Features

Displaying stories 681 - 700 of 908 in total

News Feature - Countdown to a Grand Prix, July 1996

There are probably times when you are sitting in a grandstand at the British Grand Prix when you wonder what teams are up to on a Sunday. Why is nothing happening? Grand Prix timetables around the world are all carefully planned to the last minute. The global broadcasting of races means that satellites have to be booked to beam the pictures around the world and so everyone is trying to avoid delays.Full Story

News Feature - Michael Schumacher at Ferrari

At first glance it may seem that Michael Schumacher is trying to achieve what Alain Prost failed to do at Ferrari in 1990-1991. The challenge is the same: Ferrari has not won a Drivers' World Championship since Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve finished 1-2 in 1979. The last 17 years have been frustrating ones for the men at Maranello - although there are not many who have survived the political battles at Maranello.Full Story

Technical - Nigel Bennett

There are two approaches to winning the Indycar series: either design a chassis and sell it to as many teams as possible to maximise the chances of being part of the right combination of team, driver, engine and tyres for that year; or control every aspect of the combination by producing the chassis in house, developing a long term involvement with the engine and tyre suppliers, and picking your own drivers. Full Story

Interview - Olivier Panis

Every so often, Formula 1 throws up a big surprise. The 1996 Monaco Grand Prix will be remembered as just such a race. Full Story
Interview - The Flying Dutchman: Jos Verstappen

In the autumn of 1993 Jos Verstappen - veteran of just two years of single seater racing - sat in an Arrows for the first time at Full Story
News Feature - Honda's Formula 1 comeback

Just before Christmas 1995 a Honda official in Tokyo told a Dow Jones reporter that Honda would probably start "a discussion over getting back into F1 racing" in the course of 1996. Sure enough, at the San Marino Grand Prix, Yoshinobu Noguchi, project leader of the Honda Motor Sport Department, arrived in the F1 paddock. Noguchi is no stranger to Grand Prix racing having been integrally involved in the McLaren-Honda programme in the late 1980s.Full Story

Technical - Rory Byrne

Is it possible for someone, without the benefit of a formal mechanical engineering education, and without an extended, experience gathering pupilage under an established Formula 1 designer, to become the designer of World Championship winning Formula 1 cars? Full Story

News Feature - John Barnard and Ferrari

Ferrari is under pressure. Nearly three years after Jean Todt took over the sporting department at Maranello and four years after John Barnard established Ferrari Design & Development at Shalford the team is still not winning races. The F310 chassis is proving to be very difficult - with particular problems coming with the gearbox. Michael Schumacher is frustrated. So is Todt. The Italians love to find scapegoats and the gunsights are settling on Barnard.Full Story

News Feature - Tom Walkinshaw and Arrows

People in Formula 1 do not like to talk about deals until they are done - and even then they prefer that no-one knows the details. It is not a new phenomenon. Back in 1984 when Mansour Ojjeh became the majority shareholder of the McLaren the deals were done on the day after the final race of the 1984 season and yet were not made public until the 1985 effort was launched - six months later. Today media scrutiny in F1 is such that very little can remain a secret for long.Full Story

News Feature - Walkinshaw quits Ligier

Tom Walkinshaw has always wanted his own Formula 1 team. Last year he took over the running of Ligier. The French team was bought from Cyril de Rouvre at the start of 1994 by Flavio Briatore although Guy Ligier retained 15% of the company. Initially Briatore put in personnel from Walkinshaw's TWR company although in July - as relationships between the two men became strained - Briatore put Cesare Fiorio in charge. Nine months later the TWR men returned and Fiorio quietly disappeared again. The F1 world was confused.Full Story
News Feature - Is Jacques Villeneuve really a fast driver?

Being a fast Formula 1 driver these days takes more than just being able to drive quickly. One must be mentally strong, dedicated, intelligent, consistent and fit. One must always present the right image and one must be in the right place at the right time.Full Story
Financial - The future of Formula 1 television

In 1994 Formula 1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone said he was planning a revolution in the television coverage of Grand Prix racing. But what did he mean? Nobody knew. What could be done to spice up the TV show?Full Story
Interview - Frank Williams

In Melbourne the Rothmans Williams Renault drivers Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve dominated completely. They qualified 1-2 on the grid and finished 1-2 in the race. It was a remarkably impressive performance, particularly given the fact that during the winter months - as the new FW18 was being designed and built - the team actually moved factories. That success is a source of great pride to team boss Frank Williams - but how easy is it going to be to stay ahead of the opposition this year?Full Story
News Feature - Is Damon Hill a worthy champion?

Damon Hill winning the Formula 1 World Championship will lead to a whole new series of disputes among race fans. Was it just the car? How does he compare to the World Champions of the past? Do the statistics give a false impression?Full Story

Technical - Gordon Murray

The number of automotive designers who have designed successful Grand Prix cars, and been able to turn their hands and minds to the creation of vehicles for road use can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Full Story

Interview - Max Welti

Max Welti is tall and lean and has a habit of slicking back his black hair. In the black team clothing worn by the Red Bull Sauber Ford team he looks decidedly menacing - like Darth Vader from Star Wars and a strange Eastern European vampire. In fact, the 43-year-old Swiss is one of the more civilized people one can meet in the F1 paddock.Full Story
Technical - The future design trends in Formula 1

As the 1996 new cars arrive and we see that they all look very similar because of the laws of physics and the way the regulations are phrased, one is left to wonder the kind of cars which Formula 1 engineers might be building today if the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile allowed them more freedom.Full Story
Financial - The future shape of F1 teams

The recent announcement that the Ford Motor Company is to supply engines to the completely new Stewart Grand Prix team in 1997 was greeted with incredulity in Formula 1 circles.Full Story
News Feature - Formula 1 in the 21st century

In the year 2010 Formula 1 will be a very different spectacle to the sport we watch today. Technology moves on so fast that the sport will have to undergo some fundamental changes in order to survive.Full Story
Technical - The future of Formula 1 safety

Formula 1 cars are extraordinarily safe vehicles. Years of bitter experience and deaths have led the sport to produce cars which can hit walls at high speeds without the drivers being injured. So successful were the safety measures that between the death of Elio de Angelis in testing at Paul Ricard in May 1986 no-one died in an F1 car until eight years later.Full Story

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