Is it Fair to Compare different F1 eras? (Part 1 of 7: The 60's)
- cgonzalezmi6
- 24 dic 2020
- 6 Min. de lectura
Actualizado: 21 ene 2021
Is it fair to compare different F1 eras? (Part : The 60’s)
By C. Gonzalez
Frequently, I read comments on F1 forums, websites or Social media posts regarding of who is the best driver of all time or if this era is better or worst than other period. As everything in life, we are continuously moving forward, we have seen it in every aspect of our lives: phones are not what they used to be, how we listen to music, how we cook our meals and of course cars, everything is evolving.
There is however a major revolution happening since the mid 90’s, what is new today, will be almost obsolete in 6 months, so let me share with you my opinion of why comparing different eras is exceedingly difficult, I will go back to what most F1 fans consider as a golden era of F1 and an era of big transition, where a group of car enthusiasts were pushing the limits of speed, reliability, and performance.
Back in those years (1960-69) the there were few teams with the resources to support the sport, teams like Ferrari, BRM, Lotus, Cooper, McLaren were manufacturers back then, Ferrari and BRM developed their own car (chassis) and engine, something that only teams like Ferrari, Mercedes Benz or Renault (renamed Alpine for 2021) can afford today. This is an extremely difficult task to achieve and be successful, the other teams rely on engine suppliers such as Climax, Maserati, BRM and later Ford Cosworth.
A point to consider is reliability, back in the 60’s, this was almost non-existent. The cars were extremely fragile and unreliable. Top manufacturers were experimenting through the season so that the car was continuously improving thru implementing or removing parts. The car that started the season was not the same at the end of the year. In order to make the field more populated old cars were fixed, fitted a different engine and registered to race.
Some can argue that the same can be said about the cars today, however, the changes today are very well regulated, documented, tracked but, most importantly, limited to certain areas or components and can only be implemented on or after a certain date, normally on or after the Barcelona GP.
The garages at the tracks were not the sophisticated, almost clean rooms you see today in the paddock, they looked more like your neighborhood garage with grease and dust. The people performing the technical inspection of the vehicles were mostly volunteers from each country. In Mexico, for example, Engineering students from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) were responsible for these activities, not the high-end specialists approved by the FIA you see today. They used the same tools that you would find in your garage like wrenches, screw drivers, hammers, sockets, etc. no computers, no telemetry, no engine sensors, no two-way communication, etc. The fuel/oil used on the cars, was the same you used on your regular car, not the ultra-sophisticated specially developed synthetic fuels and oils F1 cars use today.
If you go back and look at the cars, the Formula 1 rule book was extremely broad and gave basic general specifications like: engine displacement, height, length, width, and weight. Based on that, the constructors went ahead and created their own designs and ideas, aerodynamics were in its infancy, Enzo Ferrari famously stated: “Aerodynamics are for people that can’t build engines”, and looking back at the wing designs from 1968 , when they were introduced by Lotus, the design was very radical and only tested on the track. If they worked, great, if they didn’t, they were removed or adjusted, and engineers returned to the drawing board continuously since each circuit had its own challenges. It was the drivers who were testing on the track, the teams had no access to wind tunnels, CAD simulation or Virtual Reality simulation, it was trial and error at 200 MPH! At the Barcelona GP in Montjuic, two serious accidents occurred when the wings from the Lotuses driven by G. Hill and J. Rindt broke off, and the wings were banned for the following race the Monaco GP. Wings eventually returned but it was a controversial topic at the time.
Qualifications were completely different as they are today, having track days since Thursday all the way thru Sunday morning, Thursdays were the free practice day but Friday thru Sunday the cars were allowed to be on the track and have qualification laps. Pole position could be established at any point during this period, you had one, maximum two sets of tires for the weekend and those were supposed to last you for practice, qualification and the race. There was no such thing as: “conserve the tires or excessive tire degradation” you were also not forced to make a pitstop or use two sets of tires during the race.
Safety or the lack of it was definitively another key factor during that period. Every driver knew that by the end of the season several of their colleagues and friends would be killed, it is important to remember that at this time the Formula 1 paddock was more like a fraternity, a group of gypsies traveling with their families from race to race, girlfriends or wives were the time keepers, tracking the car performance thru the race, they knew their families, they took care of each other, so when one of them passed away the effects where devastating for the entire paddock. By those standards, today, thankfully with very few exceptions, Formula 1 is relatively “safe”, as proven by the accident of Roman Grosjean during the Bahrein GP. Back in the day, he would not have walked out of that accident as he thankfully did. It was an accident like this, due to a car suspension failure that, sadly, cost Ricardo Rodriguez his life back in 1962 during the free practice of the Mexican GP.
At the time this was a non-official GP, therefore Ferrari decided not to participate due to the fact that Non-official GP's didn't count towards the championship. Since Ricardo was a Ferrari driver at the time, he was able to get a Lotus 24, owned by Rob Walker, so he could be part of his home GP, the first ever Mexican Grand Prix, this was Ricardo’s second season in Formula 1.
Today every race in the calendar counts towards the Championship and the teams are contractually obligated to attend at the risk of being penalized if they do not show up. Could you imagine Sebastian Vettel or Lewis Hamilton driving another car just for one race?
Sadly Ricardo’s death was not an isolated event and by the end of the decade 13 drivers lost their lives on F1 related events, either test , practice or the race itself, several others died on non Formula one races, and before the end of the decade, in 1968, two time World Champion and one of the best, if not the best, F1 driver of all time Jim Clark lost his life driving a Lotus at the Hockenheimring at an Formula 2 event he was contractually obligated to attend, he was 32 years old. This send shockwaves thru the paddock and the entire Formula one world in order to improve safety on Formula one, Sir Jackie Stewart became a advocate for driver safety from that point to today.
As you can see, this was an era were ingenuity, innovation, great risk and entrepreneurship truly flourished, several iconic teams and drivers started in this era, like McLaren or Lotus, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart or Pedro Rodríguez, it lead to several innovations and trends that stand to this day, it was a time when a small team could challenge the established manufacturers not only for races but towards the World Championship. It was also the era where team sponsorships truly began, when big tobacco got involved in 1968 when Gold Leaf sponsored team Lotus changing the famous British Racing Green, the official color of Lotus, to Red and White... but that is the subject for the next blog which will be focused on the 70’s,
Merry Christmas and stay tuned for more next week!
What do you think? Please share any comments, opinion or ideas for future topics you would want to see on this blog. Please like and share with other enthusiasts.
If you want to know about racing back in the day, you should read Faster, if you have not, it's racing during war time during later part of the 30's to when WW2 was about to begin. The book does touch on racing some in 1918. The book touches on a woman who raced with her husband for Bugatti, Lucy Schell,(this is the book) Faster: How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler’s Best. Great book!
Very interesting and well documented. Indeed, it is very difficult to discuss and even difine who might be the best F1 driver of all times as F1 has so many elements in itself that have evolved in their own way, not necessarily for the sport's best. Some of these elements can be: -Driver camarderie, sprtmanship, technical knowledge and maturity. -Sponsorships: altough of prime importance to provide resources for technical development, they have evolved to be influential in other aspects not necessarily for the good of the SPORT. -Rules: certainly more restrictive and controlling, in some aspects for the good and others not that good for technical development and on track real racing. -Safety: always for the good of the SPORT. -Politics......Do I need to discuss? 🤦🏻♂️ In my…