Thirteen years after he won his first world championship, the Michael Schumacher Show has been cancelled. Many had grown bored of the ceaseless dominance of Schumacher and the Ferrari victory machine. But not his legion of fans, who may struggle to transfer their affections onto another driver. Will you miss Michael Schumacher in 2007? Or [...]
The 1970s was the decade of outrageous innovation that produced some of the most unusual cars ever to grace a racing circuit. Many were hideous failures that disappeared into obscurity. But Brabham’s ‘Fan Car’ did somewhat better, achieving a 100% victory rate. Which is to say it won one race, and then it was banned…
The great Italian team enters its third era following the death of founder Enzo. First came political chaos, turmoil and defeat. Then a wholly different Ferrari emerged under the Todt-Brawn-Schumacher leadership – a devastating efficient winning machine, a wholly unromantic entity comparer to the Ferrari of old, that dominated the sport with a completeness never [...]
As the F1 pre-season testing continues apace (or, if you’re Honda, slowly) it seems a good time to share my 10 unbreakable rules of testing – and top tips. These will apply to every test session you ever attend in the UK. Certainly they have been true at each test day I’ve been to.
Kimi Raikkonen: party animal, or apathetic mumbler? Brutally quick race winner, or over-rated car breaker? Heir to Michael Schumacher’s mantle, or, in the words of Jacques Villeneuve, an, “over-rated driver package,” who, “really doesn’t care?” 2007 world drivers’ champion, or three-times runner-up?
It’s not often that a team which has won both championships one year does not have the coveted number one on either of its cars the following season. That is the position Renault are in this year, an unavoidable reminder of the key weakness in their 2007 title defence: the loss of double world champion [...]
Formula One is having a revolution of youth in 2007: The average age of a driver at the first round of the season will be 28 years, 12 weeks and four days – one of the youngest ever. Heading up the new young charges are Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen who, incredibly, will both make [...]
Having recently looked at F1 driver autobiographies from two different generations (Alex Zanardi and Niki Lauda) I decided to turn to another, even earlier subject – Stirling Moss. He collaborated on this fascinating autobiographical work with Doug Nye in 1987. Its structure is a simple chronological ‘guide’ to every car he ever raced, interspersed with [...]
Sixteen months without a Grand Prix win. Seven years without a championship title. McLaren are starting a season with a totally new driver line-up for the first time ever while under the command of Ron Dennis. They are willing to embrace radical change to win. But will the exciting combination of champion Fernando Alonso and [...]
