Formula One Features — August 1990

On Sunday at Hockenheim the Benetton team looked a very real threat for victory against the mighty McLaren and Ferrari. This increased competitiveness is due both to the new Ford Series IV V8 engine and to the fast-developing B190 chassis. Although Nelson Piquet retired, Sandro Nannini led the race for 16 of the 45 laps. Ultimately Senna took the lead, but Sandro finished second, matching the performance of Piquet at the Canadian GP.

People have the funniest ways of achieving success in sport: last summer the Olympics suffered the Seoul-destroying assault of the pill-poppers. A few days ago in Las Vegas Frank Bruno and Mike Tyson tried to out-hypnotise each other before belting each other's brains out. Sports psychologists, dietary specialists and chiropractors have quietly become an increasing part of sport. Motor racing has its own peculiarities. In NASCAR some drivers believe they are on a mission from God, while it could be argued that some Grand Prix drivers think they are God. The new Zakspeed Formula 1 driver Aguri Suzuki has his own theories about achieving success.

"It's not a well-known fact that I designed this car," said Chris Murphy, looking at the Larrousse Formula 1 team's Lola-Lamborghini. "It's a difficult situation. The team is very French, all the sponsors are French. Officially Gerard Ducarouge designed the car.