"For me, Penske Racing probably has some of the best racing pedigree in motorsports right now. I mean, how many teams can you name that have done what they've done?"
- Ayrton Senna in an Autosport interview, 1994
"Regardless of what I've said in the past, IndyCar has helped Formula 1 grow, and vice versa. The two go hand in hand at this point; if I was still a driver, I'd definitely give it a try."
- James Hunt, August 1993 interview with the BBC
Le Castellet, France
Roger Penske stood in the garage of his team at the Circuit Paul Ricard, the venue that played host to the French Grand Prix earlier that day. His team, Penske Cars, had already packed up and left for the most part, getting ready for the next Grand Prix in Britain. Today's race results, however, would've been the same had the team not bothered to show up.
'Another retirement,' he thought.
Though it was his team's first season in Formula 1, the results were quite poor. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with the team- they had a fair chassis, one that occasionally qualified in the midfield and had decent race pace, one that was driven by the experienced Mark Donohue. Despite that, the team had only been able to get 2 points so far by this point in the season, now more than halfway done. Roger didn't expect his team to shoot up to the top of the grid during this season, but he hadn't expected this either.
He reached into his pocket, pulling out the small note he had received from the March team. He had privately reached out to them earlier that day about purchasing an example of their 751 chassis from their team, as his chief mechanic Karl Kainhofer believed that a new, fresh chassis could prove to be the gamechanger they needed. But even then, Roger had his doubts.
'They may have more points than us, but they've retired more times than I can count.'
And it was true. The March team may have been higher in the standings, but Roger could only imagine the season becoming even worse. And with their main sponsor, First National City Bank, starting to voice their concerns, he couldn't afford to make a bad decision now.
'We're stuck between a rock and a hard place, that's for sure.'
The PC1 or the 751. A somewhat reliable yet mediocre midfield chassis, or an unreliable but relatively fast one. That was the decision that he needed to make by today. Otherwise, his team wouldn't have a 751 chassis in time for the British Grand Prix in two weeks' time. The only thing that was stopping him from making the decision was what Mark had told him earlier, after he found out about what Roger had planned. He had told him that it would be a mistake, as despite his grievances with the PC1, getting accustomed to a new chassis would likely set the team back even further. Plus, Mark told him that it was better to develop the chassis rather than to abandon it.
'On one hand, Karl may have a point. He's the one in charge of taking care of the car after all,' he pondered. 'But on the other hand, Mark might be right as well. He's never been wrong with his gut instincts, ever since I had him driving those GT40s.'
It may have looked bad now, but Roger also knew that this sport was all about the long-term, about staying and making a mark, not just finding temporary glory. Plus, with the new chassis that his team was developing, he knew that replacing the PC1 now with the March might not even be worth the time and money.
He had made his decision.
Hi, so this is a little thing I've kind of planned out. It's another one of those F1 timelines, although as you can see the format was inspired somewhat by the amazing "Player Two Start: An SNES-CD Timeline" by @RySenkari and @Nivek. You can expect the format to be similar to theirs, although I'm gonna try some different styles as well.
I do have to say though, please don't expect quick updates. Actually, please never expect updates, so that I can post whenever have no expectations (if you've ever seen anything else I've written, you know how bad I am at updating)
In any case, I do hope that my writing isn't terrible and that anyone who does read this gets enjoys it!
- Ayrton Senna in an Autosport interview, 1994
"Regardless of what I've said in the past, IndyCar has helped Formula 1 grow, and vice versa. The two go hand in hand at this point; if I was still a driver, I'd definitely give it a try."
- James Hunt, August 1993 interview with the BBC
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July 6th, 1975
Le Castellet, France
Roger Penske stood in the garage of his team at the Circuit Paul Ricard, the venue that played host to the French Grand Prix earlier that day. His team, Penske Cars, had already packed up and left for the most part, getting ready for the next Grand Prix in Britain. Today's race results, however, would've been the same had the team not bothered to show up.
'Another retirement,' he thought.
Though it was his team's first season in Formula 1, the results were quite poor. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with the team- they had a fair chassis, one that occasionally qualified in the midfield and had decent race pace, one that was driven by the experienced Mark Donohue. Despite that, the team had only been able to get 2 points so far by this point in the season, now more than halfway done. Roger didn't expect his team to shoot up to the top of the grid during this season, but he hadn't expected this either.
He reached into his pocket, pulling out the small note he had received from the March team. He had privately reached out to them earlier that day about purchasing an example of their 751 chassis from their team, as his chief mechanic Karl Kainhofer believed that a new, fresh chassis could prove to be the gamechanger they needed. But even then, Roger had his doubts.
'They may have more points than us, but they've retired more times than I can count.'
And it was true. The March team may have been higher in the standings, but Roger could only imagine the season becoming even worse. And with their main sponsor, First National City Bank, starting to voice their concerns, he couldn't afford to make a bad decision now.
'We're stuck between a rock and a hard place, that's for sure.'
The PC1 or the 751. A somewhat reliable yet mediocre midfield chassis, or an unreliable but relatively fast one. That was the decision that he needed to make by today. Otherwise, his team wouldn't have a 751 chassis in time for the British Grand Prix in two weeks' time. The only thing that was stopping him from making the decision was what Mark had told him earlier, after he found out about what Roger had planned. He had told him that it would be a mistake, as despite his grievances with the PC1, getting accustomed to a new chassis would likely set the team back even further. Plus, Mark told him that it was better to develop the chassis rather than to abandon it.
'On one hand, Karl may have a point. He's the one in charge of taking care of the car after all,' he pondered. 'But on the other hand, Mark might be right as well. He's never been wrong with his gut instincts, ever since I had him driving those GT40s.'
It may have looked bad now, but Roger also knew that this sport was all about the long-term, about staying and making a mark, not just finding temporary glory. Plus, with the new chassis that his team was developing, he knew that replacing the PC1 now with the March might not even be worth the time and money.
He had made his decision.
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Hi, so this is a little thing I've kind of planned out. It's another one of those F1 timelines, although as you can see the format was inspired somewhat by the amazing "Player Two Start: An SNES-CD Timeline" by @RySenkari and @Nivek. You can expect the format to be similar to theirs, although I'm gonna try some different styles as well.
I do have to say though, please don't expect quick updates. Actually, please never expect updates, so that I can post whenever have no expectations (if you've ever seen anything else I've written, you know how bad I am at updating)
In any case, I do hope that my writing isn't terrible and that anyone who does read this gets enjoys it!
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