Four new teams appeared on the entry list for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.  But as the great detective Sherlock Holmes once found (and we like our Holmes in these parts), the meaning of the four is not easily understood.

Of the new teams, two have no experience with F1, and two have no experience at all.  How they will fare is one of the bigger mysteries of the silly season. Although F1 needs a healthy grid, history makes us fear backmarkers.  There is a reason Ayrton Senna tried to kill Eddie Irvine after ther 1993 Japanese Grand Prix.  Know thy place.

Virgin – previously Manor – Racing is a Formula Renault and F3 graduate.   Richard Branson’s money has just been drizzled (you get the sense he has piles somewhere, just sitting), giving this team a major boost.  In Formula Renault, team principal John Booth employed Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton, so he obviously knows a bit about drivers.  The team’s designer, Nick Wirth, once worked at Simtek (bad sign!) and Bennetton.

Similarly, Campos Meta is a familiar name from GP2 and European F3.  Adrian Campos has F1 experience as a driver (well…), but the car is a Lola-Cosworth hybrid with no F1 mileage at all.  What makes Campos Meta a breed apart, rather than just a grid filler?  As with Manor, Campos once ran a former world champion (Alonso).  Bruno Senna will drive for this team, but we think Bruno has yet to prove himself worthy of his famous name.  Still, we predict the consumption of much rioja in frustration (at least, on our part).

The two complete unknowns are USF1 and Lotus, the latter being a project spearheaded by the Malaysian car manufacturer Proton.  Proton owns the rights to use the Lotus name in F1 racing, but the project is not a part of the road car company.  The idea of a “new” Lotus bothers us immensely, because it evokes Colin Chapman and all that was great from Hethel.  The new car has been designed by F1 veteran Mike Gascoyne.  Inevitably, there will be comparisons to great Lotus cars of the past, which is unfortunate for Gascoyne.  He is rumored to be a brilliant designer, but he also leaves a trail of…something… in his wake.  We are racing purists who would’ve preferred to see the name “Lotus Racing” pass into history.

Finally, there is US F1.  We love Peter Windsor, whose pitlane reporting added depth to Speed TV’s otherwise lifeless broadcasts.  We want to pull for USF1 because we’re Americans and we’re like that.  But they will be up against it.  The only announced driver is a young Argentine who is a pay driver with brief F1 mileage.  This is a bad sign, suggesting funding constraints in the future.  It is unfortunate there are no qualified young American drivers who can take an F1 seat.

We’re torn about these new teams.  We like full grids and the notion that F1 can include privateer teams again. But we worry that their tenders were accepted for reasons having little to do with racing.  This is not to criticize the newcomers, but simply to acknowledge the difficulty of the task ahead.

Like Holmes found, the Sign of Four is a mystery indeed.

My first memory of Lotus of any kind has to be the 1986 JPS team. I’d certainly watched races previously, my Dad is a fan of Lotus so I couldn’t avoid it, thankfully. This is where, as for most kids, a fanatical interest in any sport or team comes from.

I remember the season specifically because Johnny Dumfries was driving for them. He only drove for them for a year, the year in which he partnered a certain Ayrton Senna. Senna was a driver who I spent years supporting, even after he’d left Lotus, over and above the British driver Nigel Mansell (who’d left the team earlier). This didn’t go down well at school and it was hard enough liking Fomula One rather than football.

I supported Team Lotus fanatically until 1994, when they left the F1 grid. I camped in the rain at several GPs with my Dad, visited Brands Hatch to watch Johnny Herbert race around in a single Formula One car. I visited the Lotus factory and the old Team Lotus garage which still contained many of the parts of old F1 cars. I spoke to David Hunt briefly about his efforts to bring Team Lotus back to the grid and I  bought a Lotus (M100) Elan and couldn’t bare to sell it.I still feel an affinity to the road cars and anything that Group Lotus does. I think that the work that Classic Team Lotus does is excellent and Clive Chapman is a credit to his dad, Colin Chapman.

I’m not old enough to have watched the great racing Team Lotus triumphs  as they occurred, unfortunately. The closest I came was watching Ayrton Senna win, which I believe was more of a credit to his driving ability than that of the quality of Team Lotus cars at the time. I have however seen days of video footage and purchased plenty of books. I feel like I watched Jim Clarke, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi et al , the Lotus 25, 72 and may others numbers below 100 that were amazing for many different reasons.

It was with great anticipation / trepidation then, that I read about Lotus’ return to F1 in 2010, initially as a Lightspeed re-brand.  At least two members of the old team would be part of it, I thought. I think (and its not been mentioned much) that there was some kind of time limit on ownership of the rights to the Team Lotus name that could be legally challenged this year and I suspect that this has something to do with this happening.
So when the initial bid failed and the new Malaysian effort raised its head I had mixed emotions. It was covered in confusion I felt : ‘a Malaysian team needing a name to boost publicity’ maybe.

I’ve had a few weeks to reflect and I’ve seen the things that have gone on since Lotus F1 racing were allowed the 13th (yes thirteenth) spot on the grid. I’ve seen Group Lotus put their name behind the team, even if that is only by not distancing themselves too heavily. Then I heard the Group announce interest in many other forms of racing; potential sports car racing, rallying and Indy car. They’ve appointed Danny Bahar as their CEO, a former Ferrari Racing Director I believe.

I realise that I supported a team that wasn’t run by Colin Chapman, for eight years. I supported them simply because of what Colin Chapman had achieved previously and how that was introduced to me.
Drivers who drove for Lotus drove for them to be part of something that was once great and would hopefully be great again. Their mechanics must have felt the same and I remember, even in the years when Lotus struggled to qualify for grand prixs, more Lotus fans than any other constructor, Ferrari aside, supporting their team.

So I’ve been considering how I feel and haven’t been able to reason why I should throw my support behind what is essentially a new team, like I used to. That was until, Toyota left F1 this week, Renault considered leaving and Ferrari started throwing their toys out of the pram.

When other manufacturers are leaving F1, Lotus are returning and without having to invest any money, by the look of things. They are also doing so with tenuous connections between the (Lotus) Group and the F1 team, if it all goes wrong it should be easy  to distance themselves and the F1 team rebrand like many before. This could be a genius move and I suspect that Danny Bahar is well aware of this, as is Tony Fernandes.

This is a new Lotus racing team. Not Team Lotus, that team hasn’t really raced in F1 since the eighties, maybe even since 1982.
This is a team which has allegedly ‘pinched a design’ from Force India. A team that has not been shy of mentioning its intent to move to a purpose built factory in Sepang in two years and has most of its funding coming from Malaysia.

Surely then this is nothing like the Lotus of old? Nothing, like the team that moved from North London to a purpose built factory in Cheshunt before moving to a better facility in Hethel, Norfolk. Nothing like the team that introduced sponsorship to F1 in a big way and got investment for racing from it, from all corners of the earth. Certainly not like the team that was driven by winning and even ‘borrowing ideas’ and whose cars caused more controversy than most in F1 (Lotus 88 anyone?)

Colin Chapman had a huge, maybe unique ability. I don’t think that there has been anything close since, aside from maybe Gordan Murray. I don’t think we’ll see anything like him again.
This doesn’t mean that there can’t be another team like Team Lotus. Chapman’s ideals and passion still hold as much weight as they ever did. If this team has the same principles, ideals and commitment they could potentially be more of a Lotus F1 racing team than has been seen for 28 years. I hope Tony Fernandes and Mike Gasgoyne and anyone involved remember this, as I and hopefully many others support Lotus, with pride,  again this coming Formula One season.
Good luck guys and thank you.

As I remember it, ‘if you’re not winning, you’re not trying’.

When the government raised prices of almost all essential goods and petrol recently, didn’t they justify, once again, with the same ole tired defensive excuse that they’re short of funds needed for effective development for the nation??

Didn’t they then seek greater understanding from the taxpayers that these raised prices would mean a better good for all in the long run?? (Quite frankly, their pathetic attempt to hoodwink all Malaysians that paying more for a lower grade fuel is actually a better deal was truly laughable indeed!!!)

Then has anyone wondered what on earth happened to the two stimulus package announced by Najib, supposedly to revive the economy and improve public infrastructure and transportation?? Because, the last time I checked, everything is still status quo!! (Especially the public transportation…….instead of improving, they raised their ticket prices instead!!!)

And with the raised prices, meaning more revenue for the government, why has nothing happened just yet?? Where on earth did the money go!!!??

Yes, anyone with an ion of braincells would have then noticed that the income generated was then subsequently splashed during the last few by-elections….of course to no avail becos those bloody leeches lost ‘em all.

So, I suppose, since there is some loose change left, why not create something that may allow one to continue justifying the continuous outflow of funds in huge batches from the nation’s coffers………rite? 

Enter the Malaysian Formula One team

AP – A Malaysian team carrying the name Team Lotus is confirmed to be a part of the Formula One 2010 starting grid next season. AirAsia owner Tony Fernandes is set spearhead the initiative as Team Principal of Team Lotus with the Malaysian Government on deck as well.

 

 

 

The FIA has awarded Team Lotus with the 13th entry into the 2010 Formula One World Championships despite BMW’s application for the final spot on the list. It is said that the company behind Team Lotus consists of a partnership between the Malaysian Government and a group of Malaysian entrepreneurs.

 

It’s most likely that the team will be based at the RTN facility in Norfolk, which was initially Toyota’s Formula One programme facility. Looking forwards, the team will have its own facility for future design, research and development, manufacturing and technical centre will be purpose built at Malaysia’s very own Sepang International Circuit.

 

Formula One veteran Mike Gascoyne, formerly of the Jordan and Sauber Formula One teams, will be the team’s technical director.

 

Although the team’s engines were said to be Ferrari engines, Team Lotus has announced that it has struck an engine supply deal with Cosworth for the upcoming season.

Ok……right…..as expected, these “lazy ambitious yet vain bums” would come up with some grandiose self-glorifying idea, with no intention of making it truly work……..just pump in the money, hire some really expensive foreign technical know-hows and claim credit……well, at least for the 1st year or so, before, like all their other schemes, this project falls flat on the face………..

And do you know how much it takes to maintain and sustain a reasonably decent performing F1 team!!??

Reports from Italy would suggest that Renault is considering cutting its Formula One program after the end of the 2009 World Championship. With the cancellation of primary sponsor ING, Renault finds itself in a financial slump to upkeep its Motorsport division regardless of the 30% cost cuts implemented by the FIA for Formula One starting in 2009. Many teams have had budgets exceeding USD400 million prior to 2009 and have forced the FIA and President Max Moseley to change rules, operating schemes and testing sessions for the future in an effort to “cheapen” the operating costs of running a team in the premiere form of open wheel racing. – www.tuned.com

USD400 million as operating costs folks!!!

And Malaysian taxpayers can afford that!!!??? (Bugger….they couldn’t even decently maintain the current Sepang circuit!!!)

When there is still a severe shortage of decent infrastructure in the country, in particular East Malaysia!!!???

When there are still folks starving in the streets!!!???

When the quality of public services are still sorely lacking due to lack of funds….apparently!!!??? (The alarming mortality rate due to H1N1 has been linked to our very poorly equipped public healthcare system……….need we say more???)

It sure looks like Malaysians have for themselves a group of “shiok-sendiri” Elitist-Wannabes flying high in the high society of La-La-Land, running the show here, doesn’t it???

Isto mesmo: No dia 28 de março de 1993 aconteceu em Interlagos a minha estréia em um GP de Fórmula 1… como jornalista oficialmente credenciado pela FIA. E que lembrança se tornou aquela corrida, hein? Arrepia até hoje de lembrar o autódromo todo vibrando com a vitória do Ayrton Senna – a ultima dele em casa.

Naquela época vivia na Alemanha e curtia, já que tive que encerrar a carreira de piloto, relatar sobre carros de rua e de competição que testava com freqüência para algumas revistas. Além dos test drives fui chamado também para escrever avaliações de pré-temporada sobre uma variedade de campeonatos. Já que o meu estilo parecia agradar, resolvi aproveitar os meus contatos e inventei entrevistar o Nelson Piquet – na época ainda um amigo – e o Ayrton Senna, ex-adversário na Formula Ford 2000. O Nelson tinha se recuperado mais ou menos da horrível acidente em Indianápolis, mas não falava nem à paulada com a imprensa. E o Ayrton estava em uma fase de descobrir o mundo dos negócios e tinha até lançado a sua empresa, promovendo a marca Senna.

Já que ninguém tinha como oferecer estas matérias foi moleza vendê-las para uma revista especializada alemã. Liguei então para a FIA em Paris e pedi informação sobre o procedimento de credenciamento. Conversei com uma moça bastante atenciosa, acho que o nome dela era Sally, e que me concedeu uma credencial de free lancer para um evento, mesmo com o prazo de pedido já vencido, mas que teria que enviar cópia do trabalho para eles em seguida. Beleza, fiz reserva do vôo pra São Paulo, fiz a mala e me mandei rumo a minha cidade natal. Com a ansiedade de estrear como jornalista de Formula 1 cheguei a Guarulhos cedinho na manhã da sexta-feira do GP. Peguei um táxi para o Hotel Transamérica, onde a FIA entrega as credenciais aos jornalistas até hoje. Só que não havia credencial alguma para mim. Pior: Ninguém se empenhava para descobrir por onde a minha credencial, oficialmente concedida ale do prazo. Não tinha como imaginar que este seria o primeiro golpe de muitos deste tipo que certo personagem da FIA aprontaria comigo dali pra frente. Mas essa eu conte em outra ocasião.

Lá estava eu no saguão do Transamérica, pensando no que fazer agora. Nisto encontro o Willy Weber, empresário do Schumi e que conhecia desde a época em que ele pilotava um Formula 3 com banco de couro (…), e o Harry Hawelka. Sobre este ultimo já relatei por aqui, era o nutricionista/fisioterapeuta da Benetton e se tornaria um grande amigo. Resolveram me dar carona até o circuito e que deveria resolver as coisas por lá. Havia um amigo do Michael acompanhando, então chegamos de carro lotado no portão do autódromo, onde todo mundo tinha que mostrar o passe da FIA. Os outros estava com os passes da Benetton e foram mostrando e eu… acabei mostrando o meu cartão de milhagem da empresa aérea. E quando o cara olhou mandei o Harry descer a bote e… tchum, tava dentro. Jeitinho brasileiro, sabe? Uma vez na área do paddock faltava o portão que dava acesso ao. Ali parava cada personagem conhecido, jornalistas, fotógrafos, membros de equipe e pedia para entregar uma notinha ao Martin Whitaker na sala de imprensa. A época o Martin era o assessor de imprensa da FIA nos GPs e F1 e quando a mesa dele se encheu daquelas notinhas minhas, resolveu descer ao portão para ver que raios estava acontecendo, quem seria este Mario Bauer.

Uma vez relatada a história ao Martin, ele foi pegar uma credencial de imprensa oficial da FIA e me entregou o passe sem rodeio. O Martin me salvaria a pele várias vezes durante a temporada, aplicando sensatez onda a FIA costumava demonstrar falta da mesma. Enfim, meu primeiro compromisso profissional começava ali e a primeira coisa que pesquisei foi a retirada oficial da equipe March de F1 do Mundial. A ex-equipe de Max Mosley tinha ainda embarcado para a etapa de abertura em Kyalami, mas faltaram os trocados para pagar os motores da Ilmor e, em conseqüência do suíço recusar levar calote, a equipe não teve outro jeito senão desistir. Depois da Brabham, da Pacific e da equipe espanhol Bravo, cujo projeto foi realizado pela Simtek de Nick Wirth, mas não foi adiante, a March tornou-se mais uma vítima da recessão da época.

As Williams-Renault de Alain Prost e Damon Hill pareciam – como na etapa anterior na África do Sul – imbatíveis e ocuparam devidamente a primeira fila com o francês marcando a pole. Atrás destes mísseis azul-amarelos e de motores V10 alinhavam as equipes sem-oficiais da Ford e seus V8s. Ayrton Senna (McLaren-Ford) e Michael Schumacher (Benetton-Ford) na segunda fila, Michael Andretti (McLaren-Ford) e Riccardo Patrese (Benetton-Ford) na terceira. Logo atrás JJ Lehto com a Sauber e Jean Alesi e sua Ferrari. O Outro Sauber de Karl Wendlinger e o Ligier de Mark Blundell na fila seguinte.

Senna largou muito bem e conseguiu passar por Hill na primeira freada, tentando não perder o contato com o Prost. Mais para trás o Andretti e o Berger se estranharam, os dois batem no muro e a McLaren sai voando por cima da Ferrari. Conheço dois fotógrafos alemães que comemoram esta data como segundo aniversário. Por sorte ninguém se feriu. Na ponta o Prost abre vantagem ao Senna que faz de tudo para manter o Hill atrás dele. Mas na 11ª volta não temos como resistir à superioridade da super-máquina, o FW15C. O tricampeão é obrigado a ceder ao piloto novato, agora ocupa a 3ª posição na frente de Schumacher. Pior: recebe uma penalidade de 10-segundos por ultrapassagem sob bandeira amarela e isto parece o fim das esperanças de Senna enquanto subir ao pódio.

Mas feito encomenda, um temporal desce em Interlagos, a começar pelo retão, e surpreende Aguri Suzuki e o compatriota Ukyo Katayama. Ambos perdem controle e batem no muro dos boxes. Senna parou para trocar pneus e só após disto veio receber a “multa”. Enquanto isto os boxe já estavam em caos, e a Benetton de Schumacher cai do macaco atrasando o alemão. Christian Fittipaldi e o líder Alain Prost, prestes a colocar uma volta no brasileiro, ambos não entenderam as chamadas das suas equipes e Christian acabou rodando, parando de contramão após a elevação da freada da primeira curva. O francês é surpreendido tanto pela quantia de água na pista como pela Minardi que de repente surge no trajeto e acaba escorregando ao encontro do carro do brasileiro. Um momento histórico, pois pela primeira vez entre em ação o Safety Car – a versão F1 do carro madrinha – em um GP. Momento de confusão para os pilotos, pelo que parece, já que o Alesi passou vários carros atrás do carro madrinha. O que não pode, Jean!

A equipe Lotus foi a primeira a reagir assim que o sol voltou a brilhar e chamou o Johnny Herbert logo após a re-largada para trocar de volta aos pneus slick, mesma coisa para o Alex Zanardi. Senna no entretempo levantou a galera nas arquibancadas passando por Hill na freada da Ferradura ainda no molhado e o inglês parecia conformado em conquistar pelo menos o seu primeiro pódio. Estava de bom tamanho, afinal era somente a sua quarta corrida de F1. Alesi, advertido pelas maluquices atrás do carro madrinha, e Schumacher ambos passam pelos boxes para pagar as devidas penalidades com um stop-go cada. Mas o alemão ainda consegue arrancar mesmo assim no finalzinho o 3º lugar do Herbert que acabou em 4º à frente de Blundell e Zanardi.

A galera no autódromo nem prestava mais atenção a estes detalhes e fez o maior carnaval pra celebrar a 2ª vitória de Senna em casa com uma invasão de pista que parou a volta de honra do tricampeão. A McLaren também tinha motivos de sobra para celebrar. Foi a 100ª vitória da marca em GPs de Formula 1. Mas já na 2a-feira fui encontrar o Ayrton lá na rua Olávo Egídio, o prédio onde hoje continua o Instituto Ayrton Senna. Mesmo com pouco tempo disponível o Ayrton foi antecioso como sempre, assim como e toda a sua equipe. E como seus familiares vem me recebendo desde então. Do “amigo” Piquet não posso dizer a mesma coisa, mas isto conto numa outra.

Grande Prêmio do Brasil de Formula 1, São Paulo.

Pole Position: Alain Prost, Williams FW15C-Renault, 1m 15.866s, 205.230 km/h de média.

Resultado: Vencedor – Ayrton Senna, McLaren MP4/8-Ford, 71 voltas x 4,325 km = 307.075 km distância total em 1h51m15.485s.

2) Damon Hill, Williams FW15C-Renault + 16.625s
3) Michael Schumacher, Benetton B193-Ford + 45.436s
4) Johnny Herbert, Lotus 107B-Ford + 46.557
5) Mark Blundell, Ligier JS37-Renault + 52.127
6) Alessando Zanardi, Lotus 107B-Ford + 1 lap

Melhor volta: Michael Schumacher, Benetton B193-Ford, 1m 20.024s na volta 61 = 194.567 km/h de média.

Destaques entre os pilotos:

- Ayrton Senna liderou um GP pela 80ª vez (novo recorde)

- Ayrton Senna liderou por 2723 voltas em GPs (novo recorde)

- Riccardo Patrese largou pela 243ª vez em um GP (novo recorde)

- Ayrton Senna vence pela 2ª e ultima vez em casa.

- Damon Hill conquista o 1º pódio em um GP.

Destaques entre as equipes, construtores e fornecedores:

- McLaren conquista a 100ª vitória em GPs

- Renault conquista a 75ª pole position como fabricante de motores

That’s right: 28th of March 1993 was the day I had my Formula 1 Grand Prix debut in Interlagos… as a nofficially FIA sanctioned journalist. And what a great memory that race would provide for many years to come. It still gives me goose bumps to remember the roar of the crowd as Ayrton Senna won at his home track – for the last time.

In those days I lived in Germany and having enjoyed writing for a couple of magazines, mainly testing road and race cars as well as season previews for all sorts of championships, I had made up my mind that my old pal Nelson Piquet and former Formula Ford 2000 grid mate Ayrton Senna would probably be happy to concede exclusive interviews. Nelson had smashed his feet in Indianapolis, mind you, and wasn’t talking to the media at all. And Ayrton went about to establish his businesses away from motor racing. Good stuff, I guessed.

Having already “sold” the story to a German sports publication, I checked with the FIA media accreditation bureau in Paris and a lovely lady, I think her name was Sally, would allow me to do my first work on a single race accreditation but commiting mytself to send them a copy afterwards. Deal done, I booked a flight to São Paulo and on my way I was to my debut as a Formula 1 journalist. Arriving in Guarulhos International Airport early Friday morning I took a taxi to the Transamérica Hotel, where the FIA runs the accreditation center for decades now, only to find out that no-one knew anything about my media pass. And no-one seemed interested to check what had gone wrong. Turns out it was only the beginning of my hardships with the FIA media office. But I’ll tell you more about that one some other day.

While I was contemplating what to do now, I bumped into Willy Weber and Harry Hawelka, Schuey’s manager and Benetton’s health guru. They gave me and another friend of Michael’s a lift to the race track and once we arrived at the gate you were supposed to show your FIA pass. The other three guys showed the correct passes, I held up the Air Miles card of the carrier I flew in with… and it worked! Once I was at the outer paddock aerea I stopped each and every single person I knew, journalists, photographers, team members at the gate. Each delivered a little note at Martin Whitaker’s desk in the media center. At the time Martin was FIA’s on-site Media Officer and once he got flooded badly enough with those little stick-on memos, he came down to the gate to find out who the hell Mario Bauer was.

It didn’t take long for Martin to come back with an FIA media pass, apparently forfeited by another journalist, and handed it out without much ceremony. Martin would become my guardian angel throughout the year, applying common sense whenever the FIA seemed to lack any of it. Anyway, my first professional commitment in Formula 1 had begun and the first thing I learnt was that the March F1 team was now definitely out of business. They had made it to the opening round in Kyalami, but were somewhat short of money to pay for the Ilmor engines and as a consequence they withdrew from the World Championship. After Brabham, Pacific and Bravo, March became the latest victim of the recession.

The Williams-Renaults of Alain Prost and Damon Hill seemed – as in the opening round in South Africa – unbeatable and duly filled the front row with the Frenchman on pole. Behind the two V10 powered blue-yellow missiles were the fastest Ford V8s, Ayrton Senna (McLaren-Ford) and Michael Schumacher (Benetton-Ford) in row two, Michael Andretti (McLaren-Ford) and Riccardo Patrese (Benetton-Ford). JJ Lehto’s Sauber, Jean Alesi’s Ferrari, Karl Wendlinger’s Sauber and Mark Blundell’s Ligier-Renault lined up behind those.

Senna got away with a perfect start, squeezed past Hill into the first corner and tried to keep up with Prost. Further back Andretti and Berger collided, both crashing into the outer wall with the McLaren flying over the Ferrari. Prost was opening up a gap and Senna was doing his best to keep Hill behind. On lap 11 the Brazilian had to give way and was now third ahead of Schumacher. But a 10-second stop-go penalty for overtaking under yellow flags seemed to be the end of all of Senna’s hopes.

But then a massive downpour flooded the main straight and a surprised Aguri Suzuki and fellow countryman Ukyo Katayama both lost control of their cars crashing into the pit wall. Senna came in to switch to rain tires and only after that he stopped for his penalty. Chaos broke out in the pits, Schumacher’s car fell off its jack. Back marker Christian Fittipaldi and leader Alain Prost, about to lap the young Brazilian, both didn’t hear their crews’ call to come in and so first Christian spun over the brow of the first corner and then a surprised Alain slid helplessly into the stalled Minardi. A historic moment, as the new F1 Safety Car was sent out for the first time ever. A confusing moment, too, as Alesi overtook a number of cars behind the SC. Which is not allowed, Jean!

The Team Lotus was spot on to bring in Johnny Herbert very soon after the re-start in order to switch back to slicks, same for Alex Zanardi. Senna meanwhile had the public roaring as he went into the lead past Hill under braking into Ferradura on the still wet track and the Brit, on his way to his first ever podium, seemed content with what seemed within reach for him in his only fourth Formula 1 Grand Prix. Alesi, penalized for his antics behind the Safety Car, and Schumacher were summoned to the pits for stop-go penalties but the German still grabbed 3rd place away from Herbert who finished 4th ahead of Blundell and Zanardi.

That didn’t matter much to the Brazilian fans as carnival broke out on the grandstands and a massive track invasion meant the post race party began right there on the back stretch as Ayrton scores yet another home win and McLaren’s 100th GP victory.

1993 Brazilian Formula 1 Grand Prix, São Paulo.

Pole Position: Alain Prost, Williams FW15C-Renault, 1m 15.866s, 205.230 km/h (127.551 mph) average.

Race Result: Winner – Ayrton Senna, McLaren MP4/8-Ford, 71 laps x 4,325 km (2.688 miles) = 307.075 km (190.848 miles) total race distance in 1h51m15.485s.

2) Damon Hill, Williams FW15C-Renault + 16.625s
3) Michael Schumacher, Benetton B193-Ford + 45.436s
4) Johnny Herbert, Lotus 107B-Ford + 46.557
5) Mark Blundell, Ligier JS37-Renault + 52.127
6) Alessando Zanardi, Lotus 107B-Ford + 1 lap

Fastest Lap: Michael Schumacher, Benetton B193-Ford, 1m 20.024s in lap 61 = 194.567 km/h (120.924 mph) average.

Milestones among drivers:

- Ayrton Senna led a Grand Prix for the 80th time (new record)

- Ayrton Senna has led 2723 laps in a Grands Prix (new record)

- Riccardo Patrese started into his 243rd Grand Prix (new record)

- Ayrton Senna’s second and last Grand Prix win on home soil.

- Damon Hill’s first podium finish at a Grand Prix.

Milestones among teams constructors and suppliers:

- McLaren’s 100th F1 Grand Prix Win

- Renault’s 75th Pole Position as engine manufacturer