift and coast being an integral part of FE, the braking distances will remain long enough to still allow for some solid overtaking
A 1974 JPS Lotus 72E, as driven by Ronnie Peterson
Racing helmets of Jackie Stewart and Jody Scheckter
Alain Prost's 1993 race helmet
Rear wing endplate of Nigel Mansell's 1992 Williams FW14B
Finally paid a visit to the Silverstone museum
Listing on Oxfam.com for the Autocourse 1987-1988 Annual. In the "You may also like" section there is a listing for "The Illustrated Book of Sapphic Sex".
Ok folks, own up
Which one of you has been looking at the Autocourse annuals on Oxfam to get this in the recommended section for it?
We know the Honda F2 engine also mentioned was real, and began racing in 1980, and from what this brief article says it sounds like the Toyota F1 engine was even further along in development
I haven't been able to find anything else about it though
Do chime in with info if you have any!
Extract from Autosport, 12th April 1979: Headline: "Toyota F1 Turbo?" Body Text: There are some interesting rumours circulating in the Far East at the moment which would suggest that two major Japanese manufacturers are seriously contemplating full works involvement in a single seater engine programmes. Toyota, we hear, already have a Formula 1 turbocharged engine running in test conditions in Japan, while Honda are due to be building a Formula 2 engine, which should be seen testing in Europe before very long."
This sure would have been interesting (this is from early 1979 for context, so around about the time Ferrari first started working on their turbo)
I wonder what became of the rumoured Toyota engine prototype🤔
That change effectively stood until 2014 when the MGU-K once again enabled drivers to restart their engines from inside the cockpit (I don't believe the OG KERS could be used to restart the engine, though I could be misremembering)
Article 8 Subsection 1 of the 1982 Formula 1 Technical Regulations, stipulating that "A starter and source of energy capable of starting the engine at least twice and operable by the driver when seated normally in the car must carried aboard the car throughout the event." Document Available From: https://historicdb.fia.com/sites/default/files/regulations/1728482072/formula_one_techical_regulations_1982.pdf
Article 8 of the 1983 Formula 1 Technical Regulations. The stipulation for an onboard starter has been removed, with the clause now simply stating that "A supplementary device temporarily connected to the car may be used to start the engine both on the grid and in the pits." Document Available From: https://historicdb.fia.com/sites/default/files/regulations/1728482560/formula_one_techical_regulations_1983.pdf
One of the lesser-known elements of the 1983 F1 rule changes was that they made it legal for an F1 car to not have any way of restarting the engine onboard for the first time since 1961 (when they'd been made mandatory).
Most teams ditched them quite quickly to save weight
John Watson in the new Penske PC4 at the car's launch
John Watson driving the new Penske PC4 at the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix
The Penske PC4 in the pits at the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix
The Penske PC4 at its first public testing appearance at Silverstone, April 1976
I find the launch-spec Penske PC4 quite interesting
The full-width Ferrari style front wing and flick-ups ahead of the rear wheels were both ditched after the car's debut at Anderstorp, and the wheelbase was also lengthened by 7 inches before its second outing in France