Is this the greatest grid we’ve ever seen in 60 years of Formula 1? That’s a key question we couldn’t resist asking within our 2010 Grand Prix season preview, the cornerstone of the April issue of Motor Sport.
Now, I know better than anyone that making ‘greatest ever’ claims risks… Read more
Notes from the Editor
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Questions of greatness
March 3rd, 2010 | Damien Smith | 36 Comments
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Lotus: back where it belongs?
February 4th, 2010 | Damien Smith | 31 Comments
The Lotus name returns to Formula 1 this year. Neither Tony Fernandes nor Mike Gascoyne are pretending this new team has any direct link to Colin Chapman’s great squad, but still the use of the Lotus badge is seen as controversial in some quarters. After all, the legacy is a… Read more
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The private face of Ayrton Senna
December 23rd, 2009 | Damien Smith | 18 Comments
This coming year, on May 1, it will be 16 years since the world watched the final moments in the life of Ayrton Senna, played out live on TV. As time passes, his legacy as the fastest, most important, charismatic and ambitious racing driver of his generation continues to grow.… Read more
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Button’s amazing journey
October 29th, 2009 | Damien Smith | 10 Comments
November 26th, 2009: The 2009 Grand Prix season will be remembered for its drama, its controversy and most of all for one incredible story: how Ross Brawn took over a team on the brink of extinction and made Jenson Button a World Champion in 10 short months.
The January issue of… Read more -
The ‘People’s Champion’ – 17 years on
October 29th, 2009 | Damien Smith | 3 Comments
Can you believe it’s 17 years since Nigel Mansell banished his Formula 1 demons by finally clinching the World Championship? It only seems like yesterday, and yet young firebrand Michael Schumacher had scored just one of his 91 Grand Prix wins, Ferrari was only halfway through its worst-ever winless slump… Read more
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BMW’s glory days
October 1st, 2009 | Damien Smith | No Comments
As Mike Doodson writes in this month’s excellent cover story, BMW has bottled it. The manufacturer has backed out of Formula 1 without reaching its goal of winning the World Championship for the first time since 1983. Back then, its partnership with Brabham bore fruit largely thanks to the persistence… Read more
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Moss in a different driving seat
August 27th, 2009 | Damien Smith | No Comments
It’s not every day that you come to work and find Sir Stirling Moss sitting in your chair. But that was my pleasure – and real honour – when Britain’s greatest racing driver joined Motor Sport as guest editor of the October issue.
Stirling will celebrate his 80th birthday on… Read more -
Lunch with a sports car racing hero
July 29th, 2009 | Damien Smith | No Comments
During the 1980s Derek Bell personified what racing fans loved about sports car racing, both in Britain and America. For a decade he was consistently the man to beat in European Group C, in partnership in works Porsches with first Jacky Ickx, and then later Hans Stuck. The same was… Read more
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From MV Agusta to Ferrari
July 1st, 2009 | Damien Smith | No Comments
They called him ‘Il Grande John’ and adopted him as one of their own. Italians have a soft spot for John Surtees, as he does for them. Hardly surprising, given how it was on Italian motorcycles and in Italian cars that Surtees posted his greatest racing feats, and that unique… Read more
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Jim Clark: behind the legend
May 29th, 2009 | Damien Smith | 1 Comment
Jim Clark remains an enigma. Forty-one years after his passing, racing fans are still fascinated by the greatest driver of the 1960s, but how much do we really know about this intensely private man? Well, if you read Motor Sport this month you’ll gain a rare insight into the true… Read more
