[Race] The GROAT - Round 1 - 2020 Sakhir vs 1981 Jarama vs 1991 Spa-Francorchamps

[crmalcolm]

The first match is now ready to kick off.

A 3-way to get things underway. 2020 Sakhir vs 1981 Jarama vs 1991 Spa-Francorchamps.

2020 Sakhir [BBC]
'Racing Point's Sergio Perez took his first Formula 1 victory in the Sakhir Grand Prix as Mercedes fumbled what should have been a debut win for George Russell.

The 22-year-old Briton, standing in for Lewis Hamilton after the world champion contracted coronavirus, was on his way to an accomplished victory before a late-race safety car.

Mercedes did not have to pit their cars, but chose to do so in what was intended to be a safety decision.

But they put the wrong tyres on Russell's car and in the confusion could not find the right tyres for his team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who had to have his old tyres fitted back on to his car.

Russell had to stop again the next time around to fit a correct set, and the Mercedes were now down in fourth and fifth places, Bottas ahead.

Russell could still have won the race, but a puncture when he was trying to chase down Perez sent him to the back. He carved his way back up to ninth for his first F1 points, but that will be scant reward after such drama.

It was a remarkable drive by Perez, who had to pit at the end of the first lap after being hit by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc at Turn Four.

But the Mexican, who does not yet have a seat next season, drove a superb race, carving up through the field and was set for a brilliant third place before Mercedes hit trouble.

Renault's Esteban Ocon took second for his first F1 podium finish, with Lance Stroll joining Racing Point team-mate Perez on the podium.'


1981 Jarama [https://f1.fandom.com/]
'Jacques Laffite made a terrible start from pole position, his Ligier was bogged down and he was down to twelfth by the end of the first corner. Alan Jones made a traditional strong start to take the lead ahead of teammate Reutemann whilst Gilles Villeneuve was in third from seventh on the grid. Villeneuve in the process had barged past Alain Prost, damaging the Renault driver's front wing and forcing Prost into the pits at the end of the first lap. Villeneuve then continued his charge catching Reutemann napping and performing a wild move around the outside of the Williams driver to take second place.

Villeneuve was not expected to sustain his pace, his Michelin tyres had suffered significantly more wear than his Goodyear clad rivals around him. Alan Jones began to pull out a drastic lead leaving his rivals behind to battle with Villeneuve in second place.

Jones had the race in hand, his main championship rivals were suffering. Reutemann was stuck behind Villeneuve whilst Nelson Piquet was struggling in seventh position. But then inexplicably, on lap 14 Jones spun off the circuit. By the time his Williams had rejoined the race he was now well out of the points, throwing away a potential win.

Despite his poor start, Jacques Laffite continued to demonstrate his Ligier's competitiveness at Jarama. He quickly moved up to seventh passing Riccardo Patrese, Bruno Giacomelli and Didier Pironi. He was then promoted a further two places when the battling duo of Nelson Piquet and Mario Andretti collided. Piquet was out of the race whilst a disgruntled Andretti returned to the pits for repairs. The accident wasting a rare chance of points for Alfa Romeo and Andretti who had largely been uncompetitive in 1981.

Villeneuve by the mid-point race surprisingly still led the race, however Reutemann behind him was hampered by gear shift problems and failed to be able to demonstrate the Williams's true potential. Laffite continued to lap the quickest on the track and soon moved past both Watson's McLaren and Reutemann's Williams and was now the one harrowing Villeneuve's Ferrari. Villeneuve was clearly not quick, his struggling Ferrari had began to hold up all four drivers behind him and soon enough even Elio de Angelis's Lotus had joined the queue of cars behind Villeneuve. Villeneuve had some solace on the straights as his tubo charged Ferrari was quicker than the Ford-Cosworth powered cars behind him. Nonetheless, most of the Jarama circuit was made up of slow corners and Laffite and the others were constantly hounding his tail.

Reutemann's gear shift problems continued to plague him and he dropped behind Watson's McLaren, however he remained very much in the fight as the top five continued to remain within a second of Villeneuve. Much to everyone's surprise Villeneuve managed to hold off the five cars behind him taking the race victory, the top five finishing just 1.24 seconds apart, the race notably being the closest ever finish in the history of the sport. Taking a distant sixth in the race was the second Lotus of Nigel Mansell who finished some way ahead of Alan Jones, who had clawed his way back to seventh but nonetheless out of the points.'


1991 Spa-Francorchamps [Wikipedia]
'At the start both Senna and Prost got away well and the Brazilian led into the first corner. Mansell was third followed by Berger, Piquet, and Schumacher. The German's luck however would run dry just after Eau Rouge when his clutch failed. Out at the front Senna continued to lead but Prost's day ended on lap three when his Ferrari caught on fire, leaving Mansell in second. The determined Englishman proceeded to go after Senna and the two battled lap after lap until Senna pitted for new tyres on lap 15. The stop was a bad one and when Mansell pitted two laps later he was able to emerge ahead of Senna, but just behind Berger who had yet to stop. These stops left Piquet in the lead for one lap before he made his stop.

Mansell quickly closed in on Berger and managed to sweep past into Les Fagnes. When Berger stopped a lap later he had problems and then spun on the pit exit and came back right in front of Modena, nearly causing a bad accident. Mansell's big lead would not last, however as on lap 22 his car stopped, having succumbed to electronic problems, his championship hopes taking a major hit.

Mansell's misery was Alesi's jubilation as the young Frenchman took the lead with Senna closing. Senna continued to close until he had a small problem and lost ten seconds, putting him into the clutches of Piquet's Benetton. The Piquet-Senna battle was soon joined by Patrese and de Cesaris, who had been battling over fourth. Senna led the quartet, but could not pull away because he was suffering from gearbox problems. Alesi had planned to do the entire race without stopping and his strategy was looking very good until lap 30 when his engine expired. This left Senna ahead of Piquet, de Cesaris, and Patrese, who had gone off the track trying to pass Piquet.

On Lap 31 de Cesaris managed to out brake Piquet into Les Combes and was looking good for Jordan's first podium finish in second place. Meanwhile, Patrese got past Piquet as well and set off after the Jordan. In the late stages Berger got past Piquet and then moved into third when Patrese started to suffer from gearbox problems. De Cesaris's fairy tale run ended just three laps from the end when his engine blew, promoting Berger to second and Piquet to third; it was triple World Champion Piquet's final podium of his career. Up front Senna limped home to his second consecutive win despite serious gearbox issues. Moreno was fourth, followed by Patrese and Mark Blundell, who scored Brabham's first point of the year (also the team's best result since Stefano Modena finished fifth in a Judd powered BT58 in the 1990 United States Grand Prix). The Fondmetal team and its driver Olivier Grouillard scored their first finish of 1991.'

[S griffin]

Jarama 81, one of the greatest wins ever and proof you don't need overtaking to make an exciting race

[BTCC frog]

Unless I’m very much mistaken, Murray Walker described Jarama 1981 as the greatest race ever at the time, but to be honest I enjoyed Sakhir 2020 more. This is probably due to bias because I saw Sakhir live but already knew the result to Jarama while watching, but Sakhir too was one of the greatest ever wins as Perez went from last to first, and George Russell’s amazing Mercedes debut made it one of the best races of last season.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by BTCC frog

Unless I’m very much mistaken,

[chillibowl]

having only started watching in the early 90s and sporadically at that back then it is difficult to judge races i have only read about or see brief highlights from.

part of me knows i should vote 81 Jarama and Villeneuve so i will.