F1 season reviews & F1 interviews....
© P-H Cahier / F1-photo.com
The son of Mario Andretti made quick work of the junior ranks in America winning the Super Vee, Formula Atlantic and then graduating to Indy Car in 1984.
Michael Andretti finished second in 1986, 1987 and 1990 before winning the Indy Car title in 1991. These superb performances caught the eye of the F1 teams and with some encouragement from his father, Michael joined the F1 paddock in 1993 with McLaren. What a disaster it turned out to be!
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Mario Andretti was always set to be a racer. Born in 1940 the American didn’t retire until 1994 rendering him a driver with one of the fullest CV’s of all time.
Andretti started his racing career in sprint cars on the local dirt ovals where he was given the nickname “Super-Wop”. In 1964 he graduated to the Indy Car series where he delighted the fans with his skill taking the championship in 1965 and again in 1966. A third title followed in 1969 but by the time Andretti lifted title number three he had already achieved his goal with a drive for Lotus in Formula One, rocking the F1 world by placing the car on pole first time out at Watkins Glen.
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Born 1932 in New Zealand, Chris Amon did everything but win a race. Well, that’s not really true, he did win but not at a championship race. Reg Parnell offered Amon the chance of a drive in Formula One in 1963 but Amon’s career hit trouble after his death. Amon didn’t compete in 1965 and 1966 however all came good again in 1967 when Amon signed for Ferrari.
A third place in Monaco was the starter and a second at Brands Hatch the Ferrari highlight. For 1970 Amon moved to the fledging March team where he won an F1 race at Silverstone, but unfortunately the International Trophy as it was named was not a championship event. A further year with March saw Amon score two second places which elevated him to seventh overall.
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Born in Austria 1960, Roland Ratzenberger started racing in German Formula Ford. Roland knocked a couple of years from his true age to extend his career – a move that did him no harm as in 1983 he won both the Austrian and Central European Formula Ford championships.
Following a second place in 1985 at the Formula Ford festival at Brands Hatch Roland went on to win the British Formula Three championship a year later. Ratzenberger drove tongue firmly in cheek with non other than TV’s Roland Rat on the side of his car – a namesake which brought him to public attention.
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Philippe Alliot began his career with three years racing in the Formule Renault series where he won the title in 1978.
Moving to Formula Three Alliot found the going tougher and he spend a full three years in the series before moving up to Formula Two in 1983. Graduating to F1, Alliot had two unsuccessful years with the RAM team after which he graduated to Ligier for second half of the 1986 season. Three years at Larousse Lola was more successful as Philippe managed to score points on four occasions.
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Born in 1956, the calm, dignified and likeable Italian had a long and frustrating F1 career which finished in 1994 whereby he followed many of his ex-colleagues to Touring Car racing.
Alboreto was second in the 1979 Italian Formula Three series and won the European title the following year. A one off race for Tyrrell at San Marino was judged impressive enough to have Ken Tyrrell sign him up until the end of 1983. During the Tyrrell years Michele Alboreto won twice on American soil with the latter being the last win for a normally aspirated engine before the turbo era dominated.
Ferrari was the reward for 1984 to 1988 and Alboreto signalled his intention by winning his third race at Zolder. At the end of the season Alboreto finished fourth overall.
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Ayrton Senna Da Silva was born on the 21st March 1960 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He was the son of an affluent landowner, and this it was this wealth which allowed him to pursue his passion for motor racing from an early age. At the age of just four Senna was given his first kart by father Milton, the rest as they say is history.
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Pre-F1- 1976-1979
Nigel Mansell didn’t follow his dream of a racing career until the age of 23 due to opposition from his father. However, utilising money earned from his job as a special constable in Devon, Mansell paid to enter the Formula Ford series in 1976. This turned into a learning year but in 1977 Mansell was back again and dominated the series. However, things never go smoothly for Nigel and in the closing stages of the year he was involved in a nasty accident which broke his neck and led to doctors telling him he would never race again.
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Mika Hakkinen is said to be the only person Michael Schumacher has feared, and when watching the Finn drive it’s easy to see why. Unbelievably brave, stunningly quick and with car control that was the envy of the grid, it’s a wonder Mika Hakkinen didn’t win more than his two world championships.
Hakkinen took over from Keke Rosberg as Finland’s F1 star despite the occasional challenge from fellow Finn Mika Salo. After winning the 1990 British F3 championship Hakkinen got his F1 break with Lotus for 1991. Despite Lotus being close to its demise Hakkinen finished a very creditable eight in the championship in 1992 following six points finishes.
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Martin Brundle and Ayrton Senna were close rivals in the British Formula Three Championship in 1983 with Brundle being the eventual runner up before both progressed to Formula One the following year. However, despite the closeness in performance of the two drivers their careers were to take very different paths and while Senna reached the top of the drivers championship no less than three times, Brundle would be frustrated and hampered by his machinery. The top step of the podium would be close but ever elusive.
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