1982 United States Grand Prix (West) - Long Beach Street Circuit

April 4, 1982

The Brabham team had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Niki Lauda for the opening practice session of the penultimate round of the 1979 Formula One season in Canada. He had yet to drive the new Cosworth-powered BT49/03, and up to that point he had not even sat in the car. Having established his own airline, Lauda Air, earlier that year in April, his interest was such that he had never even been to the factory to see the new cars being built. As it turned out Lauda drove ten laps in the brand new car and then sloped off to his hotel, leaving Bernie Ecclestone to circulate a PR line that the Austrian was unwell. In truth Niki Lauda had just walked out on the world of motor racing. It was not until the afternoon that it was officially admitted that Lauda had retired from Formula One racing and broken his contract with the Brabham team. And with that, the 33 year-old two-time World Champion was gone. After his retirement, Lauda focussed on running his airline, a charter service flying within Austria, with a fleet of four planes—which Lauda often piloted himself.

Niki Lauda 1979

“For two years I didn’t take any real interest in motor racing,” he freely admitted. “It was a chapter in my life I believed was over. My interest was now flying, and it absorbed me totally. I could watch a Grand Prix start and not feel even the slightest tremble of excitement or enthusiasm.”

It genuinely seemed as though the moment had passed as far as his rekindling an F1 career was concerned. Until he found himself curious as to whether it was possible for him to get back into a car after two years and drive with the rest of them. Fortuitously, it was at this time when Ron Dennis, a director of McLaren International, approached Lauda with an offer designed to lure him back into Formula One racing. Lauda had received attractive offers from other teams during his retirement and had passed them up; what intrigued him this time was the unique McLaren MP4 race car. An innovative race car, designed by John Barnard, with a carbon fibre chassis, which was lighter than its aluminium counterpart but three times as stiff. However, while Lauda was impressed with the potential of the McLaren, he would also have to discover if he could adjust to the new demands of Grand Prix driving. Since his retirement Formula One racing had changed drastically as the result of the proliferation of ground-effects cars, which incorporated a uniquely designed undertray, that accelerated the air passing beneath the cars so as to form a partial vacuum and literally suck the vehicles to the surface of a racing circuit. This meant that cornering speeds had greatly increased, and so had the physical demands on the drivers.

During his first test session with the team at Donington in September of 1981 Lauda found driving quite exhausting and he had to keep a tight grip on the tiny steering wheel as his body was subjected high g-forces in the high-speed corners. While he was reasonably quick and obviously enjoying it he could only do two or three laps before having to stop to catch his breath. Niki realized that his physical condition was holding him back.

Lauda signed with McLaren International on November 12, 1981 for what was rumoured to be $3 million for the scheduled 15 Grand Prix races of the 1982 season, making him the highest-paid driver in Formula One racing. Once committed to a comeback Lauda began a three-month conditioning regime, with Willi Dungl, an Austrian physical therapist who had helped in his remarkable recovery from the Nürburgring crash in 1976, that continued right up to the first Grand Prix of 1982, in South Africa in late January. In that first race of the 1982 season, on the Kyalami circuit outside Johannesburg, Lauda qualified thirteenth and finished fourth.

The third round of the season was to be held in America, on the streets of Long Beach, where concentration and precision driving counted for everything. Here Lauda would face an unforgiving and demanding circuit that required absolute perfection, or he’d find himself against the barrier. From the beginning of practice, however, all the smart money was on him. It was not that he took pole - he qualified second - but that he made the matter of lapping Long Beach quickly seem deceptively undramatic and simple. There lay his class.

Andrea de Cesaris 1982

Saturday afternoon, with only a couple of minutes remaining in the last qualifying session Lauda was fastest and looked set to win the pole position having driven just seven laps, such was his speed, with the last being the quickest. There had been no flamboyance, no apparent dash. He had not looked among the quickest, and there laid the greatness of the man, his sublime ability to make it seem easy. He had threaded the McLaren between Long Beach's concrete walls, averaging over 140 kph on the 12-turn, 2.13-mile circuit, and it left you believing anyone could do it. He then stood in the pits for most of the session, not a bead of sweat apparent, his 29 rivals pounded round, to no avail. It had been a simple show of intelligence and efficiency of the kind which has made him a legend. But suddenly, 15 seconds before the qualifying hour was up, Andrea de Cesaris (Alfa Romeo) had produced a lap 0.1 seconds faster than Lauda. When he returned to the pitlane a simple glance at the young Italian illustrated the extent of his effort. He was in a very emotional state, weeping and shaking in the enormity of the moment. A lot of inspiration went into that pole position lap. However, at no point did the Italian look as strong as Lauda, simply because the great Austrian was smooth and effortless in achieving the same end, never looking close to an accident.

On Sunday morning with the Californian sun burning down, the Italian got his start absolutely right, leading the field down Shoreline Drive with Rene Arnoux (Renault) powering by Lauda to take up second spot into the right-hander at the end. Up through the swerves and onto Ocean Boulevard to begin the first full lap, with de Cesaris driving betraying no signs of nerves. The Alfa Romeo led by almost two seconds at the end of the third lap, with Arnoux, Lauda and Bruno Giacomelli (Alfa Romeo) running as a group and starting to open out a gap to the rest, who were led by Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari).

1982 United States GP (West): Lauda bided his time in the early stages of the race. 

On the sixth lap, Giacomelli decided to take a run at Lauda at the Turn 11 hairpin. Down the inside he plunged, braking far too late. Lauda made no attempt to block him. The unfortunate victim of this piece of ambitious overtaking was the luckless Arnoux. Having shot by Lauda, Giacomelli locked up and slide into the back of the Renault punting the Frenchman out of the grand prix, now leaving Lauda untroubled in his pursuit of de Cesaris. For a few laps, though, McLaren made no impression on the Alfa Romeo, its lead was almost 5 seconds after eight laps. Thereafter Lauda slipped into that clinical precision so often witnessed during his Ferrari days, taking away a tenth here, a fifth there.

The inevitable lead change happened on lap 15. Through the chicane at the start of Shoreline Drive, de Cesaris was held up by Raul Boesel (March), in an instant Lauda was right with the Alfa Romeo, and the McLaren was very swift in a straight line. Down to the right-handed Turn 1 they came, with Lauda moving smoothly and easily to the inside, leaving de Cesaris with no option other than to cede the corner. Once by, Lauda quickly began to clear, working the traffic with all the guile in the world. Undaunted, de Cesaris charged on, but a simple comparative lack of experience lost him ground every time there were cars to be lapped.

Lap 35 brought about the end of de Cesaris, whose Alfa Romeo crashed heavily at Turn 5. It was a very sad end to all his efforts. He deserved better. The picture, it seemed, was set, for Lauda had a lead of 50s, colossal by any standards. Keke Rosberg (Williams), who had found a way past Villeneuve, was still pushing hard, but his task looked hopeless. Typically, though, he did not simply settle for second place. The gap began to come down. Lauda, of course, was not hurrying as he had been before de Cesaris' exit, and he further gave hope to the Williams team by most untypically missing his braking point at the top of Linden Avenue on one occasion, just managing to keep the car on the road, but losing nine seconds of his lead in the process. It was his first and last mistake of the afternoon.

1982 United States GP (West): Lauda calmly took the lead and controlled the race from there. 

In the last few laps the Austrian was cruising, unconcerned that his lead was being diminished by the energetic Rosberg. The Williams driver never let up, hoping to be close enough to take advantage of any last-minute problem that Lauda might incur, but the McLaren swept on, finally taking the flag a little over 14 seconds to the good. The race lasted almost two hours, and Lauda was quite refreshed afterwards. He had, after all, expended far less energy than most of his rivals. It was cool, analytical and brilliant.

Many of the drivers were angry afterwards about the track surface, which broke up badly in places, Nelson Piquet (Brabham), Didier Pironi (Ferrari) and Alain Prost (Renault) were among those who crashed into the barriers in the tricky conditions. Above all, though, the day belonged to Lauda, with a most conclusive victory. It was like the old days, and nothing reminded one so much as the Austrian National Anthem after the race. It took you back to countless times in the mid-seventies when Niki Lauda was dominant. Long Beach 1982 was a week in the Lauda tradition, the sort of victory he used to make a matter of routine. And that he had done it in only the third race of his comeback put everyone on notice that he was not there for money, or for fame. Lauda was there to compete at the front, win races and challenge for a third World Driver’s Championship. 

 He was certainly back, and it was as though he’d never left.

Triumphant Return: In just his third GP Lauda proves he can still dominate.

2012 United States Grand Prix - Circuit of the Americas

November 18, 2012

There’s no more iconic scene in American Western movies than the good old-fashioned gunfight, where the lawman and the outlaw meet at high noon, facing each other on a dusty road in the centre of town ….. hands at the ready to draw their pistols when the first one flinches. Tension is everywhere as humble townspeople cringe behind barrels and saloon doors, watching nervously as two famous names square off and only one will win. In actuality, this kind of thing very rarely occurred, but it is a scenario that Hollywood has relied on time and again to satisfy the public’s fascination with pitting the two very best against each other in a fair contest.

Five years after the previous United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis, even a Hollywood script could not have been better written to the true life drama displayed at the first Grand Prix to be held at Austin’s, Circuit of the Americas, the tenth track to be used to host a US Grand Prix.

The 2012 race was a straight fight between Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) and Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and while during that season they were the established aces of the day, the previous USGP in 2007 offered a similar storyline, but at that time Vettel and Hamilton were very different protagonists …..



2007 USGP: Hamilton celebrates.

Just seven days after claiming a maiden Grand Prix win at Montreal in Canada, Hamilton delivered another assured drive at the famous Motor Speedway circuit. After taking a second straight pole position, the 21-year old was able to complete a grid-to-flag victory, coolly dealing with team-mate Fernando Alonso’s two attempts to pass him. The Spanish World Champion tried to hustle Hamilton off the grid but the rookie pulled away and used his now customary pace to stretch his lead. After making their first pit-stops just one lap apart, Alonso tried again to pass Hamilton, who had become embroiled with the backmarkers. Alonso gathered pace in Hamilton’s slipstream and the two McLarens went side-by-side down the main straight, only for Alonso to be thwarted by the Briton as they entered Turn One – after that tussle the McLarens did not race again. Hamilton’s win in Indianapolis saw him become only the fourth rookie to win at least two races in their debut season.



2007 USGP: Vettel's debut with BMW.

It was also an historic day in Indianapolis for Sebastian Vettel, who became the youngest driver to score a point in Grand Prix history. The 19-year old was making his Formula One debut for BMW Sauber as a replacement for Robert Kubica, who was still recovering from the effects of his high-speed crash in Montreal. Vettel drove smartly to an eighth place finish. Later that same season, BMW allowed Vettel to switch to the Scuderia Toro Rosso team where he took a regular driving position replacing the American, Scott Speed.

Fast forward five years and these two had both become World Driver's Champions. Hamilton in 2008 and Vettel taking the titles in 2010 and 2011. With the German well on his way to adding his third world title in 2012 as the F1 circus convened in Austin. 

Vettel duly claimed his sixth pole position of the season in what would be his 100th Grand Prix start. He had dominated every session of practice and qualifying at the impressive Circuit of the Americas and it looked as if only a reliability issue would stop him from taking his fifth victory in six starts. Hamilton had been a second behind Vettel's time in Q2, but put in a tremendously committed Q3 lap to qualify second, just over a tenth of a second behind the German, putting the championship leader under some pressure. 

Sunday, however, began with a classic bit of 11th hour F1 chicanery.

Ferrari, who was desperately trying to keep Fernando Alonso in the championship fight, decided to break the seal on Felipe Massa’s gearbox, thereby inducing a five-place grid penalty which lifted his team-mate Alonso up to seventh and on to the clean side of the grid, a huge advantage at the brand new circuit. While some in the paddock derided the decision as unsporting, Ferrari, a team with a clear history of favouring their lead driver, certainly were not losing any sleep over it. However on this day Ferrari and Alonso would be mere bit players in the drama. Instead it was Hamilton who posed the greatest threat to Vettel.

2012 USGP: Vettel maintains the gap to Hamilton. 

The World Champion made a perfect getaway when the lights went out. Hamilton too started well, but being on the dirty side of the track hampered him enough that Mark Webber (Red Bull) was able to get around the Englishman into Turn 1. It seemed like the Red Bulls were free and clear to walk this race, but Hamilton was not willing to give up without a fight. The McLaren retook second place from Webber on lap four by using his Drag Reduction System (DRS) on the long straight between Turn 11 and Turn 12. With Webber disposed of, Hamilton soon began reducing the gap to Vettel and an enthralling duel ensued.

Vettel and Hamilton were in a class of their own and the pair engaged in a thrilling race-long game of cat and mouse. Every time Hamilton closed to within a second or so of Vettel, threatening to get into the one-second DRS range, the German would respond. From lap 35 onwards, Hamilton was within range and stuck limpet-like to the back of the Red Bull for lap after lap.

Hamilton was always a threat, and quicker through sector 1, but Vettel seemed to have him covered and to be well in control ..... until they encountered Narain Karthikeyan (HRT) in sector one on lap 42. Through a superb section of the new circuit, from Turns 2 through 7, with no grip off-line, Karthikeyan stayed on the racing line until they exited Turn 7, which cost Vettel more than a second. It also put Lewis comfortably close enough for DRS detection down the back straight and Hamilton knew it was his chance. Vettel moved left but such was the McLaren's speed advantage that Lewis could have gone either side. He went right and had sufficient momentum to chop back across and protect the inside into Turn 12.

2012 USGP: Hamilton made the most of his chance.

Vettel's frustration was apparent from the ensuing radio transmission. Thereafter their roles were reversed with Vettel the hunter and Hamilton the hunted, fending off the German for lap after lap. However, as hard as the German had tried to hit back, on that day, Lewis and the McLaren were a match for Sebastian and the RB8. Crucially, Vettel was never quite able to get within DRS range. Hamilton, who was set to leave McLaren for Mercedes in 2013, was intent on delivering another win for the team before his departure and did so with elan as he seized his fourth win of the season and the twenty-first of his career.

"I'm massively proud and extremely happy. To overtake both Red Bulls in the race was the coolest thing for me. The backmarkers really came into play today - and, finally, they worked in my favour. I've often been caught out when I've been trying to get through traffic, but things finally went my way today. When Seb [Vettel] was delayed by a backmarker, I knew I had to grab my chance, so I turned the engine up to maximum revs and pushed like crazy. Along the back-straight I went to the to the outside, but Seb closed the door, so I moved to the inside, and he came back towards me. I was very lucky. It was very close."

Respect: Vettel congratulates Hamilton.

Vettel was extremely generous and noble during the post-race interview. It was evident that despite finishing second, he clearly enjoyed the battle with Hamilton :

"It was a very good race and we did everything we could, but unfortunately we ran into traffic at the wrong time and lost the gap to Lewis. He used his chance well, I tried to cover the inside but he had more speed down the straight. I respect the positions; Lewis beat us fair and square." 

Vettel's disappointment was tempered by the fact that he was able to finish ahead of title rival Alonso and thus increase his championship lead with only one Grand Prix remaining in the season. He would in fact win that race and capture his third consecutive World Championship. 

It is always a rare and special thing when two of the best drivers of the era battle from start to finish in a Grand Prix.  Both drivers raced superbly that day and both were deserving of victory. Hamilton and Vettel grew up watching and admiring two titans of Formula One history, Senna and Schumacher. That day they proved that they themselves were worthy of the admiration of the next generation to come. The 1978 World Driver's Champion, Mario Andretti, summed it up best when he carried out the post-race podium interview: “We just witnessed an awesome, awesome race right to the end.” 

Champions all: Vettel and Hamilton on the podium with Andretti.

1992 Monaco Grand Prix - Monte Carlo

    May 31, 1992

For the first time in a long time a Honda engine wasn't enough. Not even a Honda engine with Ayrton Senna sitting in front of it. After only 10 of the season's 16 races, Nigel Mansell would equal Senna's record of eight victories in a season. The Williams-Renault FW14B, "active" suspension and all, exerted a greater superiority over the rest than anyone could remember. McLaren, and all the others were not beaten in 1992. They were routed. 

Nigel Mansell: Williams-Renault

Coming into the race at Monte Carlo, Mansell had dominated the season to date, winning the first five races, a feat unequalled in Grand Prix history. He carried this form into qualifying, taking a comfortable pole position with team-mate Riccardo Patrese second and Senna third. At the start Mansell fairly leapt off the grid, moving smartly left to discourage any thoughts Patrese might have entertained about going for the lead. Riccardo, indeed, was not even second by the apex of the first turn at Ste Devote. "Monte Carlo is the hardest place in the world for overtaking," Senna commented later. "Even at the start you can't do it, unless you're really squeezing it. I went for it at the last moment, so as not to give Riccardo any indication, because otherwise he would have closed the door. I got into second place that way, but the problem was to stop the car before Mansell turned in, because I was coming so quickly I thought he might not have seen me. But it was a good manoeuvre, and the only way I had to make a place. if Patrese had been ahead of me out of the corner, I doubt I would ever have got past him."

Ayrton Senna: Mclaren-Honda

Michael Schumacher (Benetton) also got ahead of Jean Alesi (Ferrari) in the opening seconds, but on the run down to Mirabeau the Ferrari moved by the Benetton once more. After one lap, it was Mansell, Senna, Patrese, Alesi, Schumacher, Gerhard Berger (McLaren), Martin Brundle (Benetton), and Ivan Capelli (Ferrari).

Already it was clear that only some misfortune separated Mansell from his first victory in Monte Carlo. At around a second a lap, the Williams pulled away from Senna, who was now coming under pressure from Patrese. "I knew," Senna related, "there was no way to catch Mansell. Impossible, with the superiority of his car. At present we are not in a condition to win, and neither is anyone else. So what I tried to do was go hard enough to be in position to benefit if anything happened to Mansell, but still try to conserve my tyres - particularly in the early laps, on full tanks." After a while Senna began to lean on his tyres a little more, pulling a little way clear of Patrese. If he couldn't remotely keep Mansell in sight, at least he wanted the gap to be of manageable proportions. "I couldn't think of beating him, of course, but you never know what will happen at Monaco. Already in the early race I was planning for the late race ..."

Seemingly lost cause: Senna maintains pursuit of Mansell 

As Mansell continued to go away at a second a lap, it looked a forlorn hope, but Ayrton was right in his thinking. And at least, for the first time that year, he was betwen the Williamses, rather than behind them. Further back, Alesi and Schumacher were involved in what may be termed as a torrid duel for fourth and splendid it inevitably was, given the mentality of the two youthful chargers. You had the impression the Benetton was quicker, but Alesi wasn't for losing his position.

For Mansell, all was silky smooth. At this point he was almost 10 seconds ahead of Senna, and Patrese was dropping back from the McLaren. Such excitement as there was continued to come from Alesi and Schumacher; on lap 12 they made contact at the Loews Hairpin, when Michael tried to force through a gap not quite as wide as a Benetton. Jean all but spun at the exit, but gathered it up, and duly maintained his fourth place. Schumacher seemed to have gotten through the tussled unscathed. For Alesi though, the consequences were more serious. There was damage to the Ferrari's gearbox, which ultimately caused its retirement, on lap 29.

Now began a long period during which there was little on which to concentrate apart from the redoubtable Schumacher. Once Alesi's Ferrari was out of the way, and he had a clear road before him, he quickly began to think about Patrese's third place. Down and down the gap came, until by lap 40 the Williams and Benetton were running together. Patrese was an old campaigner, though. This was his 16th Monaco GP, and over time he had learned a lesson or two about the place. "I must say my car wasn't fantastic. There was a lot of oversteer, and it got worse through the race. So I was very busy when Schumacher caught up to me, and you could say I used my ..... experience to keep ahead of him."

Now we had status quo for a long time. Mansell serenely led, once in a while setting a new fastest lap, as if to keep his concentration alive. Generally the lead over Senna was around 20 seconds, Ayrton continuing to drive hard, but only in the hope that something untoward would befall the Williams in the late stages. On lap 60 the pendulum looked to swing even more definitively Mansell's way, for on that lap his lead was suddenly out to 30 seconds. At Mirabeau Michele Alboreto (Footwork), recently overtaken by Brundle, had spun, momentarily blocking the track. Next man through was the World Champion. "I just managed to stop," Senna said. "Maybe half a metre from him. I didn't dare to move, to go around him, because he was moving himself. So I waited there a few seconds until I could get by. I lost maybe nine seconds, which was a little bit disappointing. Still, all I could do afterwards was push, push, push ...."

Status quo again .... until lap 71, when the pattern of the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix shifted fundamentally. Down to the chicane, and on toward Tabac, Mansell's Williams was off its familiar pace. It was slow progress for him to return to the pitlane and there he was fitted with a new set of tyres. A pitstop at Monte Carlo is a lengthy affair, necessarily so, given the tight entry lane. Even so, Mansell thought the tyre change tardy, and said so afterwards. As he reached the pit exit, Senna hurtled by. For the first time that year something other than a Williams-Renault was in the lead of a Grand Prix. What had happened to precipitate this late stop? In the tunnel, Mansell had a sideways moment, and concluded that probably he had a puncture, that he needed new tyres. But afterwards Goodyear said this was not the case. A wheel bearing then? "No" said Williams' Chief Designer Adrian Newey, "because if it had been, the replacement wheel would have been marked at the end of the race, and it wasn't." What, then? "Difficult to say," Newey commented. "It might have been a loose wheel nut, perhaps." Whatever, it brought Mansell in, and it lost him the lead. Now we had the prospect of a race at last, of the fastest car, on new tyres, chasing the man who had won Monaco for the last three years.

Change of fortune: Mansell hounds Senna through the chicane

Even given the problems of overtaking at this place, Senna looked vulnerable. On lap 72 he led the Williams by 5.1s; next time around it was 4.3s, but a shattering lap by Mansell, almost two seconds faster than any other driver's best, brought that down to 1.9s. With three laps to go, the two cars were together and it seemed inconceivable that Senna could hold on. All around the circuit Mansell jinked and bobbed behind the McLaren, darting this way and that, looking for a gap that Senna never left. "I didn't really know what to do," Ayrton said, "because he was coming so much faster than I could go. My tyres were finished. They'd been good all the way, but this was the end of the race, and the grip was gone. And I was tired, too, obviously. It was hell to push at that point. I knew he would try everything. I knew we would be in for a major war in the last three laps. It was exciting but very difficult because he was several seconds faster than me and I had no grip to put the power down. It was like on ice. Fortunately I only had three or four laps that way. On the straights, it was like a drag race, you know, wheelspin in third and fourth gear....."

Last lap: Senna resolute on the racing line, follow-the-leader through up the hill, Senna inside for the curve into Casino, Mansell slightly wider; tight together through potential passing places but Mansell fractionally too far away. Tight around the Loews Hairpin, Mansell braking so hard he drew smoke from the left front tyre; accelerating from the crown of Mirabeau so ferociously the Williams bucked.

The race now turned on the chicane after the tunnel. If Mansell could find enough momentum onto, through and out of the tunnel he might thrust past at the chicane. They entered the tunnel nose-to-tail and Senna maintained that on the flight to the chicane. Senna wrestled the McLaren through it. Along the harbour front Mansell swarmed, making a last inside-outside lunge into the twist of Rascasse, the left-right right before the finishing straight. Senna nursed the racing line and Mansell went wide, wide, wide to go around him. Not possible within the confines of Monaco. Senna won by 0.215 seconds.

Unrelenting pressure: Mansell glued to Senna's rear-wing

Admirably, Mansell didn't complain about the fight that Senna put in. "I must compliment Ayrton, because he pretty well second guessed every move I tried to do and he was very fair, he was perfectly entitled to do what he did, to defend his position," he said. "It was regrettable that the tyre change took a few seconds longer than usual, because otherwise I could perhaps have rejoined the race without losing the lead. Also, the new tyres were very cold, and it took a lap or two to come to pressure and temperature. I can't remember driving harder than in those last few laps."

It is always a special thing when the two best drivers of the day go hammer and tongs right down to the finish line. Of course the circumstances at Monaco were the only thing that allowed this duel to be what it was. Senna could not have put up such a defence on any other circuit. Nelson Piquet once said that racing around the streets of the tiny principality was like "riding a bicycle around your living room." However, Senna's absolute refusal to give up on the chance to win, no matter how remote that chance might have seemed early in the race. His stubborn determination to not allow himself to be demoralized into accepting second are what put him in a position to capitalize on Mansell's misfortune. There have not been many drivers in F1 who would have done the same and on that day Senna was rewarded, though he had to earn every inch of that victory. One which tied Graham Hill's record of five wins at Monaco. 

Mansell summed it up best afterwards, "We gave it everything we had and more ... you have the race under control for seven-eighths of a distance, then you pick up a puncture. That's Monte Carlo for you. Then you have to drive ten to eleven tenths, and I think we were both driving way over the limit on the last six laps." All of this was said as Senna sat looking at his hand with a knowing, satisfied smile on his face.

This was the day when the unstoppable force battled the immovable object and it surely was a clash of titans which will always be remembered as one of the classic Monaco Grands Prix.

Sheer determination: Senna proves that luck is what you make it

2011 Canadian Grand Prix - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

June 12, 2011

The Ferrari's undertray pivoted on the Turn 4 exit kerb - and so did the whole outcome of the race. Fernando Alonso had just left the pits in this crazy delayed event and it was crucial that he keep the advancing Jensen Button (McLaren), whose intermediate tyres were now up to temperature having stopped the lap before, behind. So they accelerated up to up to Turn 3 together, the red car and the silver one, neither man prepared to give way. As they touched inthe no-man's land where Alonso's outside line for Turn 3 would have become the inside of Turn 4, Ferrari right-rear against McLaren left-front, their destinies diverged.

Defining moment - Alonso's misfortune was Button's salvation.

Had the Ferrari merely spun rather than getting itself beached, there would have been no safety car and Button's long, slow crawl back to the pits on his punctures tyre and damaged nose while everyone else remained flat-out would have left this a lap down and that would have been that; a plucky drive back into the points if he was lucky, an awkward explanation of his earlier coming together with team-mate Lewis Hamilton. But out came safety car number three and so the pieces of Button's miraculous drive began to lock into place: two collisions, a puncture, five pitstops, a drive through penalty and rejoining dead last with half of the race gone. Unlikely circumstances for a victory, you'd have to say. But that one piece of luck combined with Button's magical touch in such changeable conditions, his calm head, that he was the only man able to get the slicks up to temperature on the menacingly narrow dry line, the McLaren's excellent mechanical grip, DRS (drag reduction system); all these things conspired and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) became, for once, a victim.

We had to wait for this gem of a Grand Prix. Wait a very long time, a two hour gap after 45 minutes of interrupted running. Standing water, heavy spray and concrete walls meant the first start came under the safety car. racing underway at the end of the fourth lap, Vettel sprinting off as was so familiar during the 2011 campaign, the two Ferraris in his wake. Immediately behind, on the run down to Turn 1 and the Virage Senna, Hamilton's impatience drew him into an implausible attempt inside of Mark Webber (Red Bull) who tried to give him room, but that space funnelled them rapidly down to contact, spinning both, as Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Button and Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) passed by. Lewis was at least facing the right way and able to get going again in sixth. But Webber needed to spin turn and completed the lap in 13th.

Button got wide into Turn 3 and was immediately passed on either side by Schumacher and Hamilton. Next lap Hamilton tried for the outside of Schumacher into the hairpin, Michael seemed surprised to see him there, Lewis taking to the grass to avoid contact, getting onto the run-off, allowing Button to re-pass. Hamilton remained in touch with his team-mate and at the end of the seventh lap Jensen got a bit crossed up into the final chicane, making him very slow onto the start/finish straight and Lewis was upon him, catching, catching, trying to second-guess as he was neatly tucked up beneath the other McLaren's rear wing. He opted for the surprise move to the left - which certainly seemed to surprise Jensen as he eased the same way to take up the normal line for the approaching right-hand kink. Hamilton was pincered between the pitwall and Button's left-rear. Lewis' left-rear hit the wall hard and ricocheted him into Button who corrected a violent twitch. "What was he doing?" shouted Button over the radio. Lewis limped on until being told by the team to retire it as they could see suspension damage.

Jensen Button - doggedly fought on after a series of setbacks.

Hamilton's abandoned car triggered a safety car and Button used that as an opportunity to pit immediately for a go on the intermediate tyres. Further rain was holding off and a thin ribbon of a line beginning to form. This was the first time that the contemporary Pirelli wets had been raced, yet they seemed quite durable in such conditions but the track did now appear to be moving towards the intermediates, which would potentially be significantly faster.  Besides stopping at that point enabled a damage check to be made tot he car. Behind the safety car for four laps, Button circulated in 12th place and as racing got underway again, with Vettel sprinting away from the Ferraris everyone was watching Button's times very closely. But that information was delayed as Jensen had been called into the pits for a drive-through for exceeding the target speed during the safety car period. With the field still so bunched and the pit entry road before the speed limit line so fast, the penalty only cost him two places. Once past a couple of slower cars, Button began to fly on those inters.

Both Ferrari and Mercedes responded, bringing Alonso and Rosberg in from second and fourth respectively at the end of the 16th lap. Next time through Button was over a second faster than the leader, Vettel, who had the gap to Felipe Massa (Ferrari) out to over six seconds already. But there was a twist. The rain began to fall again. Red Bull and Ferrari realized it was better to keep Vettel and Massa out, still on their wets, but Mercedes stuck to their plan brought Schumacher in for intermediates.

On the 19th lap the heavens opened and the race once again went under the safety car, during which time the inters-shod Alonso, Rosberg, Schumacher and Button made corrective stops for wets, dropping them yet further down the order. Vettel, Massa and Webber stopped at this time too, changing their existing wets for new ones. After six laps under the safety car the deluge became yet heavier and the race was red-flagged. They lined up on the grid: Vettel, Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), Massa, Nick Heidfeld (Renault), Vitaly Petrov (Renault), Paul di Resta (Force India), Webber, Alonso, Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber), Button, Rosberg, Schumacher. A two hour wait ensued as the storm passed.   

FIA safety car - a record six appearances.

Nine laps behind the safety car - and with everyone therefore on full wets - laid the introduction for the spectacular second instalment of this race. As Bernd Maylander set the pack free at the end of the 34th lap, Vettel was again master of the restart and his advantage quickly ballooned as Kobayashi tenaciously fended off Massa and Heidfeld. Schumacher had peeled off into the pitlane as soon as the safety car came in, changing immediately onto intermediates. It was an inspired call, made by Michael himself. Button and Heidfeld followed suit on the following lap but everyone else was rather more cautious with Kobayashi, Massa, Petrov, Webber, Alonso and Rosberg staying out until the end of lap 36. Vettel's leading margin and strong pace encouraged Red Bull to keep him out for yet another lap.

Alonso was dropped behind Rosberg at the stops and now, as he accelerated back into the fray, he was being caught by Button on intermediates that were fully up to temperature and set on scything past. That's when they touched, leaving Alonso fatefully beached upon the kerb. Yet another safety car, it fifth appearance, allowed Button with his punctured tyre to get back without being lapped. Vettel took the opportunity to pit for inters and got underway again without losing the lead. Three laps later and the race was back on and Vettel was comfortably away from the squabbling Kobayashi and Massa. Button at this point was a solid last, having not even quite caught the tail of the pack as the safety car came in. 

So with 57 percent of the race done, Vettel led and Button was last. The various safety cars had repeatedly trimmed back Vettel's lead, which he would confidently pull out, only to have his efforts wiped away. This had kept him within Button's reach, unlikely though that it looked at this stage. Button was on inspired form too and soon scything through backmarkers still closely-packed from the safety car. Meanwhile Vettel was doing the perfect job too, pulling away from Kobayashi at around 0.5s per lap, ensuring that he was looking after his tyres.

On the 46th lap race control allowed DRS to be enabled, judging that visibility was no longer an issue. Button was by now up to 12th and only 20s off of the lead because of the safety car and the relatively gentle pace that Kobayashi's Sauber was effectively imposing on everyone else, as Vettel simply gauged the gap back to him. However, Kobayashi oversteered wide out of Turn 8, and Massa went to his right but was baulked and Schumacher went to the left, passing them both in one move, promoting him up to second in the process. 

Just as this was happening Webber, unable to find a way by Heidfeld pitted for the super-soft dry tyres. On his second flying lap he was in the 1m 24s, 3s faster than the leader, by which time Button had stopped and made the change too. Schumacher, Massa and Heidfeld followed him in a lap later. Vettel, Kobayashi and the rest pitted for their super-softs on the 53rd lap. Vettel still led courtesy of his earlier margin, from Schumacher and Webber, with a sensationally fast Button, who's leapfrogged Kobayashi and Heidfeld by his earlier stop, catching the top three as a huge rate. With 15 laps to go he was just 9s off the lead. And fate would smile on the Briton again. On lap 55 Heidfeld slammed into the rear of Kobayashi and with carbon debris from the Renault all over the track, the sixth safety car was deployed, probably just the last little bit of fortune for Button, wiping out much of his deficit.

It took five laps for the mess to be cleared and upon the restart Vettel was again up and away as Schumacher and Webber squabbled. Five laps into this restart Webber attempted to go down the inside of the German at the chicane, locked up and had to go straight-on. This compromised his speed on the following pit straight allowing Schumacher to stay ahead and Button to pass him. Now Button was all over the Mercedes and on the following lap used his DRS, KERS and long seventh gear to simply drive by Schumacher long before they reached the braking zone.

Relentless - Button closes on Vettel in the final stages. 

There were five laps left and Vettel was just 3.1s ahead of the flying McLaren. "I was probably too conservative after that last safety car," said Vettel, "and didn't open the gap enough when I could. I was just trying to hold the gap tot he cars behind, but then I saw Jensen come through." Too late, as it were. Seb realised he could not afford to let the McLaren get within the 1s DRS trigger zone and so began to turn on the pace. He was suddenly lapping 2s faster than before, and yet still Jensen was closing him down as the race built to a stunning crescendo.

Still Button came. On the penultimate lap he was close enough for the DRS to trigger, allowing him to have a look into the chicane but Vettel held his line. That's how they headed into the final lap, prey and hunter. Into Turn 6, the pressure finally told as Seb's left rear slipped onto the damp line and in an instant was oversteering. He gathered it up with an angel's hands, but Jensen was through and gone.

"This was 90 percent Jensen and 10 percent car," said McLaren's team principal, Martin Whitmarsh. "He had the confidence in these conditions to push and that got heat into the tyres that was elusive to others and it was just a of virtuous circle. His skill, calm, confidence and smartness today was just fantastic. That will go down as one of the all-time great grand prix win," and it was impossible to disagree. 

Only one can win - superb performances from two great champions.

1993 European Grand Prix - Donington Park

April 11, 1993

This was Ayrton Senna at his supreme best. Before the race, he had said that, as at Interlagos a fortnight earlier where he scored an impressive victory, only a wet race would give him a prayer against the mighty Williams-Renaults.

There was never a true rival to the Williams-Renaults in 1993, although McLaren and Benetton had their measure occasionally. The FW15C was still emphatically the class of the field, with Renault's RS5 V10 a paragon of power and strength. Comparatively, with Honda's departure from Formula One at the end of 1992, McLaren's team principal, Ron Dennis had no alternative but to use a customer Ford HB V8. However, this engine was at least two development steps behind the factory Ford engines used by the Benetton team. Rain, they say, is the great equalizer in racing, allowing a drivers talent to compensate for their car's technical deficiencies. At Donington, the rain was not simply an equalizer .. it was Ayrton's secret weapon. 

Senna - A master in the wet.

As in Brazil, a wet race was what he got. All the way through this time. During Friday practice the weather was awful, and he was duly fastest. But on Saturday the weather cleared for qualifying, and in these conditions Alain Prost (Williams) and Damon Hill (Williams) were unapproachable - indeed, Michael Schumacher (Benetton) was able to pip Senna for third on the grid. Ayrton was cheered, however, by the forecasts that Sunday would be wet.

And it was so.

Although it wasn't actually raining when the teams began forming up for the race, there was no question of going to the grid on anything other than wets. Away from the grid, at the start, Schumacher swerved left, in an attempt to block Senna. Momentarily, it worked. Into Redgate, Prost and Hill were smoothly first and second, with Karl Wendlinger (Sauber) up to third from fifth thanks to the Schumacher-Senna squabble. Then came Schmacher in fourth, and Senna in fifth.

Craner Curves - Senna alongside Wendlinger and into third. 

Senna dealt with Schumacher as they exited the corner, and then in a move of astonishing confidence and audacity, proceeded to go by Wendlinger through the Craner Curves - on the outside! It took a bit of believing, but into the Old Hairpin Senna was third. and gaining on Hill. Whom he duly passed at Coppice.

That left only Prost with whom to deal. Half-way round the lap Alain looked relatively secure in the lead, but Senna now with only his arch rival ahead of him effortlessly closed on the Frenchman. Down to the hairpin at Melbourne, Ayrton was right up with him, outbraking neatly down the inside. The opening minute had been breathtaking, but somehow you felt the race already over.

On the greasy surface, Senna briefly pulled out a lead of seven seconds after only four laps. After that, it stabilised, then began to reduce a little; the track clearly was beginning to dry.

1993 European GP - Senna overtakes Prost for the lead at Melbourne.

Senna came into the pits for slick tyres on lap 18. Hill and Schumacher stopped with Senna and Prost pitted the next time around. After everything had settled down again, it was Senna in the lead, five seconds clear of Prost, with Hill a couple more behind.

Now it began to rain again. After only three laps on his slicks, Prost was in once more switching back to wets. On lap 24 Hill followed suit. Senna managed his slicks until lap 28, when he pitted for wets, and did not lose the lead in the process.

The rain stopped almost at once, but gone from the proceedings was Schumacher, who had spun into a sandtrap. Now the situation in the pits became almost farcical. Lap 33 saw Prost back in again, for slicks, and next time around Senna and Hill did the same. This time, however, there was a disruption in the flow of smooth stops, a problem with the left rear wheel keeping Senna immobile for twenty seconds. By the time he rejoined, Prost had gone through, and now led by almost seven seconds.

More rain. Unbelievable, perhaps, but true. Williams brought in Prost on lap 38, and Hill on lap 41, each going back out on wets once more. Crucially, though, McLaren did not call in Senna at this point, and soon the policy proved correct, for the Williams-Renaults, on wets, were able to make no impression on the slick-shod McLaren - indeed little by little, Senna began to extend his lead. The track was drying again.

Lap 48 and Prost was in again, for the fifth time, this time for slicks. And the stop was disastrous, Alain stalling as he tried to leave. The clutch he said, was "becoming difficult". By the time he went back out, the pole position man had been lapped by Senna. Hill was in on lap 50, also to take on slicks. Now he, too, was a lap back.

1993 European GP - Senna laps all but Damon Hill in the mighty Williams.

By lap 53 the situation was this: Senna had at least one lap on everybody, and led Hill, the astonishing Rubens Barrichello (Jodan), Prost, Johnny Herbert (Lotus)  and Derek Warwick (Footwork). All on slicks.

It began to rain again. And hard this time. Senna entered the pitlane on lap 57, seemingly unexpected since his crew was not ready for him, so he continued straight through - and this, given the lap distance saved by  Donington's pit entry road, was to prove the fastest lap of the race! Officially, anyway. A lap later the rain had eased, and now Senna decided wets weren't necessary, after all. With more than a lap's lead, however, he felt he could back off a little, and Hill, charging along in second place unlapped himself on lap 63.

The rain returned in the closing laps. On lap 66 Senna stopped for wets, and on laps 68 and and 69 Hill and Prost did the same. Senna, of course, won consummately. Hill was almost a minute and a half behind when the chequered flag fell. Everyone else had been lapped at least once. It was a virtuoso performance. Senna had crushed the opposition, despite facing a huge technical disadvantage to a three time World Champion, and using a simple customer engine that other teams using the same engine were happy to just score points with. Even more astounding was the fact that this was his second victory in a row facing these challenges, and he made it look easy.

1993 European GP - unparalleled brilliance wins over technical dominance. 

Ayrton's opening lap at Donington was one of the most electrifying ever seen - fifth at the first corner, first at the end of the lap. After that, he was untouchable for the rest of the day.

Senna once said; "On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit.' As soon as you touch this limit, something happens and you can suddenly go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and your experience as well, you can fly very high."

At Donington in 1993 Senna proved exactly how high one could fly.

2000 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa Francorchamps

August 27, 2000

Three races into the 2000 Formula One season and Mika Hakkinen had only 6 points to Michael Schumacher's 30, but Hakkinen was still putting on a brave face. He must have known something the rest of us didn't: seven races later, he'd clawed back all but 2 points to his title rival and seemed to have all of the momentum going into the net round in Belgium.

Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, on the otherhand were on the back foot as they prepared for Belgium. Two weeks before, Hakkinen had pulled off a near miracle in Hungary to transform a badly-handling McLaren MP4-15 between qualifying and the race so he could drive the opposition into the ground. Ferrari was unable to match McLaren on the twisty Hungaroring, but hard work following that defeat left it quietly confident for Spa-Francorchamps.

Schumacher - Four time victor at Spa.

After all, the circuit had come to be seen as a near certain 10 points for Michael Schumacher. He scored his first victory there in 1992, he'd won a further three times and he should have taken the spoils in 1994 and 1998 but for a disqualification and a slow moving David Coulthard hidden by a curtain of spray in a rain-drenched race.

But what Schumacher had come to learn in his Ferrari days was that even being the best driver in the world isn't any good without equipment to match. McLaren had been the better package for most of the 2000 season, and Schumacher was pinning his hopes on a new Ferrari 049C engine and aerodynamic tweaks to move him back to the front of the field. Sadly for him, it wasn't to be. 

In qualifying it was Hakkinen who got it right, fighting off competition from Jarno Trulli (Jordan-Mugen Honda) and an inspired Jensen Button (Williams-BMW) to snatch pole position. Schumacher would start in fourth just ahead of his team-mate Rubens Barrichello in fifth. Ferrari was clearly struggling.

2000 Belgian GP - Hakkinen and McLaren, faster than the Ferraris

But hope appeared to have been resurrected on race morning when a downpour washed out the track. Although it was clear that the rain would not stay all afternoon, it was a blessing for the undoubted skills of Schumacher, that era's acknowledged master of wet weather racing.

At the start, Hakkinen led away once the Safety Car had peeled off into the pitlane and, with the track drying out rapidly, the Finn maintained his advantage through the change to grooved "slick" tyres as Schumacher found a way past Button and Trulli to move into second place. On lap 13, however, the race turned on its head when Hakkinen touched a wet white painted line on the exit of Stavelot and spun through 360 degrees. He recovered and got back on the race track ... but the damage was already done. Schumacher took the lead, and charged into the distance. As the gap between them extended to 12 seconds, it appeared the race was over, with victory to Schumacher.

But as the afternoon wore on, there began to be signs that all was not well for the leader. On the long run down from Eau Rouge to Les Combes, Schumacher repeatedly ran off the racing line to cool his tyres on a damp section of the track. The implication was clear: the Ferrari was using its tyres more heavily than the MP4-15. For how long would Schumacher be able to maintain his lead?

Sure enough, Hakkinen began to close the gap as his car started handling better and better as the fuel load lightened. With five laps to go, Hakkinen was right on Schumacher's tail, looking ready to overtake. Through Eau Rouge he got a good run on the Ferrari and as Hakkinen jinked out of his rival's slipstream to the right, Schumacher slowly moved over to cover him. Hakkinen kept his foot down but as he started to pull alongside Schumacher firmly shut the door in an ultra-aggressive manner. The rear wheel of his Ferrari touched Hakkinen's front wing and the Finn braked to avoid what would have been a sizeable accident.

Hakkinen's determination was solidified by Schumacher's aggression.

"It was a very hectic and unpleasant moment - at the time I thought I had damaged something on the car," said Hakkinen. " Michael was holding the inside line and I tried to put the car half on the tarmac and half on the grass and it didn't quite work out. It was very exciting indeed."

As the pair turned into Les Combes, Hakkinen waved his fist in anger at the leader. It was perhaps his frustration at what happened that proved to be a key factor in his aggression the following lap.

Once again Hakkinen got a better run through Eau Rouge and, as Schumacher came up to lap Ricardo Zonta (BAR-Honda), all three drivers were closing in on each other. Schumacher moved to Zonta's left, believing that Hakkinen's only means of getting past had been blocked. But the reigning world champion still livid over what had happened on the previous lap, had other ideas. As Zonta held his ground in the middle of the track, Hakkinen pulled over to the right. Running three abreast with Schumacher and Zonta, he had the acceleration to pull clear and overtake. The race was his.

The Pass - Hakkinen's bravery is unquestionable.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis, watching on the pit wall, punched the air in delight, fully aware of the move's significance - Hakkinen went on to extend his lead to six points in the title chase.

"It was unbelievable," said Dennis. "I think I'd rate the move as the best I've ever seen in Formula One. There have been some exciting moves in the past, but it was the difficult conditions under which Mika did it, having been pushed almost off the circuit and on to the wet track during the previous lap. It wasn't just a question of going either side of a driver. It was also the wet part of the track, and that required commitment and bravery. In order for it to work, the momentum had to be there to keep him on line for the next corner."

The overtaking move of the 2000 season? Definitely. The best overtaking move in Formula One history? Probably not. Whatever the quality of Mika Hakkinen's spectacular manoeuvre past Michael Schumacher, there was no doubt that it was a significant moment in the fight for the 2000 world crown.

Hakkinen stakes his claim on a third straight driver's title.

Hunting Schumacher down in the final laps, refusing to be intimidated by a ruthless chop at over 190mph and passing him in one of the boldest moves ever. It was a spellbinding display made all the more impressive when Zonta later admitted that the reason why he didn't jink to the right when Schumacher came past was that he felt the track was too wet on that line.

Hakkinen was one of the few drivers of that era who had the talent to battle with Schumacher on even terms. The Finn was a hard racer, but he was also a fair and honest sportsman. The bravery and commitment demonstrated during that pass at Spa-Francorchamps was simply brilliant.

There are not many Grands Prix where a single pass defines the race, but this was surely one of the finest examples.