Formula One Features — June 1991

Who is the most important person at a Grand Prix? Is it Bernie Ecclestone the paymaster? Is it a star in a car? Or the man with the chequebook at Marlboro? No. Some would say that it is the man from the EBU. The what?

Michael Kranefuss oversees all Ford motor sport programmes in the world - and has to report back to the top management of the Ford Motor Company. It can be a very stressful job. Kranefuss spends a great deal of his time involved in Ford's Formula 1 project - a programme which is sometimes hard to justify.

The Canadian Grand Prix was a spectacular event, with an exciting and totally unexpected result. The race had been dominated from the start by Nigel Mansell in his rapid Williams-Renault FW14. Halfway round the final lap, as Nigel was waving to crowds -- delighted with his seemingly unstoppable victory -- his car died beneath him, trickling to a halt less than a mile from the chequered flag. It was bitter luck for Mansell.