As we stand weeks away from the maiden Grand Prix of the 2014 Formula 1 season to be held on March 16th, Down Under, one must start to wonder how many cars will make it to the finish after 300km of hard racing
The first tests of the new, highly complex turbo-hybrid cars turned out to be problematic for certain teams, and were plainly disastrous for others.
Not only are these Power Units -- as they are called -- lacking in overall reliability, but the energy recovery systems (ERS) still don’t quite operate flawlessly.
In Melbourne, the drivers will also have to juggle with fuel consumption data during the actual race. No one will want to run out of fuel near the end of the race!
The F1 Grand Prix with the highest percentage of retirements:
Monaco 1996, 85.7% of the cars retired; that’s 18 of the 21 starters.
The F1 Grand Prix with the highest number of retirements:
Monaco 1996, again. Just three cars crossed the finish line -- the winner, Olivier Panis (Ligier), followed by David Coulthard (McLaren) and Johnny Herbert (Sauber). Heinz-Harald Frentzen was in the pit lane when the chequered flag was waved.
In Monaco 1982, only five cars crossed the finish line, but not in the right order!
Riccardo Patrese (who turned out to be the surprise winner), Nigel Mansell (4th), Elio de Angelis (5th), Brian Henton (8th), and Marc Surer (9th) made it to the finish of this most difficult race.
The first tests of the new, highly complex turbo-hybrid cars turned out to be problematic for certain teams, and were plainly disastrous for others.
Not only are these Power Units -- as they are called -- lacking in overall reliability, but the energy recovery systems (ERS) still don’t quite operate flawlessly.
In Melbourne, the drivers will also have to juggle with fuel consumption data during the actual race. No one will want to run out of fuel near the end of the race!
The F1 Grand Prix with the highest percentage of retirements:
Monaco 1996, 85.7% of the cars retired; that’s 18 of the 21 starters.
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| Olivier Panis, Ligier, Monaco 1996 (Photo: WRI2) |
The F1 Grand Prix with the highest number of retirements:
Monaco 1996, again. Just three cars crossed the finish line -- the winner, Olivier Panis (Ligier), followed by David Coulthard (McLaren) and Johnny Herbert (Sauber). Heinz-Harald Frentzen was in the pit lane when the chequered flag was waved.
In Monaco 1982, only five cars crossed the finish line, but not in the right order!
Riccardo Patrese (who turned out to be the surprise winner), Nigel Mansell (4th), Elio de Angelis (5th), Brian Henton (8th), and Marc Surer (9th) made it to the finish of this most difficult race.