THE HOUSE OF TYRRELL - a song of tyres on fire

Introduction
INTRODUCTION

Perdon the lame pun title, George R. Martin rip off entirely assumed.


Does it talks about Games of Thrones ? a fanfic ?

Well...

NO.

Otherwise, it would be in the fanfic section, obviously. :p

So why Tyrrell then ?

(hopeful) Because of Natalie Dormer ? (luvly Natalie, my crush from The Tudors, clever actress, and gorgeous with that. THOSE EYES, damn it.
...
Hey, by the way, Natalie Dormer played a nurse in Ron Howard F1 epic Rush - a VERY HOT nurse, just watch the movie early and you shall see - ( a Natalie like the Portman Natalie, except she saw far more of Chris "Thor" Hemsworth that Portman ever did, mu ha ha ha)

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Unfortunately no, I mean another Tyrrell - a little less glamourous British: "Uncle Ken" Tyrrell (better not to put a photo of him after Natalie, really).

As in Tyrrell Racing, FORMULA ONE legendary team still living nowadays after varied iterations.

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(1977, 42 years old and still awesome looking, the six-wheeler).

So this is a Formula One alternate history ?

Hell, yes, it is.

From when ?

The 80's, in the glory days of the four colossus - Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Alain Prost.

- Piquet the cynic prankster
- Mansell the mad, mad underdog (there is something wrong with Mansell, Estoril and Portugal, really)
- Senna the mystic legend
- Prost the walking computer

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(1987... no photoshop, it really happened, courtsey of Bernie Ecclestone PR machine.)

Because everybody always focuse on Senna vs Prost, but Piquet and Mansell were at least their equals, and added to the mayhem many times - Senna vs Mansell was pretty heated, and Piquet and Senna... better not to talk about it.

But whatif, like Star Wars "there were other ones ?" More Piquet and Mansell, able to add EVEN further mayhem ?

Schumacher, you mean Schumacher ?

No, not Schumacher. Be reassured, he will join the party as per OTL, although I don't like him very much, he was on par with Senna - and a legend. Much like the White Walkers, he is coming, indeed, and with him, Formula One winter. For me at least (my 12th birthday was 15 days after Senna death).

Before Spoonface (Schumacher nickname) come reining over F1 in 1995 and beyond, LET THE MADNESS BEGING.

I mean, whatif there were a couple of other pilots joining the above quartet in the second half of the 80's ? I mean, not four colossus but six or even seven of them ? Lauda is retiring, Rosberg is getting a little old, but there are others, well worth a championship...

I have three names in my mind, three awesome people which were, like Senna, marred by fate. Because I can't keep my key pad shut, you probably got wind of one, some clue about the second, but you will just never guess the third one (hint: he was an ultra-fast Benetton guy, some years before freakkin' Schumacher).

So, GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES (by the way, Tony George and his beloved Indianapolis track will be involved in the story).

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(I plan to post on weekends or perhaps during week if my new job leave me with enough energy).

and to warm your engines, a little soundtrack

GIMME SOME LOVIN' version 1.0 (Spencer Davis Group) and 2.0 (The Blue brothers, of course).


 
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Part I - Jochen Mass and the deadly hollows
Circuit Paul Ricard, southern France

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That was a circuit build for speed, and the dreaded curve of Signes, followed by a 1 mile straight, launched the car at nearly 200 mph. And right at this moment, the rear wing went flying away. At such speed, and with a 1500 hp BMW turbo engine, the crash could only be devastating.
And it was.
The car somersaulted, lifted off briefly, and then started a serie of terrifying cartwheels – nearly a dozen of them over distance later found to be 500 ft. The disintegrating car hit the bareers, flew over them and started tangling into rows and rows of catch fencing, the last line of defence for the public (fortunately there was none : it was a day of private testing).
As the disintegrating car rolled again and again, catch fencing tangled around it, slowing it down but also wrapping around the car, cockpit included, trapping the unfortunate pilot inside the cell safety, which fortunately resisted the varied shocks.
What was left of the car finally come a halt. Luckily enough, most of the fuel had been burn previously or send flying all over the place, hence the car did not caught fire. But it was upside down and the pilot was trapped inside, tightly, by all the catch fencing. It was not a day of racing but of training secession, to improvethe cars. In this months of may many teams had gathered on the French track of Le Castellet, better known as Paul Ricard. Prost, Rosberg, Mansell, and others stopped by the wreck and unsuccessfully tried to free the unfortunate pilot, to no avail. The catch fencing was wrapped around the car survival cell, and, more wrrying, no safety team was in sight for at least 15 minutes. Thanksfully the pilot was fully conscious and soon thereafter a lone safety car come the rescue at least. A solid pair of scissors were used to cut François Hesnault free at least. He was carried to La Timone hospital in nearby Marseille. He was unhurt, at least physically. Inside, he was angered.

The day was May 25, 1985. Among French pilots, pretty numerous those days, Hesnault was perhaps the least known. He had been hired by Guy Ligier the year before, and then by Bernie Ecclestone in the difficult role of Nelson Piquet team mate. Hesnault was no coward: he actually had some previous military background, including as a parachutist in the French Army in Africa, and a marked taste for risk and adventure that ultimately led him to motor racing and Formula One. But THIS accident was too much, really, and Hesnault announced he was out of F1.

Now Bernie Ecclestone had to replace him. His choice was a talented Swiss pilot who had never shone, essentially because of sheer jinx and bad cars. His name was Marc Surer.

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May 1985

BRABHAM FRENCH PILOT FRANÇOIS HESNAULT CRASH VIOLENTLY AT PAUL RICARD.

Alain Prost «This was private testing, as such, nobody gave a fuck about safety. Hesnault spent half an hour in the mangled remains of his Brabham that was completely stuck, wrapped in catch fencing. There was nothing we could do except to pray for the car not to catch fire, as no track marshall was in sight.»

HESNAULT SUCCESSOR AT BRABHAM WILL BE SWISS VETERAN MARC SURER

Among pilots Hesnault has a peculiar profile. The heir to a considerable family transport business, he only started racing once he had completed his military service in the French parachute corps. With such background, no-one would ever have called François Hesnault a man without courage. He was lucky to be born into a family which, as he was growing up, developed a huge transportation empire, carving out new markets in the Pacific, Asia and particularly in Africa. His father Pierre, a former paratrooper, enjoyed close relationships with leaders in a number of African countries and also within French government circles. The group moved everything, from missiles to furniture. François’s brother Philippe was a keen racer but his career was short because he was sent off to Asia by his father, to develop the business. Nonetheless he raced at Le Mans in 1975 and again in 1980. When François was 16 years old he suffered a very serious injury to one of his hands in a shooting accident. It took eight operations – and a great deal of pain – to repair the damage. By the time he was 19 Hesnault had become a junior officer in one of France’s most celebrated parachute regiments and was sent out to Africa, where he saw action when France intervened in local conflicts. Having acquired a taste for adventure, he set up his own trading company – to do business in dangerous countries – where people did not always play by the rules. When he was not off doing deals in Africa, he decided to do some racing, starting out in some hillclimbs around Paris. He discovered that he was very competitive and so enrolled at the famous Winfield School at Magny-Cours, although he was sick with hepatitis at the end of 1979 and so missed the Volant Elf finals, which could have won him a free ride in French Formula Renault in 1980. Instead he raised the money to do it himself. And then in 1984 he drove for Ligier and a year later, for Brabham.

Hesnault family is presently furious against both Ecclestone and Paul Ricard, talking about criminal negligence. They will probably take some legal action, which could have devastating consequences, considering Hesnault famility political relationships...

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JOCHEN MASS AND THE DEADLY HOLLOWS

Jochen Mass, how does a merchant sailor become a racing driver?

For love – why else? And I don’t mean the love of cars. My girlfriend at the time was a member of the Mannheim Sports Touring Club and worked as a marshal at the 1967 Eberbacher hill climb in the Neckar Valley. For me, it was very exciting, looking down on the cars from our post. The noise, the smell of rubber and fuel – fascinating!

You faced so many tragedies...

«Indeed. I have no regrets, motorsport was dangerous back then, but fact is Germany paid a horrific tribute to it. And I found myself at the center of the storm, wa too many times. It looks... as if Death has some lasting feud with me. More generally, that bitch has some axe to grin against German motorsport as a whole. All those tragedies... Le Mans, 1955. Von Trips, 1961. Stommelen, 1975 - my first and only F1 victory, a day like this ? Forget it. And then me. That accident in Silverstone, in 1978. And then Villeneuve in 1982, hell of a year, with another violent crash at Paul Ricard in July, could have been a disaster. Stommelen death in 1983.
(note: Mass crash at Paul Ricard 1982 send his burning car crashing through all the safety bareers protecting the public, except the very last one. The car was left hanging upside down to the last row of fencing ! It could have been a disaster)
Well, I have enough and I retired from F1, but not from Endurance. I currently watch for the next generation of german drivers. While ATS is presently our one and only F1 team, in endurance at least we are doing well. Look at this picture (Mass proudly shows a photo. Legends reads: testing the ATS D6 car, August 1983. Posing in front of the car, left to right Joe Gartner; Manfred Winkelhock, Stefan Bellof.)
The future is already there.
Do you know that back in 1961 and a short time before his death, Von Trips pioneered karting? He wanted to build a track near his homeplace, and after his tragic death his mother offered a patch of land to the city of Kerpen-Horrem. The track opened in the late 60's and nowadays it is the epicenter of German karting. We have some young talents there, they will probably rock the F1 world in the 90's. The track manager is a good friend of mine, and his two sons who sometimes race on the track, are damn fast. Meanwhile Mercedes is considering a return in motorsport, probably via Group C later followed by F1. They are actively seeking German or German-speaking pilots,Swiss, Austrians, whatever. Peter Sauber keeps an eye on the most promising talents, and I can tell you, a whole new generation of Germans are coming.»

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Part II - Transition - Germany and Formula One ugly marriage
Alain Post ? is that you ? :p

I wanted to paid hommage to Jochen Mass, the german gentleman driver. His racing career was marred by
some tragedies, most of them affecting many german pilots.

One has to realize that a german pilot starting his career in the late 60's would be carrying a couple of heavy burden: Le Mans tragedy of 1955 that left 83 death and Mercedes that retired from motorsport until hte 80's. And Von Trips death in 1961 that killed 15 people, worse death toll in F1 history (a mini-Le Mans tragedy).
What's worse, while Hans Stuck and Jochen Mass survived (if barely, Stuck was involved in the horrific Tom Pryce accident in 1977) their generation was crippled, and so was the next one.

there are somewhat two POD here, a small and a big one

François Hesnault did severely crashed his Brabham at Paul Ricard in May 1985, but the accident was a little less severe, so even his family did nothing. Now add one year, same car, same place, and guess who repeated Hesnault accident, except he was killed ?

Second POD is also related to Brabham (and Brabham was Ecclesone entry in F1 in 1972, until 1988)

Mosport, Canada, August 11 1985. There was a Group C race that day - and Surer was driving a Porsche 956.
That poor Marc Surer was already jinxed OTL. He went to Kyalami two times, in 1980 and 1982, crashed violently, two times, and badly broke his feet - two times ! Yet both times he returned to F1. Geez. A brave pilot, like Mass, considering what happened to him afterwards.
Surer also raced in (Le Mans) Group C by 1985, and guess who was his team mate ? another German, another unfortunate one related to... Jochen Mass.

Manfred Winkelhock.
Who OTL died in Mosport that day, crashing his Porsche into a concrete wall (sounds familiar with another German pilot ? wait for what follows)

ITTL, Marc Surer dies in his place. Poor Surer survived OTL, went to Rally in 1986 with a Ford RS-2200, crashed and burned in May 1986, yet he survived, but hi co-pilot was burned alive. :(

So in a sense, that poor Surer was kind of doomed OTL, really. Very unfortunate.

ITTL Winkelhock survives, and Group C racing moves on to its next race: Spa Francorchamps, Belgium, September 1 1985.

We all know what happened that day: Stefan Bellof tried to overtake Jacky Ixck at the worst place, and like his compatriot Winkelhock the race before (!) he crashed his Porsche into concrete and was killed.

Hence OTL toll : Death, 2, Germany 0.

See ? Jochen Mass and the deadly hollows. It continued.

What happened was that OTL, another F1 pilot (NOT a GERMAN one !) was also badly hurt in Spa, during practice.
The good Jonathan Palmer who later replaced James Hunt on the BBC, as Murray Walker team mate.

Well, so far casualty rates
OTL
- Winkelhock, Palmer, Bellof
ITTL
- Surer, Palmer, and then... ENOUGH

Because Surer, like Hesnault, was a Bernie Ecclestone driver. What's more, beyond Brabham, Ecclestone is also F1 iron hand.
And now he has lost Palmer, after Hesnault, Surer, plus a traumatized Winkelhock...

Too much is too much.

So Ecclestone pushes a rule that pretty much happened OTL after Bellof death (not before, unfortunately)
He pass phone calls to F1 managers to forbadde them to send their pilots to Group C or Rally or whatever else motorsport business. F1 pilots they are, first and foremost, and F1 is dangerous enough, notably in that era of 1500 hp turbos and 200 mph top speeds.

And thus Ken Tyrrell forbids Bellof to race in Spa, unknowngly saving his life.

Bellof team mate in Group C was the much beloved Thierry Boutsen, who OTL later scored three F1 victories with Williams. He was racing for Arrows (the unsinkable Molly Brown F1 team, with Minardi :p ) and suffers the same fate.

Finally, who was Jo Gartner ? An austrian pilot that was eclipsed by Gerhard Berger OTL and was killed in Le Mans - Groupe C again, in June 1986 !
Can you believe that ? Group C was really a slaughter house of German-austrian pilots in 85-86 OTL. Winkelhock, Bellof, Gartner killed. By a remarquable coincidence, all three had driven for the same F1 team the same year - 1983 - ATS.

One could call that the ATS / Jochen Mass curse, really !!!

Indeed that poor Jochen Mass, after his own generation was decimated in the 70's, hanged on to Group C racing after 1982, only to endure three more death (the above).
And guess what he did ? he continued !
And (with Mercedes and Peter Sauber backing) he caretook the third generation of German pilots in the late 80's - Karl Wendlinger (another unfortunate german pilot, damn it - Monaco 1994 #JochenMassjinx)
H. H. Frentzen and of course, Michael "spoon face" Schumacher.
Schumacher who finally screwed the Jochen Mass curse for good, and gave Germany more victories and titles it had ever dreamed before.

While death was accepted by pilots as "businessas usual" in the 70's, one can really admire Jochen Mass stoicism facing so many tragedies, and rejoice at a happy ending - Schumacher somewhat avenging all those lost pilots.

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Winkelhock (left) and Bellof (right)

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THE NEXT GENERATION - where no German has gone before

Center, left to right

Schumacher, Frentzen, Jochen Mass (behind), Wendlinger
(with Jean Louis Schlesser and Mauro Baldi on the two ends of the picture)
 
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Part III August 1985: fate and death play russian roulette with F1 pilots
Part 3

Mosport, Canada, August 11 1985.

«Bernie ? » Brabham pilot Marc Surer was surprised to see his boss (and F1 iron hand) in the paddock. But Ecclestone was there. For some time he had grown interest in F1 most dangerous competitors, as far as TV rights went : Le Mans and Indianapolis - read, Group C and Indycar (note: more on this later. Much more).

Surer spoke freely with his boss. «I like Group C so much. Endurance, Le Mans – I need the different feeling. Do you know next year I itend to drive one of these exciting monster Groupe B rally cars ? I just have an offer from Ford for a test drive of their RS-2200... »

Ecclestone sighed. Rally, Group C, F1 – Surer was somewhat the last of its kind, an era of the 70's that now drawing to a close. There were more and more resistance from the F1 teams to let their pilots risks their lives in Group C, not even mentionning Indycar, but Rally ? WTF ?

Ecclestone had no time to remind Surer he was first and foremost a F1 AND Brabham pilot, because the Swiss team mate brought back their Porsche 956 to a very unexpected pit stop.
Ecclestone watched in dismay as yet another F1 pilot - damn it – get out of the cockpit and discussed with Surer.
«... something wrong with the car, the mechanics are checking it. Maybe it was the goddam Corvette that hit me during the warm up... what, you want to take my place ? Are you sure? I was to make that first relay... ok, ok, if that's really what you want... I'll drive in two or three hours. Take care of yourself, please.»
Surer nodded in approval and went into the car. Manfred Winkelhock and Bernie Ecclestone watched Surer driving the 956 out of Mosport pit lane. Winkelhock found himself mostly alone with Ecclestone, and a little embarrassed. His own experience of F1 had not exactly been a happy one, his team was no Brabham by any mean...

And all off sudden, all hell broke lose. There had been an accident. A bad one.

Ecclestone and Winkelhock hearts froze in horror.

It was Surer.

My pilot

My team mate


August 30, 1985

Enough was enough.

Bernie Ecclestone was furious. François Hesnault. His own Marc Surer – two pilots in the space of six months. And now, Zakspeed Jonathan Palmer, the good doctor of Formula One. Crashed again in a fucking Porsche 956, down for the count with severe foot and ankles inuries.

Enough is enough !

Bernie Ecclestone took his phone. Tyrrell, first. Then Arrows, then the others. Enough is enough. Formula 1 is already dangerous enough, no way pilots added further risk driving in rally or Le Mans or elsewhere.

Spa Francorchamps. Same day, in the evening

There was a knock on the motorhome door. Thierry Boutsen, Belgium best F1 pilot since legendary Jacky Ixck, was standing there, his face like a tombstone. Stefan Bellof, Germany best hope since Wolfgang von Trips, wondered what the fuck had happened.

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Forget the terrible hairstyle, and watch for the gentleman driver below. Thierry Boutsen, 1985.


Another accident ?

Bellof reminded all too well the devastated face of his compatriot Manfred Winkelhock at Marc Surer funerals, some days earlier. Present were the entire colony of aspiring German or German-speaking pilots there: Gerhard Berger, the Winkelhock brothers, Jo Gartner. And Hans Stuck and poor Jochen Mass, the last two survivors of the preceding generation of F1 German pilots that had been so cruelly crippled – the Stommelen and many others, all dead. Bellof had been shaken by all this, but well, motorsport remained a dangerous business, even if the 80's were much less murderous.

By 1983 the young generation of Jo Gartner, Manfred Winkelhock and Stefan Bellof all had driven for the one and only German F1 team, the not-very-bright ATS. Since then Zakspeed had been hardly better. Bellof, for his part, had struggled with Tyrrell for two years, two years of extreme highs and extreme lows – Monaco 1984 being the most extreme example, third behind Prost and that... how was he called, Senna ? Yes, Senna. And then Bellof and Brundle entire season send to the trash heap of F1 history, because Ken Tyrrell was, at times, a though con man. Well, Mosley and Ecclestone, once the the Brabham and March bosses, had been F1 con men in their youth, too, when with Tyrrell himself, and McLaren and Frank Williams and Lotus' Collin Chapman, they had created the FOCA and later declared war to that asshole Balestre. A war that had nearly split F1 but was no longer a concern.

Bellof was done with that old crook Ken Tyrrell, really, and he had recently hit gold. If all went well, within three weeks he would meet the living God of Formula One, the one even Ecclestone, Mosley and Balestre feared, the man made of stuff of legends. ENZO FERRARI. I WILL DRIVE FOR FERRARI, like the grand old Von Trips.

Boutsen, however, kept interrupting the young german day dreaming.

«Stefan... I need to warn you. Ecclestone has just blown a fuse over Palmer accident, closely following Surer death.

«What...?

«He phoned our teams. Mine and yours. Tyrrell and fucking Arrows. Its official: we are forbidden to enter the race, or racing for Group C. Otherwise we can kiss our F1 drives goodbye. You certainly know that Ken Tyrrell is not in a position of strength... and Arrows is even worse, well, they may lost the BMW if they retire from F1, and are near bankruptcy.» it was as if Boutsen was chewing nails.

Bellof was aghast. He loved Group C, where Porsche largely avenged Germany past and present F1 miseries. He immediately phoned Ken Tyrrell, and his boss was clear enough – as much as he hated Ecclestone, for once, he was on his side. If Bellof put his life at risk running in that fucking Belgium race, he could kiss his F1 drive over. Bellof tried to argue, until Tyrell hit the nail in the head. «Oh, and Enzo Ferrari is on our side too. Don't forget F1 is a small world.» Damn.
Is Ken tyrrell threatening my future...
and the realized. Tyrrell could screw him over his contract, past and future contracts, actually, Ferrari included. Senna had rushed to Lotus while still at Toleman, and paid a high price tohis "trahison".

After much, much arguing with Uncle Ken, he had to give up. And explain the situation to Walter Brun, the owner of the Porsche 956 he was to drive that day, in Spa. Bellof actually feared to discuss the matter with Brun, but to his surprise his boss seemed not too furious... although he had to forfait the race,both his pilots away, Boutsen being Bellof team mate.

There was something bizarre there, something Bellof could hardly explain.

Little did he knew that Walter Brun was willing to enter Formula One sooner rather than later, and as such, he was better not to anger Ecclestone. Unbestknown to Bellof, Walter Brun was in touch with the moribund Alfa Romeo F1 team, soon to close after 7 years of dismal failures. Brun was also discussing with Giampaollo Pavanello and Carlos Chiti, two collateral victims of Alfa Romeo F1 fiasco. Pavanello Euroracing (once a F3 team) had taken over from Alfa itself and failed miserably. While Chiti engines had been disapointing, to say the least. This did not worried Walter Brun by any mean, he remained convinced Alfa Romeo was his best hope for a F1 ticket in the next future.

So Bellof capitulated, blissfully unaware Tyrrell and Ecclestone shameless bargaining had saved his life and a promising F1 career, too.
 
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You mean Cevert ? François Cevert ? Although I'm no gay by any mean, fact is that man looked like a rock star or a freakkin' Greek god. He must have drove women even crazier than James Hunt,which says something :p
- and blue eyes with that.

Life is unfair.

Fran%C3%A7ois-Cevert.jpg


Shame he died so young, and so horrifically... he could have been Jackie Steward heir... and his French successor the next year, Patrick Depailler, did not lived much older, another much lamented martyr in French F1...

Someday I should make a French F1 wank where both Cevert and Depailler live, Beltoise and Pescarolo gets longer careers, and they add to the pack of Laffite, Pironi, Tambay, Jabouille, Arnoux, Pironi, and Jarier (Jean Pierre Jarier, France very own Chris Amon, not a single victory and also known as led shoes, godasses de plomb LMAO). 11 French pilots, enough for a soccer team :p
 
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Next post: the end of the 1985 season, with butterflies flapping their wings. Geez, keeping Bellof alive creates big changes everywhere. I did the TL as a tribute to his lost talent, but him simply living and driving for Tyrrell until the last race of 1985 causes huge butterflies, because of its two OTL successors at Uncle Ken's - now driveless ITTL !
- Ivan Capelli (hello, Leyton House / March 1987 - 1992)
- Philippe Streiff (AGS French F1 team, 1986 - 1991)

In a nutshell, March and... France very mixed F1 records (to you, Prost Grand Prix, Ligier, AGS and Larrousse) will be turned upside down, and for the best...

Ligier, AGS and Larrousse ran parallel to each other between 1987 and 1994 - they tried to merge from times to times but never suceded, splitting whatever little money there was for F1 in France into three small slices; and when they all failed, Alain Prost bravely picked the remains... and failed even more miserably. Fuck.
ITTL, things will be different.

March and Capelli will do better, too, although not together...
 
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You mean Cevert ? François Cevert ? Although I'm no gay by any mean, fact is that man looked like a rock star or a freakkin' Greek god. He must have drove women even crazier than James Hunt,which says something :p
- and blue eyes with that.

Life is unfair.

Fran%C3%A7ois-Cevert.jpg


Shame he died so young, and so horrifically... he could have been Jackie Steward heir... and his French successor the next year, Patrick Depailler, did not lived much older, another much lamented martyr in French F1...

Someday I should make a French F1 wank where both Cevert and Depailler live, Beltoise and Pescarolo gets longer careers, and they add to the pack of Laffite, Pironi, Tambay, Jabouille, Arnoux, Pironi, and Jarier (Jean Pierre Jarier, France very own Chris Amon, not a single victory and also known as led shoes, godasses de plomb LMAO). 11 French pilots, enough for a soccer team :p
For all the French talent, I was thinking Renault can do what Red Bull does. Have the Renault A team, and a B team as Alpine.
 
You mean Cevert ? François Cevert ? Although I'm no gay by any mean, fact is that man looked like a rock star or a freakkin' Greek god. He must have drove women even crazier than James Hunt,which says something :p
- and blue eyes with that.

Life is unfair.

Fran%C3%A7ois-Cevert.jpg


Shame he died so young, and so horrifically... he could have been Jackie Steward heir... and his French successor the next year, Patrick Depailler, did not lived much older, another much lamented martyr in French F1...

Someday I should make a French F1 wank where both Cevert and Depailler live, Beltoise and Pescarolo gets longer careers, and they add to the pack of Laffite, Pironi, Tambay, Jabouille, Arnoux, Pironi, and Jarier (Jean Pierre Jarier, France very own Chris Amon, not a single victory and also known as led shoes, godasses de plomb LMAO). 11 French pilots, enough for a soccer team :p

Consider me subscribed for that already! Cevert would have been world champion at least once had he lived, Stewart said about how he’d been “an obedient teammate” all through 1973. That’s code for “He could have passed me whenever he wanted!”
 
Part 4 un petit tétakou... LMAO

Back to August 11, 1985

The Ligier come out of the curve way, way too fast and what usually happens, happened. It skidded and got of the track ass-first, right into the wet grass soaked by rain, at 150 mph. Except the grass was not flat, so at some point the car, travelling backwards, hit a bank which violently changed its erratic motion into a terrific series of cartweels, one... two... three... and when the sidewards cartwheels stopped, it was the nose that planted in the soil, so the car dived into the ground and made an entire looping like an aerobatic aircraft - before flipping a last time and coming to a stop at least !
The pilot quickly escaped what little was left of his car, he was completely unhurt but a little shaken.
He went on foot to the pit lane, not in a particular hurry to meat his team manager, the ebulient Guy Ligier. The frenchmen had been a butcher,a rugbyman, and a soldier before marrying motorpsort twenty years before. He wasn't particularly refined nor delicate, to say the least.
Andrea de Cesaris entered the Ligier stand. Guy Ligier awaited him, aparently blissfully unaware of De Cesaris monumental crash some minutes before.
"Putain, Andrea, encore un abandon ?" (Andrea for fuck sake, another do-not-finish)
De Cesaris answered in an hesitant, heavily italian accented French

"Ma, Guy, ça n'est lien... j'ai fait un petit tétakou dans l'herbe mouillée"

Tétakou = Tête-a-queue = literally, head-to-tail, in english: a spin.

Guy Ligier went mad and erupted in anger. He pointed a menacing finger that shook with anger to a point on the rear, above De Cesaris head. Still wearing his helmet, the italian pilot turned, only to see a giant screen showing his mind-boggling crash, in a loop. Porca miseria, merda...

Ligier shouted "UN PETIT TETAKOU, CA ? MAIS TU TE FOUT DE MA GUEULE ? JE VAIS T'EN FOUTRE, MOI DES PETITS TETAKOU" (a small spin, THAT ? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME ??!!! - the following I can't translate, but you get the point) "YOU'RE FIRED, ANDREA ! FIRED !" said Ligier, on the brink of blowing an aneurysm.

...enough was enough, indeed. It wasn't for nothing that De Cesaris had been rebranded De Crasheris. Andrea wasn'ta bad pilot, he was fast but gaffe-prone. He also boasted big sponsors, making him attractive for teams that lacked money, like Ligier. Unfortunately hiring De Cesaris was usually a double-edged sword, because most of the money he brought with his sponsors, ended in car wrecks, inumerable spins, cartwheels, crashes. At least he was lucky enough never having hurt himself.

And once again, luck (and sponsors) saved Andrea de Cesaris career, once again, and it would last 8 more years, ending with 208 races and 1 lone victory, Monaco 1982, the poorest ratio on F1 history.

A week before, poor Marc Surer had died in Mosport, leaving the second Brabham seat unoccupied. And Bernie Ecclestone did it: Brabham had a special connection with italian pilots,the Teo Fabi, Patrese... and De Cesaris, of all pilots, got the drive. Bernie Ecclestone needed the sponsors money; little him and Nelson Piquet knew the shitstorm that was going to blow on the team.

6dee4918314048532da1a37b047f681d.jpg


Andrea de Cesaris (died in a motorcycle accident early October 2014, the very same day as Jules Bianchi accident: how we miss personalities like you in today's F1).



September 11, 1985

Bernie Ecclestone never-ending misfortunes

Formula 1 kingmaker Ecclestone is in the eye of a growing storm. He had barely reached an agreement with François Hesnault family that his successor at Brabham Marc Surer died. Meanwhile Nelson Piquet is leaving the Brabham ship for Williams. As for Andrea de Cesaris... better not to discuss the matter !

Undaunted, Ecclestone hunted for a new star, and settled on no-one else than... Niki Lauda. Wait but WTF, didn't Lauda retired from F1 ? Not for Ecclestone, it seems. Since the Austrian announced his retirement, Bernie proposed no less than a 6 million dollar contract to get him. Lauda briefly hesitated, shrugged, and said no. The next race, Ecclestone offers had balloned to 7 million, three times the highest salaries in F1, Rosberg, Prost, and Piquet himself. Lauda hesitated again, but stuck with a No, because of his wife, and because he is not a greedy turncoat. F1 is definitively over to him, even for a billion dollars.
Unfortunately for Bernie, by the point every other superstar pilot was already gone.
Senna is stuck at Lotus until 1988. Prost is all too happy at McLaren, where Rosberg will replace Lauda, continuing Ron Dennis wet dream of a « super team » of world champions. Williams got their hands on Piquet and Mansell. Ferrari will keep the valiant Alboreto and is already on... track to get Stefan Bellof. The German prodige has a date with Enzo Ferrari last week

This left the very own Elio de Angelis, the much beloved italian gentleman driver and aristocrat and piano player. For all his talent De Angelis, like many others, has been blown away by Ayrton Senna goodness, which is more and more reminiscent of Gilles Villeneuve.

De Angelis has been with Lotus since 1980 and, as long as his team mate was Nigel Mansell, he was the natural leader - although the two went along very well considering their... markedly opposite backgrounds, characters, and way of being. Things changed for the worse when Mansell left for Williams and Senna replaced him. Within the span of some weeks Senna put Lotus at his feet, despite a valiant resistance by De Angelis. Now the Roman wants to leave, and this did not escaped Ecclestone, who offered him a Brabham drive. So De Angelis will be Brabham number 1 pilot... yet so far he has no team mate.

And this bring us to the fate of italian pilots in Formula 1. There are four of them currently ranking high: De Angelis, Michele Alboreto, Riccardo Patrese and Andrea de Cesaris. Alboreto challenge to Prost was remarquable, but also highlighted some weaknesses of the man. Patrese is different, he was hardened by the insanely unfair treatment he endured after Ronnie Peterson death a decade ago. So far Patrese once promising career has been stuck at Alfa Romeo, wasting his talent on unworth cars.

And finally there is the case of Andrea de Cesaris, cruelly known as De Crasheris because he destroyed so many cars. It was hoped that De Cesaris (bizarre if not absurd) victory in Monaco, 1982, would help him to mature a little, to be more secure (1). This did not happened and that victory looks more and more like a twist of fate.
Lately De Cesaris went to work for frenchman Guy Ligier, the former butcher / military / rugbyman turned F1 manager. With such background you guess that patience and finesse are not Ligier foremost qualities, and with Andrea being De Cesaris, what could possibly go wrong ? De Cesaris... crashed lots and lots of Ligiers until Austria, where he went a step too far, demolishing his car in a spectacular cartwheel. Ligier had more than enough and sacked him. De Cesaris, undaunted, went to Ecclestone and told him his powerful sponsors were very much like Brabham's. He claimed Surer's seat ! Ecclestone sighed: his prefered drivers Patrese and Warwick were stuck, so De Cesaris it was... until Adelaide, that is. De Cesaris «performance» in Australia was the last straw, and so Patrese it will be, in the Brabham and beside De Angelis.

open-uri20121024-20754-4mfh9w.jpg


Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna.
To spoof Napoleon quote on the Egyptian pyramids
"Du haut de ce podium, 10 titres de champion du monde de F1 vous contemplent"


...and Jean Marie Balestre is looking at you, too (the ugly guy in the middle, that is not a pilot and wear sunglasses).

No, really, what could possibly go wrong, once Lauda gone and replaced by Senna at McLaren ?


HESNAULT AND SURER MISFORTUNES RIPPLES ON BRABHAM – AND BEYOND.

BMW was deeply shocked by Surer death, as they raced together in F2 in the early 80's. It was BMW that got Surer at Brabham in place of Hesnault. When (even before he died) Ecclestone make clear to Surer he would not stay with the team in 1986, BMW told Surer he would stay in F1 via Arrows, the small british team that also used BMW engines. A settlement between BMW, Surer and Arrows was imminent when Surer death wrecked it all. The german carmaker is deeply in shock.
Meanwhile the rising Austrian star Gerhard Berger, another BMW protégé, will bring the all powerful BMW flat four (1400 hp !) to the Toleman team... except that the Benetton brothers send a mercenary of them, Flavio Briatore on a crusade to Toleman, and together the three men took control of the team. Previously Benetton green livery has been seen on Tyrrells and Alfa Romeos, and the results were not exactly... positives. Hopefully Toleman will be a better investment for them !

gpx105.jpg


(yes, this is Flavio freakkin' Briatore... a long time ago :p )


LAUDA, DE ANGELIS, PIQUET IN A DEADLOCK AT BRABHAM.

«Considering the sum they paid Piquet, and what Bernie is willing to spend to get Lauda, I told myself – Elio, how much do you want ? [Laughing nervously]. Admittedly, I haven't two or three championships under my belt like these two. Still I'm no rookie anymore – third in 84' and even leading at some point in 85', despite Senna arrival.

So I decided to put some pressure on Bernie. I told him that, even with Senna making my life miserable, I may consider staying at Lotus – you never know. Because, you see, my departure is both a relief and a pain for Ayrton. Bluntly, he fears another me at his side. That is, a pilot good enough to be given equal treatment, and an equal car. Not an also-ran. Look at his pathetic efforts to block Warwick arrival. He fears Derek ! He went as far as pushing his fellow Brazilian roomate, Mauricio Gugelmin, as his future team mate. I know it because I saw Gugelmin testing the Lotus recently, with Senna help.

Somewhat surprisingly Bernie has been a little more receptive than I hoped – or feared. Fact is that all the tragedies that marred Brabham this year put his roster of pilots in shambles. Hesnault first, then poor Marc Surer. And now – on a lighter tone, I'd say he is trapped with Andrea de Cesaris, and somewhat already fed up with the man, as was Guy Ligier in July [laugh again, frankly]. Of course there is Patrese, but this is only one pilot, if Bernie wants to get ride of De Cesaris, then he will need a second one. And I'm not really sure Brabham is attractive enough, except for somebody desperate by Senna, as I am. But I'm not that desperate – I would rather endure Ayrton another year rather than running for Brabham, I mean, on too low a salary. In the end I have not much to lose: I piss-off both Senna and Ecclestone to get a better salary. Maybe I should speak to Warwick to encourage him in pressuring, either Brabham or Lotus. I recently realized that Warwick is a very nice fellow; we discovered we have a lot in common. For a start, we are both suffering from the comparison with Mansell [laugh].

AU1557089.jpg


Elio de Angelis. He was on par with Rosberg and Mansell, but a man from Sao Paulo with the name of Ayrton Senna decided otherwise... and then he died.

NOTE

(1) Monaco 1982, you said what ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Monaco_Grand_Prix

Geez, Monaco has a knack for crazy races. I knew about the legendary 1984, Prost and Bellof and Senna; and 1996, Panis and only three survivors, I was 14.

But 1982 ? I was a (voracious) newborn toddler in my craddle, only one week old. Can't remember it, nor Gilles Villeneuve, who died a week before I was born. :(

Well, screw OTL.

Riccardo Patrese got plenty of F1 victories OTL, and Didier Pironi was definitively doomed that year 1982.
By contrast that poor De Cesaris, such an attaching fellow, OTL still held the record for most F1 races without a win, at 208 races. I come to appreciate goofy De Cesaris and decided that little POD, giving him a lone F1 victory, wouldn't change the grand history of things.

You might be interested by the fact that the next two most unfortunate pilots are Derek Warwick and Martin Brundle, nearly 160 races each and zero victories (hint: OTL, of course. ITTL ? we shall see !)

Well, and Nick Heidfeld, too. Nearly 180, and counting. But I don't plan to change F1 up to his days, and he still can win a race, common Nick, you CAN do it !

(2) (What happened to Pironi, by the way, after 1982 ? Everybody's remember Villeneuve, of course, but he has been forgotten, with Prost having eclisped him to get that pilot title for France, in 1985... Well, ITTL, Pironi fate will be different. Watch for him )

f1-brazilian-gp-1981-didier-pironi-and-gilles-villeneuve-in-the-pit-garage-together.jpg


Didier Pironi and Gilles Villeneuve on what looks definitively like a bad day, probably in 1981, Ferrari shit-of-a-year bar Villeneuve crazy victories in Monaco and Spain - victories only a superhuman being like him could achieve.
If you think Prost and Senna rivalry was BAD, the story of these two is tragic and heart-breaking altogether. Sorry for Gilles fans, I just can't write on Villeneuve, his story is too tragic, final accident horror included. Maybe someday... he was headed to McLaren in 1983, in a pair with Lauda, Ron Dennis wet dream of pairing champions that OTL resulted in Prost-vs-Senna. Oh Ron Dennis, you evil megalomaniac... Lauda and Villeneuve ? are you NUTS ?
 
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Back to August 11, 1985

The Ligier come out of the curve way, way too fast and what usually happens, happened. It skidded and got of the track ass-first, right into the wet grass soaked by rain, at 150 mph. Except the grass was not flat, so at some point the car, travelling backwards, hit a bank which violently changed its erratic motion into a terrific series of cartweels, one... two... three... and when the sidewards cartwheels stopped, it was the nose that planted in the soil, so the car dived into the ground and made an entire looping like an aerobatic aircraft - before flipping a last time and coming to a stop at least !
The pilot quickly escaped what little was left of his car, he was completely unhurt but a little shaken.
He went on foot to the pit lane, not in a particular hurry to meat his team manager, the ebulient Guy Ligier. The frenchmen had been a butcher,a rugbyman, and a soldier before marrying motorpsort twenty years before. He wasn't particularly refined nor delicate, to say the least.
Andrea de Cesaris entered the Ligier stand. Guy Ligier awaited him, aparently blissfully unaware of De Cesaris monumental crash some minutes before.
"Putain, Andrea, encore un abandon ?" (Andrea for fuck sake, another do-not-finish)
De Cesaris answered in an hesitant, heavily italian accented French

"Ma, Guy, ça n'est lien... j'ai fait un petit tétakou dans l'herbe mouillée"

Tétakou = Tête-a-queue = literally, head-to-tail, in english: a spin.

Guy Ligier went mad and erupted in anger. He pointed a menacing finger that shook with anger to a point on the rear, above De Cesaris head. Still wearing his helmet, the italian pilot turned, only to see a giant screen showing his mind-boggling crash, in a loop. Porca miseria, merda...

Ligier shouted "UN PETIT TETAKOU, CA ? MAIS TU TE FOUT DE MA GUEULE ? JE VAIS T'EN FOUTRE, MOI DES PETITS TETAKOU" (a small spin, THAT ? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME ??!!! - the following I can't translate, but you get the point) "YOU'RE FIRED, ANDREA ! FIRED !" said Ligier, on the brink of blowing an aneurysm.

...enough was enough, indeed. It wasn't for nothing that De Cesaris had been rebranded De Crasheris. Andrea wasn'ta bad pilot, he was fast but gaffe-prone. He also boasted big sponsors, making him attractive for teams that lacked money, like Ligier. Unfortunately hiring De Cesaris was usually a double-edged sword, because most of the money he brought with his sponsors, ended in car wrecks, inumerable spins, cartwheels, crashes. At least he was lucky enough never having hurt himself.

And once again, luck (and sponsors) saved Andrea de Cesaris career, once again, and it would last 8 more years, ending with 208 races and 1 lone victory, Monaco 1982, the poorest ratio on F1 history.

A week before, poor Marc Surer had died in Mosport, leaving the second Brabham seat unoccupied. And Bernie Ecclestone did it: Brabham had a special connection with italian pilots,the Teo Fabi, Patrese... and De Cesaris, of all pilots, got the drive. Bernie Ecclestone needed the sponsors money; little him and Nelson Piquet knew the shitstorm that was going to blow on the team.

6dee4918314048532da1a37b047f681d.jpg


Andrea de Cesaris (died in a motorcycle accident early October 2014, the very same day as Jules Bianchi accident: how we miss personalities like you in today's F1).



September 11, 1985

Bernie Ecclestone never-ending misfortunes

Formula 1 kingmaker Ecclestone is in the eye of a growing storm. He had barely reached an agreement with François Hesnault family that his successor at Brabham Marc Surer died. Meanwhile Nelson Piquet is leaving the Brabham ship for Williams. As for Andrea de Cesaris... better not to discuss the matter !

Undaunted, Ecclestone hunted for a new star, and settled on no-one else than... Niki Lauda. Wait but WTF, didn't Lauda retired from F1 ? Not for Ecclestone, it seems. Since the Austrian announced his retirement, Bernie proposed no less than a 6 million dollar contract to get him. Lauda briefly hesitated, shrugged, and said no. The next race, Ecclestone offers had balloned to 7 million, three times the highest salaries in F1, Rosberg, Prost, and Piquet himself. Lauda hesitated again, but stuck with a No, because of his wife, and because he is not a greedy turncoat. F1 is definitively over to him, even for a billion dollars.
Unfortunately for Bernie, by the point every other superstar pilot was already gone.
Senna is stuck at Lotus until 1988. Prost is all too happy at McLaren, where Rosberg will replace Lauda, continuing Ron Dennis wet dream of a « super team » of world champions. Williams got their hands on Piquet and Mansell. Ferrari will keep the valiant Alboreto and is already on... track to get Stefan Bellof. The German prodige has a date with Enzo Ferrari last week

This left the very own Elio de Angelis, the much beloved italian gentleman driver and aristocrat and piano player. For all his talent De Angelis, like many others, has been blown away by Ayrton Senna goodness, which is more and more reminiscent of Gilles Villeneuve.

De Angelis has been with Lotus since 1980 and, as long as his team mate was Nigel Mansell, he was the natural leader - although the two went along very well considering their... markedly opposite backgrounds, characters, and way of being. Things changed for the worse when Mansell left for Williams and Senna replaced him. Within the span of some weeks Senna put Lotus at his feet, despite a valiant resistance by De Angelis. Now the Roman wants to leave, and this did not escaped Ecclestone, who offered him a Brabham drive. So De Angelis will be Brabham number 1 pilot... yet so far he has no team mate.

And this bring us to the fate of italian pilots in Formula 1. There are four of them currently ranking high: De Angelis, Michele Alboreto, Riccardo Patrese and Andrea de Cesaris. Alboreto challenge to Prost was remarquable, but also highlighted some weaknesses of the man. Patrese is different, he was hardened by the insanely unfair treatment he endured after Ronnie Peterson death a decade ago. So far Patrese once promising career has been stuck at Alfa Romeo, wasting his talent on unworth cars.

And finally there is the case of Andrea de Cesaris, cruelly known as De Crasheris because he destroyed so many cars. It was hoped that De Cesaris (bizarre if not absurd) victory in Monaco, 1982, would help him to mature a little, to be more secure (1). This did not happened and that victory looks more and more like a twist of fate.
Lately De Cesaris went to work for frenchman Guy Ligier, the former butcher / military / rugbyman turned F1 manager. With such background you guess that patience and finesse are not Ligier foremost qualities, and with Andrea being De Cesaris, what could possibly go wrong ? De Cesaris... crashed lots and lots of Ligiers until Austria, where he went a step too far, demolishing his car in a spectacular cartwheel. Ligier had more than enough and sacked him. De Cesaris, undaunted, went to Ecclestone and told him his powerful sponsors were very much like Brabham's. He claimed Surer's seat ! Ecclestone sighed: his prefered drivers Patrese and Warwick were stuck, so De Cesaris it was... until Adelaide, that is. De Cesaris «performance» in Australia was the last straw, and so Patrese it will be, in the Brabham and beside De Angelis.

open-uri20121024-20754-4mfh9w.jpg


Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna.
To spoof Napoleon quote on the Egyptian pyramids
"Du haut de ce podium, 10 titres de champion du monde de F1 vous contemplent"


...and Jean Marie Balestre is looking at you, too (the ugly guy in the middle, that is not a pilot and wear sunglasses).

No, really, what could possibly go wrong, once Lauda gone and replaced by Senna at McLaren ?


HESNAULT AND SURER MISFORTUNES RIPPLES ON BRABHAM – AND BEYOND.

BMW was deeply shocked by Surer death, as they raced together in F2 in the early 80's. It was BMW that got Surer at Brabham in place of Hesnault. When (even before he died) Ecclestone make clear to Surer he would not stay with the team in 1986, BMW told Surer he would stay in F1 via Arrows, the small british team that also used BMW engines. A settlement between BMW, Surer and Arrows was imminent when Surer death wrecked it all. The german carmaker is deeply in shock.
Meanwhile the rising Austrian star Gerhard Berger, another BMW protégé, will bring the all powerful BMW flat four (1400 hp !) to the Toleman team... except that the Benetton brothers send a mercenary of them, Flavio Briatore on a crusade to Toleman, and together the three men took control of the team. Previously Benetton green livery has been seen on Tyrrells and Alfa Romeos, and the results were not exactly... positives. Hopefully Toleman will be a better investment for them !

gpx105.jpg


(yes, this is Flavio freakkin' Briatore... a long time ago :p )


LAUDA, DE ANGELIS, PIQUET IN A DEADLOCK AT BRABHAM.

«Considering the sum they paid Piquet, and what Bernie is willing to spend to get Lauda, I told myself – Elio, how much do you want ? [Laughing nervously]. Admittedly, I haven't two or three championships under my belt like these two. Still I'm no rookie anymore – third in 84' and even leading at some point in 85', despite Senna arrival.

So I decided to put some pressure on Bernie. I told him that, even with Senna making my life miserable, I may consider staying at Lotus – you never know. Because, you see, my departure is both a relief and a pain for Ayrton. Bluntly, he fears another me at his side. That is, a pilot good enough to be given equal treatment, and an equal car. Not an also-ran. Look at his pathetic efforts to block Warwick arrival. He fears Derek ! He went as far as pushing his fellow Brazilian roomate, Mauricio Gugelmin, as his future team mate. I know it because I saw Gugelmin testing the Lotus recently, with Senna help.

Somewhat surprisingly Bernie has been a little more receptive than I hoped – or feared. Fact is that all the tragedies that marred Brabham this year put his roster of pilots in shambles. Hesnault first, then poor Marc Surer. And now – on a lighter tone, I'd say he is trapped with Andrea de Cesaris, and somewhat already fed up with the man, as was Guy Ligier in July [laugh again, frankly]. Of course there is Patrese, but this is only one pilot, if Bernie wants to get ride of De Cesaris, then he will need a second one. And I'm not really sure Brabham is attractive enough, except for somebody desperate by Senna, as I am. But I'm not that desperate – I would rather endure Ayrton another year rather than running for Brabham, I mean, on too low a salary. In the end I have not much to lose: I piss-off both Senna and Ecclestone to get a better salary. Maybe I should speak to Warwick to encourage him in pressuring, either Brabham or Lotus. I recently realized that Warwick is a very nice fellow; we discovered we have a lot in common. For a start, we are both suffering from the comparison with Mansell [laugh].

AU1557089.jpg


Elio de Angelis. He was on par with Rosberg and Mansell, but a man from Sao Paulo with the name of Ayrton Senna decided otherwise... and then he died.

NOTE

(1) Monaco 1982, you said what ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Monaco_Grand_Prix

Geez, Monaco has a knack for crazy races. I knew about the legendary 1984, Prost and Bellof and Senna; and 1996, Panis and only three survivors, I was 14.

But 1982 ? I was a (voracious) newborn toddler in my craddle, only one week old. Can't remember it, nor Gilles Villeneuve, who died a week before I was born. :(

Well, screw OTL.

Riccardo Patrese got plenty of F1 victories OTL, and Didier Pironi was definitively doomed that year 1982.
By contrast that poor De Cesaris, such an attaching fellow, OTL still held the record for most F1 races without a win, at 208 races. I come to appreciate goofy De Cesaris and decided that little POD, giving him a lone F1 victory, wouldn't change the grand history of things.

You might be interested by the fact that the next two most unfortunate pilots are Derek Warwick and Martin Brundle, nearly 160 races each and zero victories (hint: OTL, of course. ITTL ? we shall see !)

Well, and Nick Heidfeld, too. Nearly 180, and counting. But I don't plan to change F1 up to his days, and he still can win a race, common Nick, you CAN do it !

(2) (What happened to Pironi, by the way, after 1982 ? Everybody's remember Villeneuve, of course, but he has been forgotten, with Prost having eclisped him to get that pilot title for France, in 1985... Well, ITTL, Pironi fate will be different. Watch for him )

f1-brazilian-gp-1981-didier-pironi-and-gilles-villeneuve-in-the-pit-garage-together.jpg


Didier Pironi and Gilles Villeneuve on what looks definitively like a bad day, probably in 1981, Ferrari shit-of-a-year bar Villeneuve crazy victories in Monaco and Spain - victories only a superhuman being like him could achieve.
If you think Prost and Senna rivalry was BAD, the story of these two is tragic and heart-breaking altogether. Sorry for Gilles fans, I just can't write on Villeneuve, his story is too tragic, final accident horror included. Maybe someday... he was headed to McLaren in 1983, in a pair with Lauda, Ron Dennis wet dream of pairing champions that OTL resulted in Prost-vs-Senna. Oh Ron Dennis, you evil megalomaniac... Lauda and Villeneuve ? are you NUTS ?
I had Villenueve end up at Alfa (which is why I didn't decide to do mine) Eventually Alboreto outshines Please and he goes to McLaren with Warwick. I also eanwanted keep Renault around with Prost as the face of the team.
 
please can you not quote my entire post ? it is just too big. Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, while in 1985 the best cars were the Williams and McLaren, the most powerful one was the Brabham BT-54. The BMW was a flat-four with one huge turbo on top of it, and it delivered 1400 hp in qualification, which is probably still a record nowadays, even a Bugatti Chiron would respect such number (since it needs 16 cylinders, not four, for similar horse power).

Except that insanely powerful car is now in the hands of Andrea de Cesaris, a man not unlike Ted Tryker from the movie Airplane ! (except he had no drinking problem LMAO). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airplane!#Cast
While De Cesaris was a professional and respected pilot, he had some psychological imbalance and nervousness that was detrimental to his career. In fact De Cesaris was fast enough to get in pole position from time to time - his main issue was a mix of nervousness, lack of self confidence,and also sheer bad luck, Mansell / Alesi style.

You guess, with De Cesaris at the control of the most powerful car on the grid, the end of the 1985 season gonna be fun. Grab popcorn and wait for what I have in mind.

OTL Marc Surer made some excellent races late 1985, he come close to podium and victory many times, proof the BT54 was a decent car. Hence De Cesaris will usually qualify high on the grid, get under pressure for the race... and you guess, chaos will follow ( to you, Ian Malcom)

https://giphy.com/gifs/jurassic-park-jeff-goldblum-ian-malcolm-oFpAvbDkk5jEI

what could possibly go wrong ?
 
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