The Best F1 Documentary You've Seen.

I happened to find this on Vimeo after watching the Lotus Goes Turbo video on Axis of Oversteer.

It's an excellent, well-shot and well-narrated movie about Formula One in the mid-1970's - a time many consider to be the pinnacle of F1. A time when racing was simply man and machine, a tenuous grasp on advanced technologies and sponsorship dollars and the grip of Bernie Eccelstone had yet to ruin the sport.

This particular movie seems to stretch from roughly 1970 to the 1973 season from what I can tell. It centers around Formula One and Jackie Stewart but most of the time is spent with Francois Cevert and the up and coming world championship. Sadly, we all know how the ultimate race of the '73 ended for Cevert.

Beyond just Francois, they have interviews with a handful of other important racers of the time such as Mike Hailwood and Peter Revson and show a very dark side of racing - one that seems to be a race car driver against the world, all alone. What's most shocking is that many of the drivers that were interviewed throughout the documentary are no longer alive - many killed on track.

Aside from the insight into the drivers, it has an amazing amount of period footage at Watkins Glen, Montjuic, Monaco, and Monza and many other tracks. If you're an F1 fan - especially one who likes the heyday of racing - check out this video, you'll not be disappointed and this is an excellent way to burn time on a Sunday morning.

Champions Forever from gt4zone on Vimeo.

Awkward F1: Cervert Edition

Francois Cervert was an accomplished pianist, up and coming racing prodigy of Jackie Stewart. He was known for his sense of humor in the pits - however, Cervert is the least comical person in this photo.



(Source: Formula1.net)

Sir Jackie

I've hit upon BMW M3's (probably way too much) lately so its time for something a little different.

After watching the Spanish Grand Prix today, I decided to pick up reading my copy of Winning Isn't Enough - Jackie Stewart's autobiography. It is fairly interesting read if not a bit long for all that he goes into about his career. He spends quite a lot of time focused on the early 1970's when Tyrrell was at its peak with the 005/006 chassis and Francois Cervert as his protege. I found this video I'd never come across before about those times(plus his win at the Nurburgring in '68 with a 4 minute lead and speedy tour of Monaco). There are also some cool voice overlays by Sean Connery and Murray Walker.




This clip is very short but, interestingly, Jackie mentioned this interview in his autobiography. According to the book, Senna was so mad after the interview that he told Jackie to not bother asking for another interview again because Ayrton wasn't going to speak him again. Ironically, a few years later Senna reached out to Jackie as he felt that safety needed to be improved in Grand Prix racing. Shortly after that - 16 years ago this month - Senna would become the last casualty of Formula One. It's great to see two men who changed the face of the sport in their respective times in an interview together.