The best of teams, the worst of times: A GPR advent calendar
December 6th – 10th
Dec 6: BRM – Helmut Marko
Although perhaps more famous today as the cutthroat head of Red Bull Racing’s driver development program, Dr. Helmut Marko used to drive himself. Unfortunately, his on-track exploits weren’t quite as good as his talent-spotting skills, and thus is the unfortunate (but deserving) representative for BRM advent countdown.
After failing to start the 1971 German Grand Prix for the Ecurie Bonnier team, Marko was in discussions with both Surtees and BRM – eventually deciding to join BRM during a time where their driver signing policy essentially amounted to “yeah, you’ll do” . Eight pointless and fairly anonymous Grands Prix showings between ’71 and ’72 would lead up to the 1972 French Grand Prix where Marko’s career – much like many of his Red Bull junior drivers – came to an end within the blink of an eye, quite literally.
Eager to make a jump forward up the pecking order in F1, Marko had requested the use of the more advanced P160B chassis that had taken teammate Jean-Pierre Beltoise to a win in Monaco just two races before. Although the chassis was an improvement in terms of pace, Marko was sitting at least 15cm higher in this car than the P153B he was used to – as well as struggling with lack of space for his legs.
Despite the constrictions, Marko was able to place the BRM on the grid in a very impressive sixth place. Marko started relatively well and was even chasing the leading pack up until he was passed by the Lotus of Emerson Fittipaldi midway through the race. Due to Charade’s loose surface – being sited near a dormant volcano – the Brazilian’s pass caused a small rock to penetrate the visor of Marko, blinding the Austrian in his left eye. Predictably, his ocular loss put paid to his short career and he wouldn’t step into a racing car for thirty years.
“I couldn’t sleep for many nights also because I still was full of the idea that motor racing is the only reason to live,” Marko reflected earlier this year.
“And then in one of those sleepless nights I had to confess to myself: it’s over, I would have to do something else with my life.” Banished from the cockpit forever, Marko’s true calling would eventually come to him in the end – ruthlessly building champions with Red Bull backing, while feeding those who fell short of his expectations to the lions. Just ask Daniil Kvyat.
Honourable mentions: BRM, in its dying years, welcomed a raft of mediocre drivers into its cars. George Eaton and Francois Migault were among the slower names, and Swedes Conny Andersson and Reine Wisell enjoyed equally tough stints with the team. Bob Evans and Alex Soler-Roig were also in contention.
Michael Kilby
Dec 7: Cooper – Phil Hill
A litany of sub-par driver piloted Cooper chassis in the 1950s, but we focused our attention on the works outfit run by John Cooper himself. Naturally, that leads us into selecting a former champion…
A patient and reserved driver, even Phil Hill had endured just about enough of the toxic atmosphere at Ferrari that bad results always seemed to bring, leaving in 1962. Switching to the upstart ATS stable with a number of other Ferrari employees proved an even worse prospect for success. The 1961 world champion found himself parting ways with them, too, after a year in which he seemed to suffer every mechanical failure imaginable.
Using his BP connections, Hill regrouped and landed in the driving seat of a works Cooper, where he would be teammate to Bruce McLaren for 1964. Generally, it was McLaren who was the faster of the two and the one who put Cooper on the scoreboard every other race.
Hill only managed a single point at Brands Hatch, and John Cooper’s patience was wearing thin. After a pair of accidents at Zeltweg in Austria – one in practice, one in the race itself driving the spare car – Hill was benched for the Italian Grand Prix, where his place was taken by Rhodesian legend John Love.
Hill did ultimately see out the season with Cooper, but results didn’t improve; he walked away from Grand Prix racing permanently after the Mexican Grand Prix with just one point to his credit against McLaren’s thirteen.
Anthony Byrne
Dec 8: Ferrari – Ivan Capelli
The “Ivan the Terrible” nickname afforded to Capelli after his lacklustre 1992 stint with Ferrari was a touch cruel. Nonetheless, the Milanese endured such an awful year at the Scuderia that it was difficult to opt for a different driver.
Considered one of Formula 1’s breakout stars at the end of the 1980s – following some brilliant races with the small Leyton House team – Capelli was given his big break by Ferrari in the wake of Alain Prost’s acrimonious departure from the team. An Italian driving for Ferrari was quite the romantic notion, but circumstances conspired to deny the two parties a fruitful relationship.
Ferrari’s 1992 car being rather dreadful did nothing to help matters. An outlandish double-floor design – courtesy of aerodynamicist Jean-Claude Migeot – was a fantastic idea on paper but expected too much from the team’s brand-new active suspension, making the F92A very twitchy at the front end. Although team-mate Jean Alesi was quite content with it, Capelli was not. Naturally, the engineers gravitated towards Alesi, leaving Capelli to fend for himself.
The new V12 engine was also rather unreliable. Capelli’s engine blew up in the first race at Kyalami, before colliding with Karl Wendlinger in Mexico three weeks later.
Things seemed better in Brazil, Capelli managing fifth place to score his first Ferrari points, but things ended up on a downward spiral. The Italian, frustrated and demoralised, found himself entangled in a number of crashes and incidents and scored just one more point all year.
With two rounds to go, Capelli’s Ferrari tenure was over. Nicola Larini had been drafted into the lineup, and Capelli attempted to regain his lost form with Jordan the following year. Unfortunately, not even Eddie Jordan could bring the once-great talent back to his best, and Capelli left after just two rounds of the 1993 championship.
Years later, Capelli said: “It was hard mentally being an Italian in an Italian team and being treated like that. Obviously, it was difficult to accept.”
Honourable mentions: We couldn’t write this without giving a mention to Luca Badoer. Drafted in to replace the injured Felipe Massa in 2009, Badoer hadn’t raced in 10 years. The F60 was a difficult car to master, and even replacement Giancarlo Fisichella struggled with it. Journeyman racer Arturo Merzario was also considered.
Jake Boxall-Legge
Dec 9: Force India – Vitantonio Liuzzi
Felipe Massa’s unfortunate accident at the Hungaroring caused a shakeup of the F1 grid in mid-2009. Giancarlo Fisichella seized his chance to join the Scuderia as a substitute for Massa’s original replacement Luca Badoer, opening up a seat at Force India. This was filled by his compatriot Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India’s test and reserve driver.
Aside from a few races with Toro Rosso in early 2006, Liuzzi had never really shown any promise in the sport. The decision was a no-brainer though, with the Italian already familiar with the team. Taking advantage of Force India’s new Monza-spec aero package, Liuzzi qualified seventh for his home grand prix, running solidly in the points until his transmission failed. That was as good as it got for the season.
Retained alongside Adrian Sutil for 2010, Liuzzi had a storming start to the season, securing consecutive points finishes at Bahrain and Australia, the only time in his F1 career he would manage this feat. However, he retreated into the lower midfield while Sutil asserted himself as team leader.
Liuzzi managed to hit back with a ninth-place finish at Monaco, before securing a career-best fifth in qualifying for Canada. Sadly his race was compromised, a tangle with Massa at the first corner meant that ninth was the best he could achieve.
After a string of nondescript races, Liuzzi equalled his best finish in F1 with sixth during a chaotic Korean GP. It would be his last points finish. Tonio’s time at Force India ended with an extremely nasty accident involving Michael Schumacher on the first lap of Abu Dhabi, launching over Schumacher’s Mercedes and coming uncomfortably close to decapitating the seven-time world champion.
Finishing the season with less than half the points of Sutil, it was to no surprise that Liuzzi’s services were not retained for 2011, leaving him to seek refuge at backmarkers HRT.
Laine Tisdall
Dec 10: Jordan – Giorgio Pantano
Fernando Alonso called him “invincible”. Nico Rosberg had a poster of him on his wall. A karting megastar, Giorgio Pantano seemed destined for a life of fame and fortune in Formula 1, and tested for a raft of teams between 2002 and 2003.
Due to sign a contract with Jaguar for 2004 on the back of a third-place finish in F3000, Pantano was outbid for the seat at the last minute by Red Bull-backed Christian Klien, and was left to partner Nick Heidfeld at Jordan. By that time, Jordan was on last-chance saloon, and Eddie Jordan was frequently at Bernie Ecclestone’s front doorstep asking for advances in prize money from FOM.
Pantano had the misfortune of being caught in the crossfire, and suffered from having had minimal testing with the difficult EJ14. Regardless, Heidfeld easily had the measure of Pantano and the Italian’s situation worsened when his sponsors were reluctant to pay up.
For the Canadian Grand Prix, Pantano was benched to make way for Timo Glock, who scored a miraculous seventh-place finish first-time out (albeit as a result of disqualifications for the Williams and Toyota drivers), even beating Heidfeld.
Returning to the car for the grand prix at Indianapolis, Pantano crashed on the first lap having clouted Klien’s Jaguar, and the struggles continued. A spin at Silverstone two rounds later did nothing to endear him to the team at its home circuit, and a heavy collision with Gianmaria Bruni at Spa left the Jordan mechanics with plenty of repairs to do – which were duly undone in practice for the following Italian Grand Prix.
With financial pressures getting too much for Pantano, and his performances showing little improvement, he and Jordan parted company before the inaugural race at Shanghai – Glock coming in to cover for him once again.
Pantano – tail between legs – trudged back to the GP2 Series, winning the category in 2008, but by then it was too late for an F1 return.
Honourable mentions: Ivan Capelli’s F1 career ended with Jordan, but was already down and out after his Ferrari stint, while Thierry Boutsen had an equally rubbish time in 1993. Stefano Modena was hampered by a Yamaha lump but was outclassed by Mauricio Gugelmin, while Ralph Firman and Narain Karthikeyan were either side of Pantano during Jordan’s dying years.
Jake Boxall-Legge
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