This is my exclusive Q&A area on the Motor Sport website where I can review and answer some of your questions and consider a few of the issues occupying the racing world. Feel free to ask away and I’ll do my best to answer as many as possible each month.
Best Regards
Nigel
Dear Nigel,
I’m going to be cheeky as I have two burning questions, hopefully you will answer them both?1. I’m still a little mystified by Jenson Button’s transfer given his genuine affection for ‘his’ old team. My only theory is that he had a strong inkling that Michael Schumacher was on the way, Nico Rosberg would be demoted to test driver, and it would have been him against Schumacher – in a team run by Schumacher’s old buddy! Knowing how all Schumacher’s team-mates got treated, what would you do… any thoughts on the truth of that?
2. I’ve just read Crashed & Byrned, the book about Tommy Byrne – what a talent we missed out on! How do you think he measured up to Ayrton Senna? And why did no other Formula 1 teams pick up this guy after his McLaren test?
Tim Davison
Dear Nigel,
I confess to being a huge fan and admirer of Alain Prost, both as a person but also for his driving technique. Former team-mates Eddie Cheever and Keke Rosberg speak in amazement at how he managed to be so quick and smooth without them really understanding how or what he was doing. And former engineers, including John Barnard and Patrick Head, speak in awe of how easy on the car he was.Have you ever been privy to information or been told first-hand exactly what Prost did differently and where it was he made up so much time? Was it under braking? Was it through certain types of corner?
I would be fascinated to know, as in-car footage of Prost doesn’t reveal the secrets to his technique.
Gavin
Dear Nigel,
Please tell me it isn’t true, the allegation that Pedro Rodríguez was running a 3.3-litre engine in his BRM when he narrowly beat Chris Amon’s March to win the 1970 Belgian GP.
If he had been running such an engine, how on earth would it have got past the scrutineers?There’s no chance, I suppose, of retroactively awarding the win to Chris Amon? (One of the greatest racing drivers, uncrowned or crowned, I’m sure you’ll agree.)
David Goddard
Dear Nigel,
Based on what you have seen in last 30 years, how would you review your Top 10 list that was published in the book (itals) The Grand Prix Drivers (Racing heroes from Fangio to Prost) issued in 1987? Many thanks in advance for your attention.
Piero Dessimone
Dear Nigel,
Thank you for your frank opinions on all that interests us, but don’t those opinions sometimes cause you trouble? How many times have you been snubbed by those you’ve panned?
Pat O’Brien
Dear Nigel,
In 1973, we lost François Cevert in a horrific qualifying accident at the US GP at Watkins Glen. My question is: did François know at the time of his accident that Tyrrell was retaining him for 1974? Jody Scheckter was confirmed for Tyrrell that weekend. He and Cevert had been involved in an accident in the previous round in Canada and François had hurt his ankle. He was quite angry with Jody.Anyone watching Cevert over the US GP weekend thought he was driving a bit over the limit. Do you think that caused him to loose it in the uphill section? Did Arturo Mezario, blending into the course from the pits, affect his line?
And finally, did he have a solid offer to go to Ferrari in ’74? As we know, François had an amazing season, with six second places, three of them 1-2 with Jackie Stewart. It’s very sad that we lost him before he reached his peak.
Allan Fields
Dear Nigel,
When discussing the Singapore episode lately you have brought up Senna’s crash with Prost in 1990 as an example of the inconsistent manner in which the FIA punishes teams. I was wondering if that incident made you feel differently about Ayrton. Did you respect him considerably less after that or could you oversee it given the circumstances of the championship in 1989?
Mario Carneiro Neto
Dear Nigel,
I read elsewhere Sam Michael of Williams say that the circuits are partially to blame for the lack of overtaking in F1. To me this is ridiculous. Not even at those circuits that were once part of a great calendar of venues and which still exist do we get a close race any more. It seems to me the working group put in place to cure this problem has flatly failed.Do you hold out any hope of them ever getting the balance right or that the ban on refuelling will improve matters (or will the dreaded ‘science’ now scupper even those hopes)?
Joe Gillis
Dear Nigel,
So we have ‘lost’ Toyota, BMW, Honda, Bridgestone. As I write Renault look likely to go even if they continue to supply engines. I read a Ferrari statement regarding these teams leaving. It suggests that Formula 1 has been murdered by past administrations. I would suggest it was not murder but suicide coupled with an insatiable desire/greed for more and more money and prestige. F1 now seems like a multi-billionaire’s game of Scalextric in the most fashionable places. The more expensive it is, the better it is.I have a dream, and Nigel I wonder if you share it. F1 at Brands Hatch and Silverstone in the same year! Drivers taking part in several championships such as saloons at the same meeting! Teams buying a chassis somewhere (or making it) and an engine from Cosworth or somebody and ‘going racing’. Changing gear by hand! No bloody wall-to-wall computers in a million-pound motorhome. No altering the engine characteristics from the pits. A greater regard for history of the sport that a corporate company will never understand. Where is the new Ken Tyrrell?
I bet Frank and co would be up for it. Maybe Ron Dennis will remember when it was fun and exciting and drivers were not coached from 12 years of age. There was a genuine wonder of ‘how do they do that’ when we watched such as Clark, Villeneuve and Rosberg (his qualifying lap at Silverstone with a slow puncture still fills me with wonder). There are many others of the same ilk, and we all know who they are. They have no contemporary equivalent to my mind.
Sorry for the rant but surely we all knew deep down that the manufacturers would go. I love Ferrari for its determination and putting the horse before the cart.
Jim Knight
Dear Nigel,
Now that Jean Todt has been announced as the winner of the FIA presidential election, I’m guessing most of us are hoping that he proves to be his own man and not just Max’s ‘mini-me’, as many fear. What do you hope to see him do to repair the tarnished image of F1 and the FIA?
Glen Rowley
It’s been Formula 1 all the way for Nigel – he started covering the sport in 1971. In the mid-1970s he worked for Graham Hill’s Embassy F1 team, before joining Autosport for whom he has written over 400 Grand Prix reports. Nigel joined Motor Sport full-time on January 1 2008. As well as reporting on F1 for national newspapers, he has written 19 books on motor racing. His insightful writing and candid interviews with the great names in racing have made him one of the recognised authorities on F1.
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