Formula One - The best year ever? | Page 3 | FerrariChat

Formula One - The best year ever?

Discussion in 'F1' started by spirot, Apr 6, 2021.

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  1. furoni

    furoni F1 World Champ

    Jun 6, 2011
    13,609
    Vila Verde
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    Pedro Braga Soares
    Not a bad bet, but can't agree about the speed, in equal cars, i'm pretty sure no one could touch Gilles...and i would say the same ig he was in a .5sec slower car, problem was he was often driving 2sec a lap slower cars, and still he managed to win a few times!!!
     
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  2. furoni

    furoni F1 World Champ

    Jun 6, 2011
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    Pedro Braga Soares
    That story is so sad, and the saddest part is that i believe Didier really like Gilles, he had pictures of Gilles with him at his house, one of his son's got Gilles name, i'm pretty sure what happened at Imola was eating him up inside....it was just supid, and the biggest culprit was that idiot Piccinini, nobody likes the guy, even Brenda Vernor (Enzo's secretary for those who don't know) was talking bad of him...
     
  3. classic308

    classic308 F1 Veteran

    Jan 9, 2004
    6,793
    Westchester, NY
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    Paul
    Been following F1 since 1976 and that was a great year as were the 5-6 years after that with all the exciting development of turbo engines and Aeros. loved 2000 as it bought the championship back to SF. Some great years and the standout races to me were Long Beach 1977, France 1979 Germany 1982 and numerous others. Now everything is the same, far too regulated and way too much tech.
     
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  4. spirot

    spirot F1 World Champ

    Dec 12, 2005
    14,500
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    Tom Spiro
    We're just going to disagree. Senna was not God. I'm sorry that the truth hurts, but the fact is he was a gifted driver, but very flawed. those flaws have fallen away and what is left is this mythic man Senna the Driving god, but it's not accurate. I don't know if you ever met him or saw him in person... I have, and I've seen the human nice side of him Personally -and then the not nice side... personally. I've seen him in amazing races during his Lotus days and in lack luster races with Mclaren - all up close. I rate several drivers much better than him - one of which is Prost.
     
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  5. spirot

    spirot F1 World Champ

    Dec 12, 2005
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    Tom Spiro
    I'm a staunch Villeneuve fan, and when Pironi stole the victory at Imola - I think that ruined his hard-fought reputation. He was branded a liar and cheat, I think Piccinini got in his head, and they wanted Villeneuve to sign a contract and when he did not do that early they started to push Pironi as the future. So instead of staying close - Ferrari drive the drivers apart - and let Pironi win... and did not chastise him afterward. Clearly, that meant Villeneuve was going to leave.. .some suspect to Renault or McLaren... but we'll never know.
     
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  6. spirot

    spirot F1 World Champ

    Dec 12, 2005
    14,500
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    Tom Spiro
    I agree the cars are too much the same looking, but I think there is not enough tech. its all too stringent.... so everyone comes up with a similar solution. you try to copy the Mercedes. there is no room for innovation. that is what is killing F1. there is no new groundbreaking technology being used... or developed. it all comes now from road cars and has to "fit"into the rules... or they don't even look at it. in the 70's and 80's you could try virtually anything you liked with in reason.... atmo & Turbo, ground effects, active suspension, etc... that is what we need today. I maintain if you can develop technology in racing - it pays for its self when it migrates to road cars...
     
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  7. william

    william Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Jun 3, 2006
    25,447

    The FIA imposes too many parameters in the design.
     
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  8. TonyL

    TonyL F1 Rookie

    Sep 27, 2007
    3,811
    Norfolk - UK
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    Tony
    The 1990's with the glorious NA V12's. I defy anyone not to feel the hairs on the back of your neck to stand up and pay attention. Mansell in the 641 on full chat at Spa was mind blowing!

    Even though the SF team didnt win everything in this period unlike the Brawn / todt / Schumacher years, it was the most exciting racing and every start of a new season I couldnt wait to see the new developments each team could dream up.

    Today's F! is stale and boring and left to a Max v Lewis scrap to entertain us.
     
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  9. jtremlett

    jtremlett F1 Rookie

    Feb 18, 2004
    4,696
    1979 for me. Peter Windsor's "Memorable moments" in the 1979 Autocourse annual sums up the season - and it is a pretty long list.

    1986, even though Ferrari were nowhere, was a great season. The height of the turbo era. Certainly the most memorable title decider too (memorable for on-track drama that is, rather than controversy).

    Although I have read about Grand Prix racing from before I ever saw a race, it is hard to judge races and seasons you didn't see at the time. I would have loved to have seen the Mercedes-Benz and Auto Unions racing in the 1930s although I suspect much of the drama was in the cars rather than the actual racing (and it was fantastic to see a number of them together at the Goodwood Revival a few years ago). Perhaps something similar is true of chunks of the 1960s when Jim Clark used to disappear into the distance, although I am biased in favour of 1956, 1967 and 1973 thanks to excellent films of those seasons.
     
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  10. spirot

    spirot F1 World Champ

    Dec 12, 2005
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    Tom Spiro
    Yes I agree, the 642 at Monza or at Le Castlet was great...only at the tracks where they wound them all the way up could you tell a V-12 from V-10. The Honda and Renault V-10's sounded good too, but the V-12's had that extra high Trumpet sound ... you could not get closer than 100Ft to the track without ear protection.
    Even at Monaco, where they did not really wind them up, in the morning, you could hear the noise on the other side of the "rock".
     
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  11. spirot

    spirot F1 World Champ

    Dec 12, 2005
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    Tom Spiro
    This is where the internet is truly a wonderful thing. you can see so much footage that was previously unavailable. Jim Clark at Spa - amazing. the incar of him at Snetterton ( I think ) is outstanding. so smooth, and percise.
     
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  12. jtremlett

    jtremlett F1 Rookie

    Feb 18, 2004
    4,696
    I watched the 1995 Monaco Grand Prix from a wonderful little grandstand halfway up the hill between St Devote and the Casino. Just before the race two very nice young ladies sitting next to me very kindly offered me a spare pair of earplugs they had. I politely declined because I loved the noise. Well, at the end of the race I was completely deaf and didn't get my hearing fully back until the following morning! Not the most sensible thing I have ever done...

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    Very true. If you are referring to the video I have seen, I think it was Oulton Park. Certainly much too undulating for Snetterton which, as an ex-airfield, is flat.
     
  13. jpalmito

    jpalmito F1 Veteran

    Jun 5, 2009
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    mathieu Jeantet
    Remember the 2007 Gp.
    I had my eardrums vibrating for three days!
     
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  14. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    Feb 11, 2008
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    Vegas baby
    I liked the years when engines would blow up every week in a shower of flames and sparks, usually creating upsets in who finished where.

    We might was well put in electric motors in the cars now. You can't hear them, they never self destruct, and the person who wins pole 90% of the time goes on to win the race.

    BORING.
     
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  15. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    Feb 11, 2008
    98,534
    Vegas baby
    My first Monaco GP was in 1984. We took the train from Cannes. We were walking to the track during practice. What I remember most was this incredible BANG sound when they lifted off the gas. It seemed impossible something so small could make such a noise and not destroy itself.

    F1 Racing then was built on the idea entertainment. Today its more political correctness.
     
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  16. ingegnere

    ingegnere F1 Veteran
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    Sep 12, 2004
    5,222
    Montreal
    Didn’t really care much about the outcome of that championship frankly but at least that was a case case of side by side racing—at least as far as Hill was concerned. Unlike the cowardly move by Senna to simply spear the back of Prost—using his car as a missile basically—and causing an accident at the start of a race in front of 24 other fully fuel-laden cars. Chicken- - - -, psycho move. Nothing less.
     
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  17. Bas

    Bas Four Time F1 World Champ

    Mar 24, 2008
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    Premeditated at that by Senna (1990)!
     
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  18. ingegnere

    ingegnere F1 Veteran
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    Sep 12, 2004
    5,222
    Montreal
    ^^This!
     
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  19. ingegnere

    ingegnere F1 Veteran
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    Sep 12, 2004
    5,222
    Montreal
    1983.

    Driver title decided at the last race.

    Ferrari won constructors championship, second on the trot.

    Good variety of cars too, including this:

    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
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  20. jpalmito

    jpalmito F1 Veteran

    Jun 5, 2009
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    mathieu Jeantet
    A fully legal car ?;)
     
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  21. Isobel

    Isobel F1 World Champ

    Jun 30, 2007
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    On a Wave's Chicane
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    Is, Izzy for Australians
    Reminded me of point #11 for 1981 ;).

    5 drivers in the hunt w/4 manufacturers before Montreal (2nd to last race at the time). Plenty of nice cold air for the engine towards the end of the season...;).
     
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  22. 375+

    375+ F1 World Champ
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    Dec 28, 2005
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    #72 375+, Apr 10, 2021
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2021
    I was suffering from Post Watkins Glen Depression in 81-82, my clothes were still drying from the last F1 race.
     
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  23. Natkingcolebasket69

    Natkingcolebasket69 F1 World Champ

    #73 Natkingcolebasket69, Apr 10, 2021
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2021
    Disagree on what? I’m saying it was a mechanical accident and U are totally changing the topic? Where have I said he was god or anything? My favorite driver of all time? Yes , fastest over a lap I ever seen? Yes, nice guy? Complicated at the very least.God? No- of course he made plenty of mistakes.
    Do not, please, say things for me I haven’t.

    So ur response is totally inaccurate and not on point to anything I have said . #1
    We can of course disagree on who you think is better etc. No one will ever know anyways. The only undisputed GOAT of ANY sports is Michael Jeffrey Jordan. End of the story.

    #2 If you dare saying that his accident wasn’t a mechanical fault then im sorry u don’t know as much as you think... I’m truly hoping u think it’s an accident otherwise just pure ignorance


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  24. Marty D

    Marty D Rookie

    Sep 11, 2006
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    Los Angeles, CA
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    Marty Davis
    Seeing as this is a Ferrari-oriented board, we gotta mention 1956 and Peter Collins, who surrendered a (near) certain World Driver's Championship to teammate Fangio. And this was not the result of Ferrari pit-lane politics (for once). Collins willingly handed his car over to the great Argentine mid-race. His mind-boggling generosity should be remembered as the definitive act of sportsmanship. Shows how much he respected Fangio. And those Lancia-Ferraris were very cool cars!

    Spare a thought for poor Luigi Musso--when Fangio's car broke, he was the first Ferrari driver asked to give up his car so Fangio could win the title, but he refused (hard to blame him when he had a chance to win his home Grand Prix...).

    And a thought for Jean Behra, (and in other years, Stirling Moss), who was out of the running for the title before the final race even started because of the silly way points had to be discarded over a season (still can't believe this practice persisted until well into the Prost-Senna era).

    1958 was an interesting year, too, with Hawthorne's one-win title while driving those sharp-looking Ferraris (the original 246 Dino!).

    I'm still blown away whenever I watch the (scant, precious) footage of the racing from this era; the way the drivers could pilot such incredibly raw, dangerous machines is jaw-dropping. Heaving those massive wooden steering wheels, it looks like a cross between hand-to-hand combat and ballet. The way they could make those cars dance and glide.... Even tho' the field in those years tended to be far less competitive, it's hard to beat the romance of the front-engined cars. They'll always be the most spectacular--and definitely the most "heroic"!
     
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  25. jpalmito

    jpalmito F1 Veteran

    Jun 5, 2009
    7,281
    Le caylar (France)
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    mathieu Jeantet
    1998 was also a great year with a Ferrari really inferior to the McLaren Mercedes. Nevertheless Schumacher managed to maintain the suspense until Japan which is a real feat. His victory in Hungary that year is perhaps his greatest victory.
     

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