Who are the masters of Monaco?
I’ve gone through the history books and figured out who has been the most successful by awarding points to the top five in every grand prix (10, 6, 4, 2, 1) plus bonus points for pole positions and grands chelem.
Once you’re done, be sure to check out my other quizzes here.
The run of Mercedes 1-2s finally came to an end at the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix, to be replaced by a Niki Lauda 1-2.
Lewis Hamilton took the victory in a McLaren-era Lauda helmet, followed (once Max Verstappen’s penalty had been applied) by the Ferrari-era Lauda helmet donned by Sebastian Vettel. It was a very fitting result for what was always going to be a poignant, somewhat muted Monaco Grand Prix weekend – a dampener put on all the glitz, glamour and indulgent festivities that the Monte Carlo race usually brings.
Whilst Monaco is often accused of being a procession, this was certainly no walk in the park for Hamilton. After an early safety car – brought out by Charles Leclerc’s gingerbread trail of bits of tyre and Ferrari floor – Mercedes placed their drivers on the medium tyre whilst Verstappen and Vettel went for the harder option. Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas then collided in the pit lane, leaving the former with a five second penalty and the latter needing to come in due to the damage. At this point, Mercedes changed Bottas to the harder tyre and Hamilton came to the realisation that he was facing the prospect of nursing his tyres for 67 laps with cars attacking him on better-suited rubber.
Toto Wolff later admitted that this was a rare strategic mistake from Mercedes, although their decision was justifiable at the time. They were wary of being jumped after the safety car if their competitors were on softer tyres, the hard tyre had proved tricky during practice and there was also the prospect of rain – sadly, for the spectacle, it never materialised beyond some light drizzle – with the medium the better tyre for damp conditions. It is always tricky to be the lead team in these situations as those following can react to your decisions.
Either way, Hamilton succeeded in fending off the increasingly aggressive Verstappen, who knew that second place would turn into fourth after the penalty if he could not pass, for a victory of perseverance and fighting against the odds. Everything that encapsulated Niki Lauda.
It was yet another tale of blunders from both team and drivers for Ferrari. They had looked well off the pace during the Thursday practice sessions but found some speed on Saturday morning with Leclerc topping the timesheets. Only for the sister car of Vettel to end up in the wall at Sainte Devote. The engineers did a good job to get it repaired in time for qualifying but that’s where things really started to unravel.
Vettel’s first attempt in Q1 left him in the drop zone. Leclerc also had a scrappy lap which was only 0.2 seconds quicker than his teammate’s but the team decided to try and save tyres by not sending him out, despite their driver’s repeated questioning of that decision. So the young Monegasque had to sit and watch from the garage as ‘LEC’ fell further and further down the timings screen, before being finally knocked into 16th, and out of qualifying, by Vettel of all people.
In the face of some trying times – particularly having victory cruelly snatched away in Bahrain – Leclerc has remained calm and said all the right things. But here, he was visibly furious. Monaco is his home race after all and he knows as well as anyone that passing around the Principality is almost impossible. He decided to go with an all or nothing approach on Sunday. Sadly it was to be the latter as, after an excellent pass on Romain Grosjean at La Rascasse the lap previously, Nico Hülkenberg proved to be less accommodating and Leclerc clipped the barrier. This left him with with a puncture which resulted in terminal damage to the car as he returned to the pits far too fast, clearly having reached the end of his tether.
Meanwhile Vettel, after a scruffy remainder of the qualifying session where he touched the barriers twice, did at least bring home second place come race day. Bizarrely Ferrari’s best result of the year despite the weekend as a whole feeling very much a failure. There is still a long way to go before the systematic issues in Ferrari’s operations are ironed out.
I have, for a long time, felt that Carlos Sainz is criminally underrated.
This is a driver who generally matched Verstappen in their time together at Toro Rosso. The Dutchman scored more points and was more spectacular but Sainz beat him in their qualifying head-to-head before suffering poor luck on race days for the most part.
Whilst Verstappen was hurried up the Red Bull ladder, Sainz’s career stalled somewhat as he spent season after season with Toro Rosso. He finally got his move to Renault towards the end of 2017 but there was to be more bad luck on race days and a very in-form teammate in Nico Hülkenberg. The German scored more points and many seemingly wrote off the still very young Sainz, despite the fact that the Hulk is no slouch, was fully settled in the team and, apparently, Sainz never particularly got on with the Renault’s handling.
But this year, he has a clean slate. He has taken the seat of his boyhood hero, Fernando Alonso, at McLaren and is now finding his feet. After some misfortune and a poor decision to try and squeeze Verstappen that cost him an excellent result in Bahrain, Sainz has really started to perform, culminating in an excellent drive to sixth in Monaco. It also included what Sainz described as “the best move of my career” as he opportunistically carved round the outside of both Toro Rossos at Massenet on Lap 1.
Up against a highly-rated rookie in Lando Norris, Sainz seems to be relishing the role of team leader and it will be interesting to see whether both he and McLaren can continue their progress towards the front of the grid. Maybe we’ll see him back fighting regularly with Verstappen soon enough.
Not broadcast by FOM, a marshal was centimetres from being injured, or even killed, on Sunday.
The marshals at Monaco are generally accepted as being some of the best in the world. In the most constricted surroundings on the calendar, they have always dealt with incidents impressively quickly and efficiently. But it must be remembered that they are volunteers following orders. And when those orders result in a situation like this, Sergio Pérez doing well to keep his head and narrowly avoid two marshals crossing his path, the situation must be examined.
Surely Mercedes can’t claim another 1-2?! It looked like it was heading that way after qualifying but they’ll have to settle for a lowly 1-3 this time.
Can Max Verstappen keep it out of the wall this year? He can.
Something of a Monaco expert, and on a track with less engine-dependence, can Daniel Ricciardo spring a surprise? An excellent performance in qualifying but poor strategy stifled his race somewhat.
Will Charles Leclerc’s home knowledge see him outclass his teammate? He had seemed the faster driver through practice but Ferrari’s error left him in a different race. A race that, as it transpired, did not last long.
It’s currently due to rain at some point over the weekend…could we have a classic Monaco race rather than a procession? It wasn’t a classic but it was at least a tense procession. Maybe rain next year?..
Surely Mercedes can’t claim another 1-2?!
Can Max Verstappen keep it out of the wall this year?
Something of a Monaco expert, and on a track with less engine-dependence, can Daniel Ricciardo spring a surprise?
Will Charles Leclerc’s home knowledge see him outclass his teammate?
It’s currently due to rain at some point over the weekend…could we have a classic Monaco race rather than a procession?
Track Length: 3.337 km
Laps: 78
Race Distance: 260.286 km
First Grand Prix: 1950
Race Lap Record: Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 2018 | 1:14.260
Outright Lap Record: Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 2018 | 1:10.810
Most Driver Wins: Ayrton Senna | 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993
Most Constructor Wins: McLaren | 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008
Niki Lauda has passed away at the age of 70. An undeniable great of the sport, the three-time world champion will forever be remembered for arguably the greatest comeback in Formula 1, if not sporting, history.
His infamous, fiery crash at the Nürburgring in 1976 left him with third-degree burns to his head and face as well as severely damaged lungs from inhaling the toxic gases produced in the fire. He was given the last rites in hospital…before reportedly ‘telling the priest to f off’. Remarkably, he would return to racing just 40 days later for the Italian Grand Prix, his burns far from healed and bleeding once forced inside his crash helmet.
This epitomises an incredible, indestructible man.
He went on to narrowly lose that year’s championship to James Hunt – a story that inspired the 2013 film, Rush – before regaining his title, the following year. Lauda briefly retired in 1979 but returned with McLaren and won his third title in a one-on-one battle with the new superstar Alain Prost.
Outside racing, Lauda had a fascination with aviation, starting his own airline, Lauda Air. This led to another of his greatest triumphs, but one in very different circumstances.
On 26th May 1991, Lauda Air flight 004 crashed over the mountains of Thailand, breaking apart in mid-air and killing all 223 people on board. The investigation, spearheaded by Lauda, found critical problems with Boeing’s safety testing; specifically, that a thrust reverser had deployed in flight without being commanded, causing the aircraft to spiral out of control.
Lauda was angry with Boeing’s refusal to issue a statement, particularly with their reasoning that it would take ‘three months to adjust the wording’, and so told Boeing that he would be willing to fly on a 767 with two pilots and have the thrust reverser deploy in air.
Boeing told Lauda that it would not be possible to recover that situation and so he asked Boeing to issue a statement stating that was the case; that it would not be survivable. They did and, subsequently, additional safety measures were added to the aircraft.
He was a man willing to put his own life on the line for what was right. Those safety measures have likely saved many lives.
Lauda has left an indelible mark on Formula 1. Along with his talent and bravery in a car, he has been just as successful outside of it. After stints with Ferrari and Jaguar, he more recently has been a large part of the unprecedented Mercedes success and was instrumental in bringing Lewis Hamilton to the team.
The paddock will be a little less vibrant without that bright, red cap and the sparkling personality beneath it.
He will be sorely missed by all.
Rest In Peace, Niki.
Slightly off-topic but a quick word on Fernando Alonso and his Indy 500 attempt this year in his quest to achieve the Triple Crown of Motorsport.
As Alonso completed his lap of honour at (most likely) his final Formula 1 race last November in Abu Dhabi, team boss Zak Brown said over the radio, “You are a champ! Let’s go win the Triple Crown”. But here we are six months later with Alonso and his team embarrassed, having not even qualified for the Indianapolis event.
The lead-up to the qualifying session was fraught with issues. Alonso lost the majority of the first practice day with an electrical issue, before a pretty nasty crash during the second. McLaren struggled to build a new car, having also discovered an engine problem, and the Spaniard did not run at all on the third day, leaving just the final practice day in which to do all their preparations. Alonso narrowly missed the cut-off in qualifying on Saturday, finishing 31st when the top 30 qualify, meaning he had to compete in yesterday’s ‘Bump Day’. This is when the bottom drivers compete for the final three spots available for the race. Alonso finished fourth of the six drivers competing, thus narrowly missing out again. This time by just 0.019mph.
McLaren’s choice to set up their own team from scratch was brave but not totally unheard of for the Indy 500. The project has struggled from the outset, however, with many questioning decisions they have made throughout the process. Namely that they built the car in England, teamed up with Carlin, who have only 2 years of IndyCar experience, and scheduled only one test day before the first official test.
The situation was further complicated by Alonso’s Toyota contract from the World Endurance Championship which meant that Honda were unable to provide him an engine. They had said they were willing to, despite their largely uncomfortable recent history with McLaren in F1, but with that contract in place, their choice of teams to link up with was limited. Penske, the only available larger team, were not interested.
McLaren have given an impression of arrogance through this endeavour and it has ended up in a pretty embarrassing position for their company and brand. You wonder whether Alonso will now seek to move to a more established team for next year. His patience with McLaren in F1 was commendable in recent years but I doubt he will commit another year to this project when he has apparently made a good impression in the Indy paddock and would likely be taken on by the big-hitters – certainly once his Toyota contract has ended next year.
Speculation regarding new Le Mans regulations could even seen Juan Pablo Montoya beat him to the Triple Crown. And Alonso would certainly not enjoy that.
Lewis Hamilton dominated at the 2019 Spanish Grand Prix as Mercedes secured yet another 1-2.
On Saturday, Valtteri Bottas, in full Bottas 2.0 mode, produced a stunning qualifying lap to take pole from his teammate, Hamilton, by 0.6 seconds. People don’t tend to do that to Hamilton… The reigning champion said he “just didn’t put the laps together” but was determined to make amends come race day. And that he did. Good starts from Hamilton and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, combined with another poor one from Bottas, led to all three racing into the first corner side by side. Bottas found himself the filling in that sandwich and had to back out but Vettel, desperate to be the latest on the brakes, locked up and ran wide, handing second place back to the Finn. And from there, the remainder of the race turned out to be something of a formality.
Bottas believes his poor start was due to a mechanical issue rather than any failure on his part, saying “I had a strange behaviour on the clutch; biting, releasing, biting, releasing. I’ve never had it before. So I lost it there. I’m keen to find out why the start was so bad and why the issue happened.”
A late safety car, caused by a collision between the two youngest drivers on the grid in Lando Norris and Lance Stroll, closed the pack up but produced no further action at the front and Mercedes further extended their latest record, with a fifth consecutive 1-2 from the start of the season. Max Verstappen continued to impress with an excellent drive to take the final step on the podium, navigating the first corner with maturity and nous before flawlessly executing a move around the outside of both Ferraris when the chance presented itself.
Next up is the Monaco Grand Prix, where Mercedes have struggled in recent years. But judging by their performance in sector three at Barcelona – a sequence of slow corners, similar to the Monte Carlo track – where they were generally more than half a second faster than the Ferraris, another 1-2 is far from out of the question. It is beginning to look like Bottas 2.0 could be the only thing that keeps this championship interesting.
A result in Barcelona would have kept some hopes alive of the Scuderia taking the fight to Mercedes this year. But this was – along with the opening race in Melbourne – the most resounding defeat yet. Throughout pre-season testing, at the very same track, Ferrari had given the impression that they were the team to beat, but just over two months later the Silver Arrows were in a class of one. And to make it worse, their drivers’ squabbling for position arguably cost Ferrari third place to Verstappen.
Vettel’s daring attempt around the outside at the first corner ultimately ended in him running wide and, upon rejoining the track, he put his car very much in the way of Charles Leclerc. thus allowing Verstappen to sail around the outside of both red cars. From there, they never really challenged the Dutchman and instead got caught up again with whether to use team orders. Firstly, with Leclerc stuck behind Vettel, who was suffering with a flat spot from his first corner lock-up, and then the reverse when Vettel caught Leclerc with the young Monegasque on old, hard tyres. Hearing the two drivers’ team radios, it becomes clear that their respective race engineers were on different pages. In the situation where Leclerc was the driver in front, his engineer was somehow unaware that the two drivers were on different strategies. These are basic errors.
This was supposed to be Ferrari’s season. But, after missing out on potential victories in Bahrain and Azerbaijan through a combination of mechanical, operational and driver errors, they now find themselves 96 points behind Mercedes after just five races. Along with the obligatory aero update for Spain, a new power unit was rushed through and fitted two races earlier than planned. But the aero upgrade that Mercedes brought is believed to have been worth three to four tenths on its own and thoroughly trumped whatever improvements Ferrari had managed. It is starting to look like the Italian team are more likely battling Red Bull for second place than Mercedes for first, with team principal Matteo Binotto going as far as saying that the problem was “maybe even car concept”. If so, that is not going to be fixable during the season.
The rumours are that this will be the last Spanish Grand Prix, for the time being at least and almost certainly with Barcelona as its venue. Spain is one of five races without contracts for next year, along with Great Britain, Mexico, Italy and Germany. The organisers for the Italian Grand Prix have agreed a deal in principle and Silverstone looks likely to follow. But there is apparently a good chance the other three could all fall off the calendar.
I would hope as a fairly recent addition, and with a clearly very passionate following, Mexico can figure something out. But Spain and Germany feel perhaps in need of a change. There have been few notable races in Barcelona’s 28-year history – barring Pastor Maldonado’s extraordinary victory in 2012 – and crowds this year have visibly reduced, most likely due to Fernando Alonso’s departure from the sport. Germany has been struggling for a while now, briefly alternating between the Hockenheimring and the Nürburgring, before the latter proved unable to host a Grand Prix any longer. And then having the event cancelled altoghether in 2015 and 2017. Spain and Germany are major European countries with a history of motorsport though so it would be good to see them reinvigorated and returned to the calendar in some way.
Whether as direct replacements or not, there will be the brand new Vietnamese Grand Prix and – expected to be confirmed on Tuesday – a return to Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix. We will have to see how these work out. Vietnam is yet another new location in Asia without any significant motorsport heritage and will be another Hermann Tilke-designed circuit. Zandvoort is in need of a significant upgrade in the next 12 months to be ready for F1. Both in terms of infrastructure and the track itself.
Whilst there was little to no action at the front, the midfield teams all continued to duke it out for the positions around the fringes of the top 10. And that’s on a track where passing has always been difficult. Romain Grosjean’s Haas seemed to spend more time in the run-off area around turns one and two than on the track, after wheel-banging moments with his teammate, amongst others. Scenes that I’m sure led to a few more coins entering Guenther Steiner’s swear jar.
Throughout Formula 1.5, there was a decent amount of battling so, whilst nobody seems to be particularly discussing it, maybe the stop-gap regulation changes for this year have helped somewhat when it comes to the on-track action. That bodes well for the major regulation changes in 2021. We live in hope.
Can anyone stop Mercedes and will Bottas 2.0 keep it up? An emphatic no to the first part and a tentative yes to the second. Bottas on Saturday was exceptional but Hamilton had him covered on Sunday.
With updates everywhere, will the pecking order change noticeably? Not particularly. Although Haas appear to have fixed their tyre issues and moved up the field.
Who will be the faster Ferrari driver this time? In terms of pure results, Vettel. But it was mostly strategy and a small error from Leclerc on Saturday that saw to that.
Will the Williams updates restore some credibility to the team? They were slightly closer to the pack – at least in the hands of George Russell – but there’s a fair way to go still.
Will anyone pull a Pastor Maldonado? That will be a no.
The European season kicks off.
Can anyone stop Mercedes and will Bottas 2.0 keep it up?
With updates everywhere, will the pecking order change noticeably?
Who will be the faster Ferrari driver this time?
Will the Williams updates restore some credibility to the team?
Will anyone pull a Pastor Maldonado?
Track Length: 4.655 km
Laps: 66
Race Distance: 307.104 km
First Grand Prix: 1991 (Barcelona) | 1951 (Spanish GP)
Race Lap Record: Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 2018 | 1:18.441
Outright Lap Record: Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 2018 | 1:16.173
Most Driver Wins: Michael Schumacher | 1995, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
Most Constructor Wins: Ferrari | 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2013
On Wednesday 1st May 2019, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) passed judgement on a case that it considered to be ‘one of the most pivotal’ it had ever heard. The case was Caster Semenya’s challenging of new rules imposed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) that require hyperandrogenous athletes to take medication that will lower their testosterone levels. And the judgement was that those new rules will stand.
This has caught the eye of the general public and many are making sweeping, partially-informed statements about cruelty, discrimination and hypocrisy.
It is very easy to throw together a side-by-side photo of Semenya and, for example, Michael Phelps, with a quote demonstrating the apparent hypocrisy of one being punished for the testosterone her body naturally produces whilst the other is praised for his luck in having a genetic advantage. Namely, that his body produces less than half the lactic acid of his competitors; one of a number of factors that contribute to the most-decorated Olympian of all time’s unrivalled achievements.
But, whilst that hypocrisy is impossible to ignore, it is far from the whole story.
The IAAF, and the world of athletics as a whole, has been put in the unenviable position of having to find the difference between a ‘genetic gift’ and a ‘condition’. It is an issue abundant in grey areas and dangerous precedent, where a ruling must be made in the best interests of the sport, whilst also walking the fine line of political correctness.
A good example of this fine line being that the debate revolves around DSD – an acronym that at one point stood for ‘Disorders of Sexual Development’ but has now been changed to ‘Differences of Sexual Development’, with the term ‘disorder’ being considered too controversial.
The world is a wildly different place now to what it was at the turn of the 20th century, when the modern Olympic Games and the IAAF were established. Back then, lines were very easily drawn between male and female. But we now live in an age where gender is becoming less binary and many people choose to be identified as gender neutral.
Surely a line must be drawn somewhere though. Across almost all events, even the very best women would struggle to compete with the men; Semenya’s personal best over 800m of 1:54.25 is over 13 seconds slower than the male world record.
Any more than one definitive line and there is the risk of athletics losing that base appeal of finding the human that is the very fastest, strongest, best at throwing a pointy stick, etc. – instead having a large series of categories and groups that could make the sport too complex to the average spectator. Or a beige sport where all athletes are forced to have the same levels of different aspects of genetics.
But where is the fairest point to draw said line?
In backing up its case, the IAAF points out that, whilst most females have testosterone levels ranging from 0.12 to 1.79 nmol/L, DSD athletes – who are often born with testes and experience similar increases in muscle size, strength and haemoglobin levels as a male does after puberty – are usually in the normal adult male range, which is from 7.7 to 29.4 nmol/L. Therefore, it wants DSD athletes to reduce their testosterone to below 5 nmol/L.
Semenya’s team have argued, however, that DSD women with high testosterone may not get the same performance benefits from the hormone because their bodies do not convert the testosterone into a fully active form.
Whilst ruling in favour of the IAAF rules, CAS has set out serious concerns regarding the application of them. And there is also the fact that the proposed policy applies only from the 400m to a mile, which is strange given that testosterone has more of an effect in power events.
There are apparently not enough DSD athletes in many field events for the IAAF to make its case in those disciplines. This further muddies the waters; how can you make such a momentous decision regarding biology and then not implement it across the board? In limiting the rules to a certain aspect of athletics, the IAAF are undermining their own standpoint.
Semenya feels persecuted. “For a decade the IAAF has tried to slow me down, but this has actually made me stronger. The decision of CAS will not hold me back,” she said in a statement. A gay, black woman from a South African township, Semenya is no stranger to discrimination and adversity. Even her own country’s governing body has tricked her in the past.
In August 2009, at just 18 years of age, Semenya undertook a gender test before the World Championships in Berlin. She was unaware of the purpose of the test, however, with Athletics South Africa (ASA) president Leonard Chuene telling her it was a random doping test. Some of the results were then leaked to the press, despite never being officially published, and led to idle chatter and Chinese whispers regarding an intersex trait.
Semenya’s coach, Wilfred Daniels, resigned because he felt that ASA “did not advise Ms. Semenya properly”.
It doesn’t help the IAAF’s case that they have been proven wrong before. In the early 1990s, Spanish hurdler Maria Jose Martinez-Patino was banned for producing abnormal results in her chromosome test but, after refusing to quit or feign injury as she had been advised, she was able to prove that a genetic condition meant she was insensitive to testosterone that was in her blood. There is always the danger that the constant advances in scientific technology will render past results outdated, incorrect and often embarrassing.
Athletics has struggled for viability and with its public image for a long time in the face of consistent drug issues and corruption. This is particularly pertinent as Russian athlete Mariya Savinov actually beat Semenya to gold in the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics before being retrospectively banned for doping.
If one thing is certain, it is that this incredibly fragile situation must be handled with the utmost care and rectitude. In the face of decades of drug abuse within the sport, the irony of forcing innocent, gifted athletes to take drugs – in order to reduce aspects of their genetic make-up that they were naturally born with – is impossible to ignore.
Ayrton Senna won three world titles. All at the Japanese Grand Prix. Each in very different circumstances.
1988 showed him at his very best. After stalling on the grid, he carved his way through the field in changeable weather conditions to take a famous victory.
1990 arguably showed him at his worst. Whilst there were extenuating circumstances involving which side of the grid pole position should be on and an injunction by FISA president Jean Marie Balestre, the Brazilian crashed into Alain Prost – deliberately, he later admitted – to claim the title. A mirror of their controversial collision a year earlier that saw Prost crowned champion.
And then, in 1991, Senna honoured an agreement with teammate Gerhard Berger to let him pass to claim his first win for McLaren after Senna’s championship was confirmed.
That is just a snapshot of an incomparable character in the world of F1. But this is not about stories told many times over; it is about what could have been…
The two years following Senna’s third championship were tales of Williams dominance – with Nigel Mansell in 1992 and Prost in 1993 – which saw Senna become disillusioned with McLaren and their ability to provide him with a championship-winning car. When Prost retired at the end of 1993, Senna took his Williams seat.
Sadly, with barely 50 laps completed for the team, the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix brought about the great man’s untimely demise. But now, more than a quarter of a century on, let’s explore the possibilities of what may have happened had he successfully navigated Tamburello.
I’ve gone through the following seasons and done my best to hypothesise the outcomes, based on race events, drivers’ records on the circuits, overall driver ability, car reliability, statistical luck and (where possible) the butterfly effect.
(I will be writing definitively and in the past tense, but obviously I am not stating this absolutely would have been the case – it’s just easier that way.)
We know how the 1994 season started – with two retirements for Senna and two wins for Michael Schumacher. But Williams were beginning to understand the FW16 at this point, with Senna saying it had felt noticeably better in the Imola warm-up, and that was to continue as the season progressed. Whether Benetton’s performance also decreased, after Senna’s suspicions regarding their car’s legality were proved to be at least partially true, is up for debate.
Senna held off the threat of Schumacher in Imola to finally get off the mark with a first victory for his new team, raising an Austrian flag from the cockpit in memory of Roland Ratzenberger who had died the previous day. He then went on a consistent run of podium finishes through the European season, featuring wins in Spain, Belgium and Portugal, whilst two disqualifications followed by a two-race ban for Schumacher thoroughly brought Senna back into the championship fight.
On his return from the ban, Schumacher found himself four points behind. A win at Jerez levelled things up with two rounds to go, before a Senna masterclass in the rain at Suzuka saw him regain the advantage, albeit with the championship still finely balanced for the final race.
The championship leader took pole but was beaten off the line by Damon Hill and Schumacher. The three pulled away from the field with the order remaining the same through the tight Adelaide turns; Hill’s lead was crucial to Senna’s championship hopes. But, on lap 36, Schumacher made that mistake. Senna bided his time in passing, and a collision was no use to the German with a six-point deficit, so Hill took the victory and Senna the world title.
There would surely have been flashpoints in 1995. There were enough between Schumacher and Hill, so factor in some South American fire and the already-growing tension between the two drivers and fireworks would have been an inevitability.
Now kitted out with the Renault engine, Benetton came back stronger in 1995. The Williams, whilst fast, was very unreliable, the two drivers experiencing a combined eight retirements caused by mechanical failures. Despite some opportunities for Senna to show his brilliance in changeable conditions at Imola and Suzuka, the Benetton/Schumacher combination was too strong.
Tensions came to a head when the reigning champion and the champion-elect collided at Monza, resulting in both retiring and each laying the blame at the other’s door.
The German went on to claim eight wins in total and wrapped up his maiden championship with one round to spare. It was a deserved victory with some inspired Schumacher drives, Hill even applauding his rival’s performance at the side of the track after having retired from the European Grand Prix. Senna pondered his next move…
Now. Things are about to get a bit more complex…and even more hypothetical.
Senna had spoken of his want to drive for Ferrari. Luca di Montezemolo revealed fairly recently that he had met with Senna just days before that tragic San Marino Grand Prix to discuss a potential future move, with Senna saying that he ‘really appreciated’ Ferrari’s stand against electronic driver aids. They reportedly offered him a US$22 million-a-year deal to join from 1996 and his former manager, Julian Jakobi, believes he would have accepted it.
Schumacher would still have wanted out of Benetton, though. Having been a Mercedes protégé in his junior career, the opportunity to join them in their new project with McLaren would have appealed and, in this universe, David Coulthard would not have had his chance at Williams in 1994 so would not be filling the seat alongside Mika Häkkinen.
To tie up the loose ends, Jean Alesi still moves to Benetton but Berger would not have left Ferrari with Senna arriving rather than Schumacher. And then Jacques Villeneuve fills Senna’s vacated Williams seat.
At the front, the Williams car was the dominant force. Senna experienced something of a repeat of the previous season with an occasionally fast but unreliable car, allowing him to take a few impressive victories but ultimately falling short.
The Spanish Grand Prix was the race of the season; a battle for the ages with Senna and Schumacher on a different plane to the others, navigating the soaked Catalunya circuit three seconds per lap faster than the rest of the field. The original ‘Rainmaster’ took on the new ‘Regenmeister’ and narrowly came out on top after a two-hour masterclass in wet weather driving from the pair.
Ferrari came on strong towards the end of the season, with Senna winning three of the last four races, but it was too late and Hill comfortably won the championship. The Brazilian was at ease, though, comfortable in his new surroundings at Maranello and inspired by the prospect of returning the Scuderia to former glories.
Hill still leaves Williams as champion but the rest of the main players stay put, meaning we have a title battle between Villeneuve in the Williams, Senna in the Ferrari and the McLaren pair of Schumacher and Häkkinen.
The season opened with a McLaren-dominated race but that would prove to be a false dawn. The newly silver machines’ form fell away dramatically and Schumacher would only manage one podium in the next 10 races. So, it was to be a tale of Senna vs. Villeneuve.
The Brazilian finally won again in Monaco, after an unthinkable four-year wait, before triumphing in three of the next five races to establish a comfortable lead. Villeneuve and Williams rallied, though, and won two on the bounce in Austria and ‘Luxembourg’ (the Nürburgring) to retake the lead with two rounds remaining, before inexplicably withdrawing an appeal against Villeneuve’s disqualification in Japan and handing the advantage back to Senna.
This left a title showdown in Jerez with Villeneuve closing in on Senna for the lead… You could argue Schumacher’s infamous ‘you’ve hit the wrong part of him, my friend’ move would not be entirely out of character for Senna.
However, this was a more mature Senna, free of Balestre’s politics, and – more importantly – second place was enough for the Brazilian to win the championship. Villeneuve passed Senna to take the win but that was not enough to deny him a fifth world title.
There is a question as to whether Senna – about to turn 38 and having emulated his hero Juan Manuel Fangio‘s five World Drivers’ Championships – would then retire. But I can’t see his passion and drive relinquishing just yet. Teammate Berger, however, does retire and, much to the chagrin of Senna, Ferrari hire his former boxing partner, Eddie Irvine.
It quickly became apparent that Adrian Newey had designed a gem at McLaren, with Schumacher and Häkkinen dominating the early races and Senna struggling to remain unlapped in a third-place finish at Interlagos. The reigning champion did manage to sneak a win at the Argentine Grand Prix, though; a race featuring the worst pit stop ever.
The Ferrari was reliable but ultimately didn’t have the pace to match the McLarens at most races where they stayed out of trouble. Senna remained in the hunt for the championship thanks to some excellent drives and the McLaren pair taking points away from each other.
Häkkinen had opened up an early lead whilst Schumacher had suffered three retirements, but the German gradually clawed his way back. Häkkinen span in Belgium and suffered an engine failure in Italy, which set up an epic finale with all three drivers capable of winning the title at the final race. A second-place finish was good enough for Schumacher to narrowly take his second title and, in scenes similar to Senna and Prost in 1993, the former champion held his rival’s arm aloft on the podium. Senna was satisfied with his achievements and already aware of his next – and final – move.
Senna apparently told his good friend Gian Carlo Minardi several times that he wanted to end his career at Faenza. “The last year I do in Formula 1 will be with you”, Autosprint quotes Senna as having told Minardi. “I’ll drive for free but we’ll take away the satisfaction of bringing your car away from the back row.” Senna was largely an honest man and I see him being true to his word. A different, one-season challenge for the Brazilian to round off his career in the final year of the millennium.
(Yes, yes – I know that the new millennium technically began in 2001…)
A shock move to perennial backmarkers Minardi saw Senna trying to drag the team away from the back of the grid, in what he announced would be his final year in the sport. At the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, a race with only eight finishers, Senna ran in the points briefly before retiring with gearbox issues.
Another race of high attrition at the following round in Brazil, though, saw Senna take Minardi’s first point in five seasons in front of an adoring home crowd. Astonishingly, that was followed up by another point in San Marino, thanks in part to yet another race with fewer than 10 drivers seeing the chequered flag.
Reality then hit, however, with no points in the next 10 races. Senna’s technical ability, along with money brought in from newly interested sponsors, helped develop the 1999 Minardi but it was nonetheless mostly a case of Senna wrestling the car into decent midfield positions.
That was, until the European Grand Prix. An incident-packed race in changeable conditions – very much playing to the veteran’s strengths – saw Johnny Herbert take an unlikely victory for the Stewart team and Senna an even more unlikely first ever podium for Minardi.
Sadly, Senna was to retire from his last ever race with an engine failure but walked back to the pits with a fitting send-off of a standing ovation from the ever-enthusiastic Japanese fans.
So, there you have it. For what they’re worth, those are my wild hypotheses for a scenario that sadly wasn’t to be.
Had Senna survived, five world championships – whether or not they would have occurred in a way even remotely similar to my fictional universe – seems a fair legacy for the driver that many still class as the greatest in the sport’s history.
Maybe the way in which he was taken from us has added to his legacy – rose-tinted glasses can be especially rosy in this kind of situation. But having analysed the potential twists and turns his career could have taken, this feels quite fitting.
To go with those five championships, Senna would also have precisely matched Riccardo Patrese’s record for races entered and surpassed Prost’s records for wins, podiums and points. As well as extending his own pole position record to 87.
How many of those would then still have been rewritten by Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton is another rabbit hole, and one which I’m not going to go down on this occasion.
It is no secret how adored Senna was in Brazil and his ambition to one day move into politics and improve his beloved home country were well-known. The ramifications of Senna’s loss extend beyond the sport, potentially to a global, political level. A successful run for presidency would have been far from a pipe dream; much crazier things have happened in the world of politics. (Just look at the last few years…)
But one thing is certain – Ayrton Senna da Silva would always have been and will forever be an icon and a legend. His intensity, passion and charisma transcended the sport. He will never be forgotten.
