I was raised watching Formula 1 Races with my dad. That was our Sunday morning ritual to watch the races at 9am.
Formula 1 racing has its roots in the European Grand Prix championships of the 1920s and 1930s though the foundation of modern F1 begain in 1946 with FIA standrization of rules.
I was able to follow the careers of great drivers: Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi, Gilles Villeneuve, Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Mika Hakkinen, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen.
And I have always heard about the names of Giuseppe Farina, Aberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, James Hunt, Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart.
Engines, suspension, technologies evolved and cars became faster and safer.
I still miss the thrill of the early days. You can check on youtube what was the feeling of driving an F1 in the 80s versus what it is now.
The top teams always dominated the races - something that I still feel that could be improved in the sport if the playing field was more leveled. But I recognize it is also a business and it helped to promote the super brands: Ferrari, McLaren, Lotus, Mercedes.
The super drivers, however, still make the difference.
This cache is dedicted to drivers who have the most pole positions in the F1 history. Winning a race or a championship required a lot from the car and the driver. But setting a pole position takes all it can get from the driver top skils - how to be a 0.01 sec faster than its competition. Here are the top 15 of all time as of February 2024:
Lewis Hamilton (GBR) - 104 poles out of 333 entries
Michael Schumacher (GER) - 68 poles out of 308 entries
Ayrton Senna (BRA)- 65 poles out of 162 entries
Sebastien Vettel (GER) - 57 poles out of 300 entries
Jim Clark (GBR) - 33 poles out of 73 entries
Max Verstappen (NED) - 33 poles out of 186 entries
Alain Prost (FRA) - 33 poles out of 202 entries
Nigel Mansell (GBR) - 32 poles out of 191 entries
Nico Rosberg (GER) - 30 poles out of 206 entries
Juan Manuel Fangio (ARG) - 29 poles out of 52 entries
Mika Hakkinen (FIN) - 26 poles out of 165 entries
Niki Lauda (AUS) - 24 poles out of 177 entries
Nelson Piquet (BRA) - 24 poles out of 207 entries
Charles Leclerc (MON) - 23 poles out of 126 entries
Fernando Alonso (ESP) - 22 poles out of 381 entries
My dad and I lost much of our Sunday ritual when my biggest idol (Ayrton Senna) did not resist the injuries of his crash in Imola, Italy on May 1, 1994. The accident was caused by a broken steering column what caused him to go straight on one of F1's fastest curves. He was driving at 190 mph at the time.
The silver lining on Senna's death was that the sport started investing a lot in safety and as a result only one death happened during races or qualifying sessions since then (1994-2021).
I still watch some of the races nowadays - brilliant driving and evolution continue - but something is missing from the thrill of 80s and 90s.