12 replies to this topic

[maxie]

A stupid question :

As we all know, Riccardo Patrese won that race, while Didier Pironi and Andrea de Cesaris, both out of fuel and stopped on the circuit, were classified second and third respectively. My question is, had de Cesaris overtaken Pironi before coming to a halt but stopped before crossing the finish line, would he be classified second? Obviously Pironi crossed the finish line on the next-to-last lap way before de Cesaris...

[fines]

Well, for one thing Pironi didn't run out of fuel, his battery went flat. He was classified second because he had covered the same number of laps in less time than de Cesaris. If you'd take track positions as a decisive factor you could easily end up with dodgy situations, eg two cars crashing and coming to rest on different sides of the road. It could take ages to determine which one was nearer the finish line!

[MoMurray]

What a great last lap that was. After Prost crashed, Patrese led but spun. He rejoined in fifth. Then Pironi led but stopped because of the battery problem. This left De Cesaris leading but without the necessary fuel to finish the lap. Next up was Derek Daly in the Williams. He had tapped the wall in an earlier spin and knocked his rear wing off. Now he was within sight of his first GP win. However in the earlier spin he had also dmaged the gearbox which gave up coming out of the last turn. This left a surpised Patrese to to take a dramatic win.

[fines]

History, a little bit exaggerated...;)

[MoMurray]

nothin' but facts...right from the horses mouth...

[fines]

Facts:

- Prost crashed on the 74th of 76 laps, at the Chicane.
- Patrese spun on the 75th lap, at Loews (the Station, for the older ones ;))
- He rejoined in 3rd, after Pironi and de Cesaris had gone by
- de Cesaris never led, he retired on the last lap at the Casino, while Pironi lasted till Portier
- Daly was already lapped after his spin on lap 72/73 (?), he never headed Patrese
- He retired at Rascasse, not Anthony Noghes (former Gazometre)

In fact, the last dozen or so laps were very exciting, with first Rosberg crashing out of 5th, then Alboreto taking over that position only to retire with suspension damage, then Daly taking over 5th but spinning, ripping off his rear wing and damaging his gearbox, leaking oil onto a track already dampened by a slight rain shower.

Daly was then hauled in by de Angelis and Mansell, the latter after a stop to replace a damaged wheel, while his Italian teammate had just collided with race leader Prost whilst being lapped. Then, minutes later Prost crashed out, Patrese spun and stalled, de Cesaris, Pironi and Daly stopped with Mansell just overtaking his teammate on the final lap.

Even without exaggeration, it was one of the most exciting finishes in F1 history!

[Ray Bell]

It was a stunner, all right, but not as gripping as the last laps of the 1973 AGP....

There are a number of ways final laps can be exciting, aren't there?

Patrese's win was very well deserved that day.

[John B]

During the final laps Pironi was motioning to the flagman to stop the race - with a little bit of self interest in mind, methinks....

[MoMurray]

Fines,

Being from Dublin I still prefer my version...

Must go now...I have a horse to shoot!

Mo

[MattFoster]

It was an amazing way to end a GP. As a die hard de Cesaris fan I was hitting the rev limiter with excitement, he was so near yet so far. I remember saying back then that it was only a matter of time before he would win a GP. I was wrong

[Eric McLoughlin]

I was watching this race in my folk's kitchen in Dublin on our portable Black & White telly and I was going ballistic over the last few laps. I think the belief that Daly might be leading came from the RTE TV commentary team , Messrs O'Carroll and Tyndall. Irish TV used to cover quite a few of the GP's at the time, although I think the commentators ,by and large, were commentating from the RTE studios in Dublin and rarely attended the races in person.

[Don Capps]

A view of what happened at Monte Carlo....

Rear View Mirror 20 October 1999

As the teams arrived in Monte Carlo, they hoped that the problems of Imola and the tragedy of Zolder were behind them. All looked forward to a return of what passed for normalcy in Formula One. However, it was becoming apparent that the cars were coming more and more difficult to drive. The street circuit at Monte Carlo brought out the very worse in the cars.

The suspension settings were akin to that of ox-carts, rock-hard. The cars were generally unpredictable, darting about the road since any irregularities on the track surface caused the cars to react with often abrupt changes of direction. This made it true challenge for the drivers to keep an accurate lone the corners, and evensaw most weaving down the straight bits. The drivers were essentially just pointing the cars versus driving them.

Life for those at the rear of the grid was as difficult as ever. Although the usual grid had 26 starters, there were only 20 at Monte Carlo. As was commonplace in the 1980’s, there was a pre-qualifying session for those at the rear.

Two teams were in a real bind, Ensign and Theodore, because Avon withdrew its tires from F1. Jan Lammers (Theodore) and Roberto Guerrero (Ensign) arrived at the circuit hoping for the best. And the teams were there really more than anything else to avoid the new $20,000 fine levied for skipping a race. Both started out Thursday morning sitting up on jacks in the pits as the festivities started.

Mo Nunn finally managed to find some “second-hand” tires for Guerrero, but it was to be to no avail. And the same for Lammers, even though some Goodyears were scrounged for him to at least circuit early on for a few laps. It should be no surprise that both missed the race even though they would have both made the grid had the usual number of starters – 26 – been allowed: Lammers was 22nd and Guerrero 26th, excellent performance considering they both missed most of the session. Altogether, five cars failed to pre-qualify.

Didier Pironi was the sole entrant for Scuderia Ferrari. No replacement for Gilles Villeneuve had been determined as of yet. Nelson Piquet was in the Brabham BT50 with the turbo BMW, while Riccardo reverted to the BT49D with the faithful Ford DFV. The Alfa Romeo V-12 seemed to be working very well, smiles on the faces of Bruno Giacomelli and Andrea de Cesaris.

When the Usual Shambles of practice was over, there was a Renault on the pole yet again. Rene Arnoux had Riccardo Patrese as company on the first row, with a very happy “Jock O’Malley” third fastest and then Alain Prost in his Renault an unhappy fourth.

At the start, Arnoux was off like a rocket, leaving the others to scramble around behind. As he passed the line after the first lap, the was such that mant wondered if there had been an accident that piled up the rest of the field somewhere on the circuit. Then they came scooting by, led by Giacomelli, Patrese, Prost, and then de Cesaris.

On lap 15, unaware the had a broken skirt, the rear of the Renault broke away as Arnoux dived into a corner and Arnoux was out. Giacomelli was also out after a driveshaft failed. Prost now moved in the lead and started droning around the circuit. As per usual at Monaco, folks were dropping like flies at a pesticide plant as the circuit took its toll on the cars. John Watson parked his McLaren with ignition problems and teammate Niki Lauda was out with engine problems.

A dozen or so laps from the end, a few drops of rain started to fall on the circuit. At the time the order was Prost, Patrese, and Pironi. As the condition of the track changed and became pretty slippy, Patrese started to close on Prost. With six laps left, it was now a light rain. And Michele Alboreto came to a stop with the right front wheel assembly of his Tyrrell sticking in the air after bashing a barrier. He had been running in fifth place and looking very solid.

Then, as the say, chaos and confusion reigned. The last few laps of the race had more action than is probably found in most seasons. First, Derek Daly spun his Williams and thumped the cityscape coming out of Tabac a Great Wallop with bits and parts darkening the sky. These include the entire rear wing assembly and one of the front wings. After being surprised to find himself still with all four wheels and pointing in the right direction, the engine still running, and the steering working, Daly took off – dragging the gearbox oil cooler behind him.

Then with only two laps to go, Prost smote the wall a mighty blow as he was exiting the chicane. Prost hit the wall head-on, shedding a front wheel, and bouncing off the barriers on either side of the track like a pinball. The Renault finally slid to a stop looking very used up.

Patrese was now in the lead. However, it was now his turn. As he braked for the Station Hairpin, he spun, slide off the track, and stalled the engine. He slid backwards over the curb and wound up stopped right on the apex of the corner blocking most of the track. Meanwhile, Pironi slipped by when Riccardo spun and took the lead followed by de Cesaris – and Derek Daly!

But, as all eyes were looking up the track at the finish line waiting for Pironi to take the flag, that’s all they did – look. Worried looks were now being exchanged as people strained to look for a car – any car – to come by and take the checkered flag.

After assuming the lead, Pironi barely got past Patrese when the engine died! No fuel! No fuel? And Pironi finally coasted to a stop in the tunnel leading to the chicane. He was furious. This was too much! It couldn’t be happening! And then de Cesaris pulled up barely a few meters behind him – his tank dry as well! The young Italian was in despair. All he need was a few more litres and it would have been his victory…

And then all Daly had to do was pass the stopped Pironi, take the lead, and finish the lap! All he had to do was get to the finish line and it was his race! He would be the winner! But, then the gearbox seized – a result of his big shunt – and that was that…

Meanwhile, cars were still out on the track circulating if not racing while all this mayhew was going on. The Team Lotus duo of Elio de Angelis and Nigel Mansell were still running albeit almost two laps down. If none of those in front of them make it back into the finish line, it was a win for Lotus. Sensing this, Mansell slipped by de Angelis…

Then Patrese come up the track and flashed by the finish line. Patrese? Wotdahell was Patrese doing crossing the line? And where were the others? After his spin, the marshals scrambled out and pushed Patrese out of what was considered – correctly – to be a dangerous position. Taking advantage of the gradient, Patrese managed to restart the car, snicked it into gear and headed for the pits. He was heartsick at spinning away a sure win. And now with the push by the marshals and his restarting the car, he was certain that he was now disqualified from the race. As the flag dropped – belatedly – Patrese wondered who won the race since it seemed that cars were littered around the entire track.

The two black Lotus machines were still a lap down when Patrese crossed the line. Instead of winning the race they were now fourth and fifth. It took considerable effort, but his crew and the race officials finally convinced Patrese that he was indeed the winner of the race. The officials stated that the marshals had indeed acted correctly and he was not going to be disqualified. It was a stunned Patrese who finally accepted the hardware. And also gethered up were the rest of the rostrum – Pironi and de Cesaris. Dauntless Daly actually ended up with a point despite a car that more a moving junk pile than a near race winner. Only a short distance more and it would have been fourth place and with luck, first…

It was an amazing thought to realize that within a matter of a few minutes and a very laps there had been seven potential winners of the race. Needless to say, people were still trying to figure out what happen hours later.

[fines]

Originally posted by Don Capps
Needless to say, people were still trying to figure out what happen hours later.

Hours later? Apparently, even almost twenty years after!