Tag Archives: Lotus

RIP Sir Stirling Moss, 1929 – 2020

A Formula 1 season already delayed indefinitely by the Coronavirus pandemic suffered another heavy blow on Sunday as the legendary British motoring ace, Sir Stirling Moss, passed away peacefully at his London home at the age of 90. The New York Times obituary is here.

Widely considered to be one of the best racers of his or any other era, with some rating him second only to Juan Manuel Fangio in Formula 1’s golden decade of the 1950s, Moss won 16 Grand Prix and had 24 podiums between 1951 and 1961 but never managed to win the title. Moss famously defended his chief rival for the 1958 Championship, countryman Mike Hawthorn, from the stewards’ wrath after Hawthorn’s unorthodox recovery maneuvers following a spin during the Portuguese GP. That sporting gesture, not altogether dissimilar to Peter Collins handing over his car to Fangio at Monza in 1956 to enable the Argentinian great to win that year’s Championship, allowed Hawthorn’s second place points to stand. So despite winning four Grand Prix to Hawthorn’s one victory that season, including that fateful Portuguese contest, Moss was edged out by Hawthorn for the 1958 title by a single point. It is also widely acknowledged that Moss’s steadfast desire to race British cars in F1 most likely cost him other championships, as they were often inferior to their Italian or German competition during that era. But that same stubborn nationalism earned him a fanatically loyal and adoring following in Great Britain that remains to this very day. If you’re looking for Britain’s top heroes in their national psyche there is Churchill, James Bond and Moss.

A prolific winner in other classifications of motorsport at a time when the world’s top drivers tended to compete in nearly every high level event, Moss was also victorious at 1956’s 24 Hours of Le Mans driving an Aston Martin DB3S along with Collins and owner David Brown; he had two overall victories at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1954 and 1957; and a 12 Hours of Reims win in 1953. Perhaps most famously, Moss and co-driver/navigator, the revered racing journalist Denis Jenkinson, took the overall victory in 1956 at the always treacherous Mille Miglia while piloting the stunning Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. That victory, chronicled by jenkinson in the seminal motorsport article “With Moss In the Mille Miglia” was made all the sweeter in that it came at the expense of the second place Fangio, who so frequently bested Moss in Formula 1 for the ultimate prize — the Drivers’ Championship — throughout the 1950s. Continue reading

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

Hamilton back on form for Mercedes with dominant victory at Spa, Rosberg 2nd best; Grosjean surprises with fantastic P3 for Lotus

Photos via GrandPrix247.com

Photos via GrandPrix247.com

The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Fracorchamps, the first race in anger after the long summer break at a legendary circuit renowned for drama and danger, did not disappoint. While Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton returned to form and stamped his authority on the race from pole to the checkered flag, all behind him was chaos. His teammate and closest rival, Nico Rosberg, had a poor start under the new “no clutch coaching” rules and was swamped immediately by the onrushing Williams of Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez’s Force India and Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull. While Rosberg would fight back to come home 2nd his chances of catching Hamilton were essentially doomed with that sluggish start. And now 28 points adrift, so might Nico’s chances of breaking Lewis’ stranglehold on the Drivers’ Championship.

Grosjean-F1GPBelgium2015

Aside from Hamilton’s renewed dominance, the other big story of the Belgian GP was Lotus’ Romain Grosjean. The mercurial Frenchman started from P9 after a a 5-spot grid penalty for an engine change on Friday. But Grosjean was undeterred and carved his way through the field, his improved Lotus chassis showing a fine balance of power and stability that suited the always tricky-fast Spa circuit. With the help of a good pit stop he emerged in 7th place on Lap 10. He passed Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull on Lap 18 for P4 and then Perez on Lap 20 to take P3. That seemed to convince Grosjean that was exactly where he belonged. By the end of the race and after another round of pit stops he was in hot pursuit of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel for that last step on the podium with the laps  — and Vettel’s old tires on a one-stop strategy  — running out. And as fate would have it, on the penultimate lap Vettel’s right rear tire blew directly after the two cars tore up Eau Rouge nose to tail. Vettel suffered the ignominy of limping home with nearly the entire field passing him while an emotional Grosjean raced home for a much needed podium for beleaguered Lotus.

Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat, who finished 2nd in the last Grand Prix in Hungary, had another outstanding drive on Sunday. Continue reading