There Is So Much Classic Formula 1 Lore And I Have To Talk About It

The briefcase incident lore:

Monza - 1991

involved: A.Senna & G.Berger

When Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger were flying in a helicopter to the Italian GrandPrix, Ayrton had a briefcase with him.

He claimed that the briefcase is indestructible because it’s made out of carbon fibre so Berger decided to test that theory.

When they were flying above the Monza track he literally threw out the briefcase (it had McLaren contract inside) out of the helicopter and watched it fall from the height of about 150m and hit the ground.

Ayrton had no idea that that happened because he was sitting in the front of the helicopter with the pilot and with a headset on (Mr. Important).

But after they landed a marshall came running towards them with Ayrton’s briefcase in hands.

At that moment Senna turned toward Berger and said “You didn’t do it”

Frogs and cheese incident lore:

Australia - 1990

involved: A.Senna & G.Berger

This takes place during a holiday stay in Australia with Senna, Berger, McLaren boss Ron Dennis and then-wife Lisa.

One evening when Berger went on a run there was this golf course with some “big things jumping around” (frogs/toads) so he decided to prepare a nice friendly surprise for his good friend Senna.

He went to the concierge and gave him 100$ and told the concierge to “bring him some”.

The concierge then proceeded to give Berger a full bag of about 50 frogs (or toads god knows what it was) so Berger asked Lisa Dennis to help him with this little project.

When they had dinner Berger picked up Ayrton’s room key and together with Lisa went to his room and put those bloody frogs everywhere.

The next morning furious Senna confronted Berger about the situation to which Berger replied “Where did you find the snake?”

To this situation Senna responded with buying the most disgusting and strong smelling cheese and stuck it into Berger’s AC unit and turned it on full blast.

The iconic F1 DNQ, DNF and DSQ lore:

German Grand Prix - 1977

involved: Hans Heyer

Hans Heyer in 1977 failed to qualify for the German Grand Prix.

However, Heyer was well known by the marshals who looked the other way on lap 1 when he pulled out of the pit lane and joined the race.

The stewards had no idea that he had joined the race until the local crowd erupted after seeing him drive by.

Hans retired from the race on lap 9 with a gearbox problem and then was disqualified leaving him with a DNQ, a DNF AND a DSQ in single Grand Prix. that’s just impressive at this point

mika and new lore about his turtle obsession never fails to amaze me

F1 sleepover protest lore:

South African Grand Prix - 1982

Involved: all drivers

In 1982 all drivers locked themselves into one shared hotel room and refused to drive at the South African GP as a protest against clauses on their super licence contracts.

Not even their teams managed to get them to leave the room, only one photographer was allowed inside.

There are photos of Alain Prost sharing a mattress with Gilles Villeneuve, and Patrick Tambay saying “If those two have kids after this tonight I might as well retire now.”

Elio de Angelis played the piano.

Niki Lauda was sharing a bed with Patrese

Someone next to Rosberg was snoring until Villeneuve put a blanket over him.

They were just having fun.

In the end Balestre and Exclestone (the people in power) agreed to all the changes they wanted and it was enough for the drivers to head back to the track

Jim Clark had a fight with a policeman and got arrested during the Dutch Grand Prix in 1963.

Thank you and good night.

I read a book last month and a word popped up: anemoia. Which is a beautiful word that means you are missing a time/person you’ve never known. Which is exactly what I feel about Ayrton.

Okay we all know about Max’s Maxplaining but what about Ayrton’s Sennaplaining ayrtonplaining? Idk

Ayrton

1975: Niki Lauda at the Austrian Grand Prix

Interviewer: There has been a lot of shock surrounding the fact that there is a female driver [Lella Lombardi] now. What do you think of a woman driving in F1?

Niki: Yes, why not? A woman has the same ability as a man. She’s just… just made a little bit differently... *smirks cheekily* But it has nothing to do with the ability to drive. Why shouldn’t she drive?

Holi crap bless up Niki was a feminist before it was sexy