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The 2023 Formula One Season

tones said:
Can't watch it, because it requires me to log into YouTube, which I never do, but I suspect that it'll be the same horrifying footage as used in the aforementioned Grand Prix; the killer years. And I think that drivers concentrating on the job of driving very quickly would only get a glimpse of the car and see a driver trying to put it out, and they wouldn't see a lot in those tiny rear-view mirrors. IIRC, Purley was right behind the Williamson car and saw it happen, which is why, to his enormous credit, he jumped out to try to help.
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Some would’ve seen him running trackside towards the car.
Many would’ve seen his car parked up and Roger’s car burning.

Anyway. I’ve heard many arguments over the years, and it just doesn’t sit easy with me. Sadly, in much of motorsport, and despite drivers being sat with up to 22 gallons of petrol next to them, help takes far too long to reach them. And as we found out recently, a driver can be penalised for trying to help (George Russell).
 
IanW said:
One of the huts near the bottom was where the 7 poster rig was and the small Drawing Office (compared to most teams in 1998 when I visited) is in the main building.
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It was a fascinating visit and they were very accommodating. Memory is a bit hazy but I am pretty certain Ken came to say hello. Must look more carefully at the pics.
At Lotus we met Alex Zanardi and there is a photo of me with one of the cars. I tried to get in.......slight fitting problem:)
 
canonman said:
It was a fascinating visit and they were very accommodating. Memory is a bit hazy but I am pretty certain Ken came to say hello. Must look more carefully at the pics.
At Lotus we met Alex Zanardi and there is a photo of me with one of the cars. I tried to get in.......slight fitting problem:)
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There is not much to me and yet it is not easy for me to get in or out of a tub!

When teams were smaller it was much easier for the senior personnel to say hello to visitors. Ever since I started in 1990 at McLaren, the team was too big for that, unless the visitors were really important and then Roc would take them round the factory.
 
IanW said:
There is not much to me and yet it is not easy for me to get in or out of a tub!

When teams were smaller it was much easier for the senior personnel to say hello to visitors. Ever since I started in 1990 at McLaren, the team was too big for that, unless the visitors were really important and then Roc would take them round the factory.
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I did manage to get into the Le Mans winning Jaguar ....but had to get help to climb out!
 
Tony Lockhart said:
If you have a strong stomach, this link takes you to the vandalised Leafield Technical Centre where I had my interview for a job with Super Aguri in December 2005.

https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/leafield-technical-centre-visits-1-2.127298/

Such a sad waste of quite a historical site.
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Thanks for the link. I went there in late 2007 when it was Super Aguri as they were a partner team to Honda F1 and we were looking at ways to share work within the rules. We did not really get anywhere but it was an interesting visit.

Sad to see the site has been left to get vandalised.

John Barnard interviewed me to work there in 1998, but the interview, was for his and my convenience, in John's office near Godalming. I made the lucky choice to go and work at BAR, which became Honda F1 and then Brawn and then Mercedes F1.
 
tones said:
THE DSJ, this one?

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The one on the left, naturally... Jenks was a great and knowledgeable commentator, also a man of some courage (anyone who races with his nose a couple of inches off rapidly-moving tarmac is clearly no shrinking violet, which is why Moss chose him to ride in 522 in that epic Mille Miglia). However, this produced a rather blasé view of the dangers of F1, a sort of "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen" attitude. Wee Jackie was, if I remember the comment in Motor Sport correctly, "a beady-eyed little Scot", when he fought to make the sport safer. I can remember the letters columns of Motor Sport being full of comments on "chicken GP drivers" (probably written by Ford Anglia drivers). Thankfully, times have changed.

If you've never seen it, wee Jackie's fight for safety is well documented in the BBC's Grand Prix: the killer years.
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I have an old book somewhere by Stirling, where he tells about that one (I think it was) MM. Quite a long bit into the race they stopped in a small Italian village to get something to drink (you do get thirsty on a long ride), a soda, or something. The Italian fans there didn't allow them! 'You are leading, you can't stop now!!!'
 
RJohan said:
I have an old book somewhere by Stirling, where he tells about that one (I think it was) MM. Quite a long bit into the race they stopped in a small Italian village to get something to drink (you do get thirsty on a long ride), a soda, or something. The Italian fans there didn't allow them! 'You are leading, you can't stop now!!!'
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Moss was famously superstitious, and the superstition regarding the Mille Miglia was that he who leads at Rome would not win the race. Moss was going to lea at Rome - what to do? He decided to ignore his superstition, and the race went into the history books as one of the all-time greats.

Moss and Jenks raced in the last MM in 1957 (when Portago's crash ended the race), this time in a Maserati. Early in the race, the brake pedal broke off and Moss went round a corner virtually on two wheels. Jenks wagged a finger disapprovingly, as if to say that it was much too early to be taking such risks. In reply, Moss reached down and held up the brake pedal.
 
cutting42 said:
Poor choice IMO. Never been fast, steady at best, would never have made F1 without the name. He lost his seat to the Hulk FFS and was comprehensively out driven in 2022 by another F1 reject, KMag.
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I think there is some headworking on that signup..German driver, son of German hero, German(ish( brand, will be the German medias focus for a while and lots of sponsorship.
 
flutteringwow said:
I think there is some headworking on that signup..German driver, son of German hero, German(ish( brand, will be the German medias focus for a while and lots of sponsorship.
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I tend to agree but it still does not sit right with me. A team should employ the best possible staff and there is no way the MSC 2nd is the best available test driver so German washing it seems to be.
 
cutting42 said:
I tend to agree but it still does not sit right with me. A team should employ the best possible staff and there is no way the MSC 2nd is the best available test driver so German washing it seems to be.
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Yes, I do feel somewhat let down by Merc on this, they have, imo, always been one of the cleanest teams and I agree with you on the above, but tbh, that doesn't happen even in office work anymore as there are quotas to meet on a varied workforce, so I figure it won't matter too much elsewhere. I personally think he is a better bet than Ricciardo, as much as I love the dude, MSC is still a relative rookie, he has time to mature and raise his performance, RIC is on his way out imo. I don't think we have seen a rookie be like Lewis, since Lewis's debut!
 
cutting42 said:
I tend to agree but it still does not sit right with me. A team should employ the best possible staff and there is no way the MSC 2nd is the best available test driver so German washing it seems to be.
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Hmm. I don’t have you down as naive… money and egos thrive in F1.
 
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