Category Archives: The Gravel Trap

The End of David Coulthard’s Championship Dreams Part 1

The 2001 Formula One season was one that drew in a lot of hype before it even began. Michael Schumacher, fresh off his third world championship and Ferrari’s first in over two decades, was faced with established competition in the top-class pairing of Mika Häkkinen

DTM, GT3 and the Slow Death of European Motorsport

On Saturday the 21st August the seventh round of the 2021 DTM season was taking place at the world-famous Nürburgring in its Sprintstrecke variation. The championship battle in the best German motorsport series intensified, and coming off of an impressive victory, DTM legend Marco Wittmann

Is the Definition of Reject Obsolete?

Formula One, like all sports, has been subject to evolution throughout its history. The rear-mid engine revolution, the rise of ground effects, the commercialisation of the sport under the influence of Bernie Ecclestone and the #F1Sprint are just a handful of examples of the drastic

Carlos Pardo’s Final Race

This story both begins and ends on June 14, 2009 at the Autódromo Miguel E. Abed in Mexico. It is the story of a man that started the day at the bottom and ended it at the top before being subject to the cruellest twist

Puebla 2021 – Technical Problems for Formula E

One of the risks that comes with writing opinion pieces is that sometimes said opinion either changes on part of the writer or is proven to be completely wrong. For that development to happen within only a matter of weeks, however, is quite rare. On

Max Mosley’s Legacy

On 23 May 2021, former Formula One team owner and FIA president Max Mosley passed away at the age of 81. Born to fascist Sir Oswald Mosley and Diana Mitford, Mosley enjoyed a youth of luxury and political connections, despite the challenging times during and

Valencia 2021 – Terminal Damage for Formula E?

On April 24 2021, the DHL Valencia E-Prix was held at the Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo. It was the fifth round of the 2020-21 FIA Formula E World Championship and in many aspects, it was a historical event: it was the first

2001 British Formula Three – A Reject Odyssey

Every driver profiled on this lovely website has, of course, an origin story. A tale of where they came from, a tale of their path to Formula One. Said path, obviously, involved going through the feeder series, either in the mainstream path (Formula Two, Formula

Jordan’s Missed Opportunity?

On October 16, 2019, the official Formula One YouTube account released an episode of the Beyond the Grid“ podcast featuring former Reject of the Year podium finisher Ralf Schumacher. The German driver talked, amongst other subjects, about his career in the premier motorsport series. Of