The more I read about Clark the more I suspect if it were possible to choose a greatest ever he'd be the one. Sadly he was before my time as I only started following the sport in 1976 when I was 10 years old.
The 2020 F1 Season
- Thread starter Tony Lockhart
- Start date
The more I read about Clark the more I suspect if it were possible to choose a greatest ever he'd be the one. Sadly he was before my time as I only started following the sport in 1976 when I was 10 years old.
tones
Tones deaf
Clark took the Lotus 49 to its first victory in the Dutch Grand Prix in 1966. Few people realised that, because of mechanical work done on the car, he was sitting in what was essentially a new car to him. It took three laps for him to figure it all out, and then he was off and was never seen again.
One of the more extraordinary performances was at the Nurburgring 1000Km in a Lotus 23, a car powered by what was essentially a Ford Anglia-derived engine. Faced with cars with as much as 4 times the horsepower, Clark took off like a scared rabbit and was pulling away at 30 seconds a lap until the car broke (well, it was a Lotus...)
2ManyBoxes
pfm Member
He was a man of contradictions, he hated the Nurburgring, Spa and Watkins Glen because of how dangerous they were and yet he drove for Lotus. There were enough close shaves, one where he was testing a car at Goodwood I think when the suspension broke. The car turned sharp left but it went through the only one road wide gap in some big banking. When he came back to the pits he was white and gave Chapman an almighty mouthful 
wow&flutter
pfm Member
I can imaging lbs and ounces being shaved of Chapmans cars by well qualified engineers in the search of performance but unfortunately without today’s knowledge of material science!
I suspect a “ if it lasts the race it’s strong enough” mentality. No denying the genius of Chapman or Clarke though.
I suspect a “ if it lasts the race it’s strong enough” mentality. No denying the genius of Chapman or Clarke though.
2ManyBoxes
pfm Member
Chapman's idea of a perfect race car was one that crossed the line in 1st and then totally disintegrated, leaving the driver skidding to a halt on his bum. Also avoids post-race scrutineering
tones
Tones deaf
The famous Chapman adage, courtesy of his background in aeronautical engineering, was "simplify, then add lightness".Chapman's idea of a perfect race car was one that crossed the line in 1st and then totally disintegrated, leaving the driver skidding to a halt on his bum. Also avoids post-race scrutineering
The converse in many ways was Jack Brabham, who said, "To finish first, you must first finish". Jack was the ultimate expert at winning as slowly as possible - lap records were of no interest to him. When the 1966 3 litre formula came in, many others went for complex solutions (the BRM H16 being the ultimate expression), but Jack reckoned that a simple reliable car was the way to go. So, with an engine from Repco (Replacement Parts Company - they're still in business Downunder) based on available components, Jack went forth and conquered the world. I can't see anyone ever again winning the World Championship in a car of his own manufacture, the way I can never see anyone replicating John Surtees winning world championships on both two wheels and four. The modern generation of F1 drivers stands on the shoulders of giants.
As much as I love modern F1, and I do, if ever anyone wants to compere and contrast go to the Goodwood Revival (sadly cancelled this year) and watch the 50s/60s F1 cars being flung round the track, then go to the its and look at the cars..... terrifying by modern standards.... the 1.5L cars were running last time I went, they're stunningly beautiful, but there is zero protection for the driver. What I like about the Revival is they are driven properly hard on the track. Amazing experience.
Tony L
Administrator
I’d love to see far more room for genuine innovation and lateral thinking, to my mind the rules today are far too rigid, but I’d not want to remove even a single line of safety legislation. That has been the real advance. The sport was truly brutal in the 50s & 60s with countless examples of cars driving around other drivers burning to death to win races, spectators being killed by flying cars, drivers actually having a statistical life-expectancy of just a few seasons etc etc. That is utterly unacceptable.
tones
Tones deaf
For anyone who has never seen it:
tones
Tones deaf
I remember many of those events, Tony, I remember Motor Sport (which was apparently all for letting drivers continue to kill themselves) calling Jackie Stewart "a beady-eyed little Scot". One of the most interesting in that documentary was Jackie Ickx, who, at the time, said "Free men are free to risk their lives". However, he changed his tune, famously at the 1969 Le Mans start, when he walked across to his car:
did up his seat belts properly and drove off. On the other hand, British gentleman driver John Woolfe, in the then notoriously tricky Porsche 917, was killed on the very first lap (he hadn't bothered to do up his seat belts). The traditional Le Mans start was dropped.
Ickx went on to win, driving the famous GT40 chassis 1075, which had won the previous year. After 24 hours' racing, the winning distance was about 120 metres.
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You might want to watch Ferrari - Race to Immortality as well, a superb documentary focusing on Ferrari in the 1950s.... tragic and fascinating at the same time.
Rack Kit
pfm Member
And Max is right up there too in the wet. He's just right up there anyway. Just wonder if he'll ever find himself in a WC capable car?
cutting42
Arrived at B4 Hacker Ergo
No question. He would have been much closer to HAM but for binning it in the penultimate corner
Rack Kit
pfm Member
I the same car over a race distance, who's your money, Lewis or Max?
I'm going Max over 1 lap but Lewis in the race as I think he's 'just' lost a bit of outright pace here or he's learnt to optimise his car for race conditions.
I'm here to be shot down on that one!
Tony Lockhart
Avoiding Stress, at Every Opportunity
I've no loyalty to any driver or team. Whoever is driving well enough to win gets my vote.
That was a great qualy session, excellent driving in challenging conditions.
That was a great qualy session, excellent driving in challenging conditions.
