F1 2002: TEAM INFO GUIDE by Wolf Feather/Jamie Stafford FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM Initial Version Completed: October 7, 2002 FINAL VERSION Completed: February 17, 2002 ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== CONTENTS Spacing and Length Permissions Introduction Team Information Arrows BAR Ferrari Jaguar Jordan McLaren Minardi Renault Sauber Toyota Williams Contact ==================================== SPACING AND LENGTH For optimum readability, this driving guide should be viewed/printed using a monowidth font, such as Courier. Check for appropriate font setting by making sure the numbers and letters below line up: 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz This guide is over ***80 pages long*** in the Macintosh version of Microsoft Word 98 using single-spaced Courier 12 font. ==================================== PERMISSIONS This guide may ONLY be posted on FeatherGuides, GameFAQs.com, PSXCodez.com, F1Gamers, Cheatcc.com, Absolute- PlayStation.com, InsidePS2Games.com, RedCoupe, gamesover.com, CheatPlanet.com, The Cheat Empire, a2zweblinks.com, Gameguru, GameReactors.com, cheatingplanet.com, vgstrategies.com, CheatHeaven, IGN, hellzgate, Games Domain, RobsGaming.com, ps2fantasy.com, and neoseeker.com. Permission is granted to download and print one copy of this game guide for personal use. ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== INTRODUCTION This guide is designed to provide readers with information about the various racing teams included in F1 2002. While the information contained in this guide is not necessarily meant to assist with gameplay, it may be useful information to some readers. ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== TEAM INFORMATION This section will present each team alphabetically and some team information. Information is taken from the teams' official Web sites; some information is extremely brief, while other teams present essentially a book full of information. Arrows Full Team Name: Arrows Grand Prix International, Ltd. Web Site: http://www.arrows.com/ Sponsors and Partners: Orange, Red Bull, Lost Boys, Bridgestone, Cosworth, Paul Costelloe Whilst working for the Shadow team in 1977, and frustrated by on-track results, Alan Rees, Jackie Oliver, Dave Wass and Tony Southgate decided to start their own Grand Prix team. On November 28th, after months of initial preparation, Alan Rees arrived at their new factory in Milton Keynes ready to face a big challenge. There wasn't even a telephone in the new place, but as soon as one was installed the next day it began to ring. People wanted to be part of the Arrows dream. The equipment arrived on December 5th and by January 28th, 1978, the first car (the FA1) was ready to be unveiled to the press at a snowy Silverstone. Ricardo Patrese was the team's first and only driver at that time. The car made it's debut at the 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix where Patrese qualified in 18th position, 2.7 seconds behind pole sitter Ronnie Peterson in the Lotus. He stayed out of trouble and finished 10th, four laps down on the winner, Carlos Reutemann. The next Grand Prix took place a month later in South Africa giving the team more time to prepare. Patrese wowed everyone with his pace, starting from seventh position (0.87 sec. behind Nikki Lauda in his Brabham) and taking the lead halfway through the race. Unfortunately his Ford engine gave up 14 laps before the finish, taking with it Arrows' hopes for an early win. There was also trouble brewing away from the track. When the new Shadow car was shown to the press, it was noticed that it looked exactly like the Arrows car. As most of the Arrows team-members were former Shadow employees, Shadow accused the Arrows team of plagiarism and sued. The High Court in London ruled in favour of Shadow, stating the Arrows FA1 was a copy of the Shadow, and Arrows was forced to build a new car. In a record breaking time of just four weeks, the new car was built and ready to race but there were still problems on the horizon During the Italian Grand Prix that year there was a 10-car pile-up on the first lap of the race. Patrese was later accused of causing the accident as he hit the McLaren of James Hunt that in turn hit the Lotos of Ronnie Peterson, sending him into the barriers. Peterson was to later die from his injuries and Patrese was suspended for the next race because he was held indirectly responsible. Patrese lived with this accusation for many years before he was finally cleared of any blame. By the end of the debut season, Arrows had accumulated 11 World Championship points and had beaten their old team, Shadow, in the Constructors' Championship. In 1979, Arrows fielded two cars in the World Championship and Patrese was joined by Jochen Mass. It wasn't until the last race of the year that they were able to score points but the next year, 1980, would see the cars competing more strongly. At the United States Grand Prix at Long Beach, Patrese finished second, behind Nelson Piquet, and by the end of the year the team had amassed enough points to take seventh place in the Constructors' Championship, equal to McLaren and ahead of Ferrari. In 1979, Arrows fielded two cars in the World Championship and Patrese was joined by Jochen Mass. It wasn't until the last race of the year that they were able to score points but the next year, 1980, would see the cars competing more strongly. At the United States Grand Prix at Long Beach, Patrese finished second, behind Nelson Piquet, and by the end of the year the team had amassed enough points to take seventh place in the Constructors' Championship, equal to McLaren and ahead of Ferrari. In 1980, Tony Southgate left the team and David Wass assumed the mantle of Chief Designer. At the 1981 San Marino Grand Prix the team came tantalisingly close to its first win but Patrese had to settle for second place, just 4.5 seconds behind Piquet. New driver, Siegfried Stohr, who replaced Mass was unable to score any points so he too was replaced, this time by Jacques Villeneuve, the brother of Gilles. Patrese scored all 10 points the team achieved that year but then left the Arrows at the end of 1981 to join the Brabham team. The 1982 season started badly for Arrows with Mauro Baldi and Brian Henton unable to even qualify for the first Grand Prix and, after five races, Henton was replaced by Marc Surer. By the end of the season Arrows had only scored five points. This was not good enough for the team and plans were put in place to build for the future. Tough seasons in 1983 and 1984 followed but, by the beginning of 1985, Arrows had a stronger car, an engine supplied by BMW and a solid driver line-up in Gerhard Berger and Thierry Boutsen. This combination gave Arrows 14 points that year and it looked like the team was on its way up. The 1982 season started badly for Arrows with Mauro Baldi and Brian Henton unable to even qualify for the first Grand Prix and, after five races, Henton was replaced by Marc Surer. By the end of the season Arrows had only scored five points. This was not good enough for the team and plans were put in place to build for the future. Tough seasons in 1983 and 1984 followed but, by the beginning of 1985, Arrows had a stronger car, an engine supplied by BMW and a solid driver line-up in Gerhard Berger and Thierry Boutsen. This combination gave Arrows 14 points that year and it looked like the team was on its way up . The 1982 season started badly for Arrows with Mauro Baldi and Brian Henton unable to even qualify for the first Grand Prix and, after five races, Henton was replaced by Marc Surer. By the end of the season Arrows had only scored five points. This was not good enough for the team and plans were put in place to build for the future. Tough seasons in 1983 and 1984 followed but, by the beginning of 1985, Arrows had a stronger car, an engine supplied by BMW and a solid driver line-up in Gerhard Berger and Thierry Boutsen. This combination gave Arrows 14 points that year and it looked like the team was on its way up. The 1982 season started badly for Arrows with Mauro Baldi and Brian Henton unable to even qualify for the first Grand Prix and, after five races, Henton was replaced by Marc Surer. By the end of the season Arrows had only scored five points. This was not good enough for the team and plans were put in place to build for the future. Tough seasons in 1983 and 1984 followed but, by the beginning of 1985, Arrows had a stronger car, an engine supplied by BMW and a solid driver line-up in Gerhard Berger and Thierry Boutsen. This combination gave Arrows 14 points that year and it looked like the team was on its way up. Berger departed for Benetton in 1986 and his replacement, Christian Danner, scored the teams' only point that year. This was a big disappointment for Arrows but the arrival of new designer, Ross Brawn, produced a car that helped its drivers Eddie Cheever and Derek Warwick to pick up 11 points. In 1987 the team was even stronger and often on the pace with the powerful factory-backed teams, finishing sixth in the Constructors? Championship. More good fortune was on the way. Berger departed for Benetton in 1986 and his replacement, Christian Danner, scored the teams' only point that year. This was a big disappointment for Arrows but the arrival of new designer, Ross Brawn, produced a car that helped its drivers Eddie Cheever and Derek Warwick to pick up 11 points. In 1987 the team was even stronger and often on the pace with the powerful factory-backed teams, finishing sixth in the Constructors' Championship. More good fortune was on the way. With a more or less unchanged car in 1988, Arrows took fourth place in the Constructors' Championship. The team continued its good form in 1989. A long pit-stop in Brazil scuppered Warwick's chance of taking Arrows' first win but a podium finish for Cheever in Detroit did much to motivate the team. The team continued its good form in 1989. A long pit-stop in Brazil scuppered Warwick's chance of taking Arrows' first win but a podium finish for Cheever in Detroit did much to motivate the team. At the end of 1989 the Arrows team needed an injection of cash if it was to continue in Formula One and it was at this point that the Japanese Footwork Corporation bought a major share of Arrows, splitting the directorship of the team between Jackie Oliver, Alan Rees and Mr. Nagata from Footwork. The 1990 season began with two new drivers, Alex Caffi and Michele Alboreto, and a new engine from Porsche but again the results just wouldn't come their way. In 1991, the team was renamed 'Footwork' but the change of name didn't produce a change of fortune and the struggle continued. It wasn't until 1992, when Footwork teamed up with Mugen, that the results changed. Alboreto scored six points that year, taking seventh place for the team in the Constructors' Championship. The 1990 season began with two new drivers, Alex Caffi and Michele Alboreto, and a new engine from Porsche but again the results just wouldn't come their way. In 1991, the team was renamed 'Footwork' but the change of name didn't produce a change of fortune and the struggle continued. It wasn't until 1992, when Footwork teamed up with Mugen, that the results changed. Alboreto scored six points that ear, taking seventh place for the team in the Constructors' Championship. The 1990 season began with two new drivers, Alex Caffi and Michele Alboreto, and a new engine from Porsche but again the results just wouldn't come their way. In 1991, the team was renamed 'Footwork' but the change of name didn?t produce a change of fortune and the struggle continued. It wasn't until 1992, when Footwork teamed up with Mugen, that the results changed. Alboreto scored six points that year, taking seventh place for the team in the Constructors' Championship. Another tough season followed in 1993 because, although the Footwork Mugens, now driven by Derek Warwick and Aguri Suzuki, were qualifying higher up the grid, the race results were poor and only 4 points were scored. Footwork reduced its involvement in the team at this point so in early 1994 it was renamed 'Arrows Grand Prix International'. Warwick and Suzuki were replaced by F3000 Champion Christian Fittipaldi and Gianni Morbidelli who together brought in nine points for the team that year. Fittipaldi headed off to the American Indycar series at the end of the year but a replacement was quickly found in Taki Inoue, a Japanese driver. A shortage of funds in 1995 forced Arrows to take on drivers who brought sponsorship money with them. Inoue didn't make the grade on the track but as he brought finance it was Morbidelli who the team had to begrudgingly let go. Max Papis arrived to take his place but for the last three races Morbidelli returned and duly rewarded the team for having faith in him by finishing on the podium in Australia! In March 1996, the Arrows team was bought by TWR Group owner, Tom Walkinshaw, who moved the entire operation to new headquarters in Leafield, Oxfordshire. Walkinshaw's dream was to turn Arrows into a top-line team. He set about his task and hired two promising young drivers, Jos Verstappen and Riccardo Rosset. The team proved itself to be fast in qualifying but needed to start producing strong race results so Arrows needed a driver with a proven record. Walkinshaw pulled off the coup of the year and signed newly-crowned F1 World Champion Damon Hill for the 1997 season. With the new Yamaha engine and Bridgestone tyres, the team had a fighting chance and, at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the moment they had all been waiting for arrived - almost. Hill had put in a stunning performance and was leading the race when, on the penultimate lap, he slowed dramatically. Hydraulic problems had finally beaten him and on the very last lap Jacques Villeneuve got past to take the chequered flag. Although delighted with second place, the team was greatly disappointed after getting so close to a victory. In 1998, John Barnard, the famed ex-Ferrari designer joined the team along with two new drivers, Mika Salo and Pedro Diniz. Together they scored six points that season. A lack of money for testing and development meant that the black-liveried A19 quickly fell of the pace. The Hart designed Arrows V10 which the team built in the absence of a factory deal couldn't match the power of Mercedes, Renault, Ferrari and the like so did not allow the team to exploit the car. Apart from a great drive by Salo to claim fourth in Monaco, the year was disappointing. Barnard departed, replaced by Mike Coughlan who designed the A20 for the 1999 season. Pedro de la Rosa and Tora Tagaki took the driver's seats in 1999 and, in his debut race, Pedro finished in sixth place, taking one World Championship point. Unfortunately this was to be the only point Arrows collected in 1999. At the beginning of the same season, the Arrows team needed another injection of cash and it was Nigerian Prince Ado Ibrahim Malik who offered the rescue package. In return for becoming a co-director with Walkinshaw, Malik sourced a 45% buyout of the team from Morgan Grenfell. However, Malik's continued failure to source sponsorship money was resulted in his departure at the end of that season. It was time to move onwards and upwards. Pedro de la Rosa was re-signed for 2000 and was joined by Jos Verstappen. In March 2000, telecommunications giant, Orange, joined Arrows as title sponsor. The increased investment, in addition to a new management structure, aided the team's ability to develop and create greater security for the all new OrangeArrows Team. The A21 chassis, powered by a Supertec V10 engine proved to be a strong combination and Vertappen and de la Rosa were both able to fight with the front-runners. Finishing seventh in the Constructors' Championship was a great result for the team and this impressive performance was duly awarded when Arrows was voted 'Most Improved Team of the Year, 2000' in a public opinion vote. In 2001, Arrows looked to build on its strong results from the previous year. Powered by a new Asiatech engine package, and with fresh faces in the race team and design office, the team was confident of success. Early signs were indeed positive, with the A22 proving its reliability in Australia, and Jos Verstappen giving possibly the drive of the season in rain-soaked Malaysia, which left the team desperately unlucky not have finished in the points. Despite other strong efforts, notably in Canada and Germany, the team's best result came in Austria, where a consistent drive by Verstappen saw him bring home a valuable point, in what otherwise proved to be a tough season for Arrows. BAR (British American Racing) Full Team Name: British American Racing Honda Web Site: http://www.britishamericanracing.com/ Sponsors and Partners: Lucky Strike, Honda, Tiscali, Intercond, smugone.com, Sonax, Bridgestone, EDS, Koni Racing, Acorn, OZ Racing, Barco, Cartwright, PerkinElmer, Lincoln Electric, Sandvik Coromant, CRP Technology, DeVilbiss Automotive Refinishing, AMIK, Acer, NTT DoCoMo, Bottaro British American Racing (B.A.R) was formed in November 1997 by Craig Pollock, Reynard Racing Cars and British American Tobacco. British American Racing purchased Tyrrell Racing shortly afterwards and moved to a state-of the-art 86,000 square foot headquarters in Brackley, near Northampton (UK). The facility boasts some of the most up to-date, technologically advanced engineering machinery available, including a purpose-built wind tunnel. B.A.R was launched to the world's media on 2 December 1997. Jacques Villeneuve, the reigning Formula One World Champion, signed to drive for the fledgling team in July 1998; Ricardo Zonta joined three months later and the inaugural driver line-up was complete. With everything in place, B.A.R staged its first team launch at Brackley in January 1999 - only 14 months after it was founded. The team competed in its first-ever Formula One race in Melbourne, Australia on 7 March 1999. Lessons learnt from a tough first season were put to good effect. The new Honda-powered BAR002 came 4th and 6th on its first competitive outing in 2000 and went on to finish the season equal on points with fourth-placed Benetton. British American Racing had finally arrived. However, after such a successful second year, Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda was unable to continue the momentum into 2001 and the year petered out into mediocrity. Jacques Villeneuve had been joined by the highly experienced and versatile Olivier Panis to form one of the best driver line-ups in Formula One. However, despite grabbing the team's first podiums in Spain and Germany, not even the mercurial French-Canadian was able to really conquer a hard-to-handle car. 2002 would have to be a completely fresh start and an all new car - the BAR004 - was only the tip of the iceberg. Honda designed a completely new engine - the RA002E - and announced that it has reached agreement for a new three year partnership with the team. In practical terms that means Honda is stepping up its involvement in the chassis programme and clearly focusing its resources on Formula One to underline its determination to win the World Championship. More good news emerged in the form of an additional commitment from technical partner Bridgestone. The Japanes tyre giant announced that it has also laid the foundations for a long-term partnership with Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda. Finally and perhaps of most significance, the team revealed that David Richards, founder of Prodrive, would take over the reins as Team Principal, following the departure of Craig Pollock. David Richards' first task was to make a detailed and extensive review of the team. As a result of this study a new structure was implemented to give clearer lines of reporting, more focused accountability and an overall leaner organisation. Malcolm Oastler and Andy Green both left the team and there was a reduction of some15% of the workforce at the Brackley based team. Richards commented: 'I have the greatest respect for the people who created this team, and the dedication they have shown to the task, but at the end of the day the organisation has not delivered. I know that Malcolm and Andy recognise that the results have been below their expectations and I appreciate their disappointment and thank them for their efforts.' 'We need to build a team with a very clear structure, with the very best people and give them the responsibility to deliver against precisely determined goals. As I have said from the beginning, B.A.R has many extremely talented people and what we are now doing is giving them the framework within which they can fulfil their true potential.' Following the restructure, the new management team has immediately set about the task of turning B.A.R into a future World Championship contender, although they are under no illusions that it will take a couple of years before all the ingredients are in place to challenge the top 3 teams. Realistically, 2002 has been all about laying a foundation, paving the way for the achievement of solid longer-term objectives. A great deal of hard work lies ahead and B.A.R will rely heavily on the excellent relationship it has with its partners Honda and Bridgestone to achieve its ambitions. With this in mind B.A.R signed Jenson Button in July in a four-year deal. 2003 looks like being a very interesting year indeed. Ferrari Full Team Name: Scuderia Ferrari Web Site: http://www.shellmotorsport.com/ ferrari/index.html Sponsors and Partners: Shell Scuderia Ferrari, formed in 1929 in Modena, has stamped it's charismatic identity on the history of the Formula One World Championship, the legend and achievements of it's scarlet racing cars standing above all others. Motor racing's most successful team, with countless sportscar wins and an unrivalled 113 Grand Prix victories to its credit, out of 586 Grand Prix starts the stable of the prancing horse is also its most historic, exuding boundless emotion. Ferrari has contested every World Championship since the title was inaugurated in 1950, and employed the talents of some of the sport's most colourful and talented personalities. Journeyman racing driver Enzo Ferrari was manager of the most successful of the many private teams racing Alfa Romeos in the 1930s, using the emotive cavallino rampante (prancing horse) emblem for his Modena-based team; the heraldic gift was presented by the Italian World War One flying ace Francesco Baracca's family. Ferrari eventually became Alfa Romeo's factory sporting director before resigning and setting up his own team in 1940; and with the designer GioacchinoColombo, the first racing car to carry the Ferrari name on it's engine, the 125S, was created. It competed in that year's Mille Miglia race. After World War Two, Ferrari was amongst those leading the revival of motor racing in Europe. Based in the Modena suburb of Maranello, the new marque initially enjoyed success in sportscar racing, scoring its debut race win in 1947. The first Formula One design followed in 1948, penned by the gifted former Alfa designer, Aurelio Lampredi. The advent of the new World Championship saw Ferrari developing its V12 engine - a configuration that was to become synonymous with his name - the marque claiming its first Grand Prix win in 1951 with the Shell fuel and lubricated 4.5-litre 375. This set the stage for Ferrari's domination of the 1952 season, when Alberto Ascari won the first of his back-to-back world titles in Formula Two machinery (as set out by new regualtions). The unrivalled talent of Juan Manual Fangio was dominant at this time, and the World Championship crown did not return to Maranello until the Argentinean joined Ferrari in 1956. The final World Championship achieved by a front-engined car was to be Ferrari's honour in 1958. Fittingly, Britain's Mike Hawthorn claimed the title at the wheel of a car named after Ferrari's son, Dino, who had succumbed to leukaemia two years earlier. The following season's rear-engine revolution left Ferrari trailing the British teams, as Enzo was reluctant for change. However, in 1961, Ferrari's new designer Carlo Chiti created the famous (rear-engined) 156 shark nose which carried American Phil Hill to the World title in convincing style. John Surtees, a World Champion on two wheels, piloted the first monocoque-chassis Ferrari to the World title in 1964, and just missed out on another crown in 1966, the debut season of the three-litre formula. 1968 saw Grand Prix cars radically change in their appearance, when Ferrari introduced the use of ground effect rear wings. However, the late 1960s proved to be somewhat of a dry spell for the team. An all-new flat (boxer) 12 engine, designed by Mauro Forghieri put the prancing horse back in contention for the 1970 World Championships. With the support of it's new partner Fiat, Ferrari opened its own test facility at Fiorano in 1972, replicating sections of the world's most demanding circuits and featuring speed sensors and television cameras covering every metre of track. The end of the 1973 season saw the arrival of Luca di Montezemolo as racing director, and he persuaded the commendatore to hire the young Austrian driver Niki Lauda from the struggling BRM team. This partnership was to herald the full-scale revival of the marque's fortunes. Ferrari and Lauda dominated the 1975 season, claiming the Driver's title, and di Montezemolo moved on to other responsibilities within Fiat. 1976 started where the previous season left off, with Lauda convincingly dominating the championship. However, his near-fatal accident at the Nurburgring put him out of action for several months, and despite his heroic comeback at Monza, he relinquished the crown to James Hunt. The following year, he re-claimed the title. Lauda left Ferrari before the end of the year, and was replaced by the young Canadian, Gilles Villeneuve. Ferrari remained competitive throughout the end of the decade, and South African Jody Scheckter clinched the 1979 World crown (Ferrari's last) in his first season with the team. The face of Grand Prix racing changed yet again with teams embracing the turbo-charged engine and a ground-effect design philosophy that was to prove ultimately fatal. Ferrari was slow to embrace turbos, not fielding its first turbocharged mount until the 1981 season. British designer Harvey Postlethwaite replaced Forghieri in 1982, and his designs propelled the team to the brink of the championship, only for fate to cruelly strike down their drivers, Gilles Villeneuve and Frenchman Didier Pironi. The team managed to gather their emotions and won consecutive Constructors' titles. The pace of technical development stepped up a gear in 1986 with the opening of a wind tunnel and the appointment of design innovator John Barnard, from Mclaren, as technical director. At a dinner in 1987, the ailing Enzo Ferrari poignantly announced: 'I'm coming up to the finishing line,' and just a few weeks after a Papal visit to Maranello, he passed away on 14 August 1988 in Modena at the age of 90. The racing gods smiled on his emotional legacy when the scarlet cars scored a famous one-two in the Italian Grand Prix a month later. Barnard's first design for the marque featured a revolutionary semi-automatic gearbox and the car won on its debut in 1989. His temporary departure at the end of that season affected the team's planning for the 1990 campaign, and Alain Prost narrowly failed to win the championship when he was punted off the track by Ayrton Senna at Suzuka. Barnard's return in 1992, along with the appointment of Montezemolo as company president and Frenchman Jean Todt as racing director, restored the team's momentum. The 1994 and 1995 seasons saw steady development of the team's performance with Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi bringing the prancing horse back to the brink of success. The addition of the then World Champion Michael Schumacher - and Shell fuel and lubricants for the first time since 1973 - to the marque's 1996 package saw Ferrari achieve three inspired victories in Spain, Belgium and Italy. With the new development V10 in the 1999 F399, and the unrivalled support of Shell, the famous stable of the prancing horse took the Constructors' Championship and narrowly missed out on the Drivers' Championship. However, the team returned with a vengeance in 2000 to win the Drivers' and the Constructors' Championship once again for the legendary marque. Jaguar Full Team Name: Jaguar Racing Web Site: http://www.jaguar-racing.com/ Sponsors and Partners: HSBC, Beck's, AT&T, EDS, DuPont, HP, Michelin, Castrol, Lear, 3D Systems, Aqua-Pura, Rolex, s.Olivier, Volvo Trucks Jaguar Racing extends a long and distinguished motorsport tradition with its entry into the 2002 Formula One World Championship. The company has been involved in motorsport since it was founded in 1922. Seven times it has won the world's toughest endurance race at Le Mans, been World Sports Car Champions three times and in 1956 won both Le Mans and the Monte Carlo Rally in the same year. The roll call of drivers who have raced Jaguars during the past 50 years reads like a Who's Who of motorsport. In the Fifties, Mike Hawthorn, Paul Frere, Duncan Hamilton and Stirling Moss were regulars with the Jaguar team. Jackie Stewart (and brother Jimmy), Sir Jack Brabham, Briggs Cuningham and Graham Hill all drove Jaguars during successful racing careers. In more recent times, Martin Brundle, Tom Walkinshaw, Derek Warwick, Patrick Tambay, John Watson, Eddie Cheever and Jan Lammers all drove for Jaguar. The lessons learned on the race tracks will benefit the Company's customers around the world as Jaguar prepares to expand its model range. This will extend the appeal of the marque to new sectors of the premium car market. Jordan Full Team Name: Jordan Grand Prix Web Site: http://www.f1jordan.com/ Sponsors and Partners: Deutsche Post, Benson & Hedges, Damovo, Brother, Imation Corp., Hewlett-Packard, Virgin Mobile, Liqui Molly, MasterCard, Puma, Infineon, vielife, Powermarque, Sparco, Grundig, Laurent-Perrier, Honda, Bridgestone, Celerant Consulting, Schroth, Touchpaper, Imasaf, KPMG, Attenda, Tridion, Bang New Media Founded in 1991 by flamboyant Irishman Eddie Jordan Jordan Grand Prix has brought colour and a sense of humour to Formula One. In just over a decade in the sport, the team has also produced impressive results, notably three race wins, a further fourteen podiums, plus six front rows in qualifying. In 1998 the team broke the top four strangle-hold of Ferrari, Williams, McLaren and Benetton which had stood since 1989; in 1999 Jordan went one better - beating two former world champions, Williams and Benetton, to leave only the might of Ferrari and McLaren un-challenged. In 2000, Jordan was the only team to join McLaren and Ferrari on the front row of the grid, but the team suffered reliability problems which, allied to much bad luck, saw it slip to sixth in the Championship. 2001 saw Jordan begin a long-term partnership with Honda Motor Company and move up to fifth in the World Championship. Jordan Grand Prix is based in England at a purpose built factory opposite Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire which in 2001 expanded to house ever growing departments and staff numbers. The team's wind tunnel is housed in nearby Brackley, five miles from Jordan's headquarters. From just 43 employees in its first season, the team has grown to employ just over 200 staff whilst its budgets have increased 600 percent over the last decade. A new state of the art factory, adjacent to the current site, is scheduled for occupation in time for the 2004 season. Jordan enjoys financial backing from sponsors Deutsche Post and Benson and Hedges with a further twenty sponsors, plus equity investment from investment bank Warburg, Pincus*. In addition, from the start of the of the 2001 season, the team has enjoyed competing with Honda works engines and now enters its second year of a long-term partnership with Honda in 2002. This support enables Jordan to invest in the very latest technologies necessary to become a powerful force within Formula One. For the 2002 season, Jordan will fight for the World Championship with Italy's Giancarlo Fisichella, who returns to Jordan on a three year deal after a four year absence, and 2001 British F3 Champion and Japan's young talent, Takuma Sato. Sato's initial two year contract alongside Fisichella gives Jordan vital continuity and a dynamic and strong long-term driver line up which will be key in the team's development with Honda. In 2002, Jordan announced a new racing team name and logo: DHL Jordan Honda. * Jordan Grand Prix was the first Formula One team to acquire equity investment from a financial institution. The deal was announced in November 1998. McLaren Full Team Name: McLaren International Web Site: http://www.mclaren.com/ Sponsors and Partners: West, Mercedes, Mobil1, Michelin, BAE Systems, BS Catia, Computer Associates, Loctite, Siemens Mobile, Sun Microsystems, BOSS, SAP, Schuco, Warsteiner, Advanced Composites Group, Canon, Charmilles, Enkei, GS Battery, Kenwood, Mazak Machine Tools, Sports Marketing Surveys, Tag Heuer, Targetti Lightning, T-Mobil Over the next few weeks, we will take you through a complete history of the McLaren team, from the first ever Grand Prix car produced and driven by Bruce McLaren in 1966 right through to the present day. In the first part of our series we look at how it all began and take you through to 1970. When Bruce McLaren died in a testing accident at Goodwood in 1970 at the young age of 33, he had already established a rich heritage which he was to leave to the World of motor racing. His team had been phenomenally successful in various forms of racing, he had been successful as a driver, and he had been much admired as a person and greatly loved in the sport. That heritage has survived throughout the years. Teddy Mayer ran the team for a decade after McLaren's death, Ron Dennis then took it over and in the last 20 years, the re named McLaren International has enjoyed incredible success, run with an attention to detail that the founder would have appreciated. McLaren's early links with Ford, for instance, are mirrored by those currently with Mercedes. To move into Grand Prix racing, McLaren established his team under the flight path at Colnbrook, near Heathrow. Entering the new Millenium, McLaren International's new Paragon Centre on the outskirts of Woking in Surrey is establishing new standards for racing and performance car construction. But it all began on the other side of the world. Bruce McLaren was born in Auckland, New Zealand on August 30, 1937. His father, Leslie, ran a garage and having raced motorcycles, moved to racing cars after the war. Bruce McLaren himself had an extraordinary childhood; aged nine, he contracted Perthe's disease which affects the hip. After a month in hospital, he spent three years in a home for crippled children, his legs in plaster casts, lying in traction, immobile for months on end. Later he would be allowed a wheelchair but at one time there were fears that he would never walk again. He did so, of course, but with a limp; his left leg was 1 1/2 inches shorter than his right. All this time, however, he studied and was able to graduate to an engineering course at Seddon Memorial Technical College. But he was already intrigued by motor sport. His father bought an 750 cc Austin Ulster Seven but it scared him rigid. Bruce, however, persuaded his father that he should race it and an early rival was one Phil Kerr, who was to become a mainstay in the McLaren team. When the Austin was sold(it is now in Woking) Bruce raced his father's Austin Healey 100 in 1956/7, but when this expired, McLaren managed to buy a bob tailed centre seat Cooper, previous raced by Jack Brabham. All this time, Bruce was still a student but managed a kind of correspondence course with Brabham in England to sort out the car. Brabham then suggested bringing a pair of Formula Two Coopers to New Zealand for the winter and that Bruce would drive one of them. There was a fair amount of success, and Bruce went on to become New Zealand's first 'Driver to Europe' in 1958. McLaren sold his own car and instead bought a new Cooper when he arrived in England. It was the start of his international career, and he learned about European racing as he trailed the little Formula Two car from race to race. But it was finishing fifth overall and first in Formula Two in the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring that really established him. He took a 1960cc Formula Two car home to New Zealand and won his national championship that winter. For 1959, McLaren was signed as a Cooper Formula One driver which he would remain for the next six years. His teammate was Jack Brabham and in that first year, he won the final Grand Prix of the year at Sebring. He was the youngest ever winner of a Grand Prix at 22, and his teammate won the World Championship. Bruce became engaged to Patty Broad that winter, and would marry her the following year. On his return to Europe, he was Brabham's teammate again, and once again, the Aussie won the World Championship. McLaren actually led the championship for a race and won in Argentina. He was second to Brabham in the championship. Brabham now left the team, leaving McLaren as team leader, but new engine regulations cost the team dearly in 1961. It was better in 1962 when McLaren was allowed some say in the design process and he won at Monaco, finishing third in the championship. The following year, however, was very difficult. Patty McLaren was injured in a water skiing accident, John Cooper was badly injured in a road accident, Bruce himself was thrown out of his uncompetitive car at the Nurburgring and was knocked out. McLaren began to look for alternatives. As usual, McLaren wanted to take a car down to New Zealand to race in the Tasman series, but his suggestion to slim down a pair of Coopers for himself and American Timmy Mayer, fell on deaf ears at Cooper. So late in 1963, Bruce McLaren and Mayer's brother Teddy registered the name Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Ltd was registered. The series was a success in that Bruce won the championship, but tragic because Mayer was killed. It had sewn the seeds, however. He would say that there was nothing like designing, building, running and racing your own cars. It was full circle. While he would continue as a Cooper Formula One driver for another two seasons scoring 13pts in 1964 and 10 the following year his own company was being established. While Formula One remained the major series, big banger sports cars were also fashionable on either side of the Atlantic. Bruce, via Mayer, bought the ex Mecom/Penske Zerez Special and raced it in Europe. That spawned the idea of their own car, the McLaren M1, and that was put into production by Peter Agg's Lambretta Trojan Group in Rye, Sussex. They would make and sell 200 McLarens during the next ten years. McLaren was also involved in the development of Ford's GT cars. McLaren was still Cooper's number one driver in 1965, but Charles Cooper died and son John sold the team to the Chipstead Motor Group. McLaren, helped by a former Concorde senior scientific officer called Robin Herd, began to seek other areas than sports cars McLaren's first ever Grand Prix car, the McLaren Ford M2B appeared at Monaco for the first Grand Prix for the new three litre Formula on May 22, powered by a slimmed down but still capacious Ford Indy V8. It was the Mallite monocoque successor to Robin Herd's M2A test car. It qualified tenth of sixteen runners, but completed just nine laps before retiring with an oil leak. Two non starts in Belgium and Holland sandwiched a sixth place at Brands Hatch for the British Grand Prix with the weak Serenessima V8 engine. The team, however, was waiting for the return of the Ford V8, and they did the last two races of the year, McLaren taking fifth Watkins Glen, but the engine's swansong resulted in retirement. Chris Amon, who should also have raced for the team, never did so. However, in its first year, McLaren's Formula One team attempted six out of nine races, raced in four of them, and scored points in two. At the same time, the team was also busy in the British Group 7 sports car series while McLaren and Amon won Le Mans in a 7.0 Ford GT Mark 2. For their second year, McLaren decided to race just one car in Formula One with the team boss in the cockpit. Initially, they would have a 2.1 BRM engine available, but a 3.0 V12 unit was on its way. So Robin Herd adapted the M4A, initially a Formula 2/3 car, to be used with the smaller engine, this being called the M4B. McLaren did just two Grands Prix in this car, it being tailormade for the twists and turns of Monaco where he finished a fine fourth, although second was on the cards until a pit stop. But he crashed on lap two due to an oil slick in the Dutch Grand Prix and that was the end of the M4B effort. Instead, McLaren subsequently raced an Eagle in France, Britain and Germany, although without any success, certainly not that enjoyed by Gurney in the preceding Belgian Grand Prix which he won. McLaren then did the remaining four races in the championship in Herd's M5A with its BRM V12 engine, but while he finished the first of those races in seventh place, he failed to finish the remaining three although he qualified in the top ten each time and on the front row at Monza. Greater success was enjoyed by the orange M6As in CanAm racing where McLaren and Deny Hulme won five out of six races and Bruce became champion. (Hulme was Formula One World Champion for Brabham). The boss also did a few Formula Two races too... All this while running a successful customer side, although the cars were produced by Trojan. Partly thanks to Goodyear and Gulf Oil, Denny Hulme signed up with McLaren to make a formidable Kiwi combination in 1968. The pairing of Formula One World Champion and CanAm champion racing together in both series was a powerful one. But McLaren, like Lotus and Matra, also had the benefit of the new DFV engine which gave some sixty bhp more than the BRMs. Once again, the chassis design was mainly by Robin Herd, before he left for Cosworth. However, the first race of the season was some four and a half months before the second, so Hulme only raced a BRM engined M5A in South Africa where he finished fifth. Next up came two non championship races in England, ideal tests for the new Cosworth powered M7A and it performed magnificently: victory for McLaren in the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, for Hulme at the International Trophy at Silverstone, with McLaren second. The rest of the season went pretty well too, although Lotus with Hill and Matra with Stewart just had the edge on the McLarens, although all three were using the same DFV engines. McLaren won a Grand Prix for the first time using his own car in Belgium, while Hulme won in Italy and Canada, leading home McLaren in the team's first one two at Mont Tremblant. But in the final race of the season, Hulme crashed due to a broken damper and was beaten into third in the Drivers' title, although McLaren were just 13 points behind winners Lotus in the Constructors' thanks to super reliability. In CanAm, works and customer cars dominated with Hulme winning the title this time and McLaren 11 points behind in second. McLaren's record just got better and better, even though they were still using the M7s from the previous year and were somewhat distracted by going down the fashionable, but ultimately fruitless, four wheel drive road with the M9A. It was also the era of high wings, until they were banned, so aerodynamics were somewhat varied. Nearly all the opposition were running dominant DFVs, apart from BRM and Ferrari. Tyres, reliability, rule changes, 11 CanAm races and the four wheel drive programme all took their toll on the straightforward Grand Prix campaign. McLaren got onto the rostrum three times during the year but Hulme had a very poor second half of the second, only alleviated by victory in the final round of the series in Mexico, as Goodyear's latest tyres began to overcome Firestone and Dunlop's early season form. Even so, the team sunk to fourth in the championship. But the team's orange M8Bs won every round of that busy CanAm series, lead by Bruce McLaren himself while Peter Gethin dominated the Formula 5000 championship in Church Farm Racing's M10A. It may not have been a good year in Grand Prix racing, but there was plenty to shout about elsewhere. The death of Bruce McLaren while testing the team's latest CanAm challenger at Goodwood not surprisingly overshadowed the entire year. It was going to be a busy one. Not only was there a Grand Prix programme with the evolutionary DFV powered M14As, but also a parallel programme with Alfa Romeo powered M14Ds, principally for Andrea de Adamich. On top of that, there was still the CanAm programme, and McLaren had decided, the previous year, that they would tackle the Indy 500. They had moved to new premises at Colnbrook, near Heathrow, and now numbered 50 people. Hulme finished second in the first Grand Prix of the year, and McLaren was similarly placed in the second. Hulme finished fourth in Monaco, and although the Alfa Romeo programme suffered from inconsistent engines, things were looking good otherwise. But then Hulme was badly burnt in an Indy practice fire, and days later, McLaren was killed. It was a cruel blow. Perhaps Hulme, shouldering team leader status, came back to racing too early, but it would take some time for his burns to heal. Peter Gethin, again successful in Formula 5000, became his teammate in Grand Prix racing and in CanAm. But in a year that Lotus replaced their 49 with a 72, and when Ferrari began to make a comeback, it was no surprise that McLaren didn't win a single race, and remained at fourth equal in the championship. However, Hulme won the CanAm title again from customer Lothar Motschenbacher with Gethin third. Peter Revson finished second at Indy. Not surprisingly, the team was still in the process of rebuilding as 1971 started. Gordon Coppuck was concentrating on the design of the team's IndyCar challenger, while Ralph Bellamy joined from Brabham for a year to design the factory's Formula One M19A. It featured rising rate suspension which initially seemed a good idea. Elsewhere, the management of the team passed to Phil Kerr and American Teddy Mayer who had both been Bruce McLaren's right hand men in various departments. Hulme lead the first race of the year at Kyalami until a bolt fell out of the rear suspension but thereafter, the team was in trouble, partially due to tyre vibration and understeer. Bruce McLaren's engineering ability was sorely missed. Mark Donohue became a semi works driver in his Penske entered machine to try and solve the problem, bumping Gethin out of the team to BRM, with whom he won the Italian Grand Prix that year. Donohue's third place in Canada was the highlight in a year dominated by Jackie Stewart and Tyrrell, while McLaren scored just ten points, including Donohue's four. But McLaren again won the CanAm series with the M8F, Hulme ahead of Revson. The American again finished second at Indy. McLaren's commitments can be typified by the weekend of May 19, 1972. That weekend, Hulme won the Oulton Park Gold Cup in the Formula One M19A, Jody Scheckter won the last Crystal Palace Formula Two race in McLaren's stillborn F2 production car, the M21, and Mark Donohue won the Indy 500 in Penske Racing's M16B. A fine McLaren weekend. For the record, McLaren were finally beaten the CanAm championship that year, after five consecutive victories, while their F5000 involvement was petering out. But a new era was dawning. The team had full sponsorship from Yardley and this year ran the previous year's M19s but with changes to wings and tyres. They now had rising rate front suspension, and constant rear suspension. The season started well, with Hulme second in Argentina and then first in South Africa where Revson was third. But Emerson Fittipaldi and Jackie Stewart made sure that they had little subsequent success, although Hulme and Revson were second and third in Austria, Hulme was third in Italy, Revson finished ahead of Hulme and behind Stewart in Canada and Hulme finished third in the USA. So Fittipaldi won the championship from Stewart, while Hulme was definitely best of the rest in third and Revson was fifth. After his Formula Two promise, Jody Scheckter was given his Formula One debut in the American Grand Prix where he finished ninth. At the end of the previous year, Teddy Mayer and Phil Kerr had announced that McLaren would no longer be involved in CanAm, so now the concentration was on Formula One and IndyCar racing. Changes in regulations meant that the elderly M19s would become obsolete by the European season, but Hulme finished fifth in Argentina in his, and then third in Brazil, while Revson finished second in South Africa where Scheckter qualified third and was heading for fourth until his engine failed. And if that promise wasn't enough, the writing was already on the wall for McLaren: Gordon Coppuck's M23, complete with obligatory deformable structure, allowed Denny Hulme to start from pole on its debut in South Africa and once again lead, only to be delayed again, this time by a puncture. It looked good. And it was good. The M23s usually started from the front three rows and were usually in the points. Hulme scored the first win of the year at Anderstorp and Revson won at Silverstone, a race indelibly engraved in the memory of motor sport for young teammate Scheckter's first lap accident which eliminated nine cars. Hulme was third. Stewart and Peterson often traded wins, but there was usually a McLaren in the points. Jacky Ickx did one race thanks to his Nurburgring knowledge and finished third behind the Tyrrells. Revson was eventually awarded a chaotic Canadian Grand Prix, but in spite of a promising season, the pair had to give best in the Drivers' championship to the Tyrrell and Lotus drivers. McLaren were similarly placed in the Constructors' series. A new era for McLaren, and a partnership that would last for many years: Marlboro Team Texaco was born, managed by Teddy Mayer, while Yardley's involvement was slightly reduced to one car run by Phil Kerr, principally for Mika Hailwood. Leading the team was 1972 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi while the evergreen Denny Hulme stayed with McLaren for his seventh but final year. It was a thrilling championship. Hulme won in Argentina, beating Ferrari's Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni. Fittipaldi won at home in Brazil, while Hailwood was highest placed finisher in South Africa. Lauda, Fittipaldi, Peterson(Lotus) and Scheckter(Tyrrell) won the next four races; it was that open. Regazzoni and Reutemann(Brabham) also won. Going into the final round of the championship, McLaren led Ferrari 70 pts to 64, while Fittipaldi and Regazzoni were tied on 52 points. Scheckter still had a mathematical chance with 45 points. He qualified best, on row three, with Fittipaldi behind him and Regazzoni a row further back. Hulme's engine expired on lap five and he flew out of the circuit and Formula One before the race had finished. With Regazzoni's Ferrari handling appallingly, Fittipaldi knew he just had to shadow Scheckter to the flag, but the Tyrrell succumbed to a fuel pick up problem, and Fittipaldi finished fourth, securing the Drivers' title and the Constructors' too, a great day for McLaren. Sadly, the Yardley team didn't fare so well, with Hailwood crashing at the Nurburgring and breaking his leg, which ended his career. David Hobbs and Jochen Mass replaced him, but at the end of the year, Hailwood retired, Yardley quit and Phil Kerr followed Hulme home to New Zealand. But making it a better year, Johnny Rutherford took his M16C/D from 25th on the grid to victory at Indy, while he won another three IndyCar races during the year, narrowily failing to win the IndyCar championship. Pat McLaren, Teddy Mayer and Tyler Alexander remained the directors of McLaren at the end of the victorious season, but Alastair Caldwell remained to manage the Formula One team. Also largely unaltered was Gordon Coppuck's M23, now entering its third season. However, Fittipaldi had a new teammate in Jochen Mass. Fittipaldi started the season with victory over James Hunt(Hesketh) in Argentina and second to compatriot Carlos Pace(Brabham) at home in Brazil Mass was third. Mass salvaged a win from the Montjuich disaster but then Niki Lauda took over in the Ferrari with four wins in five races. McLaren's pair scored second in Monaco(Fittipaldi), and after a couple of non finishes, third and fourth in France. Fittipaldi won at Silverstone, Mass was fourth in the soaking Austrian GP, Fittipaldi second to Regazzoni at Monza, before harrying Lauda to the flag in Watkins Glen, with Jochen third. There were suggestions that Fittipaldi had been driving to score points. He lead the sixth most number of laps, and in the end, he was 19.5 pts behind Lauda in the drivers' series. Mass was seventh equal while McLaren were third in the series, a point behind Brabham. Perhaps they could have done better, but the M23 was an old car by now. At Indy, Johnny Rutherford finished second in the rain shortened race, driving Coppuck's John Barnard modified M16E. Two sets of circumstances combined to see James Hunt replace Emerson Fittipaldi for 1976. Hesketh, for whom Hunt had driven for the previous two years, pulled out of Formula One, due to lack of sponsorship. And Fittipaldi went off to drive for brother Wilson's team. Suddenly Hunt was team leader of McLaren, Mass staying on as his teammate. The tool for the year was intended to be Coppuck's M26, but it still wasn't ready, so M23s, lightened by 13.6 kilos were used initially, and became the favoured car for the year. And what a year! Ferrari won the first three races, Hunt the fourth, disqualified, and then reinstated. Lauda then won another two, Hunt came back to win in France and then in Britain, only to be disqualified, eventually, after an extraordinary race in which he was allowed to restarted in the spare car. Hunt won in Germany too, but his chief rival, Lauda, was desperately injured in a fiery crash. While Hunt went on to finish fourth in Austria and first in Holland, Lauda fought back from the brink of death to line up at Monza, finishing a courageous fourth. Victories for Hunt in Canada and Watkins Glen saw Hunt trail Lauda by three points as they came into the final race, after a season of protests and controversy. It was raining hard as the cars lined up for the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji, drivers having discussed whether they should race or not. Lauda pitted after just one lap, Hunt lead. The Austrian had trouble seeing in the rain, due to his fire ravaged eyebrows. He reluctantly but responsibly pulled out. Hunt, however, had to finish third or higher. But his left rear tyre was punctured, and steadily he dropped back, eventually having to pit. Furious, he rejoined fifth, with just three laps to go. On new tyres, he passed Alan Jones and Regazzoni easily, now third. He took the chequered flag, but scarcely realised that he was third, refusing to believe it for several minutes after he'd come into the pits. James Hunt was World Champion by a point, Jochen Mass was ninth, and McLaren were second in the Constructors' championship, nine points behind Ferrari. And to cap it all, Johnny Rutherford had won Indy for McLaren for the second time in three years; even numbered years were favourite for McLarens at Indy. A minute gap between the end of one season and the beginning of the next of just 75 days meant that McLaren quite understandably retained their M23s for 1977 while working on Coppuck's M26. Initially, it looked good. Hunt was on pole for the Argentina Grand Prix and for Brazil, finishing second in the latter. He was on pole again in South Africa, beating teammate Jochen Mass to finish fourth. But at Long Beach, he was only eighth and again on row four in Spain. Teammate Mass finished ahead of him on both occasions. Hunt qualified the M26 third in Anderstorp, but Mass finished second to Laffite. The M23 sometimes seemed better, sometimes the M26. Hunt scored his first win of the season at home in the latter. Meanwhile Lauda, Laffite and Andretti were also potential winners. It wasn't until Monza that McLaren were in the points again. In spite of Hunt's pole position, Mass finished fourth, but Hunt won at Watkins Glen in the now improving M26. He was branded the bad boy after thumping a marshal in Canada, only to return to glory in Japan with victory. But Lauda had had his revenge, Hunt was only fifth with Mass sixth in the championship. At least McLaren was third in the Constructors' series. Elsewhere, McLaren were once again involved with Johnny Rutherford and various customers in IndyCar racing but not with the success gained before. Hunt had a new teammate in Patrick Tambay, while Formula One was undergoing a change. Renault had introduced their turbo car the previous year although that wasn't the major technical trend. Former McLaren designer Ralph Bellamy and Colin Chapman had come up with the Lotus 78/79 ground effect cars, and it would be this innovation which would prove difficult for other teams to match in the coming years. Hunt and Tambay would continue to use the M26 in 1978 but they would be largely outclassed by Lotus in particular, but also Ferrari with the 312T3 and Brabham with their Alfa Romeo powered BT46s but principally, the Lotuses. Hunt scored fourth with the tried and tested M26 at the first race in Argentina, then fifth in Spain, while Tambay was fourth in Sweden. Hunt was third at Ricard and Tambay fifth in Monza but the team was back in eighth place at the end of the year. Some blame rested with Hunt, that he didn't seem to have the determination and fire of old. He had been ditched by the team and Ronnie Peterson signed for the following year, but the Swede tragically lost his life after a startline accident at Monza. Meanwhile, McLaren's proven old M23s were much in favour, being run in the British Formula One championship and appearing in various privateer hands at various Grands Prix. In America, Johnny Rutherford was still winning for the McLaren team in IndyCar racing, and there were privateer successes as well. John Watson was signed to replace James Hunt for 1979, while Gordon Coppuck came up with his own copy of the previous year's all conquering ground effect Lotus. This was the M28 but to get the same ground effect figures as Lotus, the car had grown huge side pods in which to accommodate underwings. It made for a big car which was slow on the straights. It also sufferes structurally, due to problems with the bonding. The M28 was raced for the first half of the season, and Watson scored an impressive third in Argentina, partially thanks to excellent Goodyear tyres, which masked the technical problems. Watson finished fourth in Monaco out of six finishers. However, as early as May 1, a decision had been taken to develop a new, compact replacement for the M28, known as the M29. This was more of a Williams copy than a Lotus, said Coppuck. In its first race, the British Grand Prix, Watson finished fourth and finished fifth at Hockenheim. Sixths in Canada and America followed, before the season fizzled out. Meanwhile, the American campaign was also coming to a halt. There were top three finishes in the States, but by the end of the season, the team had been wound up. McLaren now only raced in Formula One. However, there was just one ray of sunlight in the future. In November of that year, the team tested an interim M29 with new underwings. Potential drivers for the following season were also on hand, including one Alain Prost. His opening laps were quicker than Watson's. He was quickly signed for 1980... Alain Prost's initial promise was borne out throughout the first half of the season, with the Frenchman usually outqualifying his teammate. He scored a point in his first ever Grand Prix in Argentina, and went on to finish fifth in Brazil. Two mechanical breakages in South Africa resulted in a broken wrist which kept him out of Long Beach. Stand in Stephen South failed to qualify but Watson finished an encouraging fourth. Belgium offered little respite, and they hit rock bottom in Monaco where Watson failed to qualify, and Prost went out at the first corner. Prost qualified seventh in France and Watson finished in the same position while Prost was sixth at Brands Hatch. But by this stage, there were developments on two fronts. A new, M30 was on the stocks, designed by Gordon Coppuck and 50 per cent stiffer. Prost took his model to sixth on its debut in Holland. But more importantly, there were changes afoot for the team as a whole. Formula Two team owner Ron Dennis and Marlboro representatives had already approached Mayer a year before, suggesting a merger. Now Marlboro, for whom Dennis's Project Four team was running a BMW M1 in the Procar series, told Mayer that he had better merge because they were no longer competitive on their own. Mayer was wise enough to heed the advice. Part of the deal was that Dennis would bring his own designer, John Barnard, and Gordon Coppuck would have to leave. The merger, announced in September of 1980, saw Dennis and Mayer as joint Managing Directors of McLaren International. Mayer was also Chairman while Tyler Alexander, one of the McLaren's early members, and Barnard would both be Directors. By this stage, Watson had rediscovered his old fire, and with Barnard's input, his M29 and the M30 were to score points. Watson was a competitive fourth in Canada but Prost suffered another breakage at Watkins Glen and was once again injured, unable to start the race. It had been a poor season, but the dawn of a new era. In spite of the promise of the new team, and John Barnard's forthcoming carbon fibre monocoque for the first MP4(Marlboro Project Four), Alain Prost found a way out of his contract to leave the team to drive for Renault, his national team. Watson hung onto his seat, and was partnered by Marlboro's Italian hope, de Cesaris. The team started the year with old M29s, now in F configuration and it wasn't until the third race in Argentina that Watson got his MP4. Two races later, he qualified fifth and two races after that, finished third in the queue behind Villeneuve in Spain. At Dijon, he was on the front row of the grid and finished second, and at Silverstone, he won! All this was against a background of technical chicanery to get around new rules to combat ground effect, and Formula One politics pitching governing body FISA against the teams. There was another point for Watson in Hockenheim and Austria, while he was second in Canada. But the MP4 was prone to porpoising, and it didn't make a driver's task easy. De Cesaris's season was remembered as being a succession of accidents, earning him the nickname de Crasheris, while Watson had a big accident at Monza from which he was lucky to walk away uninjured. De Cesaris was sure not to keep his seat, but Watson's win and subsequent form ensured that he kept his. Before the end of the year, it was announced that he would be partnered the following season by his old Brabham teammate, Niki Lauda, who was emerging from retirement. Barnard only slightly modified his MP4 for its transformation to B specification. The chassis had lasted well, so Barnard tried to slim down the monocoques, modify the suspension and increase stiffness throughout. Set up on Michelin's tyre proved crucial and the team worked hard in both their own local wind tunnel in Feltham and that of Michelin. Carbon fibre brake discs were also tried during the year. The season started remarkably well, with Lauda fourth and Watson sixth, both in the points. Watson picked up second in Brazil after the disqualifications of Piquet and Rosberg. Proving that he'd lost none of his magic, Lauda won at Long Beach while it was Watson's turn at the tragic Belgian Grand Prix, with Lauda third. However, the Austrian was disqualified for being underweight. Watson was a point behind leader Prost in the Drivers' championship, and McLaren led the Constructors'. After a disappointing Monaco, Watson sensationally won the inaugural Detroit Grand Prix from 17th on the grid, partially helped by a stoppage which allowed him to fit harder Michelins to iron out understeer. He scythed through the field, past his teammate who then spun, but Watson and McLaren now led their championships. Watson was third in Canada a week later, while Lauda was then fourth in Holland, and then won at Brands Hatch. McLaren still led the Constructors' but Watson was now second in the Drivers' series to Pironi. After the turbo Renaults and Ferraris dominated at Ricard, Pironi was badly injured in Germany and Lauda also suffered wrist injury when he spun off, and would miss the race. Watson's suspension broke and he spun out of third. Lauda scored an unexciting fifth in Austria, but Rosberg's close second \ elevated him to championship leader, a position reinforced by victory at Dijon where Watson damaged a skirt and dropped to 13th. Lauda scored points at Dijon, and Watson scored in Monza, his first points in three months which just kept his hopes alive but even a fine second in Las Vegas wasn't enough, and Rosberg won the title by five points and Ferrari had a similar margin in the Constructors'. Late in 1982, two things happened which were crucial to McLaren. The first was that Teddy Mayer and fellow director Tyler Alexander left the team, feeling that they were no longer required in the new structure, leaving Dennis and Barnard to run the show. Secondly, the second phase of an agreement with Porsche to build turbocharged V6 engines financed by Akram Ojjeh's Techniques d'Avant Garde or TAG was signed. Ojjeh's son Mansour formed a company jointly with Ron Dennis and McLaren for the purpose. The emphasis of the season was weighted towards running this engine, particularly when new regulations came into effect banning ground effect and calling for cars to run flat bottoms. This effectively robbed cars of their downforce, and larger front and rear wings would be needed to compensate for this loss. However, they would be used at the expense of drag, which would handicap the less powerful Cosworth runners in comparison to the turbo powered entrants. Another handicap was that tyres developed for turbo runners weren't necessarily suitable\ for those running normally aspirated engines... So McLaren were looking at several disadvantages during the year. The cars were modified for the new aerodynamic regulations but they had to bear in mind the forthcoming engine. Often they won the Cosworth battle during the year, and sensationally, won the second race of the season at Long Beach, with Watson and Lauda completing a McLaren one two from 22nd and 23rd on the grid! Equally poor qualifying at Monaco, however, resulted in neither of them starting the race at all. Lauda ran the TAG engine in Holland for the first time and both drivers had them for the final three races of the year. Qualifying positions improved, but neither driver finished, as the team began the steep turbo learning curve already experienced by other teams and drivers. After several seasons of preparation, McLaren now had all the weapons that they needed. Barnard changed his chassis little, but it did feature new rear suspension. The engine development continued during the winter and Alain Prost returned to McLaren after being sent on his way by Renault, with whom he had gained valuable turbo experience. McLaren may have been among the last to join the turbo brigade, but they had prepared the ground well. They hit the ground running. Alain Prost won the first race of the year in Brazil, Niki Lauda led his teammate home in the second and while they may not have featured in the third, they won the next three between them. At season's end, they had won 12 races between them, clinching the Constructors' championship by a massive 86 points, more than that scored by second placed Ferrari. Their matched pair of drivers were separated by just half a point, Lauda pipping Prost. It was a phenomenal demonstration and a warning to all. If this was the way McLaren were heading, then rivals would have to match this effort. Having said that, Porsche certainly had their problems with the engine, although rarely in races. And McLaren worked carefully on fine tuning brake cooling throughout the year, and had just one problem with Prost's front wheel working loose at Dijon. Otherwise, it was a pretty remarkable year. After the victorious and dominant 1984 season, McLaren were quite rightly the team in everyone's sights in 1985. Most elements in the team were largely unchanged, apart from the departure of Michelin. To keep abreast of the competition, John Barnard introduced new bodywork, new rear suspension, new front uprights and new wings. On the engine side, there weren't huge changes, although Barnard was highly complimentary about Bosch's Motronic electronic management system, while mirror image KKK turbochargers were custom made for TAG's V6 instead of the previous identical models. Three wins by Alain Prost in the first four races - if one includes the chaotic San Marino Grand Prix from which he was subsequently disqualified - suggested that McLaren hadn't lost their touch although Lauda could only claim a single fourth place, two mechanical retirements and a spin on oil. A further string of retirements followed, while Prost won at Silverstone, was second in Germany, won again in Austria, and then harried his teammate all the way to the line in Zandvoort as Lauda regained form. However, a wrist injury suffered two races later in Belgium merely served to confirm his decision to retire from the sport. Replaced by John Watson for the next race, he retired after a year that reaped only 14 points and which Ron Dennis described as 'unlucky' Prost had clinched the title by round 14 of the sixteen races and McLaren were Constructors' champions again, although this time only eight points ahead of Ferrari. It is often said that this was a season that Williams Honda lost rather than McLaren won. Piquet and Mansell both had a chance, yet Prost pinched the title in the last round at Adelaide, when Mansell suffered a tyre delamination, and when Prost himself thought he was going to run out of fuel. Praise was fullsome for the Frenchman who won his second world title back to back, and McLaren won their third consecutive Constructors' title. John Barnard, who was to leave McLaren for Ferrari during the summer, made detailed modifications to the MP4/2Bs that were to become 2Cs, particularly given the new 195 litre fuel tank restrictions. There was a six-speed gearbox but apart from the latest version of Bosch's Motronic engine management system, the engines were little changed. One small headache was new recruit Rosberg's press on style of driving, so different to Prost's and previous teammate Lauda's. It was only after Monaco that the Finn's set up was changed. After both engines failed in Brazil, Prost was third in Spain, then won at Imola and at Monaco. A point in Belgium (in spite of a remarkably bent engine mounting), then second in Canada kept their hopes alive, but then Williams seemed to gain the upper hand with better fuel consumption. Only late in the season did Prost reassert the team's position with a win in Austria, second in Portugal and Mexico and the crucial win in Australia. But once again he had lost his teammate and now the technical director had gone too. McLaren were going to have to regroup. Something old, something new: TAG's legendary engine was getting long in the tooth; Stefan Johansson arrived to partner Alain Prost, and Steve Nichols became Formula One project leader following John Barnard's departure the previous year. He had worked on the car and with Barnard, and now estimated what needed to be left and what changed. The suspension was left, as was the gearbox, but a new monocoque was designed, with new aerodynamics and a small housing for the smaller fuel tank. Meanwhile Porsche raised the compression ratio of the TAG engine three times in order to improve fuel efficiency but then engine development failed to reap rewards and a misfire set in. Alain Prost won in Brazil, Johansson was third there and fourth at Imola. The pair were first and second at Spa but a couple of thirds were the only reward from the next four races. The increase in power had in turn resulted in an increase in weight, upsetting the engine's balance, causing vibration. In Germany, Prost was heading for victory until an alternator belt broke five laps from home. It was a curious failure as the belt hadn't broken in 100,000 miles of racing, and had then broken several times. Another lean spell ensued as Honda dominated and active suspension became the fashion, but Prost was back on top in Portugal and second in Jerez, before sinking into oblivion again with only Johansson's third in Suzuka as reward. Sadly, Johansson was to be elbowed by a dream team in 1988; Dennis has succeeded not only in attracting Ayrton Senna, but also Honda... In theory, this was a transitional year for Formula One, as the turbo boost was lowered from four bar to 2.8 to give the advantage to normally aspirated engines in preparation for a turbo ban and fuel capacity lowered from 195 to 150 litres. In practice, it allowed McLaren, Honda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna to rewrite the record books as they totally dominated the year. The statistics are simple: McLaren won 15 out of 16 races, Senna winning eight(he was disqualified from the first race in Brazil), Prost seven. Senna therefore won the championship by three points; both drivers had double the points of third placed Gerhard Berger. Similarly, McLaren scored three times as many points as the second team in the Constructors' championship, winning with 199 points to Ferrari's 65. Senna started the first six races from pole position, and added another seven before the end of the year. It was a magnificent, mind numbing performance by team and drivers; scarcely exciting, but mightily impressive in its perfection. The drivers did occasionally clash, particularly when Senna chopped Prost at Jerez, and both were beyond the limit at Monza, where Senna's audacity in lapping Jean Louis Schlesser's Williams resulted in retirement. He also lost concentration at Monaco and ended up in the barrier. Prost, once again, revealed his dislike of wet conditions. Steve Nichols once again led the design team which had to cope with new cockpit regulations as well as the smaller fuel tank, so much of the car was new, which made it even more deserving. Honda reliability was exceptional and overall reliability was phenomenal, all contributing to a record breaking season. They deserved everything they got. While Steve Nichols's MP4/4 design had been winning the final championship of the turbo era, Neil Oatley had been hard at work on McLaren's first chassis for the return to normally aspirated, but now 3.5 litre engines. Although the end result was the same - McLaren winning both Constructors' and Drivers' Championships - there was no surprise that they didn't quite enjoy the domination of 1988. However, a McLaren led every race but Portugal (where Senna started from pole), and he and Prost won ten of the 16 races, Prost with four to Senna's six, although it was the Frenchman who claimed the Drivers' title with just three retirements to the Brazilian's nine non-scores. But that just tells half the story. It was a year in which Prost became increasingly paranoid about his teammate. They fell out at Imola, when Prost felt that Senna had breached a no passing agreement. Prost went further at Monaco where Senna scored a superb victory, apparently without second gear. At Monza Prost accused Honda of favouring Senna and would then reveal that he was leaving the team. Earlier in the year, he had written off a monocoque at Phoenix, the first such accident he'd had in five and a half years with the team. Three races later, he and Senna collided at the Suzuka chicane, and even though neither of them scored points in the last two races, the championships still went to McLaren. Against this intensely political background, McLaren and Honda provided the best combination for the best two, if different, drivers in the field. Oatley's design still followed similar lines to those before, but weight shaving continued throughout the year, although it also suffered a handling imbalance. The team also introduced a complete new rear end, based around a transverse gearbox, midway through the season. Honda, meanwhile, made a phenomenal effort, with five different specifications of engine for various conditions, circuits and situations. They reaped their reward, but there was a human cost. And it was interesting that Senna suffered more mechanical failures than Prost... Prost's defection to Ferrari also saw Steve Nichols leave McLaren, but Neil Oatley's design from the previous season had been successful and he was entrusted with what became a B version of the same car. It incorporated different front suspension, revisions to the six speed transverse gearbox, aerodynamic profile changes and a multi-arch diffuser which was ultimately discarded. Senna's new teammate, Gerhard Berger, didn't fit into this new design, however, in spite of initial changes to the car, and it was no surprise that Gerhard was somewhat downhearted until further changes almost resolved the problem at mid season. Senna, meanwhile, was leading from the front. Indeed, he led every race of the season apart from Hungary where he harried Thierry Boutsen to the flag, and Suzuka, where he punted Prost off at the first corner to claim the championship. Against a continued backdrop of acrimony with the governing body from the previous year, McLaren claimed the first race at Phoenix, in spite of the late completion of their cars. Berger set pole position but Senna would be on pole for the next four and then Berger. In all, Senna started from pole ten times during the year. But Prost at Ferrari proved a formidable opponent with team-mate Mansell, and Williams's pairing of Boutsen and Patrese also had their fair share of success. Honda again supplied McLaren with a variety of engines which often suffered power loss during the year, while McLaren themselves suffered a drop in performance mid season. Typically, they reacted well and returned to claim both titles, only the second time that the Constructors' series had been won three times in a row. For the fourth time in as many years and the third time with Honda McLaren had a different engine specification to use. Otherwise, things were pretty much the same, apart from Henri Durand helping chief designer Neil Oatley on the aerodynamics side of the latest car. The new engine and its thirst not surprisingly, demanded several changes to the car's layout. Front suspension was changed twice during the year, while both the gearbox and the chassis itself were changed, the former being operated by automatically and the latter being more rigid. Aerodynamics were also changed. Honda's decision to go to V12 configuration did result in a greater thirst in comparison to the V10s of the opposition, but it was also tricky for the team's own TAG engine management system to keep abreast of development both in fuel and engine terms. This resulted in Senna running out of fuel twice during the season, at Silverstone and then two weeks later in Hockenheim. But the season had started brilliantly with a quartet of victories, including an emotional if troubled win at home at Interlagos. One retirement and two thirds to Williamses were followed by those two retirements, but Senna came back superbly with a flag to flag win in Budapest and then leading home a great one two in Spa, in spite of gearbox problems as in Brazil. The subsequent two second places should have been enough to clinch the championship, but for previous problems, but a generous second to teammate Berger in Suzuka was sufficient to clinch the title with the seventh win of the year in Australia the icing on the cake. It was Senna's third title, McLaren's fourth in succession. This was to be fifth and last season with Honda, and the third and final season that Gerhard Berger would drive for the team. Nevertheless, with Ayrton Senna still with the team and Honda, there were still expectations of huge promise. The team started with the previous year's MP4/6 until it was suddenly realised that perhaps the new car was going to be introduced as soon as possible, and it was used from Brazil onwards. Once again, the new car was the work of the team lead by Neil Oatley with several new features, fly by wire throttle being one of them, and a new method of making the monocoques. The gearbox was still transverse, but once again, revised. However, there were several shortcomings. The car was unpredictable in fast corners, while the latest Honda was scarcely more powerful than its precedessor and certainly just as thirsty, which of course, meant a weight penalty. In the days of ever more sophisticated V10s, this was a considerable handicap. Both drivers were in the points in the first race, Berger in the second and both retired their new cars in the third. Senna won Monaco, Berger won in Canada and then after two disappointments, Senna finished second in Germany and then won in Hungary and in Italy, now with active suspension. Berger won in Australia, his swansong with McLaren. But in spite of three wins, Senna and his teammate were fourth and fifth respectively in the championship, and McLaren 65 points behind winners Williams in the Constructors' series, now faced with a search for a power unit. Having tested him a year or so before, Ron Dennis signed reigning IndyCar champion Michael Andretti for the 1993 season, even though Dennis hadn't revealed the source of the team's power unit, perhaps because it wasn't finalised until November of the previous year. It turned out to be a McLaren financed development of Ford's HB engine. However, it was a version behind that of Benetton until Silverstone, which was a disadvantage. What they lacked in straight horsepower, however, they hoped to pick up with mechanical sophistication, and that involved TAG's electronics, the light and economical engine, loads of electronic trickery including, of course, very advanced active suspension and traction control. In spite of a fine second to Prost at Kyalami, two superb races in the wet one at home and the legendary Donington victory and his sixth victory at Monaco, there was some doubt as to Senna's commitment and it became increasingly clear that he would turn his back on the team that had brought him three World Championships at the end of the season. While Prost and Hill made hay for Williams, Senna suffered few mechanical problems, although there was a third consecutive fuel related retirement at Silverstone. The year ended with two victories at Suzuka and then Adelaide, which was Senna's last and which promoted McLaren as the most successful Grand Prix team of all time. But they scored exactly half the points scored by winners Williams, although Senna was only 23 points behind World Champion Prost. But McLaren was pretty much a one driver team this year. A late regulation change meant that Andretti didn't have the laps available for him to learn circuits and he never really embraced the European Grand Prix way of life. His best race might have been at Imola before he went off, but after finishing third at Monza, he returned to the USA, to be replaced by Mika Hakkinen who promptly out qualified Senna in Portugal. That, in itself, signified the end of one era, the beginning of a new one. The only question mark over McLaren's long term future was its engine, and in 1993, the team began a long term partnership with Peugeot except it lasted a year. It wasn't an entirely disastrous year but inevitably, Peugeot's arrival, the loss of Senna, new regulations, new drivers was going to take time to get used to. The new MP4/9 chassis was based on the Ford chassis from the previous year with slightly different aerodynamics and the facility to use a hand operated clutch for the first time. A fully automatic upchange facility in the gearbox was outlawed. The team also ran power steering for the first time, although the drivers preferred conventional steering on the faster circuits. The main problem was handling on slow corners, although a revised underbody and new rear wing made things better after the Hungarian Grand Prix. There were rule changes with the banning of traction control and other driver aids, and more after the death of Ayrton Senna. Peugeot's new engine made several steps forward during the year, but it had been difficult to define the cooling for the engine prior to running it, and then when it did run, it was in fairly cool conditions. However, when races were run in hot conditions, there were problems. Hakkinen was very highly motivated, scoring his first rostrum position in that devastating San Marino Grand Prix, with more consecutive thirds in Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Jerez, the downside being his accident in Hockenheim for which he was banned for race, his place being taken by Philippe Alliot. But the fact remains that for the first time in its existence, McLaren International did not win a race. Before the end of the season, the long term relationship with Peugeot had been terminated and a new one signed with Mercedes Benz. This was a year of ups and downs as McLaren coped with new drivers, a new engine partner, new regulations and new ideas. First of all, they were using their fourth different engine in as many years. And perhaps reviving a precedent, Ron Dennis insisted on engine design changes to accommodate new regulations, just as John Barnard had done with Porsche. But the Ilmor designed Mercedes engine was smaller than the previous year's Peugeot, so it wasn't too much of a problem for Neil Oatley's design team. The new car featured McLaren's first high nose and a wing atop the engine cover. Meanwhile sponsors Marlboro insisted on high profile name and after he'd been turned down by Williams, Nigel Mansell was signed. But the MP4/10 not only suffered a major imbalance in testing, both drivers also found it lacked room. So a new, wider monocoque was designed and built for Mansell in 33 days who stood down for the first two races, replaced by Mark Blundell. But front end grip was still a problem and Mansell quit before Monaco, his place taken on a more permanent basis by the popular Blundell who usually qualified a couple of places behind teammate Hakkinen. The Finn finally got onto row two in Belgium following Ilmor's introduction of a revised engine and McLaren's new gearbox. There was no doubt that huge efforts were made by both teams. Hakkinen missed Aida due to appendicitis, his place taken by Magnussen while a week later, Hakkinen's third on the grid and second in the race was welcomed, but any optimism was cruelly dashed by his huge accident in Adelaide, leaving the team despondent as they approached the new season. This, perhaps, was a year of consolidation. Hakkinen had thankfully made a remarkable recovery and would improve on his previous year's performance. He was joined by David Coulthard, who came from front runners Williams but found life a little more difficult at McLaren. Ilmor fine tuned the Mercedes engines just as McLaren did the same with the MP4 chassis. Helping out were former McLaren employees Steve Nichols and Alain Prost... Although both engine and chassis were refinements of previous models, neither carried over much from either unit. There was massive detailed effort on the chassis, particularly on suspension, but once again imbalance proved a problem. The front wing mounting needed revision during a year when the drivers preferred the car in low downforce trim. It didn't like bumpy circuits, and Coulthard's bete noire would be rear end stability. A short wheelbase version became the standard at mid season. From an engine point of view, there were huge revisions here too, working on mid range torque, while it was lighter than before with a five per cent increase in power. Engine response improve progressively during the season, and this year, McLaren chosen to drive its power through a longitudinal gearbox again. While there were no massive gains in terms of competitivity, the drivers did slowly make inroads into the Williams/Benetton domination. Coulthard finished second to Olivier Panis at Monaco, while Hakkinen had four third places. But at the end of the year, a 23 year old partnership drew to a close. Dennis, rather than accept a cut in budget from Marlboro, preferred to find a new major sponsor, and did so with West. Once again, McLaren made further progress in 1997 with a stable driver pairing, even if they were now decked out in the new colours of West. However, the biggest coup during the year had been the recruitment of Adrian Newey fro Williams who joined Neil Oatley in the design department. The latest MP4 was totally new, with fastidious detailing which consistently impressed rivals. New technological innovations during the year included a fascinating secondary braking system. The team's engine partners were just as conscientious, their new engine at the start of the year featuring a new block with new positioning of systems to aid installation A further version of the engine was introduced at Barcelona. The combination still worried Coulthard, for whom any rear end stability was a problem, but even so, he won the opening race of the year in Australia and again at Monza. Hakkinen was gifted the first win of his career in the final race at Jerez. But that only tells half the story. They could also have won at Montreal, Silverstone, in Austria, the Nurburgring, and maybe Suzuka too which would have put a whole new complexion on their season. As it was, Coulthard was the higher placed of the drivers, and the team finished fourth, but clearly, there was much more potential, and with stability now established, further fine tuning would probably reap the required rewards. Adrian Newey's terms of employment restricted him from working for West McLaren Mercedes before August of 1997, but that still gave him plenty of time during the year to think about a car that would conform to the strict new regulations, whilst maintaining the emphasis on safety that came into effect in 1998. Many designers were hard pressed to meet new crash test regulations but Newey had been able to work on a car that was safe and competitive. Some 12,000 man hours went into trying to regain downforce lost by the new regulations. Mercedes also worked hard on the engine. The other novelty, to Hakkinen's joy, were Bridgestone tyres which replaced Goodyear. The Japanese company hit the ground running, and eclipsed the American company, although Goodyear did fight back. But the combination of a Hakkinen who now knew what it was like to win, Newey's chassis and Bridgestone's tyres meant that West McLaren Mercedes began the season in dominant style and almost continued in that vein. The pair were a lap ahead of the field in the Australian Grand Prix although controversially they swapped places. The result was the same in Brazil, while Hakkinen was second to Coulthard in Argentina. The Finn went on to win in Spain, Monaco, Austria, Germany, then in Luxembourg and Japan. Schumacher fought back but that final burst made the championship Hakkinen's. By contrast, Coulthard won only in San Marino but was second six times. He suffered from tactics a couple of times, and had two engine failures, but he contributed to the West McLaren Mercedes team's success, and he certainly gained some consolation from that. West McLaren Mercedes , without doubt, was the team to beat in 1999 but they should have sewn up the championship considerably earlier than Suzuka, when Hakkinen dominated to win the Drivers' title. After all, their main rivals, Ferrari, lost their main driver at Silverstone. But there were mechanical failures, driver errors and occasional questionable strategies that cost valuable points during the year. The new car was completely new, incorporating several ideas which technical director Adrian Newey would have liked to have included the previous year. It was considerably lighter, but also more complex. Partially thanks to new tyre regulations, it didn't instil confidence as its predecessor had done, but at the limit, performed better. Mercedes, meanwhile, had produced a lighter and lower V10. The season got off to a poor start, with neither car finishing. West McLaren Mercedes had thought of taking the previous year's car to the first three races... But then Hakkinen won in Brazil, while Coulthard might have won at Imola but for backmarkers. The team scored a crushing one two in Spain, while Hakkinen won again in Canada and was then second in France. At this stage, Hakkinen had 40 points to Michael Schumacher's 32 and Eddie Irvine's 26. Hakkinen, however, salvaged only a third place from the next three races, whereas Irvine scored two wins and a second, although Coulthard won in Britain. Hakkinen fought back with a win in Hungary, second after a second brush with teammate Coulthard in Belgium, then the disappointing second premature exit in Italy. Going into the final two races in Malaysia and Japan, he was just two points ahead of Irvine, but he was frustratingly held up in the first race where Irvine won, which gave him a four point deficit going into the final round in Japan. But a superb race saw him win and take the championship. However, Ferrari had fought back and had taken the Constructors' championship. Clearly, McLaren could not afford to rest on their laurels. They certainly didn't rest on their laurels in 2000, but a combination of problems, a disqualification, mechanical failures and an occasional mistake saw the team relegated to second places in both championships. Once again, team, engine builder and drivers retained stability, the driver pairing becoming the longest ever in Grand Prix racing during the year. There was no doubt that speed was there, with the drivers and test driver Olivier Panis frequently showing fastest in testing. With Mika Hakkinen on pole for the first three races, and teammate Coulthard alongside him in the first two, that was certainly never in doubt, but both drivers failed to finish in Australia due to pneumatic valve failure. Hakkinen suffered engine failure in the second race, and Coulthard was disqualified, so with Michael Schumacher leading the two McLarens home in the third race, the Ferrari driver had a huge advantage. But then the advantage turned: Coulthard won in England, Hakkinen in Spain, Coulthard in Monaco and then again in France. In Austria, Hakkinen began the fight back, leading home his teammate, while Hakkinen won in Hungary and superbly in Belgium where he took the championship lead. Unfortunately, a mechanical failure at Indianapolis virtually ended his chances. A superb race to second in the damp of Japan wasn't enough, but Coulthard's late race challenge in Malaysia could not make up for two penalties in the last three races. Second was the best in both Championships. Minardi Full Team Name: GoKL Minardi Asiatech F1 Team Web Site: http://www.minardi.it/ Sponsors and Partners: GoKL, European Aviation, Magnum, Gazprom, PC Suria, BAS, HealthyCo, Quadriga, Telstra, PanGlobal, Allegrini, PDP Box Doccia Spa Founded in 1979, with the aim of competing in the European Formula Two Championship, the Minardi Team makes its debut in Formula One in 1985. After spending its first few seasons in motorsport's top category acclimatising to the demands of Grand Prix racing, the team takes its first World Championship points in 1989, scoring in Great Britain (fifth and sixth places), Portugal (fifth) and Australia (sixth). Minardi's best season to date is 1991, when its effective, Ferrari-powered chassis allows the team to claim seventh place in the World Constructors' Championship standings. The 1993 car is designed under the supervision of highly regarded Austrian, Gustav Brunner, and the chassis turns out to be highly effective, fourth place in South Africa, fifth in Monaco, and sixth at Donington and Imola propelling Minardi to eighth place in the Constructors' Championship. During 1994 and 1995, Minardi enters into a joint-venture with Scuderia Italia. Unfortunately, a series of commercial difficulties jeopardise the team's future and, by the end of 1996, an alliance formed by Gabriele Rumi and Flavio Briatore acquires the majority stake in the company. The 1998 season marks a turning point for Minardi. Briatore severs his ties with the company and his shareholding is acquired by Gabriele Rumi, who thus becomes majority shareholder and embarks on an extensive restructuring and upgrading programme. The team is joined by new, highly skilled personnel on the technical side, while Gustav Brunner makes a welcome return to the Minardi fold. The hard-trying team's efforts are rewarded when it finishes the 1998 championship in 10th place, achieving an objective set at the start of the season. In 1999, Minardi is further strengthened by the arrival of Cesare Fiorio as Team Manager and Sporting Director. Once again, the Faenza-based team finishes 10th in the World Championship standings, on this occasion courtesy of a very valuable point scored by F1 'rookie', Marc Gené, at the European Grand Prix. For the team, one of the most satisfying aspects of the season is the excellent reliability of the M01, which provides its drivers with 10 top-10 finishes. In the year 2000, the Faenza-based team celebrates its 16th year in Formula One, and although the team fails to score any points during the course of the season, it retains its tenth-place ranking in the World Championship standings with superior placings to the notably better funded Prost team. The 2001 season marks another watershed for Minardi, as the withdrawal of a major sponsor at the end of the previous year leaves the team in difficult financial circumstances. As a result, it is acquired in late January by UK-based Australian businessman, Paul Stoddart, head of the European Aviation Group of companies, and merged with his European Formula Racing operation in Ledbury, England. His plan is to retain Minardi's distinctive character in the Formula One paddock, while providing EFR personnel, technical expertise and financial stability to strengthen the team and improve its overall competitiveness in the future. Against all the odds, the new European Minardi PS01 chassis, powered by a European V10 engine (an uprated version of the previous season's Fondmetal power unit), is produced in six weeks and three days, and a pair of cars line up for the opening Grand Prix of the year, in Melbourne. The team finishes 11th in the 2001 World Constructors' Championship and spends the year laying a solid foundation for what Stoddart intends should be significant future progress. Minardi's 2002 effort involves the all-new PS02 chassis, powered by Asiatech's latest AT02 engine. Unlike 2001, a busy testing programme commences in early January, following extensive wind tunnel development of the team's latest F1 challenger. With a strengthened technical team and sponsorship package in place, Minardi is poised to take its next step on the all-important journey to increased competitiveness. Renault Full Team Name: Renault F1 Limited Web Site: http://www.renaultf1.com/ Sponsors and Partners: Louis and Marcel Renault were among motor racing's true pioneers, and their spirit is synonymous with the passion and excitement of Formula One. In 1899, they took their historic first victory in the Paris to Trouville road race, and it was just the beginning of a motorsport odyssey. More than a hundred years after that first victory, Renault returns to the track at the highest level. Town-to-town road racing dominated motorsport in the closing years of the nineteenth century. Driven by the pioneering spirit of the company's founders, Renault were major players. Marcel's landmark triumph in the 1902 Paris-Vienna race was followed by the tragedy of his death in the controversial Paris-Madrid event the following year. The race was stopped in its tracks at Bordeaux, and the town-to-town races with it. As the sport moved onto closed circuits, Renault's success followed. The first Grand Prix in history took place on home soil in 1906 and, after twelve gruelling hours over two days of competition, Ferenc Szisz took the flag at the head of the field. Having laid down a marker, Renault withdrew from top-level motorsport to concentrate on fresh challenges. But a standard of excellence had been established which still stands as a reference for Renault F1. Away from the circuits, the company's efforts concentrated on the infancy of the automobile, and the marque found similar success. Not until the birth of Renault Sport in 1975 did Renault return to the pinnacle of motorsport. Meanwhile, Grand Prix racing had been officially organised into a World Championship in 1950, and the new competitions department was given the brief of taking Renault back to compete on the world stage. In 1977, the first all-Renault machine rolled out onto the grid of a Formula One race. A symbol of the passion and dedication of the whole company, it sat at the forefront of technology, concealing a major innovation: the turbocharger. The early days of this revolution demanded unwavering commitment and unquestioning belief, as other teams dismissed the 'yellow teapot'. But soon, the turbocharged engine, previously unseen in Formula One, would revolutionise the sport. Two years after its first steps onto the stage, Renault was ready to take the leading role. Before a huge home crowd, the two yellow cars sat on the front row of the grid of the 1979 French Grand Prix at the Dijon-Prenois circuit. In a spectacular performance, pole-man Jean Pierre Jabouille took the race win, with team-mate René Arnoux third after waging a famous battle with Ferrari legend Gilles Villeneuve. This race marked the beginning of an ascent to the heights of Formula One which so nearly enabled Renault to capture the ultimate prize. Always alert to talent and potential, Renault signed future world champion Alain Prost for 1981. Striving to perfect the turbo concept over the next few years, the wins kept coming and Prost narrowly missed out on the world title in 1983, taking second place in the standings with four victories. Phase one of the Renault project was completed shortly afterwards, and the works team left Formula One in 1985 to concentrate on supplying other teams with the turbocharged engines that they had introduced to the sport. One year later, Renault withdrew from Formula One altogether. The passion for victory had not died, but the team withdrew to regroup and work on fresh ideas. It was to be a brief interlude. In 1989, Renault returned with a new engine: the 3.5 litre RS1 V10, a configuration which would become the benchmark for all Formula One engines. Supplying the Williams team, they gained two victories in their return season, and this success grew steadily in the years that followed, with the team challenging for the championship in 1991. After three years of patient diligence, the ultimate goal was achieved when Nigel Mansell piloted his Williams Renault to championship glory in 1992. Fifteen years after their debut, Renault were utterly dominant, and the season is regarded as one of the most impressive in Formula One history. In 16 races, the team took 15 pole positions, 10 wins, 11 lap records and a huge 170 points. This was excellence of the highest order, and the following year, Alain Prost secured another title for Renault. Ayrton Senna led the challenge at the start of 1994, and many thought him destined to be Renault's third World Champion in three years. Fate dictated otherwise, and his death in the San Marino Grand Prix was a profound loss for Formula One. The emotions served to strengthen the team's determination, and victory in the Constructors' Championship was a perfect tribute to their fallen champion. Entering 1995, Renault expanded its programme to include the competitive, charismatic Benetton team. Now supplying the two teams fighting for the World Championship, Renault took a dramatic clean sweep with first, second, third and fourth in the Drivers' Championship, and first and second in the Constructors'. The success continued to flow in the next two seasons, with Damon Hill triumphing in 1996 and Jacques Villeneuve in 1997. There was nothing left to prove. Having climbed to the top, Renault had proved themselves the very best. At the end of 1997, with their objectives achieved, Renault again bowed out of the sport. A run of six consecutive Constructors' Championships demonstrated to the world what Renault represented: technical excellence, innovation and a burning desire to succeed. Renault has won 11 World Championships, but all of them as an engine supplier. Victory with a 100% Renault team is a challenge that remains to be met. It is only a matter of time before Renault F1 writes the next piece of historyS Sauber Full Team Name: Red Bull-Sauber-Petronas Web Site: http://www.sauber.ch/ Sponsors and Partners: Petronas, Credit Suisse, Red Bull, 21i.Net, Albert Stoll Giroflex AG, As Elevators, Astarte New Media AG, Balzers AG Beschichtungszentrum, Bbs Kraftfahrzeugtechnik AG, Bridgestone Motorsport, Brütsch/Rüegger AG, Catia/Enovia Solutions, Daimlerchrysler Schweiz AG, Dynabit AG, Emil Frey AG, Ericsson AG, Fluent Deutschland GmBH, Hermann Bubeck GmBH & Co. KG, In-Motion AG, Italdesign-Giugiaro S.P.A., Klauke Industries, Lista Ltd., Magneti Marelli, Microsoft AG, Msc.Software Corporation, MTS Systems Corporation, Ozalid AG, Paninfo AG, Plenexis, Sachs Race Engineering GmBH, Sparco S.R.L., Sun World Group, Temenos AG, Turbo Lufttechnik GmBH, Walter Meier AG, Winkler Veranstaltungstechnik AG At first sight, the small town of Hinwil in the Zurich Highlands is probably not the place you would expect to find a highly developed Formula One centre, equipped to the finest technical detail. But appearances are deceptive: It is only a few steps from the workshop, in which the now 58-year-old Peter Sauber started his company in 1970, that the high-tech cars, which have been competing in the Formula One World Championship since 1993, are built. The development of high technologies and their function under race pressure within the field of motor racing has always fascinated Peter Sauber. While back then three of his current competitors were already active in Formula One, Peter Sauber started off quite modestly by comparison with the sporting variation of the legendary Volkswagen Beetle. Toyota Full Team Name: Toyota Motorsport GmBH Web Site: http://www.toyota-f1.com/ Sponsors and Partners: Panasonic, AOL Time Warner, AVEX Group, Angelika Busch, BS Catia, DLR, EMC2, EOS, Esso, Future Sports, KTC Kyoto Tool, Magneti Marelli, MAN, M.B.A. Production, Meteo France, Michelin, Parkpre Bicycles, Pocklington Coachworks, Ratiopharm, SBI, Sika, Sparco, St. Georges, Travelex Plc, Vuarnet Sunglasses, Wella, Yamaha, ZF Sachs From headquarters in Cologne, Germany, TMG managed Toyota's efforts in World Rally Championship (WRC), winning seven titles. TMG also competed in the 1998 and 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning second place in 1999. Since that time, TMG has been focusing on the design, building, and operation of the F1 program, which is certainly Toyota's greatest motorsport challenge to date. Williams Full Team Name: BMW Williams F1 Team Web Site: http://www.bmw.williamsf1.com/ Sponsors and Partners: BMW, Hewlett-Packard, Allianz, Accenture, Castrol, FedEx, Michelin, Petrobras, Reuters, Veltins, Worldcom WilliamsF1 (formerly Williams Grand Prix Engineering) was founded in 1977 by Frank Williams and Patrick Head. They set up base in a small industrial unit at Station Road in Didcot, Oxfordshire, and with a staff of only 17 set about the task of preparing to enter into competition in Formula One. By the start of the 1978 season, the first Patrick Head designed Formula One car, the FW06, was ready and Frank had found sponsorship to tempt the Australian, Alan Jones, to join the team. From that point, the team never looked back, for the FW06 in the hands of Jones was extremely competitive. In 1979 Jones continued as team leader with Clay Regazzoni in a second car. The team had really arrived at the British Grand Prix in 1979 when, after Jones disappointingly retired from the lead, Regazzoni was able to drive to victory - the first ever for Frank Williams. The trend was to continue as Jones won four of the six remaining races that year. The team emerged in the 1980s as the one to beat and a reliability record unequalled by any other helped them to sweep to unchallenged and crushing victories in the Constructors' Championships of 1980, 1981, 1986 and 1987. In 1982 the team aimed to become the first manufacturer to win the Constructors' title for a third consecutive year. It wasn't to be but newly-signed Finn, Keke Rosberg, who replaced the retiring Jones, won a close fought Drivers' World Championship. Grand Prix racing's normally aspirated era was coming to an end and in 1983 it proved an uphill struggle, although Rosberg did win in great style at Monaco. Frank then announced a new association with Honda and the Anglo Japanese turbo combination first appeared at Kyalami in South Africa. In 1984 the team was on a 'learning curve' with turbo cars but the season was highlighted by Rosberg's Dallas win. The team also moved into a superb new custom-built racing facility just a mile from their original home at Didcot. In 1985 the team had a new colourful image; Keke Rosberg had a new team-mate in Nigel Mansell; and the car, the Honda powered FW10, had an all-new carbon fibre chassis. The season started slowly but reached new heights as the two drivers climbed to the top of the victory podium no less than four times. Rosberg won the USA East Grand Prix, Mansell's two consecutive wins at Brands Hatch and Kyalami were particularly sweet as they were his first in Formula One and Rosberg's victory in Australia ensured a team hat- trick to round off the season. Just prior to the start of the 1986 season, the team was dealt a severe blow. Whilst driving away from pre-season testing at the Paul Ricard circuit in France, Frank Williams' car left the road and overturned. It was an accident that left him confined to a wheelchair and so nearly claimed his life but, instead of bemoaning his fate, he fought his way back to lead the company in the only way he knew how. New to the team in 1986 was Brazilian former World Champion, Nelson Piquet, a worthy replacement for Keke Rosberg. He quickly adapted to the FW11 and took the new car to victory in the debut race in Brazil. The team went on to win nine Grands Prix in 1986 and secured the prestigious Constructors' World Championship. Success continued in 1987 with the team winning nine races again (six by Mansell, three by Piquet) with the modified FW11. This time they made sure of not only the Constructors' but also the Drivers' Championship, with Piquet taking his third title and Mansell runner-up for the second consecutive year. For 1988 there were many changes. Mansell had a new team mate in the vastly experienced Italian, Riccardo Patrese. Also the four year association with Honda ended and the team used the normally aspirated 3.5 litre Judd engine in the FW12. Unfortunately mechanical problems dogged the team's efforts during the year but despite this Mansell finished second at both Silverstone and Jerez, with Patrese achieving his season best with a fourth in Adelaide. Frank was aware that to win in the new era of Formula One, with everyone now running normally aspirated engines, backing was needed from a major motor manufacturer. This ambition was realised in July 1988 when the team signed a three-year deal with Renault for the supply of their new V10 engines. The initial deal was for exclusivity only for 1989, but at the Canadian Grand Prix that year Renault announced that again in 1990 and subsequently 1991 also, the team would be the sole recipients of the engine. Technical Director, Patrick Head designed the FW13 chassis specifically to house the new Renault engine and Belgian driver, Thierry Boutsen, joined the team in 1989, replacing Nigel Mansell and partnering Riccardo Patrese. 1990 got off to a good start with Boutsen third in his FW13B in Phoenix and then, at the third race of the year, the San Marino Grand Prix, there was a fairytale story with Patrese winning his third Grand Prix; his previous victory had been seven years earlier. Boutsen's turn came in Hungary where he claimed his first ever pole position and went on to win an impressive green light to chequered flag victory. These two wins and several other podium placings meant at the end of the season the team finished fourth in the Constructors' World Championship Halfway through the 1990 season Nigel Mansell, who\ subsequently won 28 Grands Prix, announced his retirement after a disappointing British Grand Prix whilst driving for Ferrari. Frank Williams persuaded him to change his mind and he re-signed for the team for whom he would win more Grands Prix than any other driver. Mansell had his first taste of the FW13B at the Estoril track on 20 November 1990, and then eagerly awaited the completion of the new FW14, the latest offering from Patrick Head (who by now also had Adrian Newey on his design team) with a brand new Renault RS3 engine and a semi-automatic gearbox The 1991 Canon backed team proved a winning combination, with Mansell scoring five and Patrese two victories. The team proved the only real competition to McLaren and were runners-up to them in both the Constructors' and Drivers' World Championships, with Mansell and Patrese second and third respectively in the latter. The tide turned in 1992. At the first race in South Africa, Mansell and Patrese finished first and second with the FW14B fitted with active suspension. This chassis remains today as probably the most sophisticated racing car ever built. And so began a winning streak for Mansell, who became the first driver to win the opening five races of a season. His record breaking did not stop there and he became the first driver to win nine races in one season and to be on pole 14 times. When Mansell came second in Hungary he clinched the Drivers' World Championship, the first British driver to do so since James Hunt in 1976. In Belgium, WilliamsF1 and Renault took the Constructors' title, the first ever for Renault, and to end the winning year Patrese finished runner-up to Mansell for the Drivers' crown. For 1993 it was all change in the driver line-up, with French three-time World Champion, Alain Prost, and official test driver, Damon Hill, taking over from Mansell and Patrese. They carried on where Mansell and Patrese left off, retaining the Constructors' title, while Prost clinched his fourth drivers' title and Hill won his first Grand Prix in Hungary. Soon after clinching the title Prost decided to make the '93 season his last in competitive racing, leaving the door open for three-times World Champion, Ayrton Senna, to join the team. So the 1994 championship battle started with the new look Rothmans Williams Renault team and drivers, Ayrton Senna and Damon Hill, ably supported by new official test driver, David Coulthard During the third Grand Prix of the year at Imola in Italy, Ayrton Senna was killed while leading the race when his car left the circuit at the notorious Tamburello corner and crashed into a concrete wall. The world of motor racing was stunned and the close-knit Team was shattered by the tragic death of the driver who many people regarded as simply the best. The fight back of the team typified the bravery and leadership of Frank. As a mark of respect only one car was entered for the next race in Monaco and then four weeks after that tragic day in Imola, Hill won the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona and promptly dedicated his victory to both Ayrton and the team. For this race Hill was partnered by David Coulthard, who drove car No. 2 for eight of the remaining races. For the other four races in France, Spain, Japan and Australia, Nigel Mansell came back from the USA, where he was racing in the Indy Car series. After the win in Barcelona, Hill scored another five victories but lost the championship by a single point to Michael Schumacher following a controversial collision at the last race in Adelaide, which was eventually won by Mansell. In such a tragic year it was testimony to the strength of the team that they retained the Constructors' World Championship, to close a season that will never be forgotten For 1995 it was Hill and Coulthard who drove for the team and between them notched up five victories in the FW17, with the young Scot taking his first Grand Prix win in Portugal. Hill was the only driver to challenge Schumacher for the drivers' title, but had to accept defeat when the German won the title for the second year at the Pacific Grand Prix in Aida. Although losing both titles was a disappointment, Hill made sure the team went out on a high with a fine win at the last race in Adelaide. By 1995 the Didcot HQ was rapidly becoming too small to house the team. A search for a new base was made and midway through 1995 the ideal place was found 10 miles from Didcot at Grove. Over the '95/'96 winter the team moved with the final phase being the transportation of the wind tunnel over the weekend of the 1996 San Marino Grand Prix. The new Grove factory was officially opened by HRH The Princess Royal on Tuesday 29th October 1996. Joining the team for 1996 was Jacques Villeneuve, 1995 Indy Car Champion and son of the late Gilles Villeneuve. The team had achieved good results during pre-season testing but it was not until the first race in Melbourne that the FW18's true potential was shown. New boy Jacques was the star of the show, claiming pole. With Damon second on the grid, the pair were over half a second quicker than the nearest opposition. They continued their domination in the race and eventually Damon won, with Jacques second after the Canadian had to slow down in the closing laps and relinquish his lead due to an oil pipe problem This success continued with Damon also winning in Brazil and Argentina and then Jacques winning his first ever Formula One Grand Prix, the European at the Nurburgring. The team went on to win 12 of the 16 races - Damon eight and Jacques four - and the Constructors' Championship was sewn up by the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Drivers' Championship was led from start to finish by Damon, with Jacques second, but was taken down to the wire with the final race in Suzuka seeing the title settled. Damon needed just one point to win and for Jacques it was a win or nothing. In the end Damon led the race from the lights to the chequered flag while Jacques was forced to retire. This was Damon's first and the team's sixth Drivers' World Championship. German driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen joined up the team in 1997 to partner Jacques. The season promised to be very competitive. The team fought hard but by mid-season still trailed championship-leaders Ferrari. There were celebrations at Silverstone with the 100th Grand Prix win at the scene of the very first victory 18 years previously. The famous WilliamsF1 determination had kicked in and by round 14, the Austrian Grand Prix, the team was back at the top of the championship table where it would stay. A record-breaking ninth Constructors' World Championship was sealed at the Japanese Grand Prix. An emotional World Championship victory for Jacques in the last race at Jerez sealed the delight of the entire team A change of image in 1998 co-incided with a change of fortune. The competition had shifted up a gear and by the first Grand Prix in Australia it looked like the McLaren team was going to walk away with the World Championships. A mass of new regulations in 1998 had presented all the teams with many new challenges including a reduction in the width of the car from two metres to 1.8 metres, more stringent crash testing and grooved tyres. McLaren had adapted best to the changes and the rest of the field was left to play 'catch-up'. WilliamsF1 had said goodbye to Renault in 1997 after a tremendously successful partnership that brought nine championship titles to the two companies The team continued to race with Mecachrome/Supertec engines before new technical partner, BMW, made its return to compete in Formula One racing in 2000. Without a works engine partner, the team had a hard fight on its hands to compete with the dominant McLaren and the hard charging Ferrari team. By the close of the season, it was McLaren and Ferrari challenging for the Championships whilst the 'Winfield WilliamsF1 Team' found itself in the fight for third place. Continual developments to the FW20 gave the team the push it needed and third place in the Constructors' Championship was duly secured. 1999 looked set to be another tough year for the team but there would be a few changes A completely new driver line-up brought reigning CART Champion Alex Zanardi and Ralf Schumacher to the team in 1999. Zanardi had a difficult season. Coming from the CART series to the modern Formula One threw the Italian onto a very steep learning curve. The advent of grooved tyres and narrow track cars in 1998 had forced the drivers to change their technique to control these new machines. Zanardi had to catch up with the learning process fast. Bad luck dogged his early season but the turning point came at the Belgian Grand Prix when he was finally on the pace. A strong performance at the next race in Italy looked like the tables were turning but further disappointments, ending with an electrical problem on the first lap of the last race in Japan, finished off a miserable season for the Italian... Schumacher though was to become the star of the year, putting in stunning performances, regularly scoring points and, at the European Grand Prix, his finest moment almost came but he was robbed of victory by a puncture. His strong racing skills earned him sixth position in the Drivers' World Championship and fifth place in the Constructors' Championship for the team. With the start of the new millennium, a new era began for WilliamsF1. After almost two years of backstage work, BMW returned to the Formula One arena with the WilliamsF1 team. The partnership, planned for five years, got off to a very promising start in 2000 with the BMW WilliamsF1 Team taking third place in the Formula One Constructors' World Championship. ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== CONTACT For rants, raves, etc., contact me at FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM; also, if you have enjoyed this guide and feel that it has been helpful to you, I would certainly appreciate a small donation via PayPal (http://www.paypal.com/) using the above e-mail address. To find the latest version of this and all my other PSX/PS2/DC/Mac game guides, visit FeatherGuides at http://feathersites.angelcities.com/ ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== ======================================================================= Wolf Feather Jamie Stafford ======================================================================= Just as there are many parts needed to make a human a human, there's a remarkable number of things needed to make an individual what they are. - Major Kusanagi, _Ghost in the Shell_ ======================================================================= What isn't remembered never happened. - _Serial Experiments Lain_ =======================================================================