Ten rare and amazing F1 videos

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There are plenty of great F1 videos on Youtube. But one does get rather sick of endless slow-motion crash footage set to Linkin Park.

You have to rummage around to find the best F1 videos – and here they are – ten rare F1 clips that aren’t stolen from race broadcasts and season review videos.

There’s some cracking helmet camera footage from 1994. Isn’t it stupid that these cameras aren’t being used in today’s broadcasts? Well they definitely still have the technology because there’s more drivers’ eye footage from last year’s BMW.

Plus Ayrton Senna’s first outing with Williams, Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari flexi-wing failure and crash in testing, and more…

Ayrton Senna at Williams, Estoril 1994

It was a doomed relationship, but Ayrton Senna’s early laps behind the wheel of a Williams were captured in this onboard footage.

Johnny Cecotto, Toleman-Hart, Imola, 1984

Ten years earlier Senna had made his Grand Prix debut at Toleman alongside Johnny Cecotto. Here is some very early onboard footage of Cecotto in a Toleman at Imola in 1984. This would be the only Grand Prix for which Senna failed to qualify, due to a conflict between Toleman and tyre supplier Pirelli.

Michael Schumacher’s testing crash, Ferrari, 1999

Two weeks ago we looked at how flexi-wings have been regulated since a spate of accidents during testing in 1999 (see below).

Johnny Herbert suffered an enormous crash in his Stewart at the Circuit de Catalunya. Another driver to be affected was Michael Schumacher who suffered a rear wing failure and crash while testing at Fiorano.

At the first race of the season at Melbourne it became apparent that Ferrari were one of a number of teams running flexible rear wings. Fearing further crashes the FIA rushed in new legislation to limit them. But the row flared up again in 2006.

Ricardo Rosset spins a Lola, Melbourne 1997

Blink and you missed the Lolas in 1997 – not because they were fast, but because they only entered the Australian Grand Prix, which they failed to qualify for. The team collapsed before the second round.

So this footage of Ricardo Rosset making it all the way to turn four at Melbourne is precious indeed.

Mark Blundell helmet camera, Spa-Francorchamps 1994

Cameras mounted in drivers’ crash helmets are common in American single-seater racing, but lamentably rare in Europe, including Formula One.

Here’s some rare footage of Mark Blundell in a Tyrrell testing out an in-helmet camera at the magnificent Spa-Francorchamps circuit in 1994.

As well as revealing how strong the buffeting forces acting upon a driver are, this particular clip also shows the horrible chicane inserted at Eau Rouge as a one-off that season. Note also the view the driver gets of the drying racing line on the track.

BMW helmet camera, Monza 2006

It would be fantastic to see helmet cameras used in today’s F1 footage. Clearly the technology is still available – here’s some in-helmet footage from a BMW F1.06 at Monza last year.

Fernando Alonso helmet camera, Barcelona 2006

And another shot courtesy of reigning champion Fernando Alonso.

Francois Hesnault, Renault, Nurburgring, 1985

Back in the day when on-board cameras were first being developed Renault entered three cars for the 1985 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

The third belonged to Francois Hesnault and was fitted with one of the first on-board cameras designed to be used during a race. Unfortunately he retired after eight laps with clutch failure.

Colin Chapman, Reims, 1956

Famed Lotus designer Colin Chapman was one of many team owners who had tried his hand at racing.

But this video reveals the troubles he had – crashing out at Reims in 1956 in a Vanwall. He failed to start the race.

Early motor racing history, 1902

Finally, some rare footage from the dawn of motoring racing – 48 years before the world championship started, and four years even before the first Grand Prix. Enjoy this ‘cinematography’ from 1902!

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Tags: f1 / formula one / formula 1 / grand prix / motor sport / youtube

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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4 comments on “Ten rare and amazing F1 videos”

  1. What about the video of the Dome Prototype in 1997 on a lap round Suzuka

  2. Amazing how quickly we forget – it was quite a surprise to see Johnny Cecotto actually changing gear with a stick! But Michael Schumacher suffered a “rash” at Fiorano? I hope it wasn’t chicken pox… ;)

  3. Damn you perfectionists. Fixed!

  4. Hey, it happens to us all! It’s just that some typos are funnier than others… :D

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