41 replies to this topic

[TerryS]

In the "old days" the winners and second and third of major races received laurel garlands on the podium placed around their necks by officials and dignitaries.

This practice seems to have ceased in the last 30 - 40 years, and now they receive trophies.

My query is why did it stop?

A possible answer is the garlands were obscuring sponsors emblems on the overalls.

Does anyone know more?

[Collombin]

Oh good, I thought this was an RIP thread at first.

I vaguely recall in an old thread that the last confirmed sighting of them at a GP was Monza 1985?

[Tim Murray]

Here’s the earlier thread:

Victory Garlands (merged)

The last recorded sighting of victory garlands on an F1 podium was the 1986 Italian GP. By this time it seems that drivers would remove them soon after being presented with them, presumably so that their sponsors’ logos weren’t hidden by the garland. I assume that organisers soon decided not to bother with them any more.

[2F-001]

Another defunct, but related, practice at pretty much all racing now is the "lap of honour" (rather than just the cooling off lap) - either under the cars own power or, latterly for GPs (in Britain at  least), on the back of a truck, so that the more hard-core, or perhaps just more impecunious, spectators out in the wilds (where, let's face it, most of the real driving took place) could acknowledge the winner sans crash hat.  

Edited by 2F-001, 17 December 2020 - 06:43.

[john aston]

I am not too bothered about the loss of shrubbery but I do miss - or I would miss if I went to as many Grands Prix as I used to - the lap of honour. I remember two in particular - Revson in 1973 at Silverstone and Mansell at the same circuit , 14 years later . 

 

In 73 we'd just driven back from the Alps, four up in a tired and wheezy VW Beetle convertible , and only found the circuit by following the Goodyear airship , which we'd spotted from the M1 . No UK maps.. We  were in the cheap seats - well, grass and cinders - at Chapel along with only a handful of others. God knows why we watched there,  as nothing ever happened . All four of us had bought Yardley McLaren jackets and our day was made when Revson spotted our garb, laughed and waved back . Coolest guy in the paddock . 

 

In 87 we could afford the  dubious luxury of a canvas seat at Stowe and had seen Mansell execute THAT move on PIquet , by far  the most thrilling move I have seen in a GP  from trackside. The subdued , modest and self effacing Mansell told the driver to stop on his victory lap  at the spot he'd overtaken Piquet  so he could theatrically kiss the tarmac . The old ham - a career in panto could have beckoned. Nearly did actually , as I think he does magic tricks now - his best one being trying to fool the audience that he was perpetually hard done by in F1 ... 

[Michael Ferner]

"Mansell told the driver to stop on his victory lap  at the spot he'd overtaken Piquet  so he could theatrically kiss the tarmac"

 

Thank you for this detail; I never knew... explains something, I guess!

[Stephen W]

For the two Caesar's Palace GP (1981 & 82) the three podium finishers all got a head garland with the winner's one being gold.

[68targa]

They never had a lap of honour in the Mille Miglia 

[Alan Baker]

With the constant push to cover drivers with as much advertising as possible, I wouldn't be surprised if sponsored face masks become the norm even after covid!

[68targa]

I would rather see a garland presented to the winner along with the trophy and  abolish the practice of spraying everyone in fizzy drink.

[john winfield]

Oh good, I thought this was an RIP thread at first.

 

 

RIP Laurel. An under-rated career in my opinion, regularly on the podium. If I remember correctly you were hugely impressive in Gerrmany and Austria.

[Michael Ferner]

I would rather see a garland presented to the winner along with the trophy and  abolish the practice of spraying everyone in fizzy drink.

Hear, hear!

[Eric Dunsdon]

They never had a lap of honour in the Mille Miglia 

But Fangio famously asked how many laps it was.

[Michael Ferner]

I'm sure he was just worried whether he should bring a lunch pack.

[Stephen W]

I would rather see a garland presented to the winner along with the trophy and  abolish the practice of spraying everyone in fizzy drink.

 

Wasn't it Dan Gurney who started all that nonsense? Imagine wasting good champagne! 

[Arjan de Roos]

Garland, lap of honour, bubbly, ... also the nice trophies have gone, and whatever they do get handed out is taken away from them by the teams. 

[Tim Murray]

Wasn't it Dan Gurney who started all that nonsense? Imagine wasting good champagne!

Another urban myth. There is photographic evidence showing Graham Hill spraying champagne at Lakeside in 1966, thus preceding Gurney at Le Mans in 1967, and who knows where it might have happened before that. Anyway, champagne is a much overrated drink - give me a decent red wine any day.

[68targa]

Well there is one place you can still receive a victory laurel garland, a nice trophy and a fat pay cheque (check) -...... and some milk

[Charlieman]

An interesting question. We tend to categorise F1 eras according to technical and functional changes -- rules, engines, aerodynamics, circuit redesign, safety measures -- but other significant ones are cultural or social. When we look at photos or film from the past, we most notice car liveries and sponsorship, drivers consciously wearing caps, recognisable team and family groups, cheap family cars in the paddock. To me, the biggest change is the absence of intimate or extemporary pit lane photographs in contemporary F1 reporting. Everything seems so rehearsed, even drivers shouting 'whoop, whoop' from the cockpit.

[Tim Murray]

Everything seems so rehearsed, even drivers shouting 'whoop, whoop' from the cockpit.

Indeed. [grumpy old git rant] Why does Bono have to say ‘GedinthereLewis!’ every bloody time his driver wins a race? Get in where? What for? [/grumpy old git rant].

[BRG]

Everything seems so rehearsed, even drivers shouting 'whoop, whoop' from the cockpit.

I would love to hear a GP winner come on the radio and quietly say "I say, chaps, this is most gratifying.  I think we all did jolly well today."       

 

Was Laurel Garlands related to Don Garlands the drag racer?    

[Michael Ferner]

Indeed. [grumpy old git rant] Why does Bono have to say ‘GedinthereLewis!’ every bloody time his driver wins a race? Get in where? What for? [/grumpy old git rant].

 

What's the connection between U2 and F1? Have I missed something?

[Tim Murray]

Lewis Hamilton’s regular race engineer Pete Bonnington is known as Bono, and ‘GedinthereLewis!’ is invariably the first thing he says to Lewis on the radio after #44 crosses the finish line for another win. I assume this nickname is based on that of the U2 singer Mr Hewson.

[john aston]

I loathe the locker room ...err..bantz which passes for dialogue 'twixt driver and team  .I'd far rather they didn't communicate at all , or only by correspondence , but while some technical dialogue is perhaps excusable , the rest isn't . Can you imagine how an Innes Ireland or James Hunt would retort to being exhorted to push harder, or indeed reply to the loathsome 'get in there' . I can imagine a crisp 'Have we met ?' or perhaps ' Do be quiet you bloody oik ' .   

[2F-001]

You're just becoming a crusty old reactionary, John... and I agree with you entirely!

[john winfield]

What's the connection between U2 and F1?

What an excellent quiz question Michael. Did The Major develop a Cosworth-powered Clubman's for the Aurora series, perhaps? Alternatively, did Ray or Richard play lead guitar for the band once the original guy had lost his edge?

[john aston]

He did it pro bono ... 

[Allan Lupton]

In the days of laurels there were also significant gestures such as Stirling Moss, after the 1955 GP at Aintree, putting the laurels he'd just won round Fangio's neck.

[bradbury west]

With McDonald Hobley reporting live behind them.

Roger Lund

[TerryS]

I see that laurel garlands (along with big trophies) were handed to podium getters at today’s Sandown Supercars races.

A welcome change and development. I hope the practice continues.

[Eric Dunsdon]

Mike Hawthorns slowing down lap with a pint of beer at Silverstone in 1958 takes some beating.

[Roger Clark]

Mike Hawthorns slowing down lap with a pint of beer at Silverstone in 1958 takes some beating.

He said in Champion Year that it was shandy.  I wonder how often he drank shandy?

[kyle936]

Like a few others before me I found myself trying to think who Laurel Garlands was and whether I should be upset at his demise. 

 

Remember, though (how could you forget?!), at Caesar's Palace the drivers on the podium were 'crowned' with laurel garlands - how kitschy was that?

 

 

Otherwise I thought the traditional laurel garlands were a grand tradition and traditions should be preserved, although I remember reading in Jo Siffert's biography how Seppi hung the laurel garland over his shoulder instead of around his neck when he won at Brands in '68 so that his sponsors' logos wouldn't be obscured. He'd had to scrimp and save and work so hard throughout his life to get there, he was probably more aware and appreciative of sponsors' support than most, but maybe the writing was on the wall for the garlands even then.

 

Incidentally, concerning the bottles of Moët et Chandon champagne in the foreground of the photo, Arjan de Roos will know this because he's Dutch, but 'Moët' is pronounced the way it's spelled, i.e. with a hard 't', not 'Mo-ay' as if it was French, which is what I always (wrongly) thought - apparently Moët was Dutch. Chandon was French and should of course be pronounced 'Shongdong' as in 'Shongsong d'Amoor (ra-ta-ta-ta-ta)', although that might be wrong too!

 

Also - allow me to show off my sketchy recently acquired mastery (not!) of Dutch pronunciation as a result of developing an obsession with cycle racing and its hordes of ridiculously successful Dutchies and Belgies - Arjan de Roos is pronounced (I hope!) Ahryan de Rohs, with a soft 's' - j in Dutch is y and oo is pronounced as in door or floor (a roos is a rose). I've even learned how to pronounce the 'Gijs' in Gijs van Lennep but I can't spell it phonetically - I'm not sure anybody can! Or, well, the 'G' is pronounced as if you're preparing to spit and then the 'ijs' is like a cross between 'ice' and 'ace'. Sort of!

Edited by kyle936, 21 March 2021 - 14:55.

[Allan Lupton]

He said in Champion Year that it was shandy.  I wonder how often he drank shandy?

In those days, before shandy was made using plastic lemonade, shandy was the thirst-quench of choice for a lot of motoring folk on and off track.

[Michael Ferner]

Incidentally, concerning the bottles of Moët et Chandon champagne in the foreground of the photo, Arjan de Roos will know this because he's Dutch, but 'Moët' is pronounced the way it's spelled, i.e. with a hard 't', not 'Mo-ay' as if it was French, which is what I always (wrongly) thought

I would not be so sure of that - the French have a (nasty?) habit of pronouncing EVERYTHING as if it was French. Feel Eel, anyone?

[2F-001]

I would pronounce it with a hard t anyway, because of the following ‘et’; would that be wrong?

 

I heard an acquaintance (who is a self-styled wine connoisseur) claim that spraying over the crowd is the only thing that M et C is good for…

[Amphicar]

I would love to hear a GP winner come on the radio and quietly say "I say, chaps, this is most gratifying.  I think we all did jolly well today."       

 

Was Laurel Garlands related to Don Garlands the drag racer?    

No - but his sister Judy was!

[john aston]

I would pronounce it with a hard t anyway, because of the following ‘et’; would that be wrong?

 

I heard an acquaintance (who is a self-styled wine connoisseur) claim that spraying over the crowd is the only thing that M et C is good for…

 Mon cher Tony , it is correctly pronounced Mo-et en Francais , pas Mo-ay. 

[Vitesse2]

Here’s the earlier thread:

Victory Garlands (merged)

The last recorded sighting of victory garlands on an F1 podium was the 1986 Italian GP. By this time it seems that drivers would remove them soon after being presented with them, presumably so that their sponsors’ logos weren’t hidden by the garland. I assume that organisers soon decided not to bother with them any more.

 

Another defunct, but related, practice at pretty much all racing now is the "lap of honour" (rather than just the cooling off lap) - either under the cars own power or, latterly for GPs (in Britain at  least), on the back of a truck, so that the more hard-core, or perhaps just more impecunious, spectators out in the wilds (where, let's face it, most of the real driving took place) could acknowledge the winner sans crash hat.  

Both the above have been resurrected today for the Saturday Snoozefest Sprint Race at Silverstone.

 

[Michael Ferner]

Here’s the earlier thread:

Victory Garlands (merged)

The last recorded sighting of victory garlands on an F1 podium was the 1986 Italian GP. By this time it seems that drivers would remove them soon after being presented with them, presumably so that their sponsors’ logos weren’t hidden by the garland. I assume that organisers soon decided not to bother with them any more.

 

Well, the above picture shows there's an easy solution for everything: just make them BIG enough! 

[LOTI]

What a mess! Someone should have done just a little research to see that the old garland was roughly shield shapes and  based on the victor's garland of classical myth. Poor Max looks like he is being attacked by a compost heap or at least, something you put up at Christmas.

Next time, ask me, I will make you a nice garland [for a small price]

Loti

[Charlieman]

Oh well, at least the poor chap didn't have a "reef" around his shoulders, as the BBC originally described it.