Racing History

The scene is unforgettable, probably the most famous single motor-racing image ever taken. It is of Fangio, sliding his dented Maserati 250F, striking a pose that seemed to define car…

In April 1929 the streets of Monte Carlo resounded for the first time to the sound and sight of Grand Prix motor racing. The Riviera resort for the very rich…

It's March 24 1993, and the team that coincidentally shares its name with that calendar month finally withdraws from the Formula One World Championship, unable to pay for the Ilmor…

The newspapers didn't sensationalise; the facts were hideous enough. 'Grand Prix Ace in Helicopter Crash' read the headlines. 'Life not in danger' they assured, in smaller type. But then phrases…

Bonneville and the Black Rock Desert; before Daytona Beach or Pendine Sands in Wales, the Land Speed Record belonged to an exclusive turn-of-the-century holiday resort — Ormond Beach, Florida. Ormond…

If you were drawing up a list of the best-looking Formula One cars, Williams' FW11B would be passed over in an instant. Williams cars, despite their huge success over the…

Back in June 1980 I interviewed Patrick Depailler at Brands Hatch. He was a lovely fellow, a man out of his time, I always felt, very much a throwback to…

This was one of those moments Spa seems to produce. It ranks with Mika Hakkinen's move on Michael Schumacher last year, or the first lap of the 1963 GP when…

A series in which Motor Sport’s features editor raids the loft to salvage grainy fragments from his racing past Marlboro Trophy, Silverstone, June 8 1980 On the surface it looks no…

Austria was the second successive Grand Prix in which the team that locked-out the front row lucked-out in terms of victory. In Canada, Mercedes-Benz proved how hard it’s pushing the…

Fifty years ago this week in the French Grand Prix on June 28, 1964 at the Rouen-les-Essarts road circuit Dan Gurney scored the first F1 World Championship win for Jack…

A long-forgotten, but much treasured, Grand Prix car will make its first run in anger for more than 35 years at the Goodwood Festival of Speed at the end of…

After an 11-year absence we’re back at Spielberg; the old A1-Ring has been renamed the Red Bull Ring and the press room has been moved to the opposite side of…

Everybody loves a trier – although I’m not sure that the world’s biggest manufacturer of cars will (initially) thank me for calling it such. Admittedly Toyota is today more of…

In September Scotland will decide whether it wants to split from Great Britain, after three centuries together. Two months later the Catalan people will vote in a referendum to decide…

Formula 1 can tend to be a cruel, cold place: a glamorous grind. But moments like Sunday’s light it up. And that’s before Daniel Ricciardo flashed his pearlies. Few things are…

A series in which Motor Sport’s features editor raids the loft to salvage grainy fragments from his racing past Race of Champions, Brands Hatch, April 15 1979 “Did someone forget to…