35 Days Until the 2008 Australian GP

Saturday, February 9th, 2008

prost2.jpgIn the five years between transforming from Ligier and folding at the end of the 2001 season, the Prost team scored 35 points. The majority of these points were scored in the team’s first year, 1997. Olivier Panis started the season very well with a fifth place in Australia and a third place in Brazil. In Monaco Panis finished fourth, while the Spanish Grand prix was the highlight of the season with a second place for the Frenchman.

At the following race in Canada, things went dramatically wrong. While in seventh place, Panis suddenly spun right into a wall, breaking both his legs and eliminating him for seven races. Teammate Shinji Nakano finished the race in sixth, but the team had lost its leader. Jarno Trulli took his place and finished fourth in Germany and Nakano sixth in Hungary, but those were the points finishes until Panis returned with a sixth place in the Luxembourg Grand Prix. This gave the team 21 points for the season and sixth place in the Championship.

In 1998 the team had to settle for just one point, scored by Jarno Trulli in Belgium. The following year showed a little progress, but the nine points weren’t near what the team hoped for, especially since six of those points came from a single race when Trulli finished second in the European Grand Prix. The 2000 season then became a drama for the team. They retired most of the time and didn’t score a single point. In the final year, reliability was up again, but the speed was still lacking. Two sixth places and a fifth for Jean Alesi meant a grand total of four points.

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36 Days Until the 2008 Australian GP

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

yamaha3.jpgBetween 1989 and 1997, Japanese engine manufacturer Yamaha scored 36 points in Formula One. Yamaha made their F1 debut with the German Zakspeed team in 1989 but they only managed to qualify twice. In all the other races the team failed to even pre-qualify.

After the disastrous 1989 season Yamaha took a year off and returned to Formula One in 1991. This time with another team on their way down and out of F1: Brabham. In the Belgian Grand Prix that year, Mark Blundell gave Yamaha their first points by finishing in sixth position. For 1992 Yamaha teamed up with Jordan and for a long time it looked like it would be a year without points. In the last race of the season, however, Stefano Modena finished in sixth position and scored one point. For the next four years Yamaha supplied engines to the Tyrrell team.

1993 was another year without points but things improved in 1994. Ukyo Katayama and Mark Blundell scored a total of 13 points including a third position by Mark Blundell at the Spanish Grand Prix. The Tyrrell-Yamaha combination scored 12 more points in the following season bringing Yamaha’s total to 25. In 1997 Yamaha supplied engines to the Arrows team who had signed World Champion Damon Hill to drive for them. Hill finished in the points twice, including a second place in the Hungarian Grand Prix. His teammate Pedro Diniz finished in fifth position in the Luxembourg Grand Prix. With Diniz Yamaha scored their final points in F1, bringing their total to 36.

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38 Days Until the 2008 Australian GP

Tuesday, February 5th, 2008

2005_brands_hatch_a1gp_25_sept_rodrigo_gallego_minardi_f1_185.jpg Giancarlo Minardi founded his racing team in 1979 and following several years racing in F2 the Italian took his team to F1 in 1985. In one form or another the team  (and name) survived through to the 2005 season. In those 21 seasons Minardi scored a total of 38 points. Despite this unremarkable record the team developed a strong and loyal fan base mostly around the notion that they were the ‘little team that could.’ Their cars were well designed despite having the lowest budget in F1 and they had a track record of allowing promising young drivers to break into F1. The long list of drivers who drove for Minardi and went on to establish themselves in motor sports include; Pierluigi Martini, Christian Fittipaldi, Alessandro Zanardi, Michele Alboreto, Luca Badoer, Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Jos Verstappen.

Pierluigi Martini had the strongest connection with the Minardi team having raced his entire 9 year F1 career with the team. He was their first driver and scored 16 of their 38 total teams points. He secured the team their only front row start (2nd USA 1990) and led for one lap at the 1989 Portuguese GP; the teams only lap led. The team never achieved a podium, finishing fourth three times in their history (twice for Martini).

The little team that could was a fan and paddock favourite for their commitment to racing and longevity. They rank seventh overall for laps raced in the history of F1. Their inspired run came to an  end in 2005 when the team was sold to Red Bull and renamed Scuderia Toro Rosso.

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