Ok, so we've looked at the cars that changed the face of F1 and we've looked at circuits so I thought it's time to look at the top 10 men who have changed the face of F1. This list is just my thoughts to get the debate going.
10) Jaun Fangio - The driver that for decades was the yardstick by which others were judged. Sure he moved to the best car each time to ensure he had the best chance of winning but he still took 5 world titles. That, until the arrival of a certain MS, was a target that seemed almost impossible to beat.
9) Ross Brawn - The man who was a great part of Michael Schumachers success and for whom the word "tactics" is a byword. Before Ross, racecraft wasn't really talked about but afterwards it was accepted that without the right tactical brains in the pits the driver was always going to be on the back foot. He's now producing some great results with the former Honda team which says a lot about his tallent in itself.
8) Adrian Newey - In modern F1 where the design of a car takes place among a large group of individuals and their computers the days of the individual designer heading a small design staff are long gone. Maybe the last man still in F1 to have worked like that is Adrian Newey. Producing the near winning March design before going on to produce world beaters with Williams and then Mclaren is a brilliant CV in itself however he now has a winning car with RBR. There aren't many deisgners to have designed winning cars with 3 different teams.
7) Gordon Murray - One place above Newey and perhaps one generation (in design terms) before him was the incomparable Gordon Murray. In a career that spanned two teams, Brabham and Mclaren, he designed race and championship winning cars that were both original and fast. As the man responsible for the Mclaren MP4/4 which won 15 out of the 16 races it entered he perhaps designed the ultimate F1 car.
6) Ron Dennis - The first of a new generation of Team Managers whose corperate background was as strong as his racing background. At first ran Mclaren in company with Teddy Meyer before taking over totally and turning the team into the giant it is today. With Lauda, Prost, Senna and later with Alonso and Hamilton, Mclaren have always had to juggle manageing their star "egos" with winning races but for the past 30 years it's never been too much of a problem. The team lost it's way a couple of times but with Ron at the helm they have always managed to come back. It's a shame that Ron had to retire with the after effects of SpyGate still ringing in his ears has tended to overshadow his effect on F1.
5) Colin Chapman. - Maybe the last team owner and designer, Colin Chapman and Lotus were at the forefront of motoracing for 20 years. The team was the first to reach 50 race wins and produced some of the most outstanding cars of a generation. Possibley the greatest F1 car of all the Lotus 72 was so advanced for its time that it was used over 5 seasons and was winning races for 4 years. Chapmans influence on F1 faded as the 70s went on and the cars that gave Lotus it's last real success during his life time (the type 78 and type 79) were not so much a Chapman design as they were his team at Hethal. By the early 80s he had almost walked away from F1 and was heavily involved in the Delorean scandel which, had he not sadly passed away in 1982, would have surely come back to haunt him in later life. That said his designs paved the way for all modern F1 cars today.
4) Michael Schumacher - 7 titles should say it all. Not many drivers can claim to be so far ahead of the opposition that they have rules changed and scoring systems altered in order to make the competition closer. Yes Schumacher set new levels of skill and results but he also showed a darker side to F1 that perhaps only Senna could match in terms of win at all costs attitudes. It is doubtful that F1 will ever see a combination of team and driver that will ever dominate as much as Schumacher and Ferrari and in truth this is a good thing.
3) Enzo Ferrari - He wasn't a designer or a racer and he never attended Grand Prix so why is Enzo placed at number 3? Well without Enzo there would be no Ferrari. He stepped down as managing director of the team in 1971 but retained a great deal of influence in the way the F1 side was run. Nigel Mansell proudly boasts that he was the last driver selected to drive for Ferrari by the man himself. The myth that has grown around the scarlet cars is directly down to Enzo. The fact that the team reamained huge throughout a 20 year period where they didn't win a championship is down to its reputation. Everybody knows what Ferrari is and what they stand for.
2) Max Mosley - Max, the M in the March name is one of the most controversial figures in F1. After turning his back on team ownership he became FOCAs lawyer and Bernie Ecclestones sidekick in the FISA/FOCA war. His influence grew and culminated with his winning of the FIA presidency in 1991. Like him or loath him he has presided over the growth of the sport from a bunch of garage mechanics into a multi-million pound buisness. If there is one achievement that all fans should embrace it is the development of safety in the sport that was long overdue. Yes he has been president for too long but his legacy will remain.
1) Bernie Ecclestone - Could it have been anyone else? Like Max before him he is responsible for the development and growth of F1 into a Multi-million pound buisness and in turn, and as he's often keen to point out, he has made the team owners, very weatlhy men as well. He was the first man to recognise that the teams had more power when they work together. After reaching a truce in the FISA/FOCA war the only way for Bernie to go was up. Since then if anything needs to be done in the sport its a case of "Ask Bernie". It often goes un-reported but many teams owe their very survival to Bernies deep pockets. Teams such as Jordan and Minardi only managed to keep racing thanks to a quick loan from Bernie. Perhaps he has too much control of the sport and it's difficult to see where it will go after he eventually stands down. The power vaccum that he will leave behind will be a huge danger to the way the sport is run. Perhaps it's time he looked at arranging an orderly handover to prevent the breakup of the sport. The fact remains however, that no one has changed the face of F1 as much as Bernie Ecclestone.
Any thoughts????
10) Jaun Fangio - The driver that for decades was the yardstick by which others were judged. Sure he moved to the best car each time to ensure he had the best chance of winning but he still took 5 world titles. That, until the arrival of a certain MS, was a target that seemed almost impossible to beat.
9) Ross Brawn - The man who was a great part of Michael Schumachers success and for whom the word "tactics" is a byword. Before Ross, racecraft wasn't really talked about but afterwards it was accepted that without the right tactical brains in the pits the driver was always going to be on the back foot. He's now producing some great results with the former Honda team which says a lot about his tallent in itself.
8) Adrian Newey - In modern F1 where the design of a car takes place among a large group of individuals and their computers the days of the individual designer heading a small design staff are long gone. Maybe the last man still in F1 to have worked like that is Adrian Newey. Producing the near winning March design before going on to produce world beaters with Williams and then Mclaren is a brilliant CV in itself however he now has a winning car with RBR. There aren't many deisgners to have designed winning cars with 3 different teams.
7) Gordon Murray - One place above Newey and perhaps one generation (in design terms) before him was the incomparable Gordon Murray. In a career that spanned two teams, Brabham and Mclaren, he designed race and championship winning cars that were both original and fast. As the man responsible for the Mclaren MP4/4 which won 15 out of the 16 races it entered he perhaps designed the ultimate F1 car.
6) Ron Dennis - The first of a new generation of Team Managers whose corperate background was as strong as his racing background. At first ran Mclaren in company with Teddy Meyer before taking over totally and turning the team into the giant it is today. With Lauda, Prost, Senna and later with Alonso and Hamilton, Mclaren have always had to juggle manageing their star "egos" with winning races but for the past 30 years it's never been too much of a problem. The team lost it's way a couple of times but with Ron at the helm they have always managed to come back. It's a shame that Ron had to retire with the after effects of SpyGate still ringing in his ears has tended to overshadow his effect on F1.
5) Colin Chapman. - Maybe the last team owner and designer, Colin Chapman and Lotus were at the forefront of motoracing for 20 years. The team was the first to reach 50 race wins and produced some of the most outstanding cars of a generation. Possibley the greatest F1 car of all the Lotus 72 was so advanced for its time that it was used over 5 seasons and was winning races for 4 years. Chapmans influence on F1 faded as the 70s went on and the cars that gave Lotus it's last real success during his life time (the type 78 and type 79) were not so much a Chapman design as they were his team at Hethal. By the early 80s he had almost walked away from F1 and was heavily involved in the Delorean scandel which, had he not sadly passed away in 1982, would have surely come back to haunt him in later life. That said his designs paved the way for all modern F1 cars today.
4) Michael Schumacher - 7 titles should say it all. Not many drivers can claim to be so far ahead of the opposition that they have rules changed and scoring systems altered in order to make the competition closer. Yes Schumacher set new levels of skill and results but he also showed a darker side to F1 that perhaps only Senna could match in terms of win at all costs attitudes. It is doubtful that F1 will ever see a combination of team and driver that will ever dominate as much as Schumacher and Ferrari and in truth this is a good thing.
3) Enzo Ferrari - He wasn't a designer or a racer and he never attended Grand Prix so why is Enzo placed at number 3? Well without Enzo there would be no Ferrari. He stepped down as managing director of the team in 1971 but retained a great deal of influence in the way the F1 side was run. Nigel Mansell proudly boasts that he was the last driver selected to drive for Ferrari by the man himself. The myth that has grown around the scarlet cars is directly down to Enzo. The fact that the team reamained huge throughout a 20 year period where they didn't win a championship is down to its reputation. Everybody knows what Ferrari is and what they stand for.
2) Max Mosley - Max, the M in the March name is one of the most controversial figures in F1. After turning his back on team ownership he became FOCAs lawyer and Bernie Ecclestones sidekick in the FISA/FOCA war. His influence grew and culminated with his winning of the FIA presidency in 1991. Like him or loath him he has presided over the growth of the sport from a bunch of garage mechanics into a multi-million pound buisness. If there is one achievement that all fans should embrace it is the development of safety in the sport that was long overdue. Yes he has been president for too long but his legacy will remain.
1) Bernie Ecclestone - Could it have been anyone else? Like Max before him he is responsible for the development and growth of F1 into a Multi-million pound buisness and in turn, and as he's often keen to point out, he has made the team owners, very weatlhy men as well. He was the first man to recognise that the teams had more power when they work together. After reaching a truce in the FISA/FOCA war the only way for Bernie to go was up. Since then if anything needs to be done in the sport its a case of "Ask Bernie". It often goes un-reported but many teams owe their very survival to Bernies deep pockets. Teams such as Jordan and Minardi only managed to keep racing thanks to a quick loan from Bernie. Perhaps he has too much control of the sport and it's difficult to see where it will go after he eventually stands down. The power vaccum that he will leave behind will be a huge danger to the way the sport is run. Perhaps it's time he looked at arranging an orderly handover to prevent the breakup of the sport. The fact remains however, that no one has changed the face of F1 as much as Bernie Ecclestone.
Any thoughts????
well take those five ^^^ and add your 1,2,3,4,5 and 7
