This year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed saw the biggest collection of Formula 1 cars ever seen at Goodwood along with a record number of ex-Formula 1 drivers getting behind the wheel of their old F1 cars to do the hillclimb in celebration of 75 years of the Formula 1 World Championship.
And on Saturday afternoon a reception took place on the balcony of Goodwood House to mark the 75th anniversary with seven Formula 1 Champions, who represented four decades of the sport and between them won 14 World Championships.
Sir Jackie Stewart who got his first title back in 1969, was joined by two champions of the 1970s, Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti. 1997 Drivers’ Champion Jacques Villeneuve was joined by Nigel Mansell and Mika Häkkinen. Last, but by no means least, was four-time Formula 1 World Champion Alain Prost, who, the next day, drove his McLaren MP4/4 that took him to victory at the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix, the short trip up to the front of Goodwood House where crowds of people gathered.
He joined former F1 and Formula E racing driver and commentator Karun Chandhok up the Goodwood Balcony to talk about his career, along with engineer and legendary racing car designer John Barnard, who is credited with the introduction of carbon fibre composite chassis first seen in 1981 with McLaren. He also designed the semi-automatic gearbox with shift paddles on the steering wheel which was first introduced with Ferrari in 1989.
Barnard worked with Prost at McLaren when he became World Champion in 1985 and 1986, and then Ferrari before joining the Frenchman’s F1 team in the 1990s. The pair had plenty of stories to tell having worked together for the best part of 20 years combining their driving, engineering and design expertise and talents.
Prost’s racing career is legendary, driving with the likes of Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell and Michael Schumacher, beating all of them at some time or another over the years.
During his time in Formula 1, Prost made 199 Grand Prix starts, took 51 wins, 106 podiums, 33 pole positions and set 41 fastest laps. He recounted stories of his rivalries with several of the most revered drivers in F1. But when Prost talks about Senna, you can’t help but get a little emotional. Three decades after the Brazilian’s tragic death their relationship has remained under relentless scrutiny. There does to this day, however, remain a deep, unbreakable respect between the two drivers.
Author Bio:
Simon Burrell is a UK-based motoring and travel journalist and editor, a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers and former saloon car racing driver.
Photographs by Gary Harman
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