New footage of F1 in 1955 uncovered

F1 Fanatic round-up

4th November 2010, 0:014th November 2010, 0:29 | Written by Keith Collantine

The Brazilian Grand Prix Predictions Championship round is already open if you want to get your predictions for this weekend’s race in early.

Here’s today’s round-up:

Links

Loughborough man’s 1955 film of F1 uncovered (BBC)

Check out this astonishing footage of the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix unearthed recently at the Beaulieu National Motor Museum.

Pedro de la Rosa on the brink of Hispania switch – reports (The Sport Review)

“Pedro de la Rosa is being lined up by Hispania Racing Team for next year after the Spaniard was dropped by Sauber earlier this season.”

F1 Fan Zone to attract 40,000 by closing day (Gulf News)

“Abu Dhabi: The Mubadala Experience at the F1 Fan Zone, is expected to attract over 40,000 visitors before it closes on November 14.”

Nicolas Todt: Pay drivers too prevalent (Autosport)

“Because of the global economic crisis and the relative difficulties for medium and small teams to find the budget, even the most deserving young drivers are now struggling to find their way in the grand prix world.”

Comment of the day

As I write this Mark Webber is the most popular pick on the “Who do you want to be champion?” poll but DaveW makes the case for two of his rivals:

It’s hard to vote against Webber, as we generally show respect to elders, but the graph shows that both he and Vettel spent most of the year recklessly squandering the most dominant race car of recent years. They had their misfortune, but when you have a dominant car, you should be able to avoid things like smashing into each other or plowing into a backmarker. They led the WDC for less rounds that McLaren, with a car often more than a second faster than their rivals. Not impressive.
I’m going to call a tie between Hamilton and Alonso. Both have been brilliant, both have made terrible mistakes; and both have outdriven the car and competent teammates. Both have put up an amazing fight against an incredible car with quick drivers. If either were to win it should be satisfying to any fan of the sport.
DaveW

From the forum

Matty55 has a question about the 107% rule set to be introduced next year.

Happy birthday!

No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

The 500th world championship Grand Prix came to a thrilling conclusion on the streets of Adelaide 20 years ago today.

Nigel Mansell chased after Nelson Piquet as the final lap began and came desperately close to snatching the win off his arch-rival.

Every time I see this piece of video from the race I’m convinced the Ferrari is going to hit the Benetton:

Author information

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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53 comments on “New footage of F1 in 1955 uncovered”

Jake
4th November 2010, 0:09
For me it has to be Hamilton over Alonso due to the number of errors by each and the relative competetiveness of the car. The Mclaren has been slower than the Ferrari in all but 4/3 races (Spain, Turkey, Canada (arguably equal) and Valencia (arguably equal)). Hamilton has only made a single mistake all season; the clash with Massa in Italy, and even if we include the clash in Singapore which I personally don’t think was down to him (it definately wasn’t him the stewards were investigating), thats still far less than Alonso. Finally, to still be in the shot of the title at all with an unreliable and relatively slow car is nothing less than incredible.
1. nuhb
  4th November 2010, 13:58
  what your saying is very desperate. Get over your boy Hammy, he really is awful. Alonso is 100 times better…
  1. MouseNightshirt
    4th November 2010, 15:09
    You should back up your claim that he’s 100 times better with some of your own evidence…
    I’m sort of torn. I agree with the COTD, this was Red Bull’s championship to lose and it’s looking more and more likely that they have. As much as I really have little time for Alonso as a person, and Ferrari as a team, you can’t argue with the fightback and the sublime drives by Alonso during the year.
    I just hope for the sake of sanity that Alonso wins by more than 7 points…
  2. Calum
    4th November 2010, 16:21
    Get over the amazing fact hamilton doesn’t need team orders to overtake his teammate!
    1. F1iLike
      4th November 2010, 20:38
      That says a lot more about their team mates I think. Button is shait and a push over aswell
  3. Jake
    4th November 2010, 17:01
    What I’m saying is backed up by facts, and where my opinion is given it is expressed as an opinion. Two things you fail to do in your reply
    1. Mr. Wrong
      4th November 2010, 20:56
      And, it goes without saying, a healthy dose of fanboyism.
      Both drivers are very good, their cars could be better.
      What, in my humble opinion, you fail to mention is that Alonso clawed a 47 point deficit to lead Hamilton by 21, which is 68 points in total; hardly what you would expect from a driver who made more mistakes. Of course, we mustn’t forget the subject of luck and nothing could serve to illustrate this point more than Hamilton being punished with a drive through penalty and still being able to conserve his position.
      1. Jake
        4th November 2010, 23:25
        I totally agree, Alonso has driven brilliantly in the scond half of the season, however, if the most die hard of Alonso fans will struggle to say he did so earlier in the season. In my humble opinion, whilst both have been very good (the best 2 in the championship by a long way), Hamilton has been the better of the 2 over the course of the whole season. And I think to claim Hamilton has been lucky this season is pushing it a bit! (Aus, Spain, Hungury, Singapore, Japan)
      2. Jake
        4th November 2010, 23:26
        that should be even the most die hard…
Carlos Santos
4th November 2010, 0:56
That footage from 1955 show how steep is the run from Saint-Devote to Massenet better than today!
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
4th November 2010, 1:06
I watched that footage yesterday. It is simply brilliant! It makes me wonder how much more footage is hidden away around the world, never to be seen…
1. Scribe
  4th November 2010, 1:30
  Good thought that, i’ve always wanted to see Fangio driving round the others.
2. Mike
  4th November 2010, 11:39
  Most of it is hidden from us by the people who run the sport mind you…
3. Victor.
  4th November 2010, 12:17
  F1 is indeed to much of a business…
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
4th November 2010, 1:51
Totally agree with you Keith.
Pedro de la Rosa to HRT may bring some experience to the team. Lotus have some good engineers,Virgin have money to invest, HRT have none so a good test driver may help them some.
1. Scribe (@scribe)
  4th November 2010, 9:28
  Lotus invest more than Virgin though I take your point.
  I find it strange though that HRT want or need De La Rosa when they have Klien available. Just as strange as Lotus wanting Senna.
  1. Mike
    4th November 2010, 15:44
    De La Rosa has a huge amount of experience, And he is at least quick enough to give a decent showing of their car, De la Rosa is also Spanish, which could help them attract sponsors.
    I think it would be a massive coup if the could attract him.
    1. US_Peter (@us_peter)
      4th November 2010, 17:33
      It’s not as though De La Rosa will find a better race seat for next year either, so it seems like it would be a good deal for all involved.
      1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
        4th November 2010, 17:39
        It’s not as though De La Rosa will find a better race seat for next year
        I wonder if that’s how they sold it to him…
  2. Jez
    4th November 2010, 19:00
    Possibly Lotus want Petrobas, who together with Renault engines want a Brazilian driver. Lotus take the cheapest one available with the biggest name?
silencer
4th November 2010, 2:20
that footage especially that le mans disaster footage…. is sad to know many spectators was involved in that terrible racing accident.
and sir stirling Moss is true racer even in his old age
Mandev
4th November 2010, 2:44
Wow… 3.30 on the BBC video is beautiful.
Macca
4th November 2010, 3:45
If Spain can have 2 GP’s then why not Australia. I vote bring back Adelaide.
Start the year in Melbourne and end it in Adelaide, arr what a dream that would be.
1. TommyC
  4th November 2010, 5:27
  maybe we could convince bernie that tasmania is a different country…
  1. Julian (@julian)
    4th November 2010, 5:34
    Could you imagine the f1 in adelaide, same weekend as Clipsal.
    V8’s during the day, F1 at night.
    it would be incredible. Pity it will probably never happen though. Imagine the amount of noise complaints about F1 cars roaring around adelaide on a sunday night. Too many whingers down here :(
    1. Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey)
      4th November 2010, 8:34
      Most people here wouldn’t be as enthused anymore. They see how much money the GP costs the Vics every year and they see how much of a success the Clipsal 500 is and they really don’t miss Formula 1 all that desperately.
      The Adelaide GP was always a fantastic event and it was hugely popular with the teams as the season finale. I think Melbourne is probably just as popular with the F1 circus as a season opener, which is the main reason why starting the season in Bahrain is such a buzzkill.
      1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
        4th November 2010, 8:45
        ‘Buzzkill Bahrain’. I’m using that next year…
      2. Scribe (@scribe)
        4th November 2010, 9:31
        I think the solution is we all treat Bahrain like the glorified testing session it’s likley to be, an then get the season started in Australia again.
      3. Icthyes (@icthyes)
        4th November 2010, 9:42
        A bigger buzzkill than Buzz Killington? I’d say so.
      4. sumedh
        4th November 2010, 13:41
        Bahrain is going back to the old layout next year. It will definitely serve a tense race. Like Monza this year.
2. Icthyes (@icthyes)
  4th November 2010, 9:29
  My first thought was “now there’s a street circuit, take note Valencia”. :)
Hare (@hare)
4th November 2010, 4:48
that is awesome. I wish we had our TV coverage, with the atmosphere of those days, with our safety record.
1. Maciek
  4th November 2010, 10:29
  Nice thought.
  ~~Comment too short~~
GeeMac
4th November 2010, 5:29
9 days until I’m in the stands at Yas Marina!
1. Sideshow bob
  4th November 2010, 6:35
  Too bad the title race will be over by then. ;)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
4th November 2010, 9:43
The race weekend information box (or ‘racebar’ as I call it) is back in slightly re-designed form, you’ll find it on the front of the home page.
It doesn’t appear on article pages now, that may change for next year.
1. Macca
  4th November 2010, 9:49
  The small opening line for the F1F archives on the home page is incorrect.
  Go in back time through over 6,000 F1 Fanatic articles since 2005.
  It should say “Go back in time through over 6,000 F1 Fanatic articles since 2005.
  Just thought you might want to know.
2. Scribe (@scribe)
  4th November 2010, 11:39
  Nice new feature Keith, really usefull, like it! :)
Icthyes (@icthyes)
4th November 2010, 9:47
That Monaco footage is gorgeous. The one thing that strikes me most is how much space the cars seemed to have to pass each other, unthinkable in today’s Monaco.
1. Scribe (@scribe)
  4th November 2010, 11:40
  yeah the cars look tiny, I’d like to see those cars race on a modern track, just to see what they make of the corners.
ukk
4th November 2010, 10:35
Just loved the comment of the week – so true, so spot-on!
SouthAussie94 (@mpj1994)
4th November 2010, 11:49
Gotta love Glen Dix’s flag waving. Meet him a few times, he is the nicest guy.
1. Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey)
  4th November 2010, 12:03
  Amazingly enough, he was once my mate’s step-dad apparently.
polishboy808
4th November 2010, 12:13
I have a question regarding the forums. Are all of these advertisers yours Keith? Theres plenty spammers now, and when ever anybody says something about them, their comment get removed. Why dont they get removed?
1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  4th November 2010, 12:22
  Can you link to an example?
polishboy808
4th November 2010, 12:25
Sure, look at fomrula1fansport’s post.
https://www.racefans.net/forum/topic.php?id=72&page=81
And JD’s post has a hidden advert in the form of an added word that links to a website in his post ehre.
https://www.racefans.net/forum/topic.php?id=72&page=81
polishboy808
4th November 2010, 12:27
oops, I meant here for teh second one.
https://www.racefans.net/forum/topic.php?id=570
1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  4th November 2010, 12:55
  Thanks for bringing that to my attention. The spam has been deleted and the user has been banned.
João Pedro CQ
4th November 2010, 12:28
I don’t know if you have heard about this but there are already 2 journalists who were robbed in São Paulo. Sad news.
Gustavo
4th November 2010, 14:42
I used to have a miniature of that Benetton. Such a beautiful car. Piquet was really awesome. A genius.
1. Mr. Wrong
  4th November 2010, 21:04
  So much so he managed to convince Renault his son was good, now that takes real genius.
  1. Mike-e
    5th November 2010, 0:30
    to be fair he could have been ok, we never really got to see anything of him tho as the car was awful, alonso managed to drag it around but he is on another level.
    I’d say piquet jnr could easily have been as fast as Hill, coulthard, irvine, barrichello, webber, heidfelt….. or any of those other average drivers. You can almost give anyone on that grid the rb6 and they’d be hard pushed not to win the championship…..
    1. Mike-e
      5th November 2010, 0:32
      and the williams from 96 and 97…. the mclaren from 98 and 99…. the ferrari from 2000 – 2004….. the brawn last year….
      all i’m saying is these cars are/were so dominant, i could probably win the championship in them

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