F1 Fanatic

Another driver worth a mention would be Mika Hakkinen, who went from 22nd on Lap 1 to finish on the podium at the 1999 Austrian GP, after he was punted off the track at the Remus Kurve by a certain BBC commentator…

i remember catching this GP2 race in Turkey on the off chance one day… can’t tell you what position Hamilton drops to but he eventually finished 2nd. very distinct memory of ‘woah, he’d be cracking in F1. bit red mist though’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbjRFd205qo

David Coulthard!

In all this vein then, what’s the biggest time deficit made up by someone in a race?

I think The biggest time gap made up is likely to be Fangio at the ‘ring.

In lap terms, it’s worth mentioning Jim Clark at Monza in ’67. In the 60s, Monza was the ultimate slipstreamer race – if you got spat out of the pack, you were considered to have no hope.

Clark lost a lap because of a puncture and came out in 15th, but he managed to get the whole lap back (through pure speed no some yellow flag), overtake *everyone*, and take the lead. The best victory in F1 ever was spoiled when he ran out of fuel.

Mark Webber, 18th to 3rd, 20th at one point has to be up there in the Top 10 or something.

Mark Webber, 18th to 3rd, 20th at one point has to be up there in the Top 10 or something.