 |
F1 at 70, the Greatest Grand Prix: shortlist
|
|
|
|
F1's Greatest Grand Prix: Vote now
MAY 26TH 2020- LAST UPDATED: MAY 27TH 2020
What is the greatest grand prix from seven decades of the Formula 1 world championship? Have your say and vote now
Peterson leads Cevert and Hailwood at Monza in 1971
Simon Arron
The first grand prix of the Formula 1 drivers’ world championship took place 70 years ago at Silverstone. Since then there have been 1, 018 races, 108 different winners, and countless brilliant displays of racecraft.
But which was the best?
After help from our social media followers, we have narrowed the choice to a five-race shortlist. Now the decision on the greatest race in the championship’s history will come down to you, our readers.
Choose which of the five races below gets your vote, and we will announce the winner at the beginning of summer.
1. 1971 Italian Grand Prix
2. 2011 Canadian Grand Prix
3. 1993 European Grand Prix
4. 1967 Italian Grand Prix
5. Belgium, Spa-Francorchamps, August 30, 1998
F1 at 70, the Greatest Grand Prix: shortlist
Italy, Monza, September 10, 1967
Surtees wins by 0. 2sec
On paper this was a close victory for John Surtees, beating defending champion Jack Brabham by 0. 2sec in what would be the final F1 grand prix success for a factory Honda until Hungary 2006. That prosaic truth omits a key detail: Jim Clark. The Scot won 25 of his 72 world championship GPs, but this was possibly his finest drive. Robbed of the lead by a puncture, he dropped a full lap in arrears before carving his way back through the field to take charge again. And then, on the final lap, his Lotus began to misfire. A dry tank? Not at all; his fuel pump had failed to deliver the final three gallons and he coasted home a magnificent third.
FULL RACE REPORT
Italy, Monza, September 5, 1971
It was the final grand prix to take place within the Parco di Monza before the circuit’s flow was interrupted by chicanes – and there could scarcely have been a finer epitaph. In his first world championship GP start since Monaco 1965, Mike Hailwood was in the leading bunch with Franç ois Cevert, Howden Ganley, Peter Gethin and Howden Ganley. It was a classic slipstreamer of the old school and, as they fanned from the Parabolica for the final time, Gethin had his nose ahead to take his only GP win by 0. 01sec, from Peterson. They didn’t time races in thousandths back then. Ganley, a ‘distant’ fifth, fell 0. 61sec short of victory…
FULL RACE REPORT
Europe, Donington Park, April 11, 1993
Senna in a class of his own at Donington
To the architect, this wasn’t as special as his maiden F1 victory in Portugal eight years earlier. Now he had traction control, a privilege not available to all… but then nor was it his exclusive preserve. After a modest getaway, Ayrton Senna had been squabbling for fifth place as he turned into Redgate for the first time – yet he was well ahead at the same point one lap later. What followed was a lesson in decisive racecraft through fluctuating conditions, the Brazilian making many peers look pedestrian in terms of both race pace and speed of thought. But then he’d long since made a habit of the extraordinary.
|
|
|
FULL RACE REPORT
Belgium, Spa-Francorchamps, August 30, 1998
A Jordan 1-2 at Spa – but not everyone was pleased
Quite an afternoon for David Coulthard, this. Firstly he was tipped into a spin that triggered a race-stopping pile-up beyond La Source on the opening lap. When the contest eventually restarted some time later, he was the immovable object concealed within the ball of spray Michael Schumacher had assumed to be clear. Having pitted to retire, Schuey promptly tried to throttle the Scot. Away from the raised tempers, Damon Hill plotted a serene course to earn Jordan its first GP victory – a 1-2, no less, ahead of the younger, slower Schumacher (who was quite cross about the late imposition of team orders).
|
|
|
