petefenelon
Jun 2 2004, 19:50
Originally posted by arcsine
When, between 1988 (or was it 1989?) and 1992 we had more than 30 cars turning up to each GP how did the authorities decide exactly which drivers/teams would have to prequalify?
In particular how was it that on some occasions one driver in a team would have to PQ and the other did not? For example in the first half of 1992 only Alboreto of the Footwork drivers had to PQ.
Thanks
The rules said:
o Prequalifying takes place from 08:00 to 09:00 two days before
the race (three days before at Monaco). There is a
prequalifying session if a GP has more than 30 entrants.
The top 26 cars in the Constructors Championship over the
previous two half seasons are exempt from prequalifying; all
others must run in the prequalifying session. The four cars
with fastest times during prequalifying join the 26 exempt
cars in practice and qualifying.
Prequalifying was known (at least to UK fans) due to its early schedule as "The Wide-Awake Club", after a highly irritating childrens' breakfast TV show!
There was no PQ session at Kyalami - although 32 cars turned up, two of them were old Colonis brought by the Andrea Moda team, and these were chucked out ;)
Andrea Moda brought one car in Brazil, two in Spain.
I suspect the "one Arrows in PQ" was something to do with Fondmetal, who only had one car, being ahead of them in '91 - Fondmetal expanded to two cars in '92, so the "Wide Awake Club" for the first half of the season was two Andrea Modas, two Venturi Larrousses, one Arrows and one Fondmetal.
If at least one team didn't turn up there was no PQ session as there were only 30 cars present - hence when Brabham, Larrousse or Andrea Moda skipped races there was no prequalification.
At mid-season, Alboreto was promoted out of PQ and Tarquini's Fondmetal was relegated - so the "Wide Awake Club" consisted of a pair of Venturi Larrousses, a pair of Andrea Modas and a pair of Fondmetals...
Mischa Bijenhof
Jun 2 2004, 19:56
Prequalifying was introduced in 1989, simply because no less than 38 cars had entered for the first GP. It was decided that the botton-four teams from previous seasons latter half had to pre-qualify, as well as all new teams. So at the first day of the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix-weekend, Osella, Zakspeed, EuroBrun, Zakspeed and Coloni had to get up early. The new teams were Onyx and Brabham, the latter team returning from a sabbattical. Also, when a team expanded from a one to two car-operation, it was the second car that had to participate in friday mornings battlefield. This fate befell Volker Weidler (Rial) and Alex Caffi (Dallara). When AGS had replaced their initial first driver Philipe Streiff for Gabriele Tarquini, it was Joachim winkelhock who was also doomed to join in.
Next is from GrandPrix.com:
The Brabham team showed very quickly that pre-qualifying could be beaten and the first eight races Modena and Brundle were consistently successful in pre-qualifying and as they gained championships points in the races, so the threat of having of continue pre-qualifying in the second half of the season faded. Caffi also got through on most occasions which meant that in reality there were 10 cars were fighting for a single place.
The competition was so hot that at Monaco three of the top six in the race had started the weekend as pre-qualifiers, including third-placed Modena. Later in the year Johansson did the same trick in Portugal.
Pre-qualifying started at eight o'clock on Friday morning and lasted one hour. With so many cars and so many young drivers there were some mighty accidents as they were all using one-lap special qualifying tires. It was a time when he tire war between Goodyear and Pirelli was intense. Traffic could make the difference between success and failure and so huge risks were taken.
As the teams became ever-more competitive the line between success and failure became ever finer. Brundle cut it as fine as was possible in Monaco when he slipped in by just 0.021 second quicker than Ghinzani's Osella. In Canada Caffi began his flying lap just five seconds before the checkered flag and bumped Brundle on that very last lap.
At the French GP Johansson escaped pre-qualifying and managed to get his Onyx home in fifth place. The two points he scored put Onyx ahead of Minardi. It looked bad for the Italian team but a week later at Silverstone Pierluigi Martini and Luis Sala took their Minardis to fifth and sixth in the British GP - collecting three points and escaping pre-qualifying. It is one of Giancarlo's Minardi's best memories...
After the British GP the rankings were changed, based on the results of the teams for the two previous "half-seasons". Christian Danner's fortunate fourth place in Phoenix, Arizona at the start of the year meant that Rial became an automatic qualifier from mid-season onwards. Weidler never once qualified in the second part of the year. Nor for that matter did Danner in the second half of the year.
Brabham was promoted as was Caffi and into pre-qualifying dropped the two Larrousse cars (Philippe Alliot and Michele Alboreto). The results became closer and closer. At the German GP Michele Alboreto edged out Yannick Dalmas's AGS by the smallest possible margin available with the timing system - 0.001 second - and that in the closing minutes of the session.
The Larrousse team started to arrive with a fleet of motorcycles which were stationed around the track to ensure that if one of the cars broke down, the driver could be returned to the pits in a hurry.
As the year went on frustration grew and so firings began. AGS dumped Jo Winkelhock and put Yannick Dalmas in. Pierre-Henri Raphanel, desperate not to waste his sponsorship switched to Rial, ousting Weidler. Foitek fell out with EuroBrun and was replaced by Oscar Larrauri and at Onyx Gachot talked faster than he drove and that gave the team the excuse to dump him in favor of JJ Lehto.
Pre-qualifying continued in 1990 but the numbers were down and by the end of the year it was no longer necessary, the extra teams had all died out.
Originally posted by gdecarli
1977 - Great Britain GP (I have no result)
Villeneuve, Tambay, Jarier, Lunger and Henton made it, later joined by Merzario, Neve and deVillota; Purley, Kozarowitsky, Sutcliffe, Edwards, Trimmer, and McGuire failed to pre-qualify.
1982 - Belgium GP: I don't know who prequalified; De Villota and Paletti didn't prequalify
Warwick, Fabi, Jarier, and Boesel made it through.
gilles2735
Dec 9 2004, 03:02
I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that the prequalifiers for 89 and every successive year, were decided by the number of points the individual drivers for the first half year and the team for every following time. That is why Caffi rather than De Cesaris, but for Aguri and Michele I believe this was due to Michele being an existing driver for Footwork/Arrows and Aguri being the newcomer.
I think that is correct, but I am sure someone else in here has more knowledge about thge whole thing
uechtel
Dec 11 2004, 02:47
I remember the rules have been explained on German TV coverage when at the end of 1988 surprising knowledge came, that the rial team would have to send one car into prequalifying the next season in spite of having score 4 points, while Ligier with 0 points would have not. Originally it was said, that the team results of the previous two half-seasons would decide, with the best 13 teams would not have to take part in pre-qualifying. If not 13 teams would have scored points, then the "majority of best placings" would be the decider. This would have lead to the following results at the beginning of 1989 (so counting the complete 1988 results):
scored points 10 teams: McLaren, Ferrari, Benetton, Arrows, Lotus, March, Williams, Tyrrell, rial, Minardi
"safe" teams:
11. Lola
2 x 7th (Dalmas, Monaco + USA), 4 x 9th (Dalmas, Mexico + Hungary - Alliot, Belgium + Japan), 2 x 10th (Alliot, Canada + Australia), 1 x 11th (Dalmas, Spain), 2 x 12th (Dalmas, San Marino - Alliot, Hungary), 2 x 13th (Dalmas, France + England), 2 x 14th (Alliot, England + Spain), 1 x 16th (Suzuki, Japan), 1 x 17th (Alliot, San Marino)
12. Dallara
1 x 7th (Caffi, Portugal), 2 x 8th (Caffi, USA + Belgium), 1 x 10th (Caffi, Spain), 1 x 11th (Caffi, England), 1 x 12th (Caffi, France), 1 x 15 (Caffi, Germany)
13. AGS
1 x 8th (Streiff, Japan), 1 x 9th (Streiff, Portugal), 2 x 10th (Streiff, San Marino + Belgium), 1 x 11th (Streiff, Australia), 1 x 12th (Streiff, Mexico)
pre-quailfiers:
14. Coloni
1 x 8th (Tarquini, Canada), 1 x 11th (Tarquini, Portugal), 1 x 13th (Tarquini, Hungary), 1 x 14th (Tarquini, Mexico)
15. Ligier
2 x 9th (Johansson, Brasil + Australia), 2 x 10th (Johansson, Mexico - Arnoux, Portugal), 1 x 11th (Johansson, Belgium), 1 x 13th (Arnoux, Italy), 2 x 17th (Arnoux, Germany + Japan), 1 x 18th (Arnoux, England)
16. Osella
1 x 9th (Larini, Monaco), 1 x 12th (Larini, Portugal), 1 x 19th (Larini, England)
17. EuroBrun
1 x 11th (Modena, Hungary), 2 x 12th (Modena, Canada + England), 2 x 13th (Larrauri, Mexico - Modena, Spain), 1 x 14th (Modena, France), 1 x 16th (Larrauri, Germany)
18. Zakspeed
1 x 12th (Schneider, Germany), 1 x 13th (Schneider, Belgium), 2 x 14th (Ghinzani, Canada + Germany), 1 x 15th (Ghinzani, Mexico)
Then I think it had to do with "political balance" or or Balestre´s influence or whatever, but it was soon discovered, that this would have ruled the traditional Ligier team "out" with teams like Minardi, rial, Dallara, Larrousse and even AGS in.
But the problem was, that an "individual" ranking would not have solved the problem either:
scoring points: 17 cars
(2 x McLaren, 2 x Ferrari, 2 x Benetton, 2 x Lotus, 2 x March, 2 x Arrows, 2 x Williams, 1 x Tyrrell, 1 x rial, 1 x Minardi)
"safe":
18. Lola #29 (Dalmas, Suzuki)
2 x 7th (Monaco + USA), 2 x 9th (Mexico + Hungary) 1 x 11th (Spain), 1 x 12th (San Marino), 2 x 13th (France + England), 1 x 16th (Suzuki, Japan)
19. Dallara #36 (Caffi)
1 x 7th (Portugal), 2 x 8th (USA + Belgium), 1 x 10th (Spain), 1 x 11th (England), 1 x 12th (France), 1 x 15 (Germany)
20. AGS #14 (Streiff)
1 x 8th (Japan), 1 x 9th (Portugal), 2 x 10th (San Marino + Belgium), 1 x 11th (Australia), 1 x 12th (Mexico)
21. Minardi #24 (Sala)
1 x 8th (Portugal), 1 x 10th (Hungary), 2 x 11th (San Marino + Monaco), 1 x 12th (Spain), 1 x 13th (Canada), 1 x 15th (Japan)
22. Coloni #31 (Tarquini)
1 x 8th (Canada), 1 x 11th (Portugal), 1 x 13th (Hungary), 1 x 14th (Mexico)
23. Lola #30 (Alliot)
2 x 9th (Belgium + Japan), 2 x 10th (Canada + Australia), 1 x 12th (Hungary), 2 x 14th (England + Spain), 1 x 17th (San Marino)
24. Ligier #26 (Johansson)
2 x 9th (Brasil + Australia), 1 x 10th (Mexico), 1 x 11th (Belgium)
25. Tyrrell #4 (bailey)
1 x 9th (USA), 1 x 12th (Italy), 1 x 14th (Japan), 1 x 16th (England)
26. Osella #21 (Larini)
1 x 9th (Monaco), 1 x 12th (Portugal), 1 x 19th (England)
and the unlucky ones:
27. Ligier #25 (Arnoux)
1 x 10th (Portugal), 1 x 13th (Italy), 2 x 17th (Germany + Japan), 1 x 18th (England)
28. EuroBrun #32 (Modena)
1 x 11th (Hungary), 2 x 12th (Canada + England), 1 x 13th (Spain), 1 x 14th (France)
29. Zakspeed #10 (Schneider)
1 x 12th (Germany), 1 x 13th (Belgium)
30. EuroBrun #33 (Larrauri)
1 x 13th (Mexico), 11 x 16th (Germany)
31. Zakspeed #9 (Ghinzani)
2 x 14th (Canada + Germany), 1 x 15th (Mexico)
Again this seems to have not been very much satisfying, so finally somebody "discovered" the very strange rule, that a team, which had only fielded one car could gain only one "safe" place, but nevertheless a two-car team would need only one good result for both cars. This automatically meant, that rial, Dallara and AGS each would loose one of their "safe" places and also Coloni - also in front of Ligier - would "free" only one of their entries and Ligier would just sneak in with their two cars in positions 25 and 26!
I have the FIA Yearbook for 1989, so I’ll start you off with Brazil:
Brundle (Brabham) - 1:27.764
Modena (Brabham) - 1:28.147
Foitek (Eurobrun) - 1:29.604
Larini (Osella) - 1:29.679
Schneider (Zakspeed) - 1:30.417
Caffi (Dallara) - 1:30.747
Ghinzani (Osella) - 1:31.150
Weidler (Rial) - 1:31.964
Raphanel (Coloni) - 1:32.019
Winkelhock (AGS) - 1:32.982
Suzuki (Zakspeed) - 1:33.079
Johansson (Onyx) - 1:35.232
Gachot (Onyx) - 1:37.932
Notes: Only one AGS for Joachim Winkelhock, Gabriele Tarquini did not race the other car, nor did Philippe Streiff, the scheduled driver. Because of this, five cars go through from pre-qualifying (they shouldn’t have, but they did).
Monaco '89
1 Modena (Brabham) 1:26.957
2 Caffi (Dallara) 1:27.098
3 Raphanel (Coloni) 1:27.590
4 Brundle (Brabham0 1:27.774
5 Ghinzani (Osella) 1:27.795
6 Johansson (Onyx) 1:27.821
7 Larini (Osella) 1:28.555
8 Schneider (Zakspeed) 1:28.610
9 Gachot (Onyx) 1:28.897
10 Foitek (EuroBrun) 1:29.423
11 Weidler (Rial) 1:29.498
12 Suzuki (Zakspeed) 1:30.528
13 Winkelhock (AGS) 1:32.274
Mexico '89
1 Brundle (Brabham) 1:21.770
2 Modena (Brabham) 1:22.211
3 Caffi (Dallara) 1:22.876
4 Johansson (Onyx) 1:23.288
5 Gachot (Onyx) 1:23.752
6 Foitek (EuroBrun) 1:24.351
7 Larini (Osella) 1:24.392
8 Weidler (Rial) 1:24.966
9 Schneider (Zakspeed) 1:25.418
10 Suzuki (Zakspeed) 1:25.658
11 Ghinzani (Osella) 1:26.065
12 Winkelhock (AGS) 1:26.754
13 Raphanel (Coloni) 1:34.357
About 1988:
Pre-qualifying took place during the first free practice session, hence pre-qualifying times are the same as practice times.
1988, 1st half
Brazil, Canada, USA, France, Great Britain
No pre-Q in San Marino (Larini failed scrutineering), Monaco (Modena DQ after missing weight check), Mexico (Modena DQ for rear wing infringement)
De Cesaris (Rial)
Tarquini (Coloni)
Larrauri (EuroBrun)
Modena (EuroBrun)
Caffi (Scuderia Italia)
1988, 2nd half
Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Japan, Australia
Larini (Osella)
Tarquini (Coloni)
Larrauri (EuroBrun)
Modena (EuroBrun)
Caffi (Scuderia Italia)