F1 - GP (General Purpose)

Chode ^ | 8/5/2009 | Chode

[Paal Gulli]

McLaren is taking it on the chin for Norris’s engine failure and Zandvoort.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mclaren-says-norris-failure-was-its-fault-not-mercedes/

They claim the oil leak wasn’t Merc’s fault but the fault of their chassis, and the computer shut down the engine when it saw the indications of an oil leak.

Which reminds me of the Porsche 917. Instead of running oil lines from the mid-engine to the oil cooler in the nose, they ran the oil through the space frame’s tubing. Which not only saved a few ounces in weight, engine oil pressure then also served as a warning that the frame might have failed. Which would be a good thing to know, considering its top speed was 30 kph higher than anything that had ever been raced at LeMans* to that point.

*1969, 4.5 liters, normally aspirated, 520 bhp & 211 mph down the old 3.7-mile-long Mulsanne straight

[Paal Gulli]

As of the 2025 Dutch GP, Hambone has surpassed Ivan Capelli for the honor of second worst (least productive) driver in Scuderia history.

Capelli drove for the Scuderia the first 14 races of 1992, scoring 10 DNFs and coming no better than fifth in the four races he managed to finish, which makes for 14 starts for the Prancing Stallion without a podium finish. Then he was sacked and replaced by Nicola Larini for the final two races of the season.

The Scuderia today obviously is more inclined to suffer fools gladly because as of Sunday last, Hambone has had 15 starts for Ferrari without a single podium to show for it.

The article (link below) states that the honor of first place with most starts without a podium goes to Didier Pironi at 19. However, according to Wikipedia, Pironi podiumed on his 19th start for the Scuderia. If correct, that would mean Hambone will tie with Pironi for worst Ferrari driver ever at Singapore, and claim the title outright at the USGP.

https://racingnews365.com/lewis-hamilton-sets-painful-ferrari-record-after-dutch-gp-disaster

Pironi, I should add, was having a stellar season in 1982, and was on his way to a WDC title but he rear-ended Prost in the rain (then as now, ground effects makes for horrible visibility in the wet) at the German GP (Hockenheim) and crushed both legs. He already had claimed pole and was testing the new Goodyear ‘gatorback’ rain tires during untimed practice. So he missed out on the final four races but still came 2nd in WDC.

Pironi’s legs never recovered sufficiently to drive F1 again so he switched to offshore powerboating. He was killed in a racing incident off the Isle of Wight in 1987.

Which goes to show that much of the romance in racing comes from the danger, or at least the perception of danger. With today’s Nerf F1 cars and Nerf F1 circuits, there’s none of that.

Ernest Hemingway said, “There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.” Now you can move motor racing — F1, anyway — to the “merely a game” column.