Formula One Features

Bernie Ecclestone began talking about a revolution he was planning in Formula 1 as long ago as the start of 1994. At the British Grand Prix in July that revolution officially began with Ecclestone's FOCA Television crew - around 120 people - inhabiting a vast grey mobile TV "building" which appeared behind the paddock at Silverstone. Inside were multiple production facilities, editing areas, workshops and satellite equipment. The entire facility - nearly 20 truckloads of equipment - has since been dismantled and transported from race to race. It cost $45m to build and its annual transportation bills will be around $1m.

There has been much talk in recent days about Alain Prost establishing a "French national racing team". To the other F1 teams governmental help is, at best, a dream and yet in France government after government has poured money into motor racing. Why?

Everyone in Britain knows about BBC motor racing commentator Murray Walker and his famous gaffes. For 20 years Murray has kept television viewers around the world informed with his screeches and yelps of excitement. It is not just the British who enjoy it because the same commentary goes out to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and even Hong Kong. In fact, in Australia Murray is an even bigger celebrity than in Britain.

Before the Portuguese Grand Prix Damon Hill could not stop himself thinking that within an hour and 45 minutes he might become World Champion. He was starting the race from pole position and at Williams the driver who qualifies best gets first call on when to stop during the race. He had a strategic advantage.

To reach the summit of motor racing, the Formula 1 World Championship, is a bit like climbing Mount Everest.

No matter how one looks at it, Yamaha's Formula 1 involvement since 1989 has been a disaster - in terms of results. The first season was so bad that the West Zakspeed team qualified only twice in the 16 races. At the end of the year West withdrew, Zakspeed went out of business and Yamaha found itself out of F1 for the duration of the 1990 season. The engine programme was completely reorganized under new project leader Takaaki Kimura and a new V12 - the OX99 - was planned for 1991. A new alliance was formed with Brabham. Testing of a Brabham-Yamaha BT58Y - using OX88 engines - began in July 1990.

The big story in recent weeks have been the news that Tom Walkinshaw is buying a controlling interest in the Arrows Formula 1 team and has big plans for the future. But where does that leave Arrows boss Jackie Oliver and why has he sold his team? We spoke to Jackie about the deal with Walkinshaw and found it to be a very revealing interview. Arrows has never really enjoyed a good media profile: in part because the team never achieved the results which were expected of it; but also because Jackie O has never been very comfortable talking to the press... He will not discuss shareholdings or prices or specific plans for the future. He prefers to talk about the broader issues of the deal between Arrows and TWR.

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.

Adrian Newey designs the Williams F1 cars. He has been with the team since July 1990. His Williams-Renault FW14 design in 1991 set the team on a technical path which has so far netted 47 victories in the last six seasons - and brought three Constructors' and two Drivers' titles to Williams.

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.

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.

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.

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

Every so often, Formula 1 throws up a big surprise. The 1996 Monaco Grand Prix will be remembered as just such a race.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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?

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.

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.