Formula One Features — September 1995

If there is a single person who deserves the title of Senior Engineer in Grand Prix racing during the 1980's and 90's, it is Patrick Head.

The promoter of the proposed United States Grand Prix in Las Vegas says that all spectators will be admitted to the circuit free of charge - if they are staying in a hotel in the city.

When motor racing people talk of the Nurburgring they do not mean the much-criticized modern circuit, with its constant radius corners and enormous run-off areas, which can be found in the tree-covered Eifel Mountains, 30 miles to the west of the pretty Rhineland town of Koblenz.

The change in the Formula 1 engine regulations at the end of last year from 3.5-litre to 3-litre was a dramatic change, the first since the banning of turbocharged engines at the end of 1988. It was introduced because the FIA wanted the cars to be slowed down on the grounds of safety. For most of the engine manufacturers there was no time to build completely new engines and, in the interests of cost and speed, they simply converted the 3.5 engines to 3-litre spec.

When Michael Schumacher wins a Grand Prix he and Benetton boss Flavio Briatore make a great display of hugging one another for the television cameras. They are happy to win, no doubt, but when Johnny Herbert won the Italian Grand Prix for Benetton at Monza, the English driver was greeted with only a smile from Briatore. Up in the F1 press room, however, there were cheers when Herbert crossed the finishing line.

It is six years since we first heard vague rumours that Alain Prost wanted to run his own Formula 1 team. In mid-1989, when he had fallen out with Ayrton Senna and was on the verge of leaving McLaren, he and engineer John Barnard came very close to doing a deal for Renault engines. The problem on that occasion was that the world was going into a recession and they could not find any sponsorship. Alain went to Ferrari instead. Two years later he was fired by Ferrari and found himself without a drive for 1992. Once again he began to look at doing his own team and had long negotiations with Guy Ligier about taking the French team. It failed and Alain joined Williams for 1993.

Racing magazines often get letters from fans wanting to know how to become a Formula 1 reporter. There is not an easy answer but if you ask around the pressroom you get all kind of answers. Some go through journalism schools and working on local papers, but most have more unorthodox routes. We asked around the press room.