Lotus (79)
Colin Chapman's team came into Formula One in 1958, giving débuts to drivers Graham Hill and Cliff Allison. It was Allison who scored their points that year, all for 4th place at Spa. Their unreliability saw only 5 finishes from 17 starts in 1959, with 5 points from Innes Ireland. For 1960, Rob Walker entered a Lotus for Stirling Moss, their first outing securing Moss victory in Monaco. Ireland took a second place for the works team in the next race at Zandvoort, and Moss secured another victory from Ireland in the USGP at the end of the year. They finished a distant 2nd in the Constructors' race.
Moss and Walker took a second consecutive victory at Monaco in 1961, and he was triumphant at the Nurburgring too. At Watkins Glen, Ireland secured the works team's first victory, and they finished second again in the Championship. For 1962 they'd signed Jack Brabham, but he was overshadowed by a driver Lotus had run in 1960-1, Jim Clark. The Scot took pole in Monaco but his car was unreliable. He was to win at Spa from 12th on the grid, however, and later in the season he won from pole at Aintree, scoring his first Grand Chelem. There was to be another win at Watkins Glen.
1963 started with a retirement around the streets of Monaco for Clark. He simply won 4 in a row at Spa, Zandvoort, Reims and Silverstone. His only career second place at the Nurburgring was followed by a victory at Monza which gave him the World Title, a podium at the Glen, a victory at Mexico City which gave him maximum points and another victory at East London - a victory whose points were dropped at the end of the season! Lotus, of course, won the Constructors' title.
The Lotus 25 provided 3 more wins in 1964 (at Zandvoort, Spa and Brands Hatch) before the 33 was introduce. Alas it didn't finish any races, but Clark's failure on the penultimate lap at Mexico still cost him the title to John Surtees. The 33 took its first win on New Years Day 1965, in South Africa. Clark missed the Monaco GP as he was winning the Indianapolis 500 (he was the only entrant not from North America) but won the next 5 at Spa, Clermont, Silverstone, Zandvoort and Nurburgring to reach maximum points with 3 left. He retired from them all.
The unreliability returned for 1966 though. The Champion only finished 3 races, and only won one at the Glen on the day Jack Brabham claimed his title. After the first two races of 1967, he was to get a new engine, the Ford Cosworth DFV in the new Lotus 49. He took his 4th win at Zandvoort first time out (having never driven the car before) and a fifth British GP win, this time at Silverstone. The title was not on by his two wins in North America at the end of the year. He then won the first race of 1968 in Kyalami, (with Graham Hill second, scoring his first points for Lotus - ten years on!) but was killed in a crash at Hockenheim. He'd won 25 races, having won more of the races he'd finished than he'd lost!
Onto the car came F1's first sponsors' livery as Hill took up the challenge to win the Spanish and Monaco races. Jo Siffert won the British GP for Rob Walker's Lotus. Hill secured his title in Mexico City as he won the final race. Lotus weren't to hit the same heights in 1969. Hill won his final race, appropriately, at Monaco. Jochen Rindt took his first victory at the Glen. 1970 was better, Rindt won in Monaco, Zandvoort, Clermont, Brands Hatch and Hockenheim. They were the only races he finished before his fatal accident at Monza, but he was still able to claim the title.
Emerson Fittipaldi picked the team up with a victory at the Glen. He led the team to a disappointing 5th place in the 1971 Constructors Championship and their first year without a win since 1959! However, in 1972 they were back in black and gold! Emmo won in South Africa, then from pole in Spa, and at Brands Hatch. Victories in Austria and Italy gave them both Championships, and his team-mate Dave Walker hadn't scored a point!
Fittipaldi won the first two races of 1973 from 2nd on the grid. A podium in South Africa was followed by their becoming the first team to 50 wins at Montjuic Park. It was Emmo's last win for Lotus. His young team-mate Ronnie Peterson was to win 4 races that year, in France, Austria, Italy and America but Jackie Stewart had taken the title!
Fittipaldi left, and Peterson piloted car #1 since Lotus had won the WCC and Stewart had retired. Peterson won in Monaco, France and Italy, but Lotus couldn't stop their former employee taking McLaren's first title. A Jacky Ickx podium in the tragic half-Spanish Grand Prix was the highlight of a bleak 1975, 1976 was better and was illuminated by Mario Andretti's win in the rain at Fuji.
They were back for 1977 though, with Mario winning at Long Beach and Jarama before Gunnar Nilsson's only win at Zolder before his tragic premature death of cancer in 1978. Two more wins for Andretti that year (a steal from Brabham's Watson at Dijon and a win at Monza) saw him 3rd in the Championship. Nilsson's cancer saw Peterson back in the car for 1978. Andretti had won in Argentina and Peterson in South Africa in the Lotus 78 before the car changed...
The Lotus 79 was a classic F1 car. It won from pole at Zolder first time out in Andretti's hands. It scored a one-two in its first double start at Jarama. It couldn't compete with Brabham's dubiously legal car in Sweden, but there was another one-two at Paul Ricard. A win from pole for Andretti at Hockenheim was followed by one for Peterson at the Osterreichring and another one-two at Zandvoort. Peterson's fatal accident at Monza in the 78 clinched the crown for Andretti, and no more wins were forthcoming, thanks in no small part to a 1 minute penalty for a jump start at Monza.
The Lotus 80 didn't get it right, and a few barren years followed. Their only win from 1979-84 was Elio de Angelis victory at the Osterreichring in 1982 by a margin of 0.005s from Keke Rosberg. Chapman died that year.
In 1985, Lotus hired Toleman's promising young Brazillian driver Ayrton Senna to replace Nigel Mansell. He won from pole in the wet in Estoril second time out. De Angelis then won his last race at Imola. Senna's many poles were not being followed up by wins, and he didn't claim pole at his other win of the season at Spa. 1986 was more of the same, with victories from pole for Senna in Jerez and Detroit. His team-mate, the Earl of Dumfries, wasn't nearly in the same league. Their would be two wins in 1987 too, but without the wasted poles. Senna's win at Monaco is the only one not by McLaren for 10 years and he followed it up by Lotus' last win at Detroit.
The signing of triple-champion Nelson Piquet did nothing to stop their decline. Their time came to an end at the end of 1994. I will not count Pacific, 1Malaysia and Renault and the other pretenders to the throne. The remarkable team of Clark, Senna and Andretti had gone.
Colin Chapman's team came into Formula One in 1958, giving débuts to drivers Graham Hill and Cliff Allison. It was Allison who scored their points that year, all for 4th place at Spa. Their unreliability saw only 5 finishes from 17 starts in 1959, with 5 points from Innes Ireland. For 1960, Rob Walker entered a Lotus for Stirling Moss, their first outing securing Moss victory in Monaco. Ireland took a second place for the works team in the next race at Zandvoort, and Moss secured another victory from Ireland in the USGP at the end of the year. They finished a distant 2nd in the Constructors' race.
Moss and Walker took a second consecutive victory at Monaco in 1961, and he was triumphant at the Nurburgring too. At Watkins Glen, Ireland secured the works team's first victory, and they finished second again in the Championship. For 1962 they'd signed Jack Brabham, but he was overshadowed by a driver Lotus had run in 1960-1, Jim Clark. The Scot took pole in Monaco but his car was unreliable. He was to win at Spa from 12th on the grid, however, and later in the season he won from pole at Aintree, scoring his first Grand Chelem. There was to be another win at Watkins Glen.
1963 started with a retirement around the streets of Monaco for Clark. He simply won 4 in a row at Spa, Zandvoort, Reims and Silverstone. His only career second place at the Nurburgring was followed by a victory at Monza which gave him the World Title, a podium at the Glen, a victory at Mexico City which gave him maximum points and another victory at East London - a victory whose points were dropped at the end of the season! Lotus, of course, won the Constructors' title.
The Lotus 25 provided 3 more wins in 1964 (at Zandvoort, Spa and Brands Hatch) before the 33 was introduce. Alas it didn't finish any races, but Clark's failure on the penultimate lap at Mexico still cost him the title to John Surtees. The 33 took its first win on New Years Day 1965, in South Africa. Clark missed the Monaco GP as he was winning the Indianapolis 500 (he was the only entrant not from North America) but won the next 5 at Spa, Clermont, Silverstone, Zandvoort and Nurburgring to reach maximum points with 3 left. He retired from them all.
The unreliability returned for 1966 though. The Champion only finished 3 races, and only won one at the Glen on the day Jack Brabham claimed his title. After the first two races of 1967, he was to get a new engine, the Ford Cosworth DFV in the new Lotus 49. He took his 4th win at Zandvoort first time out (having never driven the car before) and a fifth British GP win, this time at Silverstone. The title was not on by his two wins in North America at the end of the year. He then won the first race of 1968 in Kyalami, (with Graham Hill second, scoring his first points for Lotus - ten years on!) but was killed in a crash at Hockenheim. He'd won 25 races, having won more of the races he'd finished than he'd lost!
Onto the car came F1's first sponsors' livery as Hill took up the challenge to win the Spanish and Monaco races. Jo Siffert won the British GP for Rob Walker's Lotus. Hill secured his title in Mexico City as he won the final race. Lotus weren't to hit the same heights in 1969. Hill won his final race, appropriately, at Monaco. Jochen Rindt took his first victory at the Glen. 1970 was better, Rindt won in Monaco, Zandvoort, Clermont, Brands Hatch and Hockenheim. They were the only races he finished before his fatal accident at Monza, but he was still able to claim the title.
Emerson Fittipaldi picked the team up with a victory at the Glen. He led the team to a disappointing 5th place in the 1971 Constructors Championship and their first year without a win since 1959! However, in 1972 they were back in black and gold! Emmo won in South Africa, then from pole in Spa, and at Brands Hatch. Victories in Austria and Italy gave them both Championships, and his team-mate Dave Walker hadn't scored a point!
Fittipaldi won the first two races of 1973 from 2nd on the grid. A podium in South Africa was followed by their becoming the first team to 50 wins at Montjuic Park. It was Emmo's last win for Lotus. His young team-mate Ronnie Peterson was to win 4 races that year, in France, Austria, Italy and America but Jackie Stewart had taken the title!
Fittipaldi left, and Peterson piloted car #1 since Lotus had won the WCC and Stewart had retired. Peterson won in Monaco, France and Italy, but Lotus couldn't stop their former employee taking McLaren's first title. A Jacky Ickx podium in the tragic half-Spanish Grand Prix was the highlight of a bleak 1975, 1976 was better and was illuminated by Mario Andretti's win in the rain at Fuji.
They were back for 1977 though, with Mario winning at Long Beach and Jarama before Gunnar Nilsson's only win at Zolder before his tragic premature death of cancer in 1978. Two more wins for Andretti that year (a steal from Brabham's Watson at Dijon and a win at Monza) saw him 3rd in the Championship. Nilsson's cancer saw Peterson back in the car for 1978. Andretti had won in Argentina and Peterson in South Africa in the Lotus 78 before the car changed...
The Lotus 79 was a classic F1 car. It won from pole at Zolder first time out in Andretti's hands. It scored a one-two in its first double start at Jarama. It couldn't compete with Brabham's dubiously legal car in Sweden, but there was another one-two at Paul Ricard. A win from pole for Andretti at Hockenheim was followed by one for Peterson at the Osterreichring and another one-two at Zandvoort. Peterson's fatal accident at Monza in the 78 clinched the crown for Andretti, and no more wins were forthcoming, thanks in no small part to a 1 minute penalty for a jump start at Monza.
The Lotus 80 didn't get it right, and a few barren years followed. Their only win from 1979-84 was Elio de Angelis victory at the Osterreichring in 1982 by a margin of 0.005s from Keke Rosberg. Chapman died that year.
In 1985, Lotus hired Toleman's promising young Brazillian driver Ayrton Senna to replace Nigel Mansell. He won from pole in the wet in Estoril second time out. De Angelis then won his last race at Imola. Senna's many poles were not being followed up by wins, and he didn't claim pole at his other win of the season at Spa. 1986 was more of the same, with victories from pole for Senna in Jerez and Detroit. His team-mate, the Earl of Dumfries, wasn't nearly in the same league. Their would be two wins in 1987 too, but without the wasted poles. Senna's win at Monaco is the only one not by McLaren for 10 years and he followed it up by Lotus' last win at Detroit.
The signing of triple-champion Nelson Piquet did nothing to stop their decline. Their time came to an end at the end of 1994. I will not count Pacific, 1Malaysia and Renault and the other pretenders to the throne. The remarkable team of Clark, Senna and Andretti had gone.