F1 Blog

Many years ago there there were only a few websites dedicated to F1 and more specifically to F1 video clips. I started my website back in 1995 with some odds and ends and featured a few clips from the 1994 F1 season. I never thought to include content written by anyone other than myself, the idea of a blog was many years away. Someone else did think about this and they had the idea to invite visitors to his web page to submit small articles on important races and include some audio and video content. He called these “special features” and after a few years he decided to shutdown his website at which time he contact me via e-mail and asked if I would give the special features a new home.

So on these pages I present those articles and I hope to convince even more people to contribute articles.

1967 Italian Grand Prix at Monza

(Posted February 11th, 2008 – written by Dan Belcher)
The 1967 Grand Prix of Italy is considered by many to be one of the best Formula One races in history. It was also Scotsman Jim Clark’s best drive of his life, according to many of those same people. The irony is that Clark didn’t even win the race!

1968 German Grand Prix at Nurburgring

(Posted February 12th, 2008 – written by Dino Besson)
The ‘Ring’, or the Nürburgring, well it is but it isn’t the same. Of all the circuits that have been on the Grand Prix calendar, this is the one every fan and every driver knows. The ‘Ring is situated in the Eiffel mountains in the west of Germany. It was nightmare for every, or should I say any driver in the first 30 years of Formula One with it’s 22 kilometers of fearsome asphalt lay twisted around 174 corners. The ‘Ring is “The ‘Ring” for all circuits all over the world – even Spa or Monza, not in present time but in those early days.

1971 Italian Grand Prix at Monza

(Posted February 12th, 2008 – written by Olli Sueminen)
Peter Gethin. This name doesn’t make us think of a great driver,in fact most of F1 fans don’t even know him. Still, his name is linked to one of the most exiting stories in F1 story. Gethin drove only 30 F1 races. He didn’t make his way to the pole a single time,and he didn’t do any fastest laps. During his career,he only collected 11 points! Still,he won one GP in his career.

1973 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort

(Posted February 28th 2007 – written by Scott Russell)
Motor Racing is dangerous. Always has been. Always will be. But, often, especially in the past, lives have been lost in accidents that could have so easily have been prevented. Clark, Bandini, Pryce, Peterson, Siffert and McLaren are a few to have been killed in preventable circumstances.

1978 Italian Grand Prix at Monza

(Posted February 12th 2008 – written by Jarno Schipper)
The Italian GP looked to be a GP like any other that season. During the 1978 season the Lotus team was invincible and at Monza, Mario Andretti could win his first World-title. The only theoretical threat came from his teammate Peterson. Theoretical because Peterson’s contract stated that he was the second driver behind Andretti. Like a gentlemen Peterson kept to his contract and during many races that season both Lotus 79 passed the S/F line like a tandem. But Monza was different. The high speeds at Monza and its challenging bends were made for Ronnie. Already three times Peterson won the Italian GP. Could he resist the temptation of winning it for a fourth time?

1979 French Grand Prix at Dijon

(Posted July 6th 2001- written by Farzad Bakhtiar)
A detailed multimedia look at the titanic battle for second place between Gilles Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux. The 1979 French Grand Prix marked the first win for the turbo charged Renaults but all eyes were on Arnoux and Villeneuve as they banged wheels at the Circuit Dijon.

1979 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort

(Posted February 28th 2007 – written by Justin Robinson)
For Ferrari and their 2 drivers Gilles Villeneuve and Jody Scheckter the 1979 Formula 1 championship had thus far, proven to be a successful one. Gilles and his 2 early season victories at Longbeach and Kyalami left him with 20 points after the first 4 races, and the championship lead. Unfortunately for him a mid-season lull left him with only 6 more points by the end of the 10th round.

1984 Grand Prix du Monaco

(Posted February 28th 2007 – written by Eduardo Parise)
The next race was at Monaco. He qualified 13th overall in the grid. And on Sunday the skies opened and the track was almost flooded, the rain pouring down. But as the lights switched to green, the little boy started to show who he was. Overtaking everyone ahead of him he was moving up on the leaderboard, driving sweetly past the puddles on the wet asphalt.

1985 Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril

(Posted December 4th 2002 – written by Jeppe Kusk)
The spring summer of Portugal was wet and rainy as the drivers woke up in Sunday morning. The rain was just big enough to make the track wet, and many drivers were really lost trying to choose between slicks and rain tyres.Everyone ended up with rain tyres for the warm-up and nobody thought it was very slippery. How wrong they were, and there was many close calls.

1986 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide

(Posted September 24th 2001 – written by Trevor Campbell)
The last race of the 1986 season was held in Adelaide and it was perhaps one of the most exciting season ending races ever with 3 drivers vying for the Drivers Championship. Nigel Mansell only needed to finish third to clinch the title but a blown tyre ended his dream.

1989 Hungarian Grand Prix in Budepest

(Posted April 7th 2001 – written by Dean Ianno)
The Saturday night of the 1989 Hungarian GP weekend, and Nigel Mansell was a frustrated man. After being held up in traffic during practice, the Englishman was down in an unusual 12th position on the grid, more than two seconds off the pace.

1989 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka

(Posted February 28th 2007 – written by Marek Michalak)
A dirty move Coming to the 15th round of the 1989 Formula One World championship in Suzuka, Japan. Alain Prost was leading the driver’s championship with 72 points. His teammate and title rival Ayrton Senna was 2nd in the rankings with 60 points. With a victory in Japan and in the last round of the season in Adelaide, Australia, Ayrton Senna could secure himself his second championship in Formula One.

1990 U.S. Grand Prix at Pheonix

(Posted July 21st 2001 – written by Leo Breevoort)
It was a sunny and hot afternoon, not only in the south of France but also in Holland. I remember, because my parents were in the backyard calling me over and over again to come enjoy the beautiful weather instead of watching “those silly cars go around in circles”. But I couldn’t, because I was glued to the TV-screen watching the French Grand Prix of 1989.

1991 Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona

(Posted July 21st 2001 – written by Themis Kafetzopoulos)
It was the Spanish GP in Barcelona, in 1991. I don’t recall Senna’s position. I don’t really recall anything from that race (pole sitter, winner, results…). I only recall the most brilliant F1 manoeuvre I have ever seen until now. What is more, Senna didn’t even manage to keep the car on the track…But keeping the car on the track was not the case. What he really did was, more or less, to keep the car…off the track!

1993 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos

(Posted December 3rd 2002 – written by Jeppe Kusk)
The second GP in 1993 was held at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo. After a fine victory at Kyalami and another pole position in Brazil, Alain Prost was looking good to take victory. Beside him on the front row was his teammate Damon Hill, who had spun off in the first corner in his Williams debut. Behind them were Ayrton Senna (McLaren-Ford) and Michael Schumacher (Benetton-Ford), who was Williams`s only threat. Behind them on the third row, were the other McLaren of Michael Andretti and the other Benetton of Ricardo Patrese.

1993 British Grand Prix at Silverstone

(Posted December 3rd 2002 – written by Frederik Rambout)
At the start of the Silverstone GP 1993, Senna managed to ease by Schumacher to take 3rd place. Damon Hill got by Alain Prost, who was passed by Senna too. So after the first corner we had Damon leading, Senna 2nd, Prost 3rd and Schumacher 4th. We all know Senna’s car was not the best at that time, and even in Silverstone the handling of his McLaren was not the best he had already that season. Still in the race the car’s handling was better than it had been in qualifying.

1993 European Grand Prix at Donington Park

(Posted December 3rd 2002 – written by ?)
It was a cold afternoon in Donington park, which was hosting its first Grand Prix after 55 years. The rain had dropped heavily before the race, making the track very wet. In these wet conditions we were about to see the finest display of skill in Formula 1 for the last two decades, if not the finest ever.

1993 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide

(Posted December 27th 2001 – written by Spencer Guest)
This was the last race of the season, the championship already won and over by the Legendary Alain Prost, this saw the last races by other GP Stars, Brit Derek Warwick, and goodbye to the Lola-Ferrari team, who showed much potential at the start of the season.

1993 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorpchamps

(Posted December 27th 2001 – written by Stefan Smet)
Spa, August 27 1993. Friday morning, free practice. talian driver Alessandro Zanardi lines up in another attempt to take Eau Rouge, the most demanding curve ever on a racetrack. He knows his poor Lotus-Ford will have a though job taking it smoothly, but anyway, he’s a professional racing car driver.

1994 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide

(Posted December 27th 2001 – written by Robert Mynott)
This race was the jewel in a truly tragic season’s crown. The deaths of Roland Ratzenburger and Ayrton Senna earlier in the year had cast a heavy shadow over formula one, the year dragged on with yet more controversy as Schumacher was banned for three races allowing Damon Hill, his English championship rival to close within striking distance of the world title.

1995 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide

(Posted July 21st 2002 – written by ?)
It was Friday morning in 10th of November 1995. F1 circus had stepped to its annual visit in Australia, and it would probably be a last GP weekend in the Adelaide track. As Michael Schumacher had already clinched his championship title everybody looked ahead for the next year. The year had been a good year with no bad accidents like the year before.

1995 Italian Grand Prix at Monza

(Posted July 21st 2002 – written by Christopher Kurz)
There are certain races in F1 history, which let people’s eyes light up by only mentioning the name of the race. A real F1 race should have: suspense, drama, action and a certain amount of craziness. There should be passing manoeuvres where the spectator is holding his breath; and pure racing where the crowd is rising from its seat.

1995 Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril

(Posted December 6th 2002 – written by ?)
It is the 24th of September 1995, Race Day at Estoril, Portugal. David Coulthard on Pole-Position, Hill second on 0.3 seconds and Schumi 3th on 0.7 seconds. Ukyo Katayama is 16th, right behind teammate Salo. Not very important you would say but in a few seconds it will be important.

1996 Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona

(Posted December 1st 2002 – written by Polat Cetin)
Some say a driver can get only as good as his car, so the question is Is it the driver or the car. This question became meaningless now when I remember the race in Spain 1996. Just give him a go-kart and Schumacher will deliver the result.

1997 German Grand Prix at Hockenheimring

(Posted December 7th 2002 – written by ?)
The 1997 championship was mainly dominated by Villeneuve and Schumacher. And Benetton? The team wich challenged Williams and Ferrari in earlier seasons? With the Oxfordshire based team it wasn’t going as they had hoped it would. The results were like a rollercoaster. One race there was a podium finish and the next race they struggled at positions between 7 and 15.

1998 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorpchamps

(Posted August 15th 2004 – written by Ashley Miller)
The year was 1998: Schumacher and Hakkinen were going head to head in what would be Mika Hakkinen’s first world title. The championship was at about the halfway stage: Belgium. The weekend had been wet, and qualifying was exciting. Hakkinen the eventual pole position winner, followed by Schumacher, David Coulthard and Jacques Villeneuve. Villeneuve had had a disasterous weekend. On Friday, he spun into the gravel at the end of the 300kph straight on the run from Eau Rouge. But on Saturday, despite qualifying 4th, he had a humungous incident in Eu Rouge. He went flat out, and lost the back end, crashing at nearly 250 kph. He was fine, and was able to continue.

1999 German Grand Prix at Nurburgring

(Posted August 15th 2004 – written by Danny Selby)
The 1999 Season was coming towards a climax, the championship being fought between McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen and Ferrari’s Eddie Irvine. I have to admit, before the race, I was thinking ‘Hmm, who will win this GP, Eddie or Mika’, as terrible as it is. Not once did it cross my head that my countryman Johnny Herbert would win it, not even in my wildest dreams.

1999 Grand Prix du Monaco

(Posted August 15th 2004 – written by Yuval Peled)
After setting the fastest time, with only several minutes left to the end of the session , Michael Schumacher lost his pole to Hakkinen’s McLaren in the dying seconds of the session. than, he was ready for a comeback.