Jarno Trulli Rickard Rydell Lewis Hamilton Mika Hakkinen 6Michael Schumacher
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
6000rpm HEroES LEWIS 8 HAMILTON WITH morE than two years in a sensational pole, but an Formula 3, Hamilton had more early brush with Nelson time than most to rack up Piquet Jr put him out. success. As would happen in F1, Then the dip: a full Euroseries he was an instant sensation – season with Manor. Granted, but his form took a dip before he both team and driver were Top 10 booked his place in F3 history. new to the tracks, ASM had a Hamilton burst onto the technical edge and Hamilton scene in trademark style in late outshone team-mate Charles 2003. Having sealed the Formula Zwolsman. But Lewis didn’t Renault UK title, he stuck with always get the best out of his car Manor Motorsport and entered and won just once. And at Macau the British F3 finale at Brands. he simply slid out of contention. MIKA F3 DRIVErs Qualifying seventh turned a few Then the lights came on. Two These are the men who were stunning in racing’s longest-running junior heads, but a Tor Graves-inspired weeks later in Bahrain Hamilton accident put him out on raceday. stormed through from the back HAKKINEN category – even if that form didn’t translate to F1. RICHARD ASHER focuses Then he went east for the of a strong field to win. For ’05 7 internationals. At Macau he he switched to ASM. He won 15 HakkINEN’S 1990 British you can’t ignore the fact that he’d on the stars who emerged after the current two-litre era began in 1974 started 18th after a qualifying of 20 races at such venues as Formula 3 battle with Mika Salo won the first heat fair and square. crash, but charged to fifth in Monte Carlo, Pau and Spa. He is part of F3 folklore, but there As for that UK title fight, it heat one before a pile-up in ran away with the Masters. Team- is plenty more to say about the was a field brimming with quality, race two ended his run. Then mate Adrian Sutil had no answer. Finn’s career in the category. and Hakkinen had a more-than- came Korea, where he took Lewis could kiss F3 goodbye. It’s not widely recorded that worthy rival in Salo. But Mika H during that season Mika and won nine times to Mika S’s six. his West Surrey Racing team After a long year’s hard racing, took in one round each of the Hakkinen ran out a fairly JARNO French, Italian and German comfortable winner. series. The French chased them The only doubt over Hakkinen TRULLI away, but Hakkinen won on his is his often-overlooked F3 debut Italian outing at Imola. And at year in 1989. New F3 team 10 Hockenheim he recovered from Dragon Racing’s package wasn’t TrULLI’S F3 career took a while though the team got lost on a dreadful start to the weekend to his liking. Although Mika took to get going as he mixed karts occasion and it was tighter to defeat German champion-to- a couple of poles in the Reynard- with cars for a couple of years, than it might have been. be Michael Schumacher. Toyota, he was very inconsistent. but began in earnest with a But two showings – if not The pair met again in Macau, But when he moved to WSR for serious crack at German F3 results – in the internationals of course, where Hakkinen took the Cellnet Superprix at the end from mid-1995. He won twice put Trulli’s speed beyond doubt. most of the blame for their of that season, he instantly won for KMS en route to fourth Though Zandvoort went badly, famous late collision. It was the – with pole and fastest lap. Which behind Norberto Fontana, Ralf he dominated the Monaco biggest and most unnecessary suggests his ’89 form was more Schumacher and Max Angelelli. weekend on his first visit to the blunder of anyone on this list, but down to the car than anything. The year ended with a stellar track. He took pole, then built an Macau performance. Trulli early lead before picking up qualified seventh for heat one some suspension damage. He and picked through some early defended like mad, holding the RICKARD carnage to take second behind lead in style until Esteban Tuero Ralf. With the second heat had a lunge at Loews and RYDELL cancelled after a couple of pushed Trulli out. MICHAEL red flags, theI talian had a Then came his second Macau. 9 Macau podium to his name. Jarno didn’t win, but he was the RYDELL DIDN’T take any British F3000, but he found time No wonder Flavio Briatore moral victor. He led the second championships, but wins in for his first couple of drives with SCHUMACHER signed him up that winter. With heat all the way, but Ralph Japan, Britain, Sweden and at TOM’S in Japan. He also got fifth 6 Benetton backing, Trulli and Firman snared the overall victory Macau – in a wide range of at Macau in a one-off for YUP, SchUmachER was made no mistakes in taking the KMS took the following year’s when his retirement caused cars – make him special. Volkswagen Motorsport. pretty handy in F3 too. Those title with five wins. German title with six wins, an early stoppage. His long F3 career began with He raced for TOM’S GB in who’d been following the lower Macau that year is the most a couple of seasons at home. Britain in ’91, again winning the categories weren’t actually all famous of all Schumacher’s F3 Though he won races in ’87 and opening round. But having made that surprised by the instant races and a telling glimpse into ’88, he lost both titles to Micke history for the marque’s 031F, impact he made in F1. his future. After winning the Johansson. At the end of ’88 he much of the year was a struggle. He came into German F3 first heat, Hakkinen needed proved a revelation on his second In 1992 he competed full- with just one season of only to follow Schuey home Macau trip, where he took third time in Japan, finishing third with Formula Ford behind him, and in the second, but he got too in heat one with the team run a couple of wins after TOM’S made an immediate impression close on the last lap. It was the by his mentor, Picko Troberg. caught up with Anthony Reid’s with Willi Weber’s WTS team. first major accident controversy In ’89 he took on Britain, with Ralt-Mugen. Then he finally Two wins were enough to keep of Schumacher’s career – and Eddie Jordan Racing. He didn’t won at Macau on his sixth him in contention against Karl it won him the race. hang about, winning first time attempt, taking pole and Wendlinger and Heinz-Harald Then Schumacher made it out at Thruxton. He couldn’t defeating Jacques Villeneuve, Frentzen, but in the end he lost a double at Japan’s Fuji race. repeat that, but ended the year Tom Kristensen, Rubens out by just a point. He went on He won both heats, defeating fourth and top Reynard. There Barrichello and David Coulthard. to win his first heat at Macau, Laurent Aiello and future Ferrari T was also a podium at Monaco. A final year in Japan yielded but broke down in the second. team-mate Eddie Irvine after A : L : Rydell wasn’t even half done one win, and at last Rydell moved The 1990 German field was surviving a fraught dice with cs I with F3. In 1990 he focused on on to life as a touring car driver. less testing, but Schumacher Steve Robertson in the second. P LL LL A 56 autosport.com February 7 2008 February 7 2008 autosport.com 57 6000rpm HEroES JAN 5 MAGNUSSEN MagNUssEN’S 10 poles One of Magnussen’s defining and 14 wins from 18 races performances came in that year’s in 1994 with Paul Stewart British GP support race. He lost Racing was domination on an half his front wing in a first-corner unprecedented scale – he nudge, but stayed with the passed the season win tally of no leaders for much of the race and less a man than Ayrton Senna. even held fastest lap for a while. And nobody since then has been It left everyone gobsmacked. able to match Magnussen’s But the laid-back Magnussen success rate from that year. was not immune to mistakes. He only clocked two fastest At Zandvoort he ran with the laps all year, betraying a knack leaders before throwing it off for winning at the lowest in a big way. And at Macau he ALAIN possible speed. His qualifying crashed in qualifying, leaving and getaways were usually himself 18th on the grid. But he enough to get the job done. raced through to an astonishing PROST Bruce Jenkins was Jan’s win in the second leg – which 4 engineer that season: “He had gave him an overall third place. ThIS FRENchmaN was good championship round, the only that ability to get the best out of It was enough to say goodbye enough in F3 to jump straight Renault-powered driver to do a car on the day, and his opening to F3. Magnussen departed for into a McLaren F1 seat. But so all year. He also turned up laps were better than those of the DTM in ’95 with a McLaren although the youngster from St at Silverstone for a British anybody I’ve ever seen.” F1 test contract in his pocket.