Numbers 30 to 21 of our top 100 F1 videos. Todays classic Formula One videos include a thrilling win by Jackie Stewart, a stunning pass by Fernando Alonso, a sensational lap with Ayrton Senna and… Taki Inoue.
Read on for the eighth part of our top 100.
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30 – 1976 Tyrrell P34 Six-wheeler
The 1970s was a golden era of innovation in Formula One. Ground effect aerodynamics, turbo engines were among the great developments of the decade. Tyrrell’s P34 was at the cruder end of the innovation spectrum – the six wheeled car was exceptionally ugly – but it got results. It won the Swedish Grand Prix in 1976 and took a total of 14 podiums.
It featured four small turning wheels at the front for extra grip. Later six-wheelers from March and Williams (Which never raced) had four at the back for extra traction. The P34 was not universally popular with those who drove it – Jody Scheckter, despite claiming that sole win in the car – was strong in his criticisms, and it was perhaps not too great a shame that the FIA later declared that all F1 cars should have four wheels – no more, no less.
29 – 2005 San Marino Grand Prix, Imola – Fernando Alonso vs Michael Schumacher
2005 was, on the whole, a forgettable year for Ferrari. Only rarely did their Bridgestone tyres have anything like enough pace to challenge for wins. On one of the few occasions that they did, at Imola, Schumacher spoiled his qualifying lap and started 13th. But he ran deep into the race without pitting and, after capitalising on a mistake by Jenson Button, reeled in leader Alonso who was suffering tyre and engine problems.
Alonso responded with the finest defensive drives ever witnesses since Gilles Villeneuve’s at Jarama in 1981. Schumacher’s Ferrari was at least two seconds per lap quicker than the Renault, but Alonso calmly stuck to his line, and won the race by the smallest of margins.
28 – 2006 San Marino Grand Prix, – Imola Schumacher’s revenge on Alonso
Twelve months later, Schumacher capitalised on pole position to lead the San Marino Grand Prix. After the first round of pit stop Alonso began reeling in Schumacher and it looked like an inevitability that the Spaniard would pass his rival via the final set of pit stops.
But it didn;t quite work out that way. Renault, fearing that Schumacher had more fuel on board than Alonso, brought Alonso in early and Schumacher fired off a surprisingly quick lap to hold the lead once he had made his pit stop. With a handful of laps to go Alonso geared up for one final stab at the Ferrari, but ran wide at Villeneuve and lost time. Schumacher reacted with a flurry of fast laps and Alonso was beaten.
27 – 1991 Monaco Grand Prix, Monte-Carlo – A lap with Ayrton Senna
Nowhere other than Monaco was Ayrton Senna’s mastery of a Formula One car and unmatched one-lap pace more evident than at Monaco. His staccato throttle blips and intuitive car control are vividly realised in this on-board footage of him qualifying in 1991.
26 – 1986 Hungarian Grand Prix, Hungaroring – Nelson Piquet vs Ayrton Senna
Three-time champion Nelson Piquet is not well remembered for his overtaking, but this move an Ayrton Senna is a piece of underrated genius. At the inaugural Hungarian Grand Prix he had already tried to pass his compatriot and bitter rival down the inside of turn one but ran wide, losing the place. He retaliated at the same corner, sweeping around on the outside with masses of opposite lock. Thrilling stuff.
25 – 1993 Italian Grand Prix, Monza – Christian Fittipaldi’s backflip
For a team owner, the sightof your two cars crasing into one another is bad enough. But Giancarlo Minardi’s heart must have stopped when he saw his driver Christian Fittipaldi clip the back of team mate Pierluigi Martini’s car, and flip vertically through 360 degrees at the end of the team’s home Grand Prix. With incredible fortune Fittipaldi’s car not only landed the right way up, but career across the line to finish eighth.
24 – 2005 Japanese Grand Prix – Fernando Alonso passes Michael Schumacher at 130R
Another highlight from the big new rivalry in Formula One. The 2005 Japanese Grand Prix was without doubt the best of the decade so far and this is just one of the highlights. Alonso pounced on Schumacher on the run out of Spoon curve and slammed around the outside of the Ferrari in the flat-out, 180mph 130R corner. Passing moves don’t get much better – but they did in this race…
23 – 1995 Hungarian Grand Prix, Hungaroring – Taki Inoue and the ‘safety’ car
Surely the greatest comedy moment in Formula One history. Okay, it wouldn’t have been funny if Inoue had been seriously hurt, but the comic timing with which the stewards arrive just in time to run over the hapless Japanese driver gets me every time. Incredibly, this came a few races after an earlier misfortune with the marshalls for Inoue, when he managed to flip his Arrows over while being towed back to the pits.
22 – 1976 German Grand Prix, Nurburgring – Niki Lauda’s incredible escape
Niki Lauda’s terrible accident at the Nurburgring in 1976 nearly cost him his life. Within a few days of the crash he found himself coming around as a priest administered the Last Rites. Lauda colourfully told the priest what to go and do, and began a phenomenal recuperation process that saw him back in action at Monza just six weeks later. It was not enough to keep James Hunt from the title, and hurrying back to racing so quickly scarred Lauda for life.
It spelled the end for the greatest circuit ever used in Formula One. Despite having fairly recently been surrounded by safety fencing at enormous cost, the dangers of racing at the 14-mile venue could no longer be justified.
21 – 1969 Italian Grand Prix, Monza – Jackie Stewart wins a Monza thriller
In the years before the Monza circuit became emasculated in chicanes, it was home to the kind of thrilling slipstreaming battle you expect on an American oval. It was taken for granted that whoever led at Lesmo on the final lap, would not cross the line in the lead two laps later.
Jackie Stewart tried a bold approach to the race in 1969. He intentionally used a long fourth gear which he reasoned could take him from the final Parabolica turn to the start/finish line without having to shift up to fifth. This indeed proved decisive as Stewart raced out of the final corner on the last lap, dashing across the line ahead of Jochen Rindt and Jean Pierre Beltoise in a photo finish.
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