The glorious career of Artemio Matarazzo: vote for 1992 team

[Nuppiz]

Round 6 - Mexico
Matarazzo: 2nd in PQ, 9th in Q1, 16th in Q2, DNF in the race (crash on lap 29)

The extra power of the V12 really helps, as I much faster on the straights than in the previous two years. The car felt OK all weekend, and I found the best setup and racing lines quite early on. In the race I got off the line pretty quick, but while attempting to overtake Martini on lap 2 I hit his rear slightly and damaged my front wing. The early pitstop dropped me down to 25th, only ahead of Nakajima who had also collided on the same lap and needed similar repairs. However, I started catching people in front of me quite quickly and at the end of lap 9 I made my first of many overtakes by passing Bernard. 10 laps later, I accidentally hit Capelli's rear wheel and forced him into retirement (I hope the stewards aren't mad at me this time...), also slightly damaging my front suspension in the process. Another 10 laps later, I was already in 9th position when I overestimated how fast I could go through Peraltada in my damaged car, went wide on the exit and hit the barrier. And that was it, the car was still running but even I can't drive with just one rear wheel...

WDC after 6/16 rounds
1. Alain Prost 34 (best result 1st, second-best result 2nd x2, third-best result 3rd x3)
2. Riccardo Patrese 24 (best result 2nd x4)
3. Gerhard Berger 23 (best result 1st x2, second-best result 4th)
4. Nigel Mansell 23 (best result 1st, second-best result 5th, third-best result 6th)
5. Jean Alesi 15 (best result 1st, second-best result 4th, third-best result 5th, fourth-best result 7th)
6. Andrea de Cesaris 10 (best result 3rd, second-best result 4th, third-best result 5th, fourth-best result 6th)
7. Stefano Modena 5 (best result 3rd, second-best result 6th)
8. Ayrton Senna 4 (best result 3rd, second-best result DNF)
9. Pierluigi Martini (best result 4th, second-best result 8th)
10. Nelson Piquet 3 (best result 4th, second-best result DNF)
== Artemio Matarazzo 3 (best result 4th, second-best result DNF)
12. JJ Lehto 2 (best result 5th, second-best result 8th)
== Roberto Moreno (best result 5th, second-best result 8th)
14. Gianni Morbidelli (best result 5th, second-best result 13th)
15. Satoru Nakajima 2 (best result 6th x2)
16. Martin Brundle 1 (best result 6th, second-best result 11th)

WCC after 6/16 rounds
1. Ferrari 49 (best result 1st x2, second-best result 2nd x2, third-best result 3rd x3)
2. Williams-Renault 47 (best result 1st x2, second-best result 2nd x4)
3. McLaren-Honda 27 (best result 1st x2, second-best result 3rd, third-best result 4th)
4. Jordan-Ford 10 (best result 3rd, second-best result 4th, third-best result 5th, fourth-best result 6th)
5. Tyrrell-Honda 7 (best result 3rd, second-best result 6th x3)
6. Minardi-Ferrari 5 (best result 4th, second-best result 5th, third-best result 8th, fourth-best result 9th)
7. Benetton-Ford 5 (best result 4th, second-best result 5th, third-best result 8th, fourth-best result DNF)
8. Modena-Lamborghini 3 (best result 4th, second-best result 14th)
9. Dallara-Judd 2 (best result 5th, second-best result 7th)
10. Brabham-Yamaha 1 (best result 6th, second-best result 11th)

[Nuppiz]

Only took me slightly under two years to run the French GP.

Round 7 - France
Matarazzo: 3rd in PQ, 28th in Q1 DNQ

Terrible track. Much worse than Paul Ricard, for sure. I really don't like the direction the new generation of F1 tracks is headed. Couldn't get into rhythm at all and always blew at least one sector on every lap. And I was so close to qualifying...

WDC after 7/16 rounds
1. Alain Prost 38 (best result 1st, second-best result 2nd x2, third-best result 3rd x4)
2. Riccardo Patrese 30 (best result 2nd x5)
3. Gerhard Berger 23 (best result 1st x2, second-best result 4th)
4. Nigel Mansell 23 (best result 1st x2, second-best result 5th, third-best result 6th)
5. Jean Alesi 15 (best result 1st, second-best result 4th, third-best result 5th, fourth-best result 7th)
6. Ayrton Senna 14 (best result 1st, second-best result 3rd)
7. Andrea de Cesaris 10 (best result 3rd, second-best result 4th, third-best result 5th, fourth-best result 6th)
8. Stefano Modena 5 (best result 3rd, second-best result 6th)
9. Gianni Morbidelli 4 (best result 5th x2, second-best result 13th)
10. Nelson Piquet 4 (best result 4th, second-best result 6th)
11. Bertrand Gachot 3 (best result 4th, second-best result 7th x2)
12. Pierluigi Martini 3 (best result 4th, second-best result 8th)
13. Artemio Matarazzo 3 (best result 4th, second-best result DNF)
14. Roberto Moreno 2 (best result 5th, second-best result 8th x2)
15. JJ Lehto 2 (best result 5th, second-best result 8th, third-best result 12th)
16. Satoru Nakajima 2 (best result 6th x2)
17. Martin Brundle 1 (best result 6th, second-best result 11th)

WCC after 7/16 rounds
1. Williams-Renault 53 (best result 1st x2, second-best result 2nd x5)
2. Ferrari 53 (best result 1st x2, second-best result 2nd x2, third-best result 3rd x4)
3. McLaren-Honda 37 (best result 1st x3, second-best result 3rd, third-best result 4th)
4. Jordan-Ford 13 (best result 3rd, second-best result 4th x2, third-best result 5th, fourth-best result 6th)
5. Tyrrell-Honda 7 (best result 3rd, second-best result 6th x3)
6. Minardi-Ferrari 7 (best result 4th, second-best result 5th x2, third-best result 8th, fourth-best result 9th)
7. Benetton-Ford 6 (best result 4th, second-best result 5th, third-best result 6th, fourth-best result 8th x2)
8. Modena-Lamborghini 3 (best result 4th, second-best result 14th)
9. Dallara-Judd 2 (best result 5th, second-best result 7th)
10. Brabham-Yamaha 1 (best result 6th, second-best result 11th)

[Ciaran]

Artemio Matarazzo?

*takes a hit off a Mission WinLOLNOPE vape*

Now that's a name I haven't heard in a while...

[Nuppiz]

Round 8 - Great Britain
Matarazzo: 4th in PQ, 17th in Q1, 17th in Q2, 4th in the race

What a race! I quickly managed to adapt to the new track layout in the qualifying sessions, and managed to keep improving my times slightly. In the race I got off to a good start and was up to 11th after the first lap. I kept passing cars almost every lap until I saw red - literally, as it was none other than Alain Prost ahead of me! Ahead of him was Jean Alesi, who in turn was stuck behind Nelson Piquet. After a long battle I eventually managed to force myself past Prost at Brooklands, and suddenly there I was. A Raging Bull between two Prancing Horses. Alesi proved to be a bit easier to overtake, although I had to lock up my front left to finish the move in the corner before Club. I was then onto Piquet, who inexplicably slowed down considerably between Bridge and Priory. I had nowhere to go so I hit his behind, but luckily escaped with only front wing damage. As the pits were nearby I didn't lose a horrible amount of time either, and in an effort to regain lost positions I switched to the softer tyre compound during the pit stop. After that I started carving my way through the field again, which got a bit tougher after a couple of laps when I banged wheels with Bertrand Gachot during an overtake and damaged the steering slightly. But I soldiered on and slowly started to creep up the standings again, helped by others having to pit in as well.

By lap 23 I was already back in 6th place - the position I was in before the collision with Piquet 10 laps earlier. After this things started to settle down, as my gap in both directions was fairly long. For over 20 laps the only thing I had to worry about was getting around lapped cars safely. Then Prost's tyres started to fade, and I started to catch him at such rate that by the time he finally pitted on lap 46, I was able to jump him and gain a substantial safety margin as well. A few laps later Patrese's attempt at lapping Comas ended up in a collision, and I was up to 4th! With 10 laps to go the gap between me and Prost started to shrink at an alarming rate as he was on fresh tyres while mine had long since lost their best edge. As the gap was way too small to afford another pit stop I decided to attempt holding on to the end. I'm quite certain I've never had to wrestle with a car as much as I had in those last few laps as the tyres were so worn out. But persistence proved fruitful as I just barely managed to cross the finish line before Prost. 4th place finish and another three points!

WDC after 8/16 rounds
1. Alain Prost 40 (best result 1st, second-best result 2nd x2, third-best result 3rd x4)
2. Nigel Mansell 33 (best result 1st x3, second-best result 5th, third-best result 6th)
3. Riccardo Patrese 30 (best result 2nd x5)
4. Gerhard Berger 27 (best result 1st x2, second-best result 3rd, third-best result 4th)
5. Ayrton Senna 20 (best result 1st, second-best result 2nd, third-best result 3rd)
6. Jean Alesi 15 (best result 1st, second-best result 4th, third-best result 5th, fourth-best result 7th)
7. Andrea de Cesaris 10 (best result 3rd, second-best result 4th, third-best result 5th, fourth-best result 6th)
8. Artemio Matarazzo 6 (best result 4th x2, second-best result DNF)
9. Stefano Modena 5 (best result 3rd, second-best result 6th)
10. Gianni Morbidelli 4 (best result 5th x2, second-best result 13th)
11. Nelson Piquet 4 (best result 4th, second-best result 6th)
12. Bertrand Gachot 3 (best result 4th, second-best result 7th x2)
13. Pierluigi Martini 3 (best result 4th, second-best result 8th)
14. Roberto Moreno 3 (best result 5th, second-best result 6th, third-best result 8th x2)
15. JJ Lehto 2 (best result 5th, second-best result 7th, third-best result 8th)
16. Satoru Nakajima 2 (best result 6th x2)
17. Martin Brundle 1 (best result 6th, second-best result 11th)

WCC after 8/16 rounds
1. Williams-Renault 63 (best result 1st x3, second-best result 2nd x5)
2. Ferrari 55 (best result 1st x2, second-best result 2nd x2, third-best result 3rd x4)
3. McLaren-Honda 47 (best result 1st x3, second-best result 2nd, second-best result 3rd x2, fourth-best result 4th)
4. Jordan-Ford 13 (best result 3rd, second-best result 4th x2, third-best result 5th, fourth-best result 6th)
5. Tyrrell-Honda 7 (best result 3rd, second-best result 6th x3)
6. Minardi-Ferrari 7 (best result 4th, second-best result 5th x2, third-best result 8th, fourth-best result 9th)
7. Benetton-Ford 7 (best result 4th, second-best result 5th, third-best result 6th x2, fourth-best result 8th x2)
8. Modena-Lamborghini 6 (best result 4th x2, second-best result 14th)
9. Dallara-Judd 2 (best result 5th, second-best result 7th x2)
10. Brabham-Yamaha 1 (best result 6th, second-best result 11th)

As this was the halfway point of the season, teams taking part in prequalifying will be reshuffled based on results from the last 16 races.

Exiting prequalifying:
Jordan-Ford
Modena-Lamborghini

Just barely escaping prequalifying:
Ligier-Lamborghini (best result in past 16 races: 6th, second-best result 7th, third-best result 8th)

Entering prequalifying:
Brabham-Yamaha (best result in past 16 races: 6th, second-best result 7th, third-best result 10th)
#11 Lotus-Judd (best result in past 16 races: 7th x2)
Fondmetal-Ford (best result in past 16 races: DNF)

Staying in prequalifying:
AGS-Ford (best result in past 16 races: 7th, second-best result DNF)
Coloni-Ford (best result in past 16 races: DNF)

[Nuppiz]

Round 9 - Germany
Matarazzo: 22nd in Q1, 10th in Q2, 8th in the race

That certainly was a race of two halves. I managed a blistering lap in qualifying which put me 10th on the grid, and followed suite with a great start that momentarily had me slipstreaming Prost's Ferrari on the run to the first chicane. I managed to slot myself between him and Alesi and stayed there until Lap 4 when I made a slight error at the third chicane, allowing Alesi to get past me. This threw me off balance and immediatedly at the next corner, entering the stadium section, I misjudged my braking point and went very wide, dropping down to 12th. Through other's misfortune I gained a couple of positions, until on Lap 12 Martini tried to overtake me in the first chicane and we hit each other. I escaped without major damage, only losing two positions, but I hear Martini wasn't so lucky as he was collected by Häkkinen who in turn was crashed into by Mansell a bit later. A couple of more retirements but me up into 9th, but my tyres were failing at an alrming rate despite being of the harder compound, and on Lap 16 once again went wide at the start of the stadium section, and after Herbert passed me on the next lap I had to make a pitstop for fresh rubber. After all that I was second-last and far away from other cars, with Herbert about 30 seconds ahead and Gugelmin 40 seconds behind and last. For a while the softer compound felt much better and I was able to catch Herbert a bit, but it only took 10 laps for the tyres to start failing again. On Lap 32 I made another pitstop and Gugelmin was only 7 seconds behind, but he retired not long afterwards and for the rest of the race the only time I saw other cars was when they started lapping me a bit before the end. Still, it was nice to finish another race in a row.

WDC after 9/16 rounds
1. Alain Prost 40 (best result 1st, second-best result 2nd x2, third-best result 3rd x4)
2. Nigel Mansell 33 (best result 1st x3, second-best result 5th, third-best result 6th)
3. Riccardo Patrese 30 (best result 2nd x5)
4. Gerhard Berger 27 (best result 1st x2, second-best result 3rd, third-best result 4th)
5. Ayrton Senna 20 (best result 1st, second-best result 2nd, third-best result 3rd)
6. Jean Alesi 15 (best result 1st, second-best result 4th, third-best result 5th, fourth-best result 7th)
7. Stefano Modena 11 (best result 2nd, second-best result 3rd, third-best result 6th)
8. Emanuele Pirro 10 (best result 1st, second-best result 7th)
9. Andrea de Cesaris 10 (best result 3rd, second-best result 4th, third-best result 5th, fourth-best result 6th)
10. JJ Lehto 6 (best result 3rd, second-best result 5th, third-best result 7th, fourth-best result 8th)
11. Bertrand Gachot 6 (best result 4th x2, second-best result 7th x2)
12. Artemio Matarazzo 6 (best result 4th x2, second-best result 8th)
13. Gianni Morbidelli 4 (best result 5th x2, second-best result 13th)
14. Nelson Piquet 4 (best result 4th, second-best result 6th)
15. Pierluigi Martini 3 (best result 4th, second-best result 8th)
16. Roberto Moreno 3 (best result 5th, second-best result 6th, third-best result 8th x2)
17. Ivan Capelli 2 (best result 5th, second-best result 9th)
18. Satoru Nakajima 2 (best result 6th x2)
19. Érik Comas 1 (best result 6th, second-best result 7th)
20. Martin Brundle 1 (best result 6th, second-best result 11th)

WCC after 9/16 rounds
1. Williams-Renault 63 (best result 1st x3, second-best result 2nd x5)
2. Ferrari 55 (best result 1st x2, second-best result 2nd x2, third-best result 3rd x4)
3. McLaren-Honda 47 (best result 1st x3, second-best result 2nd, second-best result 3rd x2, fourth-best result 4th)
4. Dallara-Judd 16 (best result 1st, second-best result 3rd, third-best result 5th, fourth-best result 7th x2)
5. Jordan-Ford 16 (best result 3rd, second-best result 4th x3, third-best result 5th, fourth-best result 6th)
6. Tyrrell-Honda 13 (best result 2nd, second-best result 3rd, third-best result 6th x3)
7. Minardi-Ferrari 7 (best result 4th, second-best result 5th x2, third-best result 8th, fourth-best result 9th)
8. Benetton-Ford 7 (best result 4th, second-best result 5th, third-best result 6th x2, fourth-best result 8th x2)
9. Modena-Lamborghini 6 (best result 4th x2, second-best result 8th, third-best result 14th)
10. Leyton House-Ilmor 2 (best result 5th, second-best result 9th x2)
11. Ligier-Lamborghini 1 (best result 6th, second-best result 7th)
12. Brabham-Yamaha 1 (best result 6th, second-best result 11th)

[Nuppiz]

Round 10 - Hungary
Matarazzo: 30th in Q1 DNQ

I hate this track...

WDC and WCC
Now in a handy spreadsheet!

Next race will feature the debut of a certain German driver...

[Nuppiz]

Round 11 - Belgium
Matarazzo: 11th in Q1, 10th in Q2, DNF in the race (brake failure)

I qualified and started well, but the tyres wore out very quickly and I had to make my first pitstop 15 laps in. I was briefly able to catch up other drivers again, but then lost a lot of time having to give way to cars that were already lapping me. Near my second pitstop, around lap 30, the car started acting weird. Initially I thought the tyres were badly worn out, but the pitstop didn't change anything. As it turns out my brakes were failing, and a few laps later I lost my brakes almost entirely and overshot La Source. I didn't crash into anything but the car was just too dangerous for me to continue.

WDC and WCC
Now in a handy spreadsheet!

While Schumacher impressed by qualifying well, his race performance remains to be seen. However, rumour has it Flavio Briatore has started to scheme something...

[Nuppiz]

Round 12 - Italy
Matarazzo: 7th in Q1, 7th in Q2, DNF in the race (crash)

The car felt good and fast all weekend, and in the race I ran as high as 6th. Unfortunately I was unable to keep a consistent pace in the race itself, and a few mistakes made me lose positions. Eventually I was down to 13th, and collided with Emanuele Pirro in the first corner. I had to pit in to replace my front wing and that dropped me last. That made me lose whatever concentration I had remaining and a few laps later I binned it.

Round 13 - Portugal
Matarazzo: 15th in Q1, 19th in Q2, DNF in the race (crash)

The car wasn't as fast as in Italy, but I had no trouble making it to the starting grid. I had a decent start and got myself up to the upper midfield, but that didn't last long as on the fourth lap I ran wide in the second corner and hit the wall hard. The car was undriveable after that.

WDC and WCC
Now in a handy spreadsheet!

This result helped Flavio Briatore make a decision, which we'll see in the next race...