50 years of technical development in formula 1

8/2/2019 50 Years of Technical Development in Formula 1

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0 Years of Technical Development in Formula One

t l as F1 Presen t s : 50 y ears o f t echn ica l m i leston es, 50 y ears o fnnova t i on and expe r im en ta t i on i n m ach ina ry and t echno logy . 50 yea rs

h ich have m ade Form u la One ' t he Pinac le o f Moto r Racing '

Poin t o f Reference: the 18 year-old Elizabeth Taylor married hoheir Conrad Hilton, t he Korean War broke out, William Faulkner wthe Nobel Prize for Literature, Albert Einstein appeared on US

television to warn against t he dangers of the nuclear arm s race. Aon 13th May on an airstrip circuit at Silverstone, England, theForm ula One World Championship was innaugur ated...

he first season of Grand Prix racing already saw the establishment of basic principleshich have not changed to this day. Formula One vehicles were constructions that weut on wheels for one reason alone: to win!

he unwritten Formula One asserted itself above all else at the beginning of the post-wrand Prix era, and was formulated as follows with regard to racing car construction b

he genius german constructor Ferdinand Porsche: "The perfect racing car crosses thenish line first and subsequently falls into its component parts." The philosophicalackground to this surprising piece of wisdom is that if the car is still functional afteraving done its work, then the constructor was guilty of using over-dimensionedomponents...

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ooking back, the cars of thoseays might appear to us to beompletely unsuitable for theirask. But to contemporaries theyould have looked just like theirrandchildren of the late-90s.hey were technical miracles builtor the purpose of earthbound

ght, made up of chassis, cockpit,anelling, engine, tank and wheelsand nothing else!

here was one thing that theWorld Championship cars of therst generation had in common:he engine was at the front. But that's as far as engine similarities went. The ruleslowed supercharged engines, in which the combustion chambers were filled with pre

ompressed air by a supercharger. The capacity of the conventional induction enginesas limited to 4.5 litres, that of the supercharged units to 1.5 litres.

ypically, the chassis was a tubular frame construction. The tank was positioned behinhe driver's back and thus formed the rear end of the car. In this sense, the design wahe same as that of the late 1930s. The overdue revolution in this sector was, howeveready brewing. The pioneering Cisitalia-Porsche 360 construction with its mid-mountngine never reached racing maturity for financial reasons.

he strongest team immediately proved to be Alfa Romeo, with the three "Fa's" under

ontract: Dr. Nino Farina, Juan Manuel Fangio and Luigi Fagioli. Between them, the trion anything and everything, and Farina and Fangio became the first Champions

espectively in Formula One history. In fact, Alfa did not suffer defeat until 1951, whenhe Argentinean Ferrari driver Froilan Gonzlez beat off his rivals at Silverstone.

he most interesting construction of the early 1950s was undoubtedly the unsuccessfuritish BRM, whose daring concept never quite made it onto the grid on account ofudget difficulties. The British team employed a traditional tubular frame chassis with e-Dion rear axle for their national racing car. The engine was a 1.5 litre unit with 16

ylinders. In theory, this power-pack was capable of delivering 615 HP at 12,000 rpm,ut it fell short with 525 HP at 10,500 rpm, among other things because the SUarburettor was never replaced by the intended fuel injection system. Nevertheless, ittill managed to exceed the engine power of the extremely successful Alfa Romeo 158nd 159 by more than 100 HP! The only problem with the sensational BRM type 15 wahat it did not comply with Ferdinand Porsche's Formula: it fell into its component partng before the finishing line had been reached.



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he engines could not be fuelledsing conventional petrol becausef the enormous thermalfficulties, particularly the

upercharged units. As theegulations allowed free choice ofuel, the specialists from the oildustry mixed normal 'juice' with

goodly dose of alcohol forooling purposes.

n the two racing years of 1952nd 1953, the Drivers' Worldhampionship was contended in Formula Two cars with engines of up to 2000 cc. Justfa Romeo had dominated the Grand Prix before, Ferrari now pulled ahead with its ty00 and 553 - Alberto Ascari winning victory after victory in the little cars. In 1952 thealian triumphed six times and became champion. In the following year, when he

efended the title successfully, he crossed the line five times in first place.

ecause of its small cylinder capacity, the four-cylinder Ferrari developed no more tha90 HP, with which the limits of what was technically possible were already very closenly Maserati managed to coax even more power out of their engines: with just over00 HP, a new record for induction engines was set. The magic figure at last: 100 HP p000 cc of cylinder capacity.

n the chassis sector, the engineers stood still, and aerodynamics did not receive mucttention either.

he 1954 season signalled the beginning of the 2.5 litre formula and with it a phasehich brought the technical field of Formula One racing forward by three very importateps. The teams responsible for this were Mercedes, Connaught and Cooper.

he Germans entered the GP scene with a double victory. Juan Manuel Fangio came inrst, just in front of Karl Kling. By the end of the following racing calendar, Mercedes hntered another eleven races and won another eight Grand Prix contests. Fangio wasade champion in 1954 and 1955.

his man Fangio, who had already become world champion in 1951 with Alfa Romeo,ad courted the legendary Mercedes race manager Alfred Neubauer with all manner ofevices. And when 'Don Alfredo' finally invited him to Germany to negotiate a contracte dug deep into the company's wallet and reserved a hotel room with an en-suiteathroom for the Argentinean superstar! Today's Grand Prix drivers are probably notven aware that hotel rooms without en-suite bathrooms ever existed...

he successful Mercedes engines had eight cylinders and a direct fuel injection system

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he end was thus imminent for the carburettor engine, even if the Bosch direct injectioystem soon had to make way for the ingenious indirect manifold injection system. Ashe case with today's F1 engines, you looked in vain in the Mercedes for valve springshe valves were positively controlled by cam shafts and rocker levers in order to preveutter. Renault were the first to come up with the idea of using compressed air, morehan thirty years later.

l Formula One cars were stillquipped with drum brakes,omething we would now considerthing of the Stone Age. Theritish Connaught teampearheaded the victory of thesc brake in 1955, as the Englishentist Tony Brooks won theyrakus Grand Prix in Italy, a raceithout World Championship

tatus. However, it was a numberf years before the whole field hadompletely re-equipped. In 1958,errari mechanics removed thesc brakes from a Ferrari sports

ar during training for the Italian Grand Prix, and installed them in one of the Formulane cars.

nother innovation in Formula One crept in almost unnoticed on 16th July 1955, and hoon proven itself unbeatable. A certain Australian by the name of Jack Brabham

ppeared at Aintree in England, driving a Cooper whose 2 litre Bristol engine wasounted behind him. By 1959 this design had asserted itself so successfully that frontounted engines were gone for good.

p until the end of 1957 it was possible to choose freely what fuel you used. Mercedesor example, relied on the following recipe: 45% benzene, 25% methyl alcohol, 23%viation fuel, 3% acetone and 2% nitrobenzene. The remaining two percent remain aecret until this day. The explosive mixture was so aggressive that remnants left overom training and races had to be drained off and the engine rinsed out withonventional petrol. This was the only way to prevent the engine from suffering damagvernight!

rom 1958 to the end of 1960, teams were compelled to tank up with aviation fuel witn octane rating of 130, after their oil sponsors, above all Shell, had urged Formula Oo stipulate a more usual form of petrol so that the product transfer between the fansnd Formula One was more effective and more convincing and health protectionuaranteed.



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ven in those days a good idea was nouarantee of success, as two examplesom Italy demonstrate. Alfa Romeoxperimented with a four-wheel-drive carhose cockpit was positioned behind the

ear axle. The Ferrari engineers brought a5 litre two-cylinder (!) vehicle onto the

est bed: it wasn't very powerful but it

eveloped unbelievable torque.

* *

n those days the drivers were championsf traditional virtues, and theirportsmanship tended at times towardsedieval chivalry. In 1956 for instance,

eter Collins, who was clearly on target

or the title, handed his Ferrari over to hiseam colleague Fangio during the race at Monza. Without this generous gesture thergentinean would never have won his fourth World Championship. In 1958, Britisherrari driver Mike Hawthorn was due to be disqualified after the Portuguese Grand Prnly a falsified statement by his most ardent adversary, Stirling Moss, prevented it froctually happening. When the points were finally added up, Moss was one short ofecoming champion in place of Hawthorn. After that Moss never managed to win the

World Championship title...

eature compiled by the Atlas F1 Team 2000 Kaizar.Com, Incorpora

end comments to: [email protected] Terms & Condit

Material and images kindly provided by the Shell-Ferrari Press Office &Rainer Nyberg

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Poin t o f Reference: 17 African nations are grant ed independencJohn F. Kennedy is elected as America's president, the French auAlbert Camus dies in a car crash, the film Ben Hur wins 11 Oscars

and the Australian Formula One driver Jack Brabham succeeds indefending his World Championship t itle...

he 1960s began as the 1950s had ended: with Australian Jack Brabham winning theWorld Championship. His Cooper Climax, thanks to its mid-engine design, continued to

ctate the pace. The successful Type T53 was powered by a 240 hp four-cylinder unithich could pull the 440 kg vehicle to nearly 300 km/h.

ormula One saw a traditional front-engined old-timer win for the last time, when the

ritish teams stayed away from the Italian Grand Prix because they feared the dreadeteep curves of Monza. American Phil Hill snatched victory at the wheel of his Ferrari46, a historic win which granted him a place among the all-time greats.

960 was a season whichghlighted the dangerous naturef Grand Prix racing in the earlyears. Two drivers died during theelgian Grand Prix in Spa and twoore were seriously injured. Theghly talented Chris Bristow lost

ontrol of his Cooper and did noturvive the subsequent terribleartwheeling. The second tragedyas the death of Alan Stacey. Theotus driver left the track becausebird flew into his face at top

peed - full-visor helmets did notome into use until eight years

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ter...

n order to reduce the dangers, the maximum engine capacity of the vehicles wasrought from 2.5 litres down to 1.5 litres at the start of the 1961 season. At the sameme, the oil suppliers succeeded in their campaign to enforce the use of standard fuelhe CSI, the sports department of the FIA in those days, stipulated that cars be tankeith commercial grade petrol with an octane rating of no more than 100. At the sameme, the chemical engineers were working intensively at the Shell Research Centre inhornton, England, on the development of the BRM eight-cylinder engine, which wouldot have to wait much longer for success.

961, however, was the year of Scuderia Ferrari. The Tipo 156, with its legendaryhark's nose, was powered by a 190 hp engine, and neither Climax nor Porsche couldeep up with it. The air-cooled four-cylinder unit from Germany developed a mere 160p, and the Climax engines even less. Thanks to the power of their six-cylinder cars,errari drivers Phil Hill, Wolfgang von Trips and Richie Ginther ran rings around theompetition. In Belgium, where the local star Olivier Gendebein complemented the trio

he Scuderia even managed to secure a triumphant quadruple win. Only in Monaco ann the North Circuit of the Nurburgring was Ferrari forced to give way: on these twouperbly challenging tracks, Stirling Moss succeeded in tricking his way to victory overhe Reds in his Lotus-Climax.

hil Hill, the front-engine veteran, was the first American to become World Champion,though tears were shed in his hour of victory. At Monza, von Trips - who was right a

he top of the rankings after wins in Zandvoort and Aintree - started in pole position fohe first time. But the good starting position brought no joy to the German. After a batart he collided with the young Scottish star Jim Clark and lost his life in the resulting

ccident.

n 1962, Ferrari stood in thehade of the British competition.imax and BRM began to use anght-cylinder engine from thetart of the season. This was thera during which the carburettorngine was ousted once and for

l. Despite the switch-over fromviation fuel to commercial gradeetrol, 1962 was alreadyxperiencing the speeds of 1960.he injection engines werenstoppable.

here had also been a revolution in the chassis building field: Lotus boss Colin Chapmne of Formula One's pioneering engineers, presented his famous Lotus 25 in 1962. Itas the first single-seater ever to be made using the Monocoque construction method



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nstead of the traditional tubular frame, riveted light metal boxes were employed. Theesult was a highly torsion resistant chassis which offered relatively good protection fohe driver. The driver no longer sat in the cockpit - he lay almost completely flat on hiack. What's more, the tiny steering wheels common now in Formula One were alsotroduced at that time. Only Ferrari retained the big wooden steering wheels for oneore year which, looking back, were reminiscent of something from the Tale of thencient Mariner...

he BRM driver Graham Hill became World Champion in 1962: he won in Holland,ermany, Italy and South Africa. Right up until the last race in South Africa, Hill fough

or the World Championship against Jim Clark, who was forced to give up in the finalace on account of an engine defect. But Formula One was still stuck deep in the Middges of Grand Prix racing.

's hard to imagine the events that took place during training on the North Circuit of turburgring. Carel Godin de Beaufort, a Dutchman through and through, had an 8 mmamera mounted on the back of his aged four-cylinder Porsche. On the Fuchsrohre

ection of the track, where the cars approached the 300 km/h barrier as they droveownhill, the improvised struts holding the camera broke. Graham Hill and BrucecLaren - later founders of the Super Team - skated over the remnants and spun off i

he undergrowth (there were no crash barriers back then). Miraculously, no-one wasjured.

y the end of the 1.5 litre formula in 1965he remaining World Championship titlesent to Jim Clark and Ferrari driver Johnurtees), the power of the engines hadsen to 220 hp. The small capacity didn'teter the engine builders from employingrge numbers of cylinders: Ferrari andonda had 12-cylinder cars on thetarting grid, and Climax even constructed16-cylinder engine. The English powerack was rumoured to develop 225 hp,ut the cam-shafted boxer never got asr as racing.

ut then a 16-cylinder car did appear,uilt by BRM, in the second half of the960s, as the new 3 litre formula cameto play in 1966. The unit developed 400p and made such an infernal noise that ear-witnesses are still talking about it today!espite this, ex-Cooper-driver Jack Brabham beat off all comers at the seat of hisrabham Repco. Based on an Oldsmobile aluminium block and developing 320 hp at500 rpm, the Australian eight-cylinder vehicle was the weakest and yet the mosteliable of all the engines.



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Poin t o f Reference: Bangladesh is devastat ed by catastr ophicfloods, the adventur er Thor Heyerdahl crosses the Atlant ic in apapyrus boat , t he Jum bo Jet begins regular service, t he Beatles s

up, and the English Lotus boss Colin Chapman sets the pace inFormula One with the new Lotus 72.

l the Formula One cars built from 1950 until the end of 1969 had one thing inommon: a central air intake in the nose of the car which supplied the engine withombustion and cooling air. This construction dictated the appearance of the traditionaormula One racing car. At that moment, An alternative didn't seem to exist.

was the genius car-maker Colin Chapman who first entered new territory. He had

ready created the monocoque design in the early 1960s, which remains universal andispensable to this day. But with his new Lotus 72 the engineer and team chief didway with the aerodynamically bothersome opening altogether. He made the nose aosed wedge, and the radiators disappeared into the boxes which formed the sides of

he car.

hanks to this pioneering invention, the Lotus 72 could travel 14 km/h faster on longtraights than its predecessor the 49C, even with the same power engine. Other featuf the racing car were torsion bar suspension and brakes located on the inside. Theuspension was based on an idea of the legendary Professor Ferdinand Porsche from t930s. Moving the brakes inwards, which was not a Lotus invention either, reduced thnsuspended mass and hence improved road-holding.



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he grandfather of all modernngle-seaters had its debut inadrid in 1970 for the Spanishrand Prix. However, theonstruction suffered teethingfficulties and was not capable ofroducing a win. Three weekster, the World Championship

ace in Monaco was imminent andotus star Jochen Rindt returnedillingly to the old 49C for this

eason. By making this decision,ndt, a German who had been

ving in Austria since he was threeears old, laid the foundations fors victory that year of the World Championship.

t first the Monaco race was dominated by Jack Brabham, the champion in 1959, 1960nd 1966. The Australian was contesting the last season of his career and, despite bei4 years of age, he was still in stunning form. By half time the old master was in thead and looked certain to clinch the race. Rindt, at the wheel of the Lotus museum-ece, was more than 15 seconds behind the man from Down Under. But at that point

he Lotus driver began to excel himself. By the time they were ten laps short of thenish, Rindt had eaten away little by little at Brabham's lead, reducing it to 11.5econds. And then during the next nine laps he came a full ten seconds closer! Brabhatill looked safe though.

With the Lotus filling his rear view mirrors, his plan was to out-think Rindt over the finp. He chose the "battle line" in order to make it impossible for Rindt to out-brake himut outside of the ideal line with its coating of rubber, the old campaigner lost control s car and slid into the straw bales at the edge of the track. Jochen Rindt slipped insidnd took the race. The race manager, who was too busy watching for Brabham toeappear, even forgot to flag the surprise winner!

was at Zandvoort that Jochen Rindt first climbed into the futuristic Lotus 72. At lasthe potential of the construction had been brought to life. Rindt won the race and wenn to collect maximum points in France, England and Germany. Ironically, it was backs adopted home where his lucky run came to an end: Austria, which had been hostinWorld Championship Grand Prix since 1964, saw an engine damage end Rindt's racerematurely.



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o-one was to know that he wouldever start from the grid again. Inhe final practice for the Italianrand Prix, his front right brakehaft broke as he approached thearabolica. At the wheel of chassisumber two, the car in which head had so much luck during the

ummer, he crashed into thearriers and sustained fataljuries. Despite this, by the endf the season no-one hadanaged to catch up with his lead points, and so it was that

ochen Rindt became the first andnly Formula One racing driver toe declared world champion posthumously.

nly a year later, Colin Chapman pulled yet another technical sensation from out of hiat. Unlike the type 72, the D version of which remained capable of victory until 1974s new creation was a flop. In Zandvoort, Silverstone and Monza, Chapman entered hotus 56B - a development on the Indy car of 1968. Its unusual feature was that,stead of being powered by a conventional induction engine, it was driven by a doubl

hafted gas turbine manufactured by Pratt & Whitney, who originally designed it for us ships, locomotives and helicopters. Jochen Rindt had supported the project, buteither Dave Walker, Reine Wisell or Emerson Fittipaldi - each of whom was given theubious honour of driving the car - could make a success of the powerful monster.

With a fuel consumption of 100 litres for every 100 km, the almost silent power-packroved exceptionally thirsty. The car had four-wheel drive and the sitting position wasng way forward due to the length of the turbine, and both of these factors were hardet used to. But worse still, the power was delayed in kicking-in. This drawbackemanded extraordinary skill from the drivers: they had to start pressing the gas pedahile still in the braking zone in order to achieve the required acceleration when leavin

he curve. If they timed it wrong they either departed from the track or were leftrawling out of the corner at a snail's pace.

ochen Rindt's successor to the title was the Scottish Tyrrell driver Jackie Stewart, whoad already won the World Championship in 1969. Then Lotus tasted victory once agahey were still relying on the type 72, which was now being driven with success bymerson Fittipaldi. In 1973, the great Jackie Stewart had his third and final turn at theop. Already early on in the year he had confided in his boss Ken Tyrrell that he wasoing to retire at the end of the season, at which point he would be able to look back xactly 100 Grand Prix races.



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owever, things transpiredfferently. Stewart's French friendnd teammate Francois Cevert,ho had been groomed by Tyrrell

or victory, died in an accidenturing the practice session for thenal race at Watkins Glen, and thecot, mourning his friend, decided

o forego the final contest. Afters official retirement as an activeriver - "As from today, I am nonger a racing driver" - he gaves wife a magnificent necklace:

hree diamonds symbolising hishree World Championship titles,7 brilliant cut diamonds for hisrand Prix victories, and 99 pearls for all the times he had started from the grid: oness than he had predicted.

hell also departed from Formula One racing along with Jackie Stewart. Since the veryrst Formula One World Championship, the oil multinational had been among theinners. At the end of 1971 Shell split from Lotus and BRM, and at the end of 1972 froatra. One year later they then ended their partnership with Ferrari too. The firstotorious Oil Crisis spelled the end of the oil company's involvement in Grand Prixacing.

uring those years, Formula One technology stagnated. Most people's attention was o

he engine department: here a twelve-cylinder from Ferrari, there the giant Ford V8.When Derek Gardner, that period's greatest Formula One car-builder, was asked howormula One cars would develop, he put his finger on the weak-spots without hesitatioteps forward, he said simply, would be made in aerodynamics in the future. He turneut to be right, but the time had not yet come for quantum leaps in this field.



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or a while, however, a totallyew concept looked as though itight revolutionise Formula One.

yrrell presented the nowgendary P34 in 1976. Its mostoticeable feature was that it hadx wheels - two conventional rearrive wheels and four at the front.

ut the success they were seekingd not appear, even though the

Centipede' did manage to securedouble victory.

ew territory was charted in 1977.n July of that year, Renault brought the first car with a turbocharged engine onto thetarting grid. Formula One had last seen forced-aspiration units in 1951. The yellowenault, piloted by Jean-Pierre Jabouille, began by trailing behind hopelessly. The little

5 litre engine started out weak, unreliable and difficult to drive; the V6 engine's turbade life difficult for Jabouille. Nevertheless, the French found themselves on the roaduccess after a while.

round the same time, Lotus boss Colin Chapman 're-discovered' aerodynamics. Hisotus 78 was a ground-breaking design straight out of the wind tunnel. Strips along thdes of the car reached right down to the asphalt. On account of this legal trick, theriving wind flowing beneath the type 78 was accelerated to such an extent that suctioas created, holding the car to the floor and thus enabling it to corner at a phenomenpeed.

he concept took no more than a year to mature, and Lotus driver Mario Andretticooped the Championship title with ease. The only theoretical threat to the Americanas his team colleague Ronnie Peterson, but the latter was subject to the rules of a cl

eam hierarchy which forbade him to launch an attack on Andretti. At Zandvoort, thewede once again shadowed the every move of Lotus's Number One driver and theternal rules of the game became clear for all to see. Coming out of the famous Tarzaorner, Andretti mis-changed while accelerating, and the obedient Number Two onlyanaged to avert an almost unavoidable overtaking manoeuvre by stepping hard on trakes...



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rabham tried to defy the apronedotus by 'above-board' means. Athe start of the season, the Southfrican designer Gordon Murrayad brought out the BT46, which,or aerodynamic reasons, had noadiator opening whatsoever! Heatxchanger tiles were stuck to the

utside of the racing car in ordero keep the oil and wateremperature within moderatemits. However, the system only functioned in theory and the BT46's engine was alreaoiling over during test runs prior to the first World Championship race. Much to thestress of the aerodynamics engineers, holes promptly had to be cut into the cladding





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Poin t o f Reference: The Ir an-I raq War breaks out and the SankGotthard Tunnel - the longest in the world - is opened in SwitzerlaLiterary Nobel Prize-winner Jean-Paul Sartre dies, Steven Spielbe

Indiana Jones conquers the silver screen and in Formula One, FraWilliams's team succeeds in winning the drivers' and constructorsWorld Championship for the first time.

he eighties began with a real boom in Formula One racing. A total of 20 racing teamsook part in the competition for World Championship points! With this increase inopularity, the FOCA (Formula One Constructors Association), led by Brabham bossernie Ecclestone, demanded more starting money. Promoters had to give the FOCA40,000 US dollars in order to hold one World Championship race. This sum of moneyas divided up according to the success of each team.

he owners of the teams were in dire need of this financial lift because the generalechnological race had taken off in earnest. Lap times were reduced by an average ofhree seconds from the previous year, a result in particular of increased cornering spenabled by improved ground-effect technology. Transverse acceleration levels rose to7 g ('g' is the unit representing one's own body weight), measured in the East Corne

f the Hockenheimring, which at that time had no chicanes. This rapid development wcause of alarm for the drivers. Suddenly it had become an effort to brace one's headgainst the enormous centrifugal force, and it required more and more strength andoncentration to keep one's feet on the pedals while cornering.



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t the same time, the constructorsegan to pay attention to theinutest of details in order to

mprove their car's aerodynamics.or example, engineer Patrickead was the first constructor toelocate the petrol pump ofosworth's "standard engine" to

n area at the back of the vehiclehich was out of the wind, inrder to eradicate unwantedurbulence.

rom a competitive point of view,980 was a disaster for the defender of the title, Jody Scheckter. The South African, wne year earlier had become the last Ferrari driver to become World Champion until 2ears later, only managed to collect two World Championship points, leaving him 19th

he final ranking of the Championship. Scheckter's successor as World Champion was ustralian driver Alan Jones.

efore the first World Championship race of 1981, the movable spoilers along the bottf the sides of the vehicles were banned for reasons of safety. Rigid side spoilers with m clearance were introduced in order to reduce the ground-effect and with it the

ornering speed.

otus boss Colin Chapman tried to get around this ban in an ingenious manner: he buhe Type 88 with a double chassis. When cornering, the vehicle's soft-sprung primary

hassis with rigid side spoilers sealed the gap between the secondary chassis and thesphalt. The project consumed a large proportion of the budget but failed to bring theesired success: officials spotted the trick and forbade the Lotus 88 from entering theompetition.

owever, the officials came off worse in the end: during the race, when inspectors wenable to measure the clearance, most of the constructions were lowered anyway.

here was one other innovation which was absolutely legal and which was a sign of

hings to come: McLaren and Lotus became the first to build their monocoques out ofarbon fibre instead of the conventional aluminium. The benefits - greater torsionalgidity and increased safety for the driver - were outweighed at first by the weight of onstructions.

982 began with renewed crafty attempts to bypass the strict regulations. The newshion was for underweight cars. As it was permitted to refill the cars with cooling flu the parc ferme after the race, Brabham and Williams built pseudo-brake coolers into

heir vehicles. The coolers' tanks were empty during the race, and were then filled up



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fterwards so as to make up the minimum weight of 580 kg. Nelson Piquet, champion he previous year, and Keke Rosberg came in first and second at the Brazilian Grandrix, but were subsequently disqualified. But it was not until a few weeks later that theIA officially outlawed the cooling water trick.

he 1982 season would have seen therst win for a turbo driver if the favouriteerrari duo Gilles Villeneuve and Didierroni hadn't fallen victim to seriousccidents. The Canadian died at 8th May;he injuries which he suffered when heollided with Jochen Mass's March atolder in Belgium ended the life of thisgiant", who is still looked on as a hero byany F1 fans. The young driver Riccardo

aletti from the new generation of Italiansed only four weeks later in Montreal.

emories of the dangerous years oformula One were reawakened. However,was to be another 12 years thereafter

efore death would befall on a Grand Prixeekend.

fter Villeneuve's death, his teammate Didier Pironi was promoted as the favourite forhe title. But a serious accident during practice at Hockenheim put an end to therenchman's Formula One career. Nonetheless, although he only took part in ten of thxteen World Championship races that year, Pironi still managed to be runner-up of th

982 season. The title was won by Finnish Keke Rosberg, and with that he was, for thme being at least, the last induction engine driver to achieve the number one spot. Like Hawthorn, who triumphed in 1958, Rosberg went down in Formula One history binning only a single race in the year in which he won the title.

he turbo drivers finally assumed control as of 1983 - the HP ratings of their 1.5 litre cngines having become immeasurably high. By 1986 the engines had far exceeded the000 HP mark. Some engine manufacturers were no longer able to quote exact powerutput ratings because the scales of the instruments on their test beds were insufficie

he BMW four-cylinder unit which powered Nelson Piquet to victory in 1983 produced250 HP with certainty, and optimists even spoke of 1300 and 1400 horsepower! Thano this mighty little engine, Gerhard Berger achieved a top speed of 351.220 km/h in henetton-BMW when qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. Full of respect, theroler later admitted that, at this speed, the track appeared to be getting narrower anarrower with every additional km/h...



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or reasons of safety the FIAtroduced pop-off valves the

ollowing year, which reduced theoost pressure of the turbos to aaximum of four bar at first. And,

s the FIA had declared war onhe turbos, the boost pressure wasext reduced to an apparently

diculous 2.5 bar, and in parallelhey ruled that only 150 litres ofuel could be used for every Grandrix.

he competing 3.5 litre induction engines were not subject to any fuel restrictions, apaom the fact that they too were not allowed to tank up during the race. Because of thxtreme handicap against the turbocharger, no driver from this camp was expected toin the Championship from then on.

iki Lauda (1984) and Alain Prost (1985 and 1986) became Champions driving forcLaren-Porsche. From 1988 onwards, Briton Ron Dennis's team cooperated with Honnd Ayrton Senna gained his first title. Because of the reduced boost pressure, powerutput was no longer the main focus of attention. The engines were by now producinground 700 HP during the races. On account of the miserly ration of 150 litres, the risf running out of fuel before the race was up was enormous.

he teams and oil companies rose to task, specially McLaren and Shell. While copingnely with the thermal difficulties in the combustion chambers, the unleaded fuel

rovided an extraordinarily good consumption and produced superior power levels toohe reduction of friction losses inside the Honda engines was also of great importanceor this reason, Shell concentrated on an oil whose aim was to make the impossibleossible. Their success was decisive.

cLaren-Honda wrote Formulane history in 1988, when Ayrtonenna and Alain Prost succeeded winning 15 of the year's 16

World Championship races. Andhe season's only defeat, at thealian Grand Prix in Monza, wasothing to do with mechanicaleliability either: only a moment ofattentiveness on the part ofenna while lapping prevented theull-season domination fromccurring.

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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n 1989, as the turbo engines were dropped in favour of the 3.5 litre induction units,ower output shifted back into the spotlight. The chemical engineers of the oil companad to rise to this challenge too, and the hour of leaded fuel appeared to have returneowever, Prost secured the title in front of Senna, and Shell was in on the act once agwithout having strayed from the unleaded path at all!





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Poin t o f Reference: Germ any celebrates its national unification,Nelson Mandela is released after 27 y ears in prison, I raq m archesinto Kuwait and t he Gulf War errupts, composer Leonard Bernstei

dies at 72 and Ayrt on Senna continu es the impr essive dominanceMcLaren Honda in Formula One.

he 1990 Formula One season saw the continuation of the duel between Ayrton Sennand Alain Prost. However, the two superstars were no longer driving as teammates, ashe French 'professor' had switched to Ferrari. The contest was decided in Suzuka wheenna had been disqualified a year earlier. A few hundred metres after the start, Sennecured the title as he collided with Prost's Ferrari. Both cars slid out of the race, andith that Senna was placed out of reach at the head of the points table before the fina

Adelaide had even taken place. The twist to the tale: the Brazilian had announced trash 24 hours beforehand while reminiscing about the bitter defeat of the previousear.

wo years after the banning ofurbo engines, it became clearhat the change in the rules hadot had the desired effect ofeeping a check on costs.anufacturers were now

xpending between 15 and 30 perent more money to build theegulation 3.5 litre induction unitshan they had previously spent onhe six-cylinder turbos.

he investments bore fruit,hough: with more than 700 hp,he induction engines broke the

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pecific power barrier of 200 hp per 1000 cc of capacity for the first time. On theerodynamics front, the Tyrrell team set new standards. Constructors Dr. Harveyostlethwaite and Jean-Claude Migeot created the 'high nose', a component whichuickly became an indispensable feature of modern Formula One.

yrton Senna also remained in front in 1991. But in the 42nd Formula One season, ariver took the wheel who had what it takes to compete with the giants Senna, Prost aansell: Michael Schumacher. The young man from Germany got his first opportunityhen Jordan driver Bertrand Gachot was forced to take time out for legal reasons. Afte

he very first practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix, many acknowledged the greaalent of the newcomer, tipping him for future wins and even World Championship title

rue to the forecast, Michael Schumacher drove like an upcoming champion inreparation test runs. Despite warning words and a request to approach the limits witreat caution, he had soon rounded the club circuit at Silverstone faster than Jordanegular Andrea de Cesaris had ever managed. The Jordan team management gave himocket for 'disobedience', but he assured them successfully that he had only trundled

ound as ordered.

chumacher was already out of the green Jordan cockpit by the next Worldhampionship race in Monza. Flavio Briatore, then head of the Benetton stable, hadecured the services of the super-talent with the aid of some crafty lawyers.

992 saw the superior construction of the Williams-Renault FW14B achieve absoluteominance. The British team equipped the cars with active chassis, an idea originatinghe eighties and since perfected. Controlled by computer, the chassis adapted itself tohe immediate driving conditions. Traction control, which automatically preventednwanted wheel-spin when accelerating, helped the car to victory. Nigel Mansel droveom victory to victory, and had already achieved an unbeatable lead in the intermedia

ankings after the Hungarian Grand Prix in August.

was on that weekend that new regulations came into force which affected the fuel ohe Formula One cars. Aside from nitrogen and oxygen, both in limited quantities, theuel was now only allowed to contain hydro-carbons. Alcohol, nitrogen compounds andther 'hp-friendly' additives were disallowed. Only a year later, the fuel regulations werought into force which are still valid today. They dictated that the fuel had to comply

ith all the health and safety rules of the European Union. With that the officials hadnally opened the way for gas station petrol in Formula One racing.



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t the beginning of the 1990s, oilompanies were experimentingith more than 300 differentixtures each season, whereasow they are limited to only a few.he racing fuel, which inonjunction with the necessaryngine tuning is responsible for a

ertain increase in power, isfferent not by virtue of its

hemical components but only onccount of their proportions. Since 1995, the fuel used must be identical in compositioo a sample (chemical fingerprint) which is submitted in advance to the racing authoritor approval.

yrton Senna, who last won the WC title in 1991, looked set for great success again in994, when he joined the Williams team. Williams-Renault had been providing the

hampions since 1992, and the year before, Alain Prost had left active racing with aourth title win.

owever, events transpired differently: at the outset of the racing year, Senna made ariving error at his home Grand Prix, spinning and leaving the race. In Aida, Japan, heas the innocent victim of a collision. The Grand Prix entourage then made a guestppearance in Imola, but the weekend was to turn out a tragedy.

n Friday, Rubens Barrichello crashed in spectacular fashion but escaped with minorjuries. The shock came on Saturday: Austrian Roland Ratzenberger suffered a fatal

ccident during the qualifying session. It was the first time in twelve years that a deatad marred a Grand Prix weekend.

yrton Senna died the next day.

robably as a result of a broken steering column - although the cause of the accidentas never entirely clarified - he left the track in the Tamburello corner and smashed inwall. The monocoque protected the driver's body, but parts of the front right hand

uspension bounced back and inflicted fatal head injuries. Formula One had lost one o

s best ever drivers.

enetton ace Michael Schumacher was able to secure the title, although not withoutuch controversy throughout the year. Next year, with the engines now limited to a

apacity of three litres, he went all out again. This reduction was a result of the fatalitt Imola. Neither Ratzenberger nor Senna had been victims of excessive engine powerut the officials wanted to make a gesture nevertheless.

With a second title win in view, Schumacher went searching for a new challenge. In



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ugust 1995 he had decided to switch to Ferrari at the end of the season. Since Jodycheckter in 1979, Ferrari had not been able to produce any champions. Schumacheras set to change that. With three victories in 1996 he started an upwards trend for torld-famous Scuderia. However, this was not enough to threaten the renewed Williamominance. Damon Hill took the title just ahead of his teammate Jacques Villeneuve.

espite the fact that Ferrari's internal plan did not foresee World Championship victoryntil 1998, Michael Schumacher was already reaching for the stars in 1997: placed athe top of the intermediate rankings, the Ferrari driver travelled to the final in Jerez,pain. But at the deciding moment his nerves got the better of him, and Williams driveacques Villeneuve triumphed.

he 1998 season produced a turn-round at the top of the Formulane hierarchy. The Williams team,ho had set the tone since 1992,ere toppled from their throne.

either title-holder Jacqueslleneuve nor the holder of the

unner-up position, Heinz-Haraldrentzen, could win a single race.ne reason for the disappointing zero success rate: partner of many years, Renault, wo longer with them, and the "Mecachrome" engine installed as an alternative lackedower.

What caused a sensation before the season began were the new technical rules: the cidth was reduced from two metres to 180 centimetres. Parallel to that, larger cockpit

ere stipulated for safety reasons. Yet the most important new paragraph in F1 technstory related to the tyres.

n place of the conventional treadless slicks, what was known as rib tread tyres nowame into use. Four longitudinal grooves on the rear rubber tyre and three on the froneduced the surface contact with the tarmac. With this action the FIA officials declaredar on the dangerously high cornering speeds. From 1999 an additional front tyreroove was intended to further increase the severity of this paragraph. A fourthodification was submitted later, after four of the total of 16 World Championship rac

was no longer permissible to fit what are known as x-wings - two small additionalings on the side box bodies.

nly minor changes to the rules made it possible for the teams to concentrate on furthevelopment during the winter of 1999/2000. There was an innovation where fuel wasoncerned: from this season, Formula One is using an ultra clean fuel which compliesith a new EU directive. The maximum sulphur content has been significantly reducednd the proportion of aromatic additives lowered from 42% to 35%.



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ut 2000 was not to beemembered in the history of F1or technical changes, but ratheror the long awaited Ferrari Worldhampionship. For the first timence 1979, Michael schumachernd the Scuderia Ferrari clinchedoth titles - Schumacher securing

s third title with one race to go;nother F1 ghost was finally puto rest.

he third millenium and the sixthecade of Formula Oneechnological advancement areoking set to take a step forward in technology, and a step backward in time: driversds - high-tech electronics - which were banned from Formula One in 1994, are now

aking their way back to the sport. In the Computer and Internet age it was perhapsevitable. And while many may mourn the regression in the driver's role versus thear's, Formula One was always about excellence. Excellence of men, in the cockpit andhe factory.

will continue to be just that.




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