Sidepodcast

A First Flying Lap Around the Hockenheimring

After our successful implementation of the F1 Happy Place this week, the memories are flooding back. Here, new guest writer Jim Newman talks us through some time spent at a certain German track.

Credit: Jim Newman

Hockenheim; the site of Rubens Barrichello’s first win and Jim Clark’s last drive. Like many Formula 1 tracks, this one has had it's share of tears shed on the unforgiving tarmac, both in joy and in sadness. On this day in 2005, it was the former.

With the winter snow all melted away and the spring shakedowns completed, it seemed my turbo Nissan 200SX was finally ready for it’s first trip to Hockenheim. Having received a freshly rebuilt motor after I destroyed the last one somewhere between the first and second carousel’s on the Nordschleife, and the one before it while doing autobahn tuning pulls on the A62 (Vettel of ’09 had nothing on me in terms of blowing up motors), the car was running excellently and was in prime shape. I gathered my gear, hopped in my RS13 (the chassis code for my model of 200SX), fired it up and set off from my sleepy village of Miesau-Bruchmuhlbach.

Credit: Jim Newman

We (my roommate and I, we, I mean I don’t have multiple personalities and refer to myself as we) arrived at Hockenheimring early, before the gridding of any cars and decided to kill time while the bikes were still running the track. This site has it’s own race museum so we figured that it was a good a place as any to spend an hour or so. We also wanted to take some time and hang out to see if the weather would clear, as I’m no Senna and prefer dry tarmac.

The race museum, at first glance looked to be quite awesome, until you came up to their cars that were as wooden as George Washington’s teeth (little American humor there for you, we'll see how well this goes over, I mean, if you told me Winston Churchill jokes, I don’t think I’d get them). Some cars were more suitable for a campfire than they were for a Grand Prix.

Credit: Jim Newman

Not Kimi Räikkönen's McLaren.

Their attempts at mockups of cars that did not come from Ikea were also remotely funny.

Credit: Jim Newman

Argh, Hans, this looks nothing like a Ferrari!

Credit: Jim Newman

It's ok, just slap a Michael Schumacher decal on that Formula Ford.

Later on in the exhibit, they finally had some actual vehicles that were not posing as something they weren’t.

Credit: Jim Newman

With our tour of the museum over, we realized so was our wait. It was time to hit the track!

When we arrived in the pit parking lot, we were instantly the center of attention, not because my car was so awesome, but because it was hideously ugly. Performance was all I cared about so I routinely neglected to care about the appearance of my venerable RS13. I stuffed the car into an embankment at Spa several months before, so with the body work required to make it look somewhat presentable, also came a rattle-can paintjob. The car was white on a cloudy day but looked more like a cow (white with black spots) in the sun. Luckily for me, it was still semi-cloudy, so no one on the track had to worry about being hunted down by a turbo bovine beast.

Our cars arranged on the pit lane in grid fashion, we awaited for the pit light to turn green and release us for a parade lap to heat the tires. Weaving back and forth, I took this time to reflect on the memories I’d had of this course. I thought of the many motorsport heroes of mine that had braved the same corners I was about to tackle and felt honored. I thought of Senna, for whom a corner here was once named. I thought of Prost, who was involved with Peroni’s career ending crash here in 1982. I thought about - Well, I thought about how stupid I looked that I was getting overtaken by a Renault Megane because I was I busy day dreaming and didn’t notice that the installation lap was over…

Credit: Jim Newman

With my game face on, I set about tackling the track.

Full throttle to nordkurve, dash of brakes, throw the car in and pray it sticks.

Down to the first hairpin, stab the brakes, rev-match to second, crush the apex, come out of the pocket hot! Through parabolika, rag the motor for all it’s worth, speeds reaching 140mph.

Make sure you didn’t leave your manhood at home as you come to the second hairpin.

Toes firmly planted on the brake, ABS clicking like a hoard of locusts, reach your heel over to find the throttle to blip so you can nab second and shoot out of the corner.

Everything was running through my head, the same way I had envisioned it the previous evening and the many sleepless nights I spent building the car for this moment. My knuckles, scared and scabbed from turning spanners on my motor and suspension, gripped the wheel as my heart raced. It was only my first day on Hockenheim, my first flying lap even, and I was hooked. I’ve driven on many different tracks in many different countries, but this, by far, was and still is my favorite.

Credit: Jim Newman

Welcome back to the Formula 1 calendar, Hockenheimring!

Forgotten F1 Teams - Toleman Motorsport

• Length: 4:35 
• Size: 4.2 MB 
• File: forgotten11.mp3 
• Transcript: forgotten11.pdf 
• Torrent: forgotten11.torrent 

Hello and welcome to the fourth episode of Forgotten F1 Teams, a miniseries brought to you by Sidepodcast. We are delving into the history books to find out about those teams who are no longer in the sport, and trying to find out why. Today, we’re looking at Toleman.

Towards the end of the 1970s, businessman Ted Toleman began to get involved in motorsport, as well as a little bit of powerboat racing. He entered the Formula Ford 2000 series and was involved with the March team in British Formula Two. He hired Rory Byrne as a designer, but while Byrne worked his magic, he continued to purchase customer chassis.

At the end of 1980, Toleman announced his plans to enter F1 for the following season. Byrne had designed the TG181, they had a turbocharged Hart engine, and brought in drivers Brian Henton and Derek Warwick. It wasn’t really a great debut year. Their season didn’t start until the fourth round, and both drivers failed to qualify until Henton got through in Italy, the third race from the end. He finished tenth. Warwick qualified at the season closer at Ceasars Palace but retired from the race.

The new car wasn’t ready for the 1982 season, so the drivers – Teo Fabi replacing Henton – continued with upgraded 181s. They still managed to spend their time retiring from races, or not qualifying in the first place. The 183 was ready midway through the year and was only used twice, but did allow Warwick to score the fastest lap at the Dutch Grand Prix. He retired from that race, though.

Once again, the cars were updated for the next season, with Fabi replaced by Bruno Giacomelli. New sponsors were brought on board, including BP, and that saw an increase in budget. The results began to pick up with Warwick scoring points in the last four races of the season. Giacomelli also managed one points finish, and the team finished 9^th in the constructors championship.

For 1984, Warwick moved up to Renault, whilst Giacomelli was replaced by Johnny Cecotto. Warwick was replaced by the new and highly sought after Ayrton Senna. Although they both retired from the first race in Brazil, Senna was soon picking up points, and scored the teams highest finish at the Monaco Grand Prix. It was an incredibly wet race, so much so the running was stopped with only 31 laps completed, not even half distance. He finished second behind Prost in the McLaren, and many people wondered if he would have won had the race been completed.

At the British Grand Prix, Senna was again on the podium, scoring a third place. Cecotto, however, crashed heavily during qualifying and broke both his legs. His season and his F1 career was over. Toleman ran just one car for the next three events until they got to Italy.

By this time, Senna was being headhunted and had signed with Lotus without telling his team. Toleman was not impressed, and suspended Senna for the Italian Grand Prix. They brought in Stefan Johansson and Pierluigi Martini to race, with Stefan finishing fourth. Senna was back for the last two races, and he and Johansson finished the season together.

Ahead of the 1985 season, Toleman suddenly found themselves with tyre supply problems. Way back in their Formula Two days, they had upset Goodyear by switching to Pirelli for improved performance. In the midst of 1984, they did the same thing to Pirelli, preferring the Michelin rubber. Unfortunately for them, Michelin withdrew from F1 at the end of the year. The only reason Toleman managed to find a supply was because rival team Spirit had folded, allowing them to step in and take the Pirelli tyres.

The issues meant they missed the first few races, and although they had planned to have Johansson in their single entry, he moved on before they got going. Teo Fabi was brought back in and spent the first few races retiring. Midway through the year, Toleman did a deal with Benetton to become a major sponsor for the team. They immediately began to run a second car with Piercarlo Ghinzani behind the wheel, but the results did not improve. They scored no points that year, and suffered a heck of a lot of retirements.

At the end of 1985, Benetton bought out Toleman. They renamed the team Benetton Formula, and kept Fabi on for the next season. In 2000, the team was bought out by Renault, but that is another story.

That’s all for this episode of Forgotten F1 Teams. I hope you’re enjoying the series so far. Don’t forget you can leave suggestions, comments and feedback at sidepodcast.com or email me Christine@sidepodcast.com. I’ll see you tomorrow with our fifth Forgotten team.

Theme music: Bloc Party, I Still Remember.

F1 Safety - Defining Moments

• Length: 4:01 
• Size: 3.7 MB 
• File: safety7.mp3 
• Transcript: safety7.pdf 
• Torrent: safety7.torrent 

Hello and welcome to the last episode of this miniseries, F1 Safety, brought to you by Sidepodcast. We’ve covered all the small details that go into making a race weekend safe, so today we’re going to look at the bigger, more defining moments.

One of the most important moments in the history of F1 safety is the appointment of Professor Sid Watkins to the FIA. Watkins was a neurosurgery specialist and was based near the Watkins Glen circuit in the US. He moved to London and joined the RAC Racing Medical Panel and then he found the FIA.

Watkins became Formula 1’s on-track doctor. He travelled to the circuits, and campaigned for the medical facilities at each track to become better and better. When he started, it wasn’t unheard of for the medical centre to be a marquee tucked away in one corner of the grounds. Professor Watkins also expanded his campaigns to the local hospitals, ensuring that they could deal with any Formula 1 related emergencies, and he brought the MedEvac helicopters into the circuits.

In 1994, Formula 1 lost two drivers in one weekend, Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna. This provided the much-needed wake-up call that safety wasn’t something to be messed around with. The FIA created the Advisory Expert Safety Committee who came up with many initiatives, including commissioning the HANS device. Sid Watkins was the head of this group, and was instrumental in what they achieved. Watkins retired from his roles within the FIA in 2005 to be replaced by his deputy Dr Gary Hartstein.

It would be impossible to talk about safety in Formula 1 without mentioning Jackie Stewart. The former F1 driver suffered a huge accident in 1966, which left him trapped in the car, and when finally extricated, he had to wait for an ambulance to come from a local hospital and pick him up. Stewart began to campaign for better medical facilities, and whilst waiting for this to be picked up and implemented, hired a private doctor to turn up to races with him. Stewart’s legacy includes improved seat belts and helmets, crash barriers, run off areas and fire extinguishing equipment. Many people suggest that Stewart’s safety work is as great as, if not better than, his legacy as an F1 champion.

Stewart is one of the drivers to have participated in a Grand Prix on the full length Nurburgring. If ever there was an advert for an unsafe track, it was this circuit in Germany. Some exceedingly dangerous corners, less than adequate barriers and run off areas, plus the fact that it could take too long for emergency vehicles to reach some parts of the circuits, meant that a much reduced version of the track is run today. It isn’t unusual for some of the older circuits to be revised to meet current safety requirements. In some cases this can remove some of the much-loved elements and perhaps some of the charm of them, but the FIA need to put safety first.

The deaths of Senna and Ratzenberger took place over a tragic weekend but it is a testament to how much safety has improved that Senna was the last F1 driver to be killed during a race, well over a decade ago. More recently, in 2007, Robert Kubica had a jarring accident at the Canadian Grand Prix. His BMW tapped the rear of Jarno Trulli’s Toyota, which set off a chain reaction of events. The car hit a bump in the grass which made it airborne. It contacted the wall on one side of the track, spinning it off in the other direction. It rolled over, spun round, and hit the barrier on the other side of the track, narrowly missing passing cars as it went.

It was a violent and horrifying accident, but Kubica was fine. All that was left of the car was the safety cell but that had done its job. Kubica had to be removed from the car, and was taken to the medical centre, but escaped with a light concussion and a sprained ankle. He missed one race as a precautionary measure, but was back on fighting form to finish fourth in the next Grand Prix. An amazing moment that proved F1 safety really works.

That’s it for this episode and this miniseries. I hope you’ve enjoyed these seven shows, as we visited all the various elements of safety that Formula 1 employs. If you’ve got any comments or feedback about this series, please email me: Christine@sidepodcast.com. Thanks for listening.

Theme music: Headway, Safety.

Hamilton Joins the GPDA

This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.

In 2008, members of the GPDA were slightly critical of Lewis Hamilton's decision not to join the association. Although at the time, rumours of big arguments appeared to be overstated, it's fair to say there was some pressure on the McLaren driver to sign up.

However, Hamilton didn't feel like he had the experience under his belt to bring anything to the association, and he was in the midst of fighting for his first championship title.

Now that he has successfully achieved that goal (and perhaps because he is unlikely to be able to defend it this year) Hamilton has signed up to the GPDA for the 2009 season.

The Grand Prix Drivers' Assoication began in 1961, and is a union for the drivers to have their say. When it was first created, the GPDA's main goal was to improve safety standards. That is still the case, with the association often putting out a statement if rule changes or situations within F1 are worrying them. The GPDA has a long history, although it was disbanded in the 1980s, and reformed after Ayrton Senna's death in 1994.

A couple of years later, the association became an official company and has offices situated in Monaco. They have always maintained that membership is not a necessity for F1 drivers. However, the more drivers are involved, and the higher their profiles within the sport, the more effective they can be.

There's a small cost to join, and members can elect a President. Currently, McLaren reserve driver Pedro de la Rosa heads the group, and after talking with his teammate Lewis Hamilton, he has persuaded the defending champion to sign up. Hamilton says that this year he feels much more comfortable with the idea of being a member and believes he has plenty to contribute now that he is heading into his third year in the sport.

This makes perfect sense to me, that he would have a lot more to bring to the association now that he has more experience. However, I'm not sure there's any harm being part of the group, even if you are in your first year and don't add too much to proceedings.

Races to Remember - Europe 1993

• Length: 4:02 
• Size: 3.7 MB 
• File: races5.mp3 
• Transcript: races5.pdf 
• Torrent: races5.torrent 

Welcome to Races to Remember, a mini series brought to you by Sidepodcast. We’re travelling back in time to look at some of the best races, those that shouldn’t be forgotten. Already, we’ve gone back as far as 1967, and been as recent as 2003, but now we’re settling on 1993.

Donington Park played host to the European Grand Prix in April 1993. It was the third race on the calendar, with Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna both having won a grand prix each. Prost was ready to fight for his fourth championship, and in what was considered the best car on the grid – the Williams. Senna was in the McLaren, and the battle was on. Traction control was in full force, not yet banned, and actually was a big factor in the race that was about to unfold.

The weekend was wet, as a lot of British GPs seem to be, but qualifying had seen a brief respite in the weather. Prost qualified on pole, with Damon Hill in second, Senna and Schumacher lining up on the next row. The track was soaking on Sunday morning, although the rain had eased when the pack got going. Senna dropped back a place at the start, but whilst everyone else was treading carefully around the first few corners, he put his aggressive hat on and bolted past them. Using every corner, running two abreast where possible, and taking the inside line a few times, he made amazing progress. By the end of the first lap, he was in front, having passed Wendlinger, Hill, Schumacher and Prost to take the lead. He didn’t settle for that though, and Senna increased the gap gradually over the next few laps.

The weather conditions were constantly changing, and in the early stages of the race, the sun came out. Senna was flying up front, whilst Prost and Hill were battling for second place, until the first round of pit stops mixed things up. The front runners switched to slick tyres, and continued on their way. 20 laps in, though, as Senna was starting to confront the backmarkers, the rain returned.

Prost was one of the first to dive back into the pit lane for wet tyres, whilst Schumacher, Blundell and Senna fought their cars to remain on track. Despite the conditions, Ayrton still maintained his lead and when he finally took his pit stop to change tyres, he emerged in first. Prost was soon up in second place, but still over ten seconds behind his rival. As the rain eased and the track dried, Prost returned to the pit lane for slick tyres, and after a quick stop by the Williams team, and a slow one by McLaren, Senna found himself behind Prost. Meanwhile, Barrichello had quietly made his way into third place, at the wheel of the Jordan.

With things settling somewhat, it was about time to throw in some more rain, and once again, Prost was the first to jump into the pit lane and change tyres. The cautious actions from Prost over the course of the race were to be a key factor in the end, as Senna was more interested in pushing each set of tyres to their limit. He only changed when it was absolutely necessary, and on the 37th lap, whilst the others were hurrying to fit wets, Senna set the fastest lap of the race so far on slicks. In fact, he kept the same set long enough for the rain to disappear once more. Prost returned to the pits again, but this time it was not a smooth stop with the Williams stalling on the way out. When he rejoined the race, it wasn’t long before Senna lapped him – meaning there was only one car other than the Brazilian still left on the lead lap.

After a few more rain scares, Senna led Hill, whilst Prost slipped into third, having overtaken Barrichello. With just 10 laps to go, wet tyres were the name of the game, and Senna bolted into the pit lane. Prost pitted, which allowed Barrichello into third, and at that time, he was due to be the youngest podium finisher ever. However, his Jordan slowed and a fuel problem ended that dream. In the last few minutes of the race, Hill managed to unlap himself, but it made no dent on Senna’s lead. The Brazilian crossed the finish line in first place – 1 minute and 23 seconds ahead of the Briton. Prost was a further 35 seconds behind.

That sums up an incredibly eventful race in just a few short minutes. If you have any thoughts about this Grand Prix that you’d like to add, please visit sidepodcast.com to leave your comments. Don’t forget to join me again tomorrow for another Race to Remember.

Days that Shook the F1 World - Series 1 Omnibus

• Length: 27:42 
• Size: 25.4 MB 
• File: dayomnibus1.mp3 
• Transcript: dayomnibus1.pdf 
• Torrent: dayomnibus1.torrent 

Welcome to the omnibus edition of the Sidepodcast miniseries Days that Shook the F1 World. These seven shows were originally broadcast over consecutive days and are collected together here for easy listening.

Here are the links to the individual show notes:

1. US Grand Prix 2005
2. Death of Ayrton Senna
3. Team Orders, Austria 2002
4. Ground Effects Banned, 1982
5. Monaco Qualifying, 2006
6. Last Cosworth Races, 2006
7. Mosley Becomes President, 1991

This is just the first series of Days that Shook the F1 World, and another one will be on it's way in the future. If you have any suggestions for episodes of this miniseries, please let us know in the comments and we'll add them to the list.

Days that Shook the F1 World - Mosley Becomes President, 1991

• Length: 3:17 
• Size: 3.1 MB 
• File: day7.mp3 
• Transcript: day7.pdf 
• Torrent: day7.torrent 

Welcome to Sidepodcast’s series Days that Shook the F1 World. So far we’ve looked at the US Grand Prix in 2005, Ayrton Senna’s death in 1994 and more. Today we’re looking at a pivotal moment in Formula 1 history, and the date was 9th October 1991.

It’s fair to say that Max Mosley is not the most popular person in F1 at the moment, and his tenure at the top of the FIA may soon be drawing to a close. However, when he first got the job back in 1991, he was definitely the preferred option.

It was the events of the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix and the subsequent fallout that first promoted Max to stand against the then president of the FISA Jean-Marie Balestre. The FISA was the sporting part of the FIA, and they were suffering from a case of bad reputations. Already we have discussed the lacklustre attempt at banning ground effects, which ultimately led to more accidents and deaths.

In Japan, an accident between Senna and Prost caused the Brazillian to be excluded from the race, handing the ’89 World Championship to Prost. Further to that, an appeal by McLaren served to see Ayrton’s super-license suspended and he was given a fine for $100,000. Predictably Senna spoke out about the decision and his comments claimed championship manipulation by the FISA. This angered Balestre, so much so that Senna was called before the World Motorsport Council to explain himself. The courts decided to take away Senna’s superlicence altogether, and he wasn’t going to be allowed it back unless he apologised for his comments.

The following February, Senna was finally persuaded to make the apology and his licence was returned. Max Mosley started to solicit support to become the FIA President. Although this obviously had something to do with the incident with Senna, it may also have had origins in the history between Mosley and Balestre. A vicious war had been raging between the FISA and the FOCA.

The FOCA was headed up by Bernie Ecclestone with Max Mosley as his right hand man. They were working on the team’s behalf to increase revenue share and make sure that everyone had their say. The FISA was fighting against them.

Eventually, the war drew to a somewhat amicable resolution, with Balestre taking over as President of the FIA and continuing to make the rules for Formula 1, whilst Ecclestone took over the commercial rights for the sport and divied up the cash.

In 1991, Balestre’s FIA presidency was up for renewal, and Max Mosley stood against him. Mosley easily gained the presidency. For a while, teams were satisfied. Max was working with them instead of against them, rule changes began to happen and everything was hunky dory. Teams and drivers felt so comfortable that Senna was able to speak out against the former President without fear of losing his licence. He denied making any apologies about the manipulation claims.

Of course, the happiness couldn’t last, and you’ll find politics rearing up almost every day now. But it’s safe to say that at the time, Mosley was the best thing that could have happened to the sport.

That’s all for this episode of Days that Shook the F1 World, and all for this series. Please visit Sidepodcast.com to leave your comments about this and any of the other shows in the series. Thanks for listening.

Theme music: Dylan in the Movies, Better Days and Causeway, Change in My Lifetime.

Days that Shook the F1 World - Death of Ayrton Senna, 1994

• Length: 3:53 
• Size: 3.6 MB 
• File: day2.mp3 
• Transcript: day2.pdf 
• Torrent: day2.torrent 

Welcome to the second episode of Sidepodcast’s latest series – Days That Shook The F1 World. Yesterday we looked at the US Grand Prix in 2005, and today we’ll focus on another earth-shattering day in F1 History. This time it’s May 1st 1994.

Formula 1 is synonymous with the warning: “Motorsport is dangerous.”

And it is, although it used to be a lot worse.

Sir Jackie Stewart’s autobiography talks about a period in his racing career where he lost over 50 friends and colleagues in ten years. In the 50s and 60s, a serious crash in racing meant terrible injuries or death. And the trend continued until 1994 when the death of Ayrton Senna put F1 safety on the front page.

Senna was a legend, a hero, a proper champion. He didn’t always do things by the book, but he was one of life’s good guys. He took the usual route to F1, through karting and Formula 3, then dominated Formula 1 for the ten years he participated. With many wins and three championships already under his belt, Senna started the 1994 season badly. He’d recently made the switch to Williams but the Renault powered car was a bit of a handful and he retired for the first couple of races of the season. Arriving for the third race at Imola, Senna was hoping for some good luck.

On Friday, Rubens Barrichello was seriously injured and hospitalised, preventing him from completing the race weekend. Ayrton Senna was his mentor, and visiting his friend in hospital shook his confidence in the safety standards at the track quite considerably.

On Saturday, Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger was killed during a practice session. Senna began to question his involvement in the sport, but spent Sunday morning organising the recreation of the Driver’s Safety group and offering to take the lead role within the group.

Despite his misgivings, Senna’s racing blood took over and he started the race from pole position. A safety car slowed the cars down for 6 laps, after a start line accident, and then on the 7th lap, Senna went off track at almost 200 mph, and crashed into a concrete barrier. Although it was a high speed crash, it didn’t look like the devastating crashes the sport had previously seen. However, Senna was motionless in the cockpit, until medical attention arrived. He was airlifted to hospital but pronounced dead.

Several questions were raised about the incident itself, including why it took the medical staff so long to reach the car. Marshalls were on the scene instantly, but could only wave their yellow and red flags to stop the passing cars, they were not allowed to go near the car itself. It looked terrible, with many people standing around whilst Senna remained in the car.

There are also questions about why Senna wasn’t pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, rather than being airlifted away during resuscitation procedures. Italian rules declared a death at the track would result in an investigation and the sporting event to be cancelled.

Whilst questions remained, Senna was given a state funeral and the world mourned. Books have been written about him, songs reference him, and charity events take place in his name. His most important legacy though, is the improvement of safety in the sport.

There had been several attempts to tighten up safety procedures over the years, but with such an awful weekend as that fateful one in Imola, Max Mosley decided enough was enough and things had to change. New introductions included the HANS device, higher cockpit sides, sturdier chassis’, and that was just on the cars. Better tyre walls and gravel traps were also put in place. It’s no coincidence that there hasn’t been a death in Formula 1 racing since 1994.

Thank you for listening to Days That Shook the F1 World. Visit Sidepodcast.com to leave your comments, and don’t forget to join me tomorrow for our third important date.

That’s our first topic covered, a day that really did unsettle F1 to its very foundations. Join me again tomorrow for part two, featuring another day that shook the F1 World.

Theme music: Dylan in the Movies, Better Days and Causeway, Change in My Lifetime.

F1 People - Ayrton Senna

• Length: 3:52 
• Size: 3.6 MB 
• File: people7.mp3 
• Transcript: people7.pdf 
• Torrent: people7.torrent 

This is F1 People, the Sidepodcast series taking you behind the scenes of the lives of some of the important names in the sport. Our last show features Ayrton Senna.

Ayrton Senna da Silva was born on March 21st 1960 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He was a creative child at school, doing well in gymnastics, art and chemistry, but struggling with maths and English. His father was a wealthy landowner and businessman and started Senna off with a small kart at a young age. Senna excelled inside the kart, it brought him out of himself and really made him happy. When he turned 13 and was legally allowed to, he entered and won the South American Championship. He went on to be a runner up in the World Championships a couple of times. He adopted his mother’s maiden name Senna as a way to distinguish himself from the many da Silvas in Brazil.

In 1981, he entered the Formula Ford competition in Europe, and won it that year, and the next. In 1983, he moved to the British F3 championship, and won it. His natural ability meant four Formula 1 teams wanted him for a test – Williams, McLaren, Brabham and Toleman. He joined the latter in 1984. The Monaco Grand Prix of that debut year brought Senna the attention he deserved. He qualified a slow and difficult car in 13 th and on a wet day, he passed everyone except the leader before the race was stopped because of the weather.

Senna broke his contract with Toleman to join Lotus in 1985, and he achieved his first pole position at the opening round in Brazil. He retired from that race, but the rest of the season was more successful, with two wins, four other podium finishes and fourth place in the championship.

A few more years of success but no world championships, led Senna to McLaren in 1988, where he partnered with double-world champion Alain Prost. A fierce rivalry emerged between the pair, and after McLaren won 15 out of 16 races that year, Senna finally got his first world championship. Even when they were not team mates in following years, the battle continued. The championships yo-yoed between the pair, and the controversial incidents began to stack up. At one point Senna’s superlicence was suspended briefly for his conduct on track. However, he ended up with three world championships to his name, so it wasn’t all bad.

The early 90s saw a drop off in performance for McLaren, and although Senna still kept winning, his championship prospects were suffering and he started to look around for alternatives to his current team. His discontent led him to Williams in 1994. He had tried to join the team in 93, but they had Alain Prost who had a clause in his contract to keep his rival away from the team. When Senna joined in 94, Prost retired.

His early 1994 performance was good, and he took pole position at Imola – the third race of the season. He was rattled by other accidents and a death that weekend, but decided to race. On the 7 th lap, the car flew off track and hit a concrete wall. It took the medical team a long time to arrive at the scene, Senna was taken by helicopter to hospital and pronounced dead.

The Brazilian government declared three days of national mourning, and he was given a state funeral. It was discovered after his death that Senna had been donating millions of dollars of his own money to children’s charities – something he had kept secret while he was alive. The gentler side of him was only just beginning to emerge from the ruthless and talented, competitive driver that the world had seen. But no matter how many controversial incidents he was involved in, his popularity never wavered.

Ayrton Senna was the last driver to be killed during a Formula 1 race and his death continues to haunt the sport even after more than a decade.

That’s all for this episode, and this series of F1 People. Seven shows is not enough to do justice to everyone who deserves a biography, so look out for another series of F1 People in the future. Thanks for listening.

Theme music: Natives of the New Dawn, People.

History of F1 - 1990s

• Length: 4:12 
• Size: 3.9 MB 
• File: history6.mp3 
• Transcript: history6.pdf 
• Torrent: history6.torrent 

Welcome to Sidepodcast’s History of F1. So far, the development of the Formula 1 World Championships has been pretty much about the cars, with a few squabbles between drivers along the way. The 1990s saw some real star talent emerging, with personalities both loveable and not so much.

The 1990s were a year of change, innovation, tragedy and triumph. Team Williams introduced the first car, designed by Patrick Head, to have a semi-automatic gearbox and traction control, but reliability was still a major problem. Eventually, Williams managed to conquer their mechanical troubles, and added more computer-control to the car, leading to success in the next couple of years. Williams took the championship in '92 and '93, with Nigel Mansell and then Alain Prost, who had just returned from a season off.

Michael Schumacher joined the Formula 1 circuit in 1991, qualifying 7th on his debut for Team Jordan, although he didn’t get past the first lap. Just one race later, he defected to Benetton. With the major players of previous seasons now retired, Schumacher was the main rival for Ayrton Senna, but it was not going to be easy.

The points system changed in 1990 so that all Formula 1 races were included in the championship and a win would gain you 10 points rather than 9 points. The FIA also declared that the driver aids, such as traction control, were having a negative impact on the impression of F1. Where was the driver skill? So, the aids were banned, despite Formula 1 getting more and more exciting. With the rule changes having a huge impact on car specifications, it was always going to be a risky few years.

Ayrton Senna was in fine form in 1993, when he won the European GP at Donington Park, making up five places in the first lap, in the rain. But, the 1990's are not dominated by Ayrton Senna for his victories, but for his tragic death. The San Marino GP, 1994, saw too many accidents. First Roland Ratzenberger was killed - the first death for 12 years in the sport - and then Rubens Barrichello was hospitalised. Senna sat at Barrichello's bedside and decided to withdraw from qualifying. He did not want to race. But a racing driver lives to be out on the track, and Senna changed his mind. He took pole position and raced for seven laps, before his car missed the corner and struck the wall at more than 180mph. He was pulled from the wreckage, taken to hospital by helicopter, and later died from massive head injuries.

The accident shook the entire F1 community, but the racing did not stop. The FIA passed immediate rules to step up safety, including pit speed limits, and easier access to the cars. Damon Hill replaced Senna at Williams, but Michael Schumacher took his role as champion.

Nigel Mansell returned to McLaren after retiring and perhaps gaining a little weight. The car was redesigned so that he could fit, but it didn't make the impact they had hoped for. Jacques Villeneuve joined Williams, and hoped to continue the legacy of his father, Gilles. Schumacher transferred to Ferrari for the largest paycheck of the time and the team was rewarded with victory after victory.

Schumacher was not without controversy, being shown a black flag at Silverstone in 1994 for ignoring a penalty for overtaking on the parade lap. He also ignored the flag and gaining a two race ban. He was disqualified later in the season for an illegal car floor, but in all races he showed the twinkle of genius that would gain him many more driver titles.

The later seasons of the '90s were dominated by rivalries from a new David Coulthard, Villeneuve, Eddie Irvine and Mika Hakkinen. But really, it was all about Michael Schumacher, as he took win after win to lead him into the new century as one of the most successful drivers to ever race.

That’s all for this episode of Sidepodcast’s History of F1, and really that’s all of the history. The next and last episode will be about the first few years of the 21st century and what can be expected in the future.

Theme music: Friction Bailey, Hope in my History.