The Legend
It’s that time of year when I look forward to the season ahead, but as an ex-racing driver. My good friend Allan McNish has just left the house, having been in Florida on holiday. Allan is a lovely chap and he was a formidable racer in his prime, with three wins at Le Mans on his CV. These days he has the inside line on what is happening in Formula 1 and beyond thanks to his various professional gigs. It was great catching up on a little pitlane gossip. ‘Eff One’ is currently enjoying a massive spike in interest, not least in the USA thanks to a certain drama-heavy TV series, and sponsors are clamouring to get in. Mainstream manufacturers, too.
I suppose I should say get back in because we have been down this road before. Remember the period from 2000 to around 2008? You had simply loads of car-makers vacuuming-up independents and rebranding them. Budgets spiralled. Then there was a financial crisis and they all bailed.
I don’t want to sound like a naysayer – I am relatively optimistic about the future, but history tells us that OEMs tend to lose interest quickly. How many times has Renault been in F1 as a ‘name’ rather than as an engine supplier, or Honda for that matter? They stay around for a while and then get cold feet when the temperature changes. It’s a sign of age when you have seen certain brands come and go, only to return, disappear and reappear again.
A lot of drivers are complaining about the bumper schedules and plans to expand the calendar. I find this amusing on some levels because I had seasons when I was in the air as much as on-track, taking in dozens of races on multiple continents. I did it because it was how I earned a living, but also because I wanted to compete. A weekend not racing was a weekend wasted. I think it’s worse for those on the other side of the pitwall: the mechanics, the truckies, and so on. They are away from their families for long periods without much of a break, but that is the nature of motor racing. When I started out there wasn’t really an off-season, as such. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. There were some seasons when the F1 World Championship started in January, after all.
Then, of course, there was the Tasman Series, about which I have written extensively be
