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Lotus: The biggest fall of F1 teams


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#1 HistoryFan

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 10:31

Lotus had 315 points in 2013 and just 10 points in 2014. That mus be the biggest fall of a F1 team. That's also because of the current amount of races and the current point system. But Lotus had a really struggling year.

 

So what about other examples in the past?

 

Ferrari: 1979: 113 points, 1980: 8 points

Williams:1997: 123 points, 1998: 38 points

 

What other examples of big falls from F1 team are there?
 



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#2 ninetyzero

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 10:44

Williams 1987:

9 wins

1st in constructors with 137 points

Drivers 1st and 2nd in championship

 

Williams 1988:

0 wins

7th in constructors championship with 20 points

Drivers 9th and 11th in championship

 

Ferrari 2004 -2005 are worth an honourable mention as well.



#3 Tombstone

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 10:53

'Real' Lotus was one of the greatest falls in history, albeit over a few years. From winningest manufacturer - they were the team to first score 50 victories - to folding by the end of '94.

 

In fact talking of Real Lotus, the years 1970 to 1974 are interesting. Using the Lotus 72 they came 1st, 5th, 1st, 1st in the Constructor's Championship.

 

Anyhoo, there's Brabham: Champion in '67 (63 'best-of' points), 68': 8th, with 10 points.


Edited by Tombstone, 19 December 2014 - 10:54.


#4 Lotus53B

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 10:55

Don't those mainly coincide with big shakeups in the formula?

 

This year we ditched the V8s for 1.6 liter V6 turbo hybrids, in 79 Renault brought in the 1.5 liter V6 turbo, in 88 Williams switch back to a normally aspirated car to prepare for 89, and McLaren stuck with a special Honda turbo engine, designed to cope with the boost and fuel limits...

 

Umm, I feel a Shirley Bassey/Propellorheads song coming on...


Edited by Lotus53B, 19 December 2014 - 10:56.


#5 Tombstone

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 11:24

Renault arrived withe the turbo in '77. The '79-'80 downfall was simply a case of Ferrari building a seriously bad car: An old design (312T) with poor aerodynamics (the flat-12 didn't allow for underbody ventures) and floundering development efforts. They were beaten by Fittipaldi and Arrows for heck's sake!


Edited by Tombstone, 19 December 2014 - 11:24.


#6 ensign14

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 11:33

1979 was a bit like 1982, in that two worlds coexisted.  In 1982 it was turbo and the DFV, in 1979 it was aero and grunt.  Problem was in 1983 the Cossie was out of breath and in 1980 aero had gained the upper hand.  Ferrari in 1980 were the wrong side of the line.

 

Ferrari had a big fall from 1961 to 1962.  Unchallenged world champs to not even a sniff of a win.  In fact it was arguably a bigger fall than 1979-80 - they went from first to last.  No "permanent" team had a worse season. 



#7 Amphicar

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 11:54

Cooper had a pretty disastrous decline from 1960 to 1961. In 1960 the works Cooper drivers, Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren finished 1st & 2nd in the WDC and Cooper won the WCC. The following year Brabham & McLaren were 11th and 8th respectively in the WDC and Cooper had slipped to 4th in the WCC, well behind Ferrari, Lotus and Porsche.



#8 427MkIV

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 14:41

You could also add Marussia this year, from scoring its first points at Monaco and the money that promised to Bianchi's terrible crash to bankruptcy and assets being auctioned.



#9 ensign14

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 15:02

pointwise not on the same scale as the example(s) mentioned, but I feel "Walter Wolf Racing" is worth a mention.

coming from 4th in the WCC (55 points) (Scheckter being 2nd in WDC) in 1977, to 5th in WCC in 1978 (still 4 podiums, 24 points) to  zero points and no podiums or fastest laps in 1979, and then leaving F1 thereafter.

 

Yeah, they were a bit abrupt.  Fittipaldi bought their stuff.

 

Could say similar to Vanwall, no WC podia before 1957, the world title in 1958, and then an all-but withdrawal.



#10 mzvztag

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 16:04

The original Lotus team fell from the dominating 1978 to the dismal 1979, basically with the same car (and the failure of its successor).
It was comparable with Ferrari the year later.

#11 Amphicar

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 18:22

Matra had a pretty big fall from 1969 to 1970. WDC and WCC with 6 wins in 1969 to no wins, 7th & 12th in the WDC and 7th in the WCC in 1970. A fall mainly due to Matra's decision to use its own V12 rather than the DFV, thereby prompting Ken Tyrrell to part company with the French marque.


Edited by Amphicar, 19 December 2014 - 18:24.


#12 Craven Morehead

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 18:32

in 1979 Ferrari won the Constructors Championship with 113 points. Scheckter and Villeneuve were 1st and 2nd in the Drivers Championship on 51 & 47 points respectively.  

 

The very next year, Ferrari wound up 10th (!!) in the wcc with only 8 points. Gilles was 14th in the wdc with 6 points, and reigning wdc Jody was 19th (!!!) having scored just 2 points in his final F1 campaign.



#13 ensign14

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 19:45

And also became the first reigning champ to suffer a DNQ.  I think it's only happened once since and that was under special circumstances.



#14 midgrid

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 23:35

It happened to Nelson Piquet at the 1982 Detroit Grand Prix.  It was the circuit's first F1 race, and the first day of practice (Friday) was cancelled as some technical problems were fixed.  Two sessions of qualifying were therefore held on the Saturday, but Piquet had persistent engine problems in the morning and then it rained during the afternoon.



#15 SirVanhan

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Posted 20 December 2014 - 19:00

It happened to Nelson Piquet at the 1982 Detroit Grand Prix.  It was the circuit's first F1 race, and the first day of practice (Friday) was cancelled as some technical problems were fixed.  Two sessions of qualifying were therefore held on the Saturday, but Piquet had persistent engine problems in the morning and then it rained during the afternoon.

Piquet also DNQ at 1989 Belgian Grand Prix. Both Lotus failed to qualify for the first time in the team history.