I've been following Formula One since the early 60's.
Having a father and grandfather who spent May at the Indy 500 I grew up on racing. Indy Car , Formula One were my main interest as a kid.
Growing up as seeing great drivers, Mario Andretti, A.J Foyt, Jimmy Clark, Dan Gurney, Bruce McLaren (McLaren was killed at Goodwood in a testing accident) was awesome. Given the equipment of the day. These cars driving around in were lightweight rolling bombs. These guys had great car control. If you crashed in these cars the outcome was never good.
Jim Clarks death in 1968 at at Hockenhiem was a sad day that resides in my mind to this day. The wreckage stewn around, car broken in half. Jim Clark was the master and the best driver in F1 at the time and on this day a tire puncture silenced his ability to overcome the moment.
Below, Three time world champion Jack Brabham flys (literally) You won't see this kind of skill today, unless of course you watch Rally.
Throughout the years other great drivers would step forward, Ronnie Peterson (A master of car control) Sadly Ronnie died at Zolder in what was a very sad set of circumstances. Click the link above for the story on Ronnies career and sad demise.
Aryton Senna (possibly the best F1 driver ever), his qualifing lap at Monaco was something like a full two seconds faster than second place. His run on slicks at Donnington in pouring ran to win over Prost was another show of his car control and skill. Sadly Aryton was killed at Imola in 1994. Nigel Mansell (few could harness and exhibit the absolute bravery Mansell did in the Williams FW14), Gilles Villenuve (Incredible car control and quick to the very end). Gilles was another to die, killed in a horrific accident at at Zolder in 1982.
If I had to choose the best all around racers in the world I would have to choose (in no particular order). Mario Andretti, A.J Foyt , Parnelli Jones and Dan Gurney.
These guys have combined to win in Sprint cars, Indy cars, Nascar, Formula 5000, Formula One, Can Am, Trans AM. The Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, Le Mans and the Formula One World Championship. These guys drove anything, and raced anywhere, in any series.
Mario used to fly back and forth between Monaco and Indy during the month of May so he could qualify and race in both races. He also ran the Little 500 (sprint car race) which ran the night before the Indy 500. With all of the corporate money involved today you won't see drivers today doing that anymore!
Dan Gurney is the only American to win an F1 race in a car that he designed and built. He also won Le Man in 1968 with A.J Foyt in the Ford GT 40.
Parnelli raced and won the Indy 500 in 1963, Baja multiple times, the Trans Am series as well as building a few winning Indy 500 cars for others like Al Unser Sr to drive.
Motorsports in any form is a balancing act of riding and controlling the edge and some go on to greatness while others never do or die trying. Pictured below, Aryton Senna in the awesome McLaren MP4.
I have attended many of the Detroit GP and Indy Car, Trans AM, Can Am races as well as those held on Belle Island, Indianapolis and a few Nascar events (although Nascrap is not my favorite by any stretch of the imagination) along the way at MIS and Daytona and a lot of smallerdirt tracks tracks throughout Ohio, Indiana and Michigan and Canada.
My best recollection at Indy was in 1966 meeting one of my boyhood heros, Sir Jack Brabham formula car builder (the only one to win an F1 championship in a car of his own design) who was a three time F1 World Champion.
In 1970 I recall hearing the news that Jochen Rindt had died at Monza and most likely would (and did) become the first and only posthumous F1 World Champion. Another sad death in F1.
So many awesome drivers were killed during the 60's and 70's. It was an era of fragile cars racing on very dangerous tracks with little to no run off and armco barriers. The original Nurburgring which featured 172 corners - 84 right-handers and 88 left and ran 14.2 miles in length had to be one of the most dangerous of the era. The track was notorious for rain and fog on one end and being sunny on the other. Nikki Lauda ran the fastest lap ever at 6m 58.6s in 1975. Lauda also suffered near death injuries on this same track. The Nurburgring was without pier for danger. The tree lined track invited death and more than one driver paid the price before the 14.2 mile coure was dropped in favor of the now regulation 2.2 mile track.
Todays F1 tracks are so purpose built and the cars are so structurally sound that the drivers of todays era can not possibly feel the same fears and dangers those of past era's knew all to well. The sheer number of great drivers killed in the past tells me that the current changes as boring as the new tracks and cars are have made F1 racing a much safer job for todays driver.
Of all of the F1 cars I have seen through the years. Three cars stand out. The the 1978 Lotus 79, the Mclaren MP4 (see above) and the Williams FW14 which is probably the most sophisticated F1 car ever created and required a driver with cast iron balls. That driver was Nigel Mansell who was able to maximize this car winning the World Championship in 1992 before coming to the US and kicking everyones ass in Indy car.
One other car stands out to me a great deal and that is the Lotus 79 that Mario Andretti drove to the 1978 Formula World Championship. The use of tunnels and slidding skirts allowed Lotus owner and designer Colin Chapman to suck the car tothe ground which created incredible corner speeds. Looking back on the Lotus 56 turbine car ( I was at Indy in 67 & 68 when the turbines ran) and all of the other great cars that Colin Chapman designed and won championships with, it's a shame that the Lotus name no longer resides in Formula One.
Although I still watch Formula One, it has lost it's luster in the past few years. The cars no longer require the driver input they once did. With all of the electronic aids it's more of a pushbutton deal than ever before. The quality of the tracks, the run off, the safety of the cars allows todays driver to take risks that simply do not see them looking at the grim reality of death as F1 drivers of the past did.
That does not discount the fact that todays driver requires a very high attention level, a ton of faith, courage and the skill and knowledge of these systems to go fast and Kimi Raikkonen and Fernado Alonso are certainly the men to drive these cars on the limit.
Of course throught the years I have attended other race series, Trans Am, Can Am, Nascar, Sprint Cars, Indy Car, Cart, IMSA and I still enjoy Le Mans.
The ALMS sports car series has been awesome so far this year and in the past the English and Austrailian touring car series were the best actual race series in the world in my opinion. Itwas real door to door racing! Speed channel carried this series for a while and then dropped it in favor of more Nascrap.
Oh I did mention Nascar. Finally this week it was announced that their ratings were down. DUH. Not to discount the drivers or teams or the series but they have gone to the point off serious over saturation and the only thing that gets me to watch a Nascrap race today is Juan Montoya or if the race is held on a road course.
There are so many drivers during the 60's, 70' and 80's that died that I have not mentioned in all forms of motorsport. I just want to say Godspeed to each of them as they all helped to form my love for racing (especially Formula One of the era) and though there is a great sadness in their deaths, there are many memories of their skill behind the wheel of a race car. Check out the The Motorsport Memorial for those drivers no longer with us.
