The GSOH - Round Three - 1989 vs 1964

[crmalcolm]

The next match of the GSOH bracket puts 1989 up against 1964.

Summaries from Wikipedia:

1989 - The climate as the Formula One circus arrived at Jacarepaguá was one of much optimism in what many saw as a new age, with many revelling in the brutal and much more appealing sounds of the V10 and V12 engines. Brazil proved to be an excitement filled race, and dramatic too. The race started with a bang, as Senna's hopes at a home Grand Prix victory were dashed after a clash with Berger in the first turn. In what would prove to be a regular occurrence during the season, the semi-automatic transmission in the Ferrari 640 allowed Berger to get a lightning start from 3rd on the grid and he attempted to go inside of Senna and Patrese into the turn. Senna refused to give room, causing a collision that destroyed the front wing of his car. Patrese got through unscathed and in the lead of his record-breaking 177th Grand Prix start whilst Berger was out on the spot (the first of 10 straight retirements for the Austrian driver) while Senna was forced to pit for repairs and would finish the race 2 laps down in 11th place.

Double world champion Alain Prost's McLaren had been having problems all weekend with the Frenchman finding the McLaren MP4/5 hard to set up, and when his two stop strategy was ruined by a clutch failure, he knew he had to continue the race having made just one of his scheduled two pit stops on the notoriously abrasive Rio circuit. He finished second. Nigel Mansell secured a surprising win for the Scuderia, with no problems despite ongoing gearbox faults all weekend and a lack of winter testing (Mansell also had the steering wheel come loose on the back straight and had to have it changed in his final stop, which luckily was scheduled for the end of that lap). The final step of the podium was taken by local Maur?*cio Gugelmin. Grand Prix debutant Johnny Herbert, Derek Warwick and Alessandro Nannini scored the remaining points. Warwick was desperately unlucky. He lost over 20 seconds in a slow pit stop and only finished 17.8 seconds behind Mansell at the finish suggesting a win (which would have been both his and Arrows' first) or podium place had gone begging.

Race 2: San Marino
At Imola in Italy, "normal service" was resumed. McLaren settled on the front row of the grid and stayed that way for the race, with Mansell's Ferrari retiring midway with gearbox issues. Gerhard Berger, despite showing promise by setting the fastest time in the wet Friday qualifying, suffered front wing failure thanks to Berger's curb hopping style and careened off the track at Tamburello at high speed and hit the concrete retaining wall very hard and spun multiple times along the wall. This forced the race to be stopped after the fuel spilled all over Berger's car burst into flames after the car came to a standstill. Berger miraculously survived with just a broken rib, shoulder bone and burns to his back and hands, due to rescue crews removing him from the wreck in less than 60 secs. He gave a thumbs up and the race was restarted not too long after. Senna went on to win with Prost second. Patrese's engine failed and Boutsen was disqualified (but he got his 4th position back in an appeal), so the third place was taken by the Benetton Ford of Alessandro Nannini. Warwick and Tyrrell's Jonathan Palmer secured the remaining point paying positions.

Race 3: Monaco
With Berger out, there were 29 cars in qualifying instead of 30, because Ferrari did not have a replacement driver. Senna had scored his third pole of the season, with the number 2 car of Prost again alongside. March introduced their new 1989 design. Senna went on to win by almost a whole minute over Prost while Stefano Modena secured a valuable third for the underfunded Brabham team on its return to Formula One after a year out. This result effectively allowed Brabham to avoid prequalifying in the second half of the season. Modena, however, failed to score any points in any other Grand Prix in 1989. Alex Caffi finished 4th in the Dallara while Michele Alboreto secured his first points since leaving Ferrari for Tyrrell. Martin Brundle scored the remaining point by finishing 6th.

Race 4: Mexico
At the Autódromo Hermanos Rodr?*guez in Mexico City, Mexico, Gerhard Berger made a return despite continued pain in his fingers. However, transmission and gearbox problems forced the Ferraris to retire from point-scoring positions for the third race straight. While they lamented their results, McLaren and Senna took a third win on the trot by a differing choice of tyres. Prost's choice, and the wrong set of tyres being given to him at a pit stop (which prompted team boss Ron Dennis to issue Prost a public apology after the race), sent him down the order to fifth. Patrese was second for Williams, while Alboreto doubled his efforts in Monaco by scoring third. Alessandro Nannini finished 4th while Gabriele Tarquini was able to bring his barely pre-qualified AGS home in sixth for a well-celebrated point.

Race 5: United States
The United States Grand Prix had a new destination, this time in the hot desert city of Phoenix, Arizona. It was a new place, but the same old dirty and dusty street circuits, and while wider, faster, less dirty and less bumpy than both Detroit and Dallas, like Detroit the mostly right angled turns on Phoenix's street grid system gave the drivers few reference points for when to use their brakes- but this created many good overtaking spots. The dreadfully hot 100+ degree dry desert summer heat of Phoenix also made conditions trying; the track broke up during the race. Senna made the most of his skill and scored another pole, Prost again playing second fiddle by over a second. Prost though believed that his race set up was superior to his teammate's and was confident of winning his first Grand Prix of the year.

Senna won the start and built up a small lead over Prost. Senna suffered an electrical problem when leading the race and his engine started to misfire. He signalled Prost through to a lead he would not lose on lap 34. Williams ended up being the only team to finish with both cars as the dirty track and unforgiving concrete walls ended six races, with the heat and dust cutting out many more. One driver, Alessandro Nannini, suffered from a severely sore neck after a crash in the morning warm-up and retired from fourth place on lap 10. Mansell and Berger suffered with the Ferrari V12s cutting out from identical alternator failures and both eventually retired. Patrese's second gave him third place in the championship, while Prost took the lead. Ecstatic Phoenix native Eddie Cheever celebrated his and his team's first podium of the season at his own home Grand Prix. The Brabhams, on the other hand, continued their lacklustre return, both drivers retiring with worn-out brakes. Dallara's Alex Caffi was the victim of a bizarre crash. Holding down 5th place, he was put into the wall on lap 52 by his own teammate Andrea de Cesaris when he was trying to lap him. The notorious de Cesaris later claimed he did not even know Caffi was there trying to lap him.

The race of attrition saw Christian Danner score a surprise 4th place in his Rial, while Herbert and Boutsen rounded out the scoring zone. The race ran for the full 2 hours and was flagged after 75 of the scheduled 81 laps. Alain Prost scored his only ever win in the US, while Cheever's 3rd place was his final podium in Formula One. Before the race with the heat and practice times proving some 10–15 seconds per lap slower than predicted, a petition was circulated among the teams requesting the race be reduced to 70 laps. All team managers signed the petition with the exception of Ken Tyrrell which meant the race was not officially shortened. Ironically, this would work against his team when Jonathan Palmer lost a certain 4th place after his Tyrrell-Ford ran out of fuel on lap 69. Had the race been flagged after 70 laps, Palmer would have finished 4th having already been lapped by Prost instead of running out of fuel and being classified as 9th and last.

Race 6: Canada
The Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal was run in wet conditions and provided many retirements, but also a new winner. Senna was comfortably leading with only three laps to go when engine problems forced him to retire, handing Boutsen his first victory. Patrese came home second to make it a 1–2 finish for Williams, the first time a team other than McLaren had achieved this since Ferrari in Monza the previous year. Making up for his Phoenix indiscretion, Andrea de Cesaris picked up third for Dallara, the first ever podium finish for the small Italian team.

Race 7: France
In his home race at the Paul Ricard circuit near Marseille, Prost took pole and won convincingly, while fellow Frenchman Jean Alesi made his debut for the Tyrrell team, replacing Alboreto due to the team now having Camel sponsorship which conflicted with his personal Marlboro sponsorship. This proved to pay off as Alesi secured a fourth-place finish (having run second at one stage). Nigel Mansell ended Ferrari's run of retirements with a secure second while Patrese was third. Swede Stefan Johansson finished 5th, scoring the Onyx team's first points, and Olivier Grouillard took the final points paying position. Senna, meanwhile, was forced to retire straight after the restart with a differential problem.

Race 8: Great Britain
The British Grand Prix at the very fast Silverstone circuit proved much the same – McLaren front row, Senna retiring, and Prost winning. Mansell finished second in his home race to please the British fans, whose Mansellmania coupled with the tifosi made for hysteria. Nannini finished third, Piquet 4th, while both Minardis, Martini followed by Pérez-Sala, took the final 2 points positions.

Race 9: Germany
At Hockenheim in Germany (another very fast circuit) however, Senna's bad luck ended after scoring a treble – pole, fastest lap and the win, but he had to fight almost all the way with Prost to do so. After both McLarens suffered bad mid-race stops for tyres, Prost emerged in the lead and looked to have the race in his grasp but lost top gear with less than two laps to go. Berger's pointless season continued with a tire puncture causing a spectacular accident and robbing him of a possible podium. Mansell picked up a third place and mused everyone's thoughts: "If any of the circuits in the world is ideal for McLaren-Honda, it's Hockenheim." Patrese, Piquet and Warwick took the remaining three points-paying positions, respectively.

Race 10: Hungary
Mansell was over two seconds off Patrese's Q time of an impressive 1:19.7, whilst Berger constantly complained of gear shift troubles – even asking the team to change the gearbox pre-race, which they did not.

This eventually cost him a point scoring position, as the gearbox went on to fail. Countering this was Mansell's impressive 12th-to-first race, even overtaking Senna in the area he excelled most, lapping back markers – an impressive move on a track notorious for mediocre and unpassable races. He went on to compare the race to his win at Silverstone two years earlier and dedicated it to the late Enzo Ferrari, a year after the Old Man's death. Caffi's race was the exact counterpoint of Mansell's – despite a strong start he finished a lonely seventh, earning no points. Senna finished nearly half a minute behind Mansell in second, while Prost again suffered problems and finished fourth. Patrese retired from the lead and Boutsen finished third.

Race 11: Belgium
A wet Spa showcased Senna's wet weather skills at their best. 'Magic' (Senna's nickname during the wet) shone that day to give him another win despite engine troubles that also befell Prost with Mansell in third saying that problems like that he could certainly use – he finished less than two seconds behind Senna.

Race 12: Italy
The Italian Grand Prix at the Monza Autodrome near Milan sealed the end of two things: Gerhard Berger's terrible season (he scored a second place on both the grid and in the race) and Prost's relationship with McLaren. Having become progressively distanced from the team due to his conflict with Senna, he announced his switch to Ferrari for 1990, and after inheriting the race win when Senna retired from the lead late on, he proceeded to give the trophy he had won to the tifosi. McLaren boss Ron Dennis' usual composure was shattered and he hurled his trophy at his driver's feet, storming off (Dennis was unhappy with Prost giving the trophy to the tifosi as contractually all trophies won were the property of the team). Prost later said it was an unsatisfactory win and that he did not hold out much hope for the championship despite his points lead as he felt Honda were clearly favouring Senna. Boutsen inherited third for Williams.

Race 13: Portugal
The World Championship was virtually decided in the thirteenth round at Estoril near Lisbon, as Prost finished second to Berger and Senna retired in controversial circumstances when he collided with Mansell, who had illegally reversed in the pit-lane and ignored the resultant black disqualification flags. Mansell was subsequently banned from the next race.

Johansson finished a fine third for the struggling Onyx team (a result that meant they did not have to go through pre-qualifying in the first half of 1990), marveling at the car's performance on a low-grip track and speaking of optimism for Spain. Nannini finished in fourth, while Pierluigi Martini qualified fifth and finished in that position, also leading for one lap; the only time in the Minardi team's 21-year history that it led a Grand Prix. Tyrrell racing finished in sixth for the 2nd consecutive race, although it was Jonathan Palmer that earned the point for them in Portugal.

Race 14: Spain
Senna kept the championship alive in Spain by taking pole position and leading throughout, beating Berger by almost half a minute at the Jerez circuit near Seville. Prost drove a cautious race and finished third, dropping more points, but it meant that Senna had to win both remaining races to have any chance of beating the Frenchman to the title. Meanwhile, Alesi scored another strong fourth place for the Tyrrell team. Finishing 5th was Patrese ahead of Philippe Alliot who would score the only point of the season for the Larrousse-Lola team.

Race 15: Japan
Senna took pole, but Prost beat him away from the grid and led by 1.4 seconds by the end of the first lap. By lap 15, however, Senna was all over the back of Prost's McLaren after moving through both Williams and Benettons. He whittled down Prost's 5 second lead to just under a second by lap 30, but the latter pulled a few seconds ahead by the 35th lap. By the end of lap 46, with 7 to go, the gap was just over a second. Senna, further back than he had been earlier in the race, made a move on Prost in the chicane before the start-finish straight. True to his word, Prost closed the gap and the two skidded into the escape road and both engines stalled. Prost jumped from his car. Senna, however, got a push from the marshals to restart his dead engine and returned to the track.

After pitting for repairs, Senna worked his way past both Williams and the Benettons to take a three-second victory. However, his altercation with Prost seven laps earlier meant he had missed the chicane and, according to FIA and FISA president Jean Marie Balestre, had not completed the lap. It is worth noting that many drivers in previous races had used the escape roads near chicanes after on-track incidents, as is customary, without receiving penalties. A penalty could have been given for restarting his stalled engine, which is technically illegal, but the stewards only considered the shortcut for the penalty. He was disqualified and Nannini revelled in his first Grand Prix victory. The new Williams FW13s of Patrese and Boutsen finished second and third, putting them five points ahead of the Ferrari team in the race for second. Piquet, Brundle and Warwick clinched the remaining point-paying positions.

McLaren went on to appeal the decision. With the matter hanging in the air, Senna went on record saying it was a plot and conspiracy against him by Balestre, who he said favoured Prost. Senna would comment again on the matter after sealing his 1991 championship, reiterating his belief that he had been unfairly treated.

Race 16: Australia
The final round at Adelaide saw the race run under heavy rain. Prost elected to withdraw at the end of the first lap in such torrentially wet conditions and would score no points. Senna, who considered quitting in protest of his disqualification in the previous race, was convinced to race by friends and team members. Starting from pole, by lap ten he had over 30 seconds to the Williams pair and counting. Instead of relaxing, he continued to push in poor visibility. On lap 13, he ran into the rear of Brundle's Brabham and was out of the race. The two Williams Renaults scored a double podium finish with Boutsen winning and Patrese coming in third, Nannini finishing between them, despite Williams being a strong proponent of not starting in such conditions. The remaining points were scored by Satoru Nakajima in his single scoring-zone finish of the season, Emanuele Pirro (Benetton's mid-season replacement for the dismissed Herbert) in the first time since Round 1 that Benetton's points came from another driver as well as Nannini, and Martini.

The Australian Grand Prix was overshadowed by the ongoing controversy surrounding the Japanese race, but once the appeals had been considered, Prost was crowned the champion for the third time.




1964 - The World Championship of Drivers, fiercely contested by Jim Clark, John Surtees and Graham Hill, was decided at the Mexican Grand Prix when Hill was delayed after a collision with Lorenzo Bandini's Ferrari. Clark was forced to stop with an oil leak on the last lap, and Ferrari signalled Bandini to let Surtees through into the second place which gave him the championship by one point from Hill. A Ferrari 158 car officially entered by the American privateer team NART sealed the win of the championship with Surtees, as the works team competed the last two races (the United States Grand Prix and Mexican Grand Prix) in cars painted white and blue – the national colours of the United States. This was done as a protest concerning arguments between Ferrari and the Italian motorsport body ACI regarding the homologation of a new mid-engined Ferrari Le Mans race car. Ferrari won the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers. Honda made a low-key debut in Grand Prix racing with the American driver Ronnie Bucknum, and Maurice Trintignant retired at the age of 46 after one of the longest world championship careers. He was the last active driver to have competed in the first World Championship season in 1950.

Dutchman Carel Godin de Beaufort died during practice for the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, driving a privately entered Porsche 718.

[S griffin]

Whilst I will always have a soft spot for 89, as it was the first year I had on review video, you can't beat the three way title battle in 64