Grand Prix Rejects

I'm always scared of F1 halving the race distance at some point, yet this is sounding all right....

1977 Season(Best 8 from first 9, best 7 from last 8) (Points:9-6-4-3-2-1)





(Top to Bottom) Andretti, Hunt, Scheckter and Watson in one of the most even fights for the Castelotti-Clark Cup in a while.

This season was the most open and competitive seasons so far, with four drivers having a realistic shot at the title throughout the season. From the first few races, it seemed James Hunt had the form capable to retain his Castellotti-Clark Cup wiith two second places and a victory at South Africa. However, beginning in Long Beach, two contenders appeared in view. First was Mario Andretti, stepping up big-time for Lotus with their new ground effect Lotus 78. With it, Andretti took two wins in the next five races, but was a tad inconsistent, which leads us to the next challenger, Jody Scheckter in the debuting Wolf outfit. Despite Scheckter running the solitary car, the Wolf WR1 was an absolute monster, and Scheckter let the monster run wild, taking three out of four three-lap victories at Long Beach, Monte-Carlo and Zolder.

After that, though, a fourth challenger put his hat into the ring. John Watson had won the opening race in Argentina, but apart from that, the start of his season didn't go too well. Then he came second in Monaco. Then second in Sweden and France. Broke the monotony of second place finishes with a win at Silverstone. Then another second at Hockenheim. Suddenly, the Brabham driver found himself with a prime shot at the title, as the results after Hockenheim looked like this:

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Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings -- 1977 German Grand Prix (6 Rounds to Go)

1. Jody Scheckter -- 50
2. John Watson -- 47
3. James Hunt -- 42
4. Mario Andretti -- 34
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With six rounds left, it was anybody's ball game between these four. And, apparently, John Watson was afraid of this ball game and ditched it.

For the remaining six Grands Prix, Watson only scored points once. A virus left Watson ill for Austria, and could only qualify 12th. Watson couldn't make up the six positions needed for points in three laps. In the Netherlands, his car broke down on lap one. At Monza, he was eighth on lap two, and his lunge of desperation for Castellotti-Clark points resulted in an off-track excursion that damaged his suspension and ended his day. And at Watkins Glen, Watson made the genius decision to stick slick tyres on a wet track. In three laps, he dropped from third to 25th. To further highlight his shame, his teammate, Hans-Joachim Stuck, went on wet tyres, which helped him win his only Three Lap victory of the season. By this point, he was well out of the leader's reach, points wise, basically eliminating himself from Castellotti-Clark Cup contention. But, you may ask, who was leading the Castellotti-Clark Cup at this time?

Both James Hunt and Mario Andretti had cooked up a storm in Austria and the Netherlands, Andretti flying away from the field in Austria after taking both Hunt and Niki Lauda in one fell swoop on lap one. Hunt instantly replied by holding off a ferocious Andretti to take the Three Lap victory in Zandvoort. Scheckter may have fallen off the top of the standings, but remained relevant through winning in Italy. Wildcard Stuck won in Watkins Glen, but Hunt kept Andretti humble in the fight for second. With two rounds to go, the race looked like this:

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Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings -- 1977 United States Grand Prix (2 Rounds to Go)

1. James Hunt -- 67 -- Max Dropped Points: 3
2. Jody Scheckter -- 64
3. Mario Andretti -- 59
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The dropped points could've gave Scheckter the incentive needed to push hard in the final two rounds, but a lazy performance in Canada saw him finish outside the points after lap three. In the meantime, Andretti took victory. Despite patchy early-season form, it seemed plausible that Andretti could catch back up to Hunt, who finished second at Mosport. And Hunt still had dropped points to spare. Once again, the title would be decided at Fuji,

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Castellotti-Clark Cup situation -- Final Round of 1977 at Fuji

Hunt wins if:
He wins
He 2nd, Andretti doesn't win
He finishes third, Andretti doesn't finish second or wins.
He finishes fourth or lower, Andretti finishes 3rd or lower, Scheckter doesn't win.

Andretti wins if:
He wins
He finishes 2nd, Hunt doesn't win

Scheckter wins if:
He wins, Andretti finishes 3rd or below, Hunt doesn't score points
--------------------------------------------

All eyes were on the top three: Andretti, Hunt, Scheckter. If Hunt wins, the title is his. If Andretti wins, the title is his. If Scheckter wins, the title may be his, but then it could also be Andretti's. Or Hunt's. Anybody's ball game.

In qualifying, Scheckter must've suffered the same bug in Canada, as he could only qualify a mediocre sixth, while in the all-important battle for pole, Andretti pipped Hunt by two-tenths of a second. With Scheckter out of the picture, the situation ended up much like Hunt and Lauda last year, where it would all come down to the three-lap battle between Andretti and Hunt at Fuji.

That battle was decided by turn one, lap one.

Andretti botched the start. He pulled away slowly. By the time the field reached the tight turn 1, Andretti was eighth. Hunt didn't botch the start. If anything, he was far and away leading the field. In second, though, was Jody Scheckter.

If anything happened to Hunt's car, Scheckter would take the Castellotti-Clark Cup.

Lap 2, and Andretti makes a risky dive on Jacques Laffite into turn 1, desperate to stay in the hunt. He runs wide and clouts the barrier. Race over for Andretti.

Meanwhile, Scheckter is losing ground on Hunt, having to fend off Hunt's McLaren teammate, Jochen Mass, over second.

Lap 3. Scheckter has kept Mass at bay. Only problem, Hunt's car hasn't failed.

James Hunt, for the second consecutive season, is the Castellotti-Clark Cup champion.

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James Hunt in the middle of claiming his second Castellotti-Clark Cup on the trot.

Driver's Standings(Dropped points/Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. James Hunt -- 79 (82) -- 4 Wins: RSA FRA NED JAP
2. Jody Scheckter -- 70 -- 5 Wins: USW MON BEL GER ITA
3. Mario Andretti -- 68 -- 4 Wins: ESP SWE AUT CAN
4. John Watson -- 50 -- 2 Wins: ARG GBR
5. Niki Lauda -- 32
6. Carlos Reutemann -- 25
7. Jochen Mass -- 19
8. Hans-Joachim Stuck -- 17 -- 1 Win: USA
9. Jacques Laffite -- 17 (1 2nd, 1 3rd, 1 4th, 2 5ths)
=. Gunnar Nilsson -- 17 (1 2nd, 1 3rd, 1 4th, 2 5ths)
11. Carlos Pace -- 11 -- 1 Win: BRA
12. Patrick Depailler -- 7
13. Ronnie Peterson -- 4
14. Clay Regazzoni -- 3
15. Emerson Fittipaldi -- 1
=. Patrick Tambay -- 1
=. Riccardo Patrese -- 1

Constructor's Standings(Dropped Scores/Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. McLaren-Ford -- 83 (86)
2. Lotus-Ford -- 75
3. Wolf-Ford -- 70 (5 Wins)
4. Brabham-Alfa Romeo -- 70 (4 Wins)
5. Ferrari -- 50
6. Ligier-Matra -- 17
7. Tyrrell-Ford -- 11
8. Ensign-Ford -- 3
9. Fittipaldi-Ford -- 1
=. Theodore-Ford -- 1
=. Shadow-Ford -- 1

1978 Season(Best 7 from first 8, best 7 from last 8) (Points:9-6-4-3-2-1)


Mario Andretti representing the red, white and blue (and Lotus black-and-gold) at Long Beach

Driver's Standings(Dropped points/Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Mario Andretti -- 92 (94) -- 7 Wins: ARG RSA BEL SWE FRA GBR NED
2. Ronnie Peterson -- 46 -- 2 Wins: GER AUT
3. Niki Lauda -- 39
4. Carlos Reutemann -- 38 -- 2 Wins: BRA USA
5. Gilles Villeneuve -- 36 -- 2 Wins: USW ITA
6. John Watson -- 34 -- 1 Win: MON
7. Jody Scheckter -- 25
8. James Hunt -- 23 -- 1 Win: ESP
9. Patrick Depailler -- 12
10. Riccardo Patrese -- 10
11. Jean-Pierre Jarier -- 9 -- 1 Win: CAN
12. Jean-Pierre Jabouille -- 6
13. Jacques Laffite -- 4
14. Patrick Tambay -- 3
15. Emerson Fittipaldi -- 2

Constructor's Standings(Dropped Scores/Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. Lotus-Ford -- 109 (115)
2. Ferrari -- 60
3. Brabham-Alfa Romeo -- 54
4. McLaren-Ford -- 25 (1 Win)
5. Wolf-Ford -- 25 (1 2nd)
6. Williams-Ford -- 19
7. Tyrrell-Ford -- 12
8. Arrows-Ford -- 10
9. Renault -- 6
10. Ligier-Matra -- 4
11. Fittipaldi-Ford -- 2

This was most certainly, most positively, the season of Lotus. Taking full-advantage of their innovation of ground effect, the Lotus 78 and 79 were pretty much unstoppable, and it was clear that a Lotus driver would win the title. The question was, which one?

All eyes pointed to Ronnie Peterson, given his dominating Castellotti-Clark Cup run in 1973 that saw him be the first driver to score 100 points overall in a season. However, when he was still dealing with the Lotus 78, Peterson tanked hard, often failing to find the points places at all. One driver that was dealing with the 78 well, though, was one Mario Andretti, and he took win after win in dominating fashion, including a streak of three wins on the trot in mid-season. Though Peterson managed to pick up the pace once he got the Lotus 79, it was too little too late, and tragically, the Swede passed away in a fatal crash off the start line at Monza.

Peterson has 15 Castellotti-Clark Cup victories, fifth all-time, most of which coming in his cracking 8-win season in 1973. And, despite Andretti's outright dominance this season, he came just short of most of Peterson's records in 1973. His 7 wins came one short of Peterson's 8, and his terrific 94 points overall, 92 including dropped scores, is just 6 points shy of Peterson's haul in 1973. Only the gap between first and second was broken, with a 46 point gulf to Peterson, who despite his shaky start and unfortunate accident at Monza, still finished second at the table.

There was a tasty battle for third in the driver's title and second in the constructor's between both Brabhams and both Ferraris, where Niki Lauda claimed third through sheer consistency despite being the only one of the quartet to go winless through the season. The Ferraris of Reutemann and Villeneuve were fast but erratic, capable of one-twos but more often than not failing to claim any points, while Lauda and Watson were consistent but not that quick, the Brabhams taking the sole race victory not in the fan car, but in Monaco, with Watson benefitting from, out of all people, an incident involving Reutemann.

Other notables include reigning two-time champ James Hunt seeing his three-peat attempt peter out before it began, with the sole win in Spain. Newcomers Arrows and Williams both impressed in their first full seasons, while Jean-Pierre Jarier gave Lotus a much-needed morale-boosting victory in Montreal following Peterson's fatal accident.

1979 Season(Best 4 from first 7, best 4 from last 8) (Points:9-6-4-3-2-1)


Gilles Villeneuve mastering the Ferrari at Watkins Glen, though the season could've gone very differently...

Driver's Standings(Dropped points/Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Gilles Villeneuve -- 63 (75) -- 6 Wins: RSA USW FRA AUT CAN USA
2. Alan Jones -- 39 (51) -- 3 Wins: GBR GER NED
3. Jody Scheckter -- 34 (37) -- 1 Win: MON
4. Patrick Depailler -- 33 (42) -- 3 Wins: ARG ESP BEL
5. Jacques Laffite -- 33 (37) -- 1 Win: BRA
6. Jean-Pierre Jabouille -- 26 (30)
7. Rene Arnoux -- 16 -- 1 Win: ITA
8. Carlos Reutemann -- 14 (3 3rds)
9. Clay Regazzoni -- 14 (17) (2 3rds)
10. Niki Lauda -- 12
11. Nelson Piquet -- 10
12. Mario Andretti -- 9 (10)
13. Jean-Pierre Jarier -- 8
14. John Watson -- 6
15. Didier Prioni -- 5
16. Emerson Fittipaldi -- 3
17. Riccardo Patrese -- 1
=. Keke Rosberg -- 1

Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. Ferrari -- 112
2. Ligier-Ford -- 79
3. Williams-Ford -- 68
4. Renault -- 46
5. Lotus-Ford -- 24
6. Brabham-Alfa -- 19
7. Tyrrell-Ford -- 13
8. McLaren-Ford -- 6
9. Fittipaldi-Ford -- 3
=. Brabham-Ford -- 3
11. Arrows-Ford -- 1
=. Wolf-Ford -- 1

From all the end of season stats, it seemed this was the year of Villeneuve. Six wins throughout the season, completed with a theoretically perfect second half of the season, after taking into account the... awkward points system. Whatever it was, the record books will show this year was the year of Villeneuve. But that, arguably, shouldn't have been the case.

This season should've been the season of Patrick Depailler.

After six years in Tyrrell with nary a victory in the Three Lap Champs, Depailler made a move to Ligier for a breath of fresh air. And when he took a whiff of that fresh air, he smelled victory.

That first half of a season was incredible for Depailler. In the first six races, Depailler took three victories and two second place finishes, with only a bungled strategy call at Kyalami costing him any points in that timespan. Though Gilles Villeneuve picked up most of the scraps whenever Depailler didn't finish on the top step, after the seventh race in Monaco and the first cutoff point for dropped scores, Patrick Depailler had a solid cushion over the trailing Villeneuve, with teammate Jacques Laffite not far behind.

And then, after Monaco, Depailler went hang-gliding in Clemont-Ferrand. He flew too close to a mountain, and a gust of wind carried him into the rockface. The championship leader broke both his legs. His miracle season had come to a cruel halt. The season of Depailler had come to an end.

Laffite and Jody Scheckter, while they had solid runs in the first half of the season, couldn't find any legs to carry them into the second half. Alan Jones started a serious challenge to Villeneuve in the latter half of the season with his new Williams FW07, but with the unique 'half-and-half' points system introduced this season, Jones had no chance for the title. And, all fairness to Villeneuve, he still had a difficult job, especially fending of Jones, but those four wins in the back half of the season, capping off the 'theoretically perfect' to the season, he became the first Canadian to win the Castellotti-Clark Cup.

Just imagine, though. Patrick Depailler blew his chance at the Castellotti-Clark Cup to go hang gliding. What a shame.

1980 Season(Best 5 from first 7, best 5 from last 8) (Points:9-6-4-3-2-1)








Piquet, Laffite, Pironi, Jones, Jabouille, Arnoux. I'm not joking, ALL SIX drivers had a realistic shot at the title at one point in the season.

Part 1

Yes, those photos are there for a reason. All six drivers had, at one point, a realistic shot at the championship. Not even joking, if you thought 1956 was close, 1980 was tight. And the 1956 season gave us one of our namesakes for the Three Lap Championship. No matter who wins this season, it will definitely go down in history.

The first of the six was Nelson Piquet, and one of two drivers in the field with minimal, if any, pedigree in the Castellotti-Clark Cup coming into 1980. He made his debut in 1978 with Ensign and BS Fabrications, but was soon thrown into a baptism of fire, pairing up with two-time Castellotti-Clark Cup winner Niki Lauda in Brabham for 1979. However, Piquet proved he wasn't exactly BS behind the wheel, giving a Lauda a rough fight in the Three Lap Champs, nabbing a podium along the way. As Lauda quit Formula 1, Piquet would be spearheading Brabham's fight for the Castellotti-Clark Cup into 1980.

Next up were the Ligier boys of Jacques Laffite and Didier Pironi. Ligier had been a midfielder for a few seasons now, scoring the occasional podium here and there, but by 1979 and the introduction of Cosworth engines, they took off. Patrick Depailler was most definitely on course to being champion in 1979 until he broke his legs in a hang-gliding accident, and teammate Jacques Laffite, while not the fastest, was a consistent points scorer. For 1980, they recruited youngster Didier Pironi from Tyrrell to pair up with Laffite for this season, and if nobody goes hang-gliding, they might just muscle their way to a Castellotti-Clark Cup.

Let's not forget Alan Jones in the Williams. Jones and Williams were both fairly anonymous until the latter half of last season, where the introduction of the FW07 launched the duo to the front of the grid, with their form in the second half of the season alone was enough to propel Jones to second in the championship and Williams to third in the constructors. Now that the FW07 was ready for the full season, it looked like a formality that they would, at the very least, give the engravers of the Castellotti-Clark Cup some penmanship practice in etching their names onto the trophy.

And finally, the dark horses of the season, the Renaults. Introducing turbocharged engines into Formula One, Renault were banging on the doors of the Castellotti-Clark Cup for some time, but last season was when they found a formula for success with the turbos, with Jean-Pierre Jabouille managing consistent results while teammate Rene Arnoux stole a win from the Jones-Villeneuve duopoly in the second half of the season at Monza. The only downsides to the Renault was that, on tight circuits and cold conditions, they would struggle to get anything going, but on power circuits like Hockenheim and Monza, they were the team to beat. Also, they had horrific reliability, but surely that wouldn't matter in a championship like the Castellotti-Clark Cup....right?

Anyway, given how wild this season is, I couldn't simply write a nice report recapping most of the season, as it's unlikely it'd be a true representation of the manic season. Instead, let's split it into four phases in the season, three phases of four races, then the final phase covering the last two events. Shall we?

Phase 1: All up for grabs

The first few races of the season were manic, with the race at Buenos Aires setting the tone for the season, as both Renaults dropped to the very back in the first three laps with technical problems, Pironi slipped out of the points due to engine troubles, as Jones, Piquet and Laffite secured the podium.

The next two races were all Jean-Pierre Jabouille, though, his Renault turbo literally giving him a boost into two straight wins at Brazil at South Africa. Arnoux was playing rear gunner, but was putting in a solid run of his own, completing the Renault 1-2 at Kyalami. The Ligiers were looking competitive as well, but it would be all Laffite at this point in the season, being the only driver to realistically challenge the Renaults, while Jones and Piquet would find their own problems through these first few races.

Long Beach saw Piquet rise back to the top with Renault's problems on street circuits, though Arnoux did manage a credible fourth behind Jones in third and Patrick Depailler in second, the Frenchman struggling with Alfa Romeo for the first few rounds but finding his feet at Long Beach. However, the leader at this point was still Jabouille, with his two wins enough to lead the championship in this early phase.

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Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1980 US West Grand Prix (10 Rounds to Go)

1. Jean-Pierre Jabouille -- 18
2. Alan Jones -- 17
3. Nelson Piquet -- 15
4. Jacques Laffite -- 13
5. Rene Arnoux -- 12
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Phase Two: Pironi Power

You may have noticed that only five of the six profiled drivers were in the above standings. Where was Pironi, you ask? Well, Pironi had a disastrous start to the season, with engine problems and poor starts saddling Didier, with only one third place to show for his early-season efforts. Over the next four races, though, that didn't matter, as he scored three victories over the next four races, with a third at Paul Ricard being the sole 'blip' in this run of victories, but no matter, he had the championship lead.

Granted, he only had the championship lead thanks to dropped points, which had already taken effect with the ridonkulous half-and-half points system. Otherwise, Alan Jones would've been ahead with a consistent run of podium finishes from Kyalami to Monaco, but one too many finishes meant he had to deduct his fourth place from the French Grand Prix. Likewise, Laffite suffered the same fate, as he too had consistent podium finishes and the win in Paul Ricard that Pironi couldn't manage in his hot streak, but still had to negate one of his two fourth-place finishes.

Jean-Pierre Jabouille, meanwhile, only wished he could've had enough finishes to drop points. Remember how I said reliability didn't really matter in the Castellotti-Clark Cup? For Jabouille, it did. Both Renaults struggled at Monaco and, surprisingly, Brands Hatch, but at Zolder and Paul Ricard, they managed decent qualifying positions, which should've been a shoe-in for points in these two races. However, in both races, Jabouille's car didn't even make it to the first turn, his clutch disintegrating in Belgium and his half-shaft going up in smoke in France. At least Arnoux scored some points in these races, including a credible second in France, but Renault were easily the worst performers in this phase.

And spare a thought for Nelson Piquet. Unlike the Renaults, Piquet had been a consistent points scorer in this set of races, but unlike the Ligiers and Jones, Nelson wasn't consistently on the podium. Heck, he wasn't on any podium in this set of races, with just a 4th, 5th and a couple of 6ths that saw him slowly rack up points while the rest blasted off ahead of him.

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Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1980 British Grand Prix (6 Rounds to Go)(Dropped Points in Brackets)

1. Didier Pironi -- 35
2. Alan Jones -- 33 (36)
3. Jacques Laffite -- 32 (35)
4. Nelson Piquet -- 22
5. Rene Arnoux -- 20
6. Jean-Pierre Jabouille -- 18
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Stay tuned for Part Two on Tuesday...

1980 Season(Best 5 from first 7, best 5 from last 8) (Points:9-6-4-3-2-1)








Piquet, Laffite, Pironi, Jones, Jabouille, Arnoux. I'm not joking, ALL SIX drivers had a realistic shot at the title at one point in the season.


Part 2

When we last left off the 1980 season, the standings looked sorta like this...

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Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1980 British Grand Prix (6 Rounds to Go)(Dropped Points in Brackets)

1. Didier Pironi -- 35
2. Alan Jones -- 33 (36)
3. Jacques Laffite -- 32 (35)
4. Nelson Piquet -- 22
5. Rene Arnoux -- 20
6. Jean-Pierre Jabouille -- 18
------------------------------------------------

And as you'll see in the upcoming part, this title race will turn right on its head in the final 6 rounds of the season...

Phase 3: Renault Revival

The German Grand Prix marked the start of the Renault revival, who were bogged down in the last few races with woeful reliability and tracks that didn't suit the heavily-powered Renaults, but when the circus arrived to the ultra-fast Hockenheim circuit, the Renaults were back at home. And once again, it would be Jean-Pierre Jabouille dominating proceedings, but Alan Jones played the spoiler in the Renault party, splitting the podium. The Ligiers were no match for the Renaults, but at least they scored decent points, unlike Nelson Piquet, who's slow getaway relegated him out of the points positions.

If Jones was a spoiler in Germany, he was definitely a party crasher in Austria, almost stealing victory from the Renaults after a lightning start, but sparing the French team's blushes was Rene Arnoux, overtaking Jones on the vital lap three to secure the win. Didier Pironi seemed set to score decent points to at least maintain a challenge on the title, but after coming in fourth on lap two, he gave up positions to Bruno Giacomelli, Carlos Reutemann and Nelson Piquet on lap three, costing him precious Castellotti-Clark Cup points.

However, despite the Renault revival, Alan Jones now had a firm lead on the championship, and in the Netherlands, he looked set to clinch it all, pulling a 1.5-second lead on the first lap. On the second lap, though, he ran wide at Hugenholtz, damaging his side skirt. Despite desperate attempts to hold the field up to get a good Three Lap Champs result, there was nothing Jones could do, pulling into the pits. Rene Arnoux could've had his second win on the trot, but Jacques Laffite was there to deny him success with a pass on lap three to take his second Three Lap victory of the season. This was a great result for Ligier, helping them maintain some grasp on the constructor's championship, especially since teammate Pironi got taken out by Elio de Angelis on lap three and the Renaults finished 2-3 that race.

The Renaults could've converted that lovely 2-3 into a 1-2 at the next race at Imola, when in their true fashion locked out the front row and got away to a blitzing start, Arnoux ahead of Jabouille. However, Jabouille smelled Castellotti-Clark success around the corner for himself. On lap three, at Tosa, Jabouille took the lead from Arnoux. Arnoux was desperate to make a fight back for his own Castellotti-Clark Cup chances, but after pulling out of his move into Piratella, Nelson Piquet, took advantage, made a late lunge into Acque Minerale and finished in second to keep his own Castellotti-Clark Cup chances alive. This was especially important, given his teammate, the woeful Hector Rebaque, of all people, kept championship leader Alan Jones out of the points.

And the Ligier boys? They weren't out of the championship, but judging from their performance at Imola, they'd completely lost the plot, running their cars on the wrong setup, leaving Pironi and Laffite to start the race from 13th and 20th respectively, ruining any chance they could've had for any Castellotti-Clark Cup points. They needed, given how their only points since Hockenheim was Laffite's victory at Zandvoort.

The Championship Situation

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Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1980 Italian Grand Prix (2 Rounds to Go)(Dropped Points/Tiebreaker Criteria in Brackets)

1. Alan Jones -- 45 (48)
2. Jean-Pierre Jabouille -- 44 (4 wins)
3. Jacques Laffite -- 44 (47) (2 wins)
4. Rene Arnoux -- 43
5. Didier Pironi -- 37
6. Nelson Piquet -- 31
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Alan Jones may have held the championship lead, but with two non-scoring races and the recent revival of Renault, it's looking mightily perilous for the Australian at the top. Jean-Pierre Jabouille is snapping right at his heels, and after a hot streak of two wins and two other third places, Jabouille is starting to look like the favourite here to challenge for Jones' title. Laffite's form may have dipped alongside Ligier, but he's still holding his own, and his win at Zandvoort has proven that Laffite could still deliver if the sun shined right for him.

It was likely that Arnoux could've been ahead of Jones on point had he not lost the lead on the final (third) lap in both Zandvoort and Imola, two moments that could prove costly to Arnoux and Renault in the grand scheme of such a close championship. Didier Pironi had lost all sense of how to perform over Three Laps since his mid-season run of form, but his underdog presence was still felt. And if Pironi felt like an underdog, just imagine Nelson Piquet. After a good start to the season, his final hope was to win the last two races and hope that Jones couldn't find any points in the last two races. It could seem impossible, but stranger things have happened...

Phase Four: The Climax

This was it. The last two events of the season. In Canada and the United States. Alan Jones had found himself on pole, but with Nelson Piquet second and Didier Pironi third on the grid, the first three laps were going to be frantic. Mercifully for Jones, though, his three closest rivals weren't anywhere near. Laffite was ninth, potentially able to score a point, but the Renaults were wayyyyyyy back. The Renault's hatred of tight tracks returned, Jabouille qualifying a miserable thirteenth and Arnoux...23rd?! He'd reportedly had a crash in Friday qualifying and couldn't set a terribly quick laptime on the Saturday, leaving himself in 23rd.

Piquet knew he had to win, but he also knew that Jones had to fail to finish to give himself a fighting chance at the championship. Call it intentional, call it accidental, but you all knew what would happen.

No more than 200 metres into the race, Piquet ran into the side of Jones.

Unfortunately for Piquet, this accident pitched the Brabham into the barriers instead of Jones. Mercifully for Piquet, the race was restarted. On the restart, Pironi knew he had to get himself a good jump from third to climb to the lead to keep his own title hopes alive. However, he got a bit too good of a jump and completely false-started. However, since he was issued a time penalty and NOT a disqualification, it's good enough for Castellotti-Clark rules to let this slide. Besides, Pironi was unable to take the lead after Jones got off to a much better start to claim the early lead. However, once again, a final lap overtake was responsible for the race result. However, it wasn't Pironi on Jones. Instead, it would be Nelson Piquet, who overtook Pironi on lap two, to take the race lead away from Jones on lap three, giving Nelson Piquet the victory.

But everyone was looking at second. Alan Jones had finished second. Pironi only finished third. This knocked Pironi and Piquet out of contention despite their best results in a long while. And Laffite, Jabouille and Arnoux had all failed to score.

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Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1980 Canadian Grand Prix (1 Round to Go)(Dropped Points/Tiebreaker Criteria in Brackets) (Asterisk indicates in championship contention)

*1. Alan Jones -- 51 (54)
*2. Jean-Pierre Jabouille -- 44 (4 wins)
*3. Jacques Laffite -- 44 (47) (2 wins)
*4. Rene Arnoux -- 43
5. Didier Pironi -- 41
6. Nelson Piquet -- 40 (Set to drop 1 point)
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The situation for Laffite, Jabouille and Arnoux was pretty simple: WIN. And hope Alan Jones doesn't score any points. But most importantly, WIN.

However, just moments after the Castellotti-Clark Cup race at Canada ended, so did one driver's hopes for the Cup. On lap 26 of the Canadian Grand Prix, Jean-Pierre Jabouille ran wide at the end of a turn, and crashed into a tyre wall head-on. The chassis folded in half. Jarier broke both his legs. He'd be out of the season finale at Watkins Glen, and after a failed return the next year for Ligier, he retired from Formula 1 due to complications from these injuries.

Rene Arnoux and Jacques Laffite still had a shot at the title, though, as long as Alan Jones didn't score any points at Watkins Glen. All they needed to do was win, something Laffite had done twice this season, and Rene Arnoux had done once. Not impossible.

If anything, Alan Jones, made the task easy for them. On lap 1, Jones got a blinding start from fifth on the grid to second into the first turn. Only problem: he completely missed his braking point into the 90 and went into the gravel. Jones would rejoin in twelfth and would finish out of the points. The only thing we'd need to keep track of was where Laffite and Arnoux was on lap three. That would decide it.

Jacques Laffite hit a wall in Friday qualifying, and on Saturday was woeful, just placing twelfth on the grid. He'd benefited from Jones' excursion on lap one to advance up to eighth, but that was as far as the Frenchman would go this race.

Rene Arnoux had a significantly better qualifying than Laffite, placing sixth. Not the best, sure, but it was still just one position behind Jones. If he got a similar start to Jones and didn't end up in the turn 1 gravel, he'd be in prime position to win the Castellotti-Clark Cup.

His start wasn't fast like Jones' was. Still he was at least sixth or seventh by the time he hit the braking point for the 90.

Coming up behind him, though, was Andrea de Cesaris. The youngster was making only his second Grand Prix start. He had a quick start, and found a gap down the inside of Arnoux into turn one.

De Cesaris missed his braking point and ran into the dirt at turn one, forcing Arnoux with him. de Cesaris and Arnoux ended up at the back of the field. That was the end of Rene Arnoux's Castellotti-Clark Cup challenge.

The race was won by, out of all people, Bruno Giacomelli, the only race winner outside the top six. Finishing second, though, was Nelson Piquet. And with this result, he'd completely leapfrogged the entire pack to claim the runners-up medal in the Castellotti-Clark Cup. Didier Pironi finished fourth, and with that, forced a three-way tie for third in the standings, only separated by the amount of wins each driver had. Jabouille had four, Pironi three, and Laffite just two, with Arnoux just one point behind the entire pack. Pironi's results in the last two races were also just enough to see Ligier clinch the constructor's title ahead of Renault by a meagre four points in the ferocious French fight for first.

But your Castellotti-Clark Cup winner for 1980 was none other than Alan Jones. And, rather notably, after his win in the season opener at Buenos Aires, he didn't win another race. That's right, in the closest championship battle in recent times, Alan Jones won it with a solitary victory, which is a new Castellotti-Clark Cup record.


Alan Jones in the United States East Grand Prix at Watkins Glen

Driver's Standings(Dropped points/Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Alan Jones -- 51 (54) -- 1 Win: ARG
2. Nelson Piqet -- 45 (46) -- 2 Wins: USW CAN
3. Jean-Pierre Jabouille -- 44 -- 4 Wins: BRA RSA GER ITA
4. Didier Pironi -- 44 -- 3 Wins: BEL MON GBR
5. Jacques Laffite -- 44 (47) -- 2 Wins: FRA NED
6. Rene Arnoux -- 43 -- 1 Win: AUT
7. Carlos Reutemann -- 25
8. Bruno Giacomelli -- 20 -- 1 Win: USE
9. Patrick Depailler -- 9
10. Gilles Villeneuve -- 6
11. Elio de Angelis -- 4
12. Jody Scheckter -- 3
13. Hector Rebaque -- 2
14. Jochen Mass -- 1
=. Alain Prost -- 1
=. John Watson -- 1

Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. Ligier-Ford -- 91
2. Renault -- 87
3. Williams-Ford -- 79
4. Brabham-Ford -- 48
5. Alfa Romeo -- 29
6. Ferrari -- 9
7. Lotus-Ford -- 4
8. McLaren-Ford -- 2
9. Arrows-Ford -- 1

1981 Season(Best 11 Results) (Points:9-6-4-3-2-1)



Alain Prost, smooth as ever, guiding his Renault RE30 in it's first race at Monaco

After the crazy mess that was last season with a good six drivers in title contention, the first half of the season saw at least four drivers burst into title contention. I mean, it was still crazy, but at least people could keep track.

Carlos Reutemann was easily overshadowed by teammate Alan Jones last season, so much so he wasn't even close to being in the title hunt throughout the entirety of last season despite consistent performances. So when this year came around, the Argentine, who was starting to grow a dislike for last season's Castellotti-Clark Cup winner, burst right out of the starting gates, with five podiums in the first five races to protrude into a solid lead early in the championship.

It's not like Jones was slow. Well, he was definitely slower than Reutemann, but he still put in a fair few good results, including a win in Spain, to keep the Australian in some form of title contention. However, he was running behind two other drivers. The first was Nelson Piquet, keeping the momentum up from his good end-of-season form last year, though he was often inconsistent. He won the most races in the first half of the season, with three victories, but his inconsistency left him languishing behind Reutemann for the time being. Also in contention was, surprisingly, Gilles Villeneuve. While it seemed Ferrari's pace hadn't recovered from its drop in pace in 1980, Villeneuve was dragging that awful thing to results it didn't deserve, and somehow, by mid-season, was right in the mix of the title fight.

------------------------------------------------
Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1981 French Grand Prix (7 Rounds to Go)

1. Carlos Reutemann -- 39
2. Nelson Piquet -- 33
3. Alan Jones -- 28
4. Gilles Villeneuve -- 27
------------------------------------------------

So, which one of these four would win the title in the end?

The answer was none of them.

It wasn't fifth in the standings, which was the surprise of Riccardo Patrese in the freakin' Arrows. Yep, Patrese took the first win of the season in one of the biggest shocks in Castellotti-Clark Cup history, but nothing came from that as the Arrows dwindled later in the season after the shocking debacle at the Belgian Grand Prix.

It also wasn't sixth in the standings, either, which was Didier Pironi. Villeneuve's team mate at Ferrari only had a few notable results in the first half in the season, and though he did get decent results in the second half to catch up to Villeneuve, he didn't overtake any of the four on the top of the table.

Instead, it was the guy in seventh in the standings at the midway point that won. And he only had 11 points by midway.

That man was one Alain Prost. He only scored one Castellotti-Clark Cup point before this, and though he switched to the Renault team for this season, results were hard to come by. However, after the Spanish Grand Prix, Renault switched to their new RE30 for Monaco and beyond. And, in the hands of Prost, it worked wonders.

It took Prost a little while to get it going, but his first major result was second in the French Grand Prix. Then he won in Great Britain. Then he won in Germany. Then he won in Austria. Then he won in the Netherlands. Then he won in Italy. Five wins in five races. From 28 points behind, he was six points ahead.

Nelson Piquet and Gilles Villeneuve were consistent scorers, but often placed in the tail end of the points. Jones and Reutemann had slightly better pace but were woefully inconsistent. Still, Reutemann was the only driver with even a sliver of a chance at retaking the championship away from Prost. But after his disappearing act following contact with Alan Jones off the start of the grid at Canada, the Castellotti-Clark Cup went to Alain Prost.

Who'd have imagined that?

Driver's Standings(Dropped points/Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Alain Prost -- 66 -- 5 Wins: GBR GER AUT NED ITA
2. Alan Jones -- 57 -- 3 Wins: ESP CAN CPL
3. Nelson Piquet -- 50 -- 3 Wins: ARG MON FRA
4. Carlos Reutemann -- 50 (51) -- 1 Win: BRA
5. Gilles Villeneuve -- 32 -- 1 Win: SMR
6. Didier Pironi -- 30 -- 1 Win: BEL
7. Rene Arnoux -- 21
8. Riccardo Patrese -- 18 -- 1 Win: ARG
9. Jacques Laffite -- 14
10. John Watson -- 11
11. Bruno Giacomelli -- 7
12. Nigel Mansell -- 5 (1 3rd)
13. Elio de Angelis -- 5 (1 4th)
14. Mario Andretti -- 3
15. Hector Rebaque -- 2
=. Elio de Angelis -- 2
17. Keke Rosberg -- 1

Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. Williams-Ford -- 108
2. Renault -- 87
3. Ferrari -- 62
4. Brabham-Ford -- 52
5. Arrows-Ford -- 18
6. Ligier-Matra -- 14
7. McLaren-Ford -- 13
8. Alfa Romeo -- 10 (1 3rd, 2 4ths)
9. Lotus-Ford -- 10 (1 3rd, 1 4th)
10. Fittipaldi-Ford -- 1

No, you're not hallucinating. Indeed, here's two in a day...

1982 Season(Best 11 Results) (Points:9-6-4-3-2-1)


The dominant Rene Arnoux. No other words. Just dominant.

Driver's Standings(Dropped points/Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Rene Arnoux -- 87 (100) -- 7 Wins: RSA SMR BEL MON CAN ITA CPL
2. Alain Prost -- 63 (71) -- 3 Wins: DET NED SUI
3. Riccardo Patrese -- 41 -- 2 Wins: FRA AUT
4. Nelson Piquet -- 40 -- 2 Wins: GBR GER
5. Didier Pironi -- 29
6. Gilles Villeneuve -- 19 -- 1 Win: BRA
7. Andrea de Cesaris -- 17 -- 1 Win: USW
8. Keke Rosberg -- 15
9. Niki Lauda -- 13 (1 2nd, 1 3rd)
10. Bruno Giacomelli -- 13 (1 2nd, 1 4th)
11. Patrick Tambay -- 10 (1 3rd, 1 4th)
12. Michele Alboreto -- 10 (1 3rd, 3 5ths)
13. Elio de Angelis -- 5
14. Nigel Mansell -- 4 (1 4th, 1 6th)
=. Mario Andretti -- 4 (1 4th, 1 6th)
16. Eddie Cheever -- 4 (1 5th)
17. John Watson -- 2
=. Carlos Reutemann -- 2
19. Derek Daly -- 1

Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. Renault -- 171
2. Brabham-BMW -- 78
3. Ferrari -- 62
4. Alfa Romeo -- 30
5. Williams-Ford -- 18
6. McLaren-Ford -- 15
7. Tyrrell-Ford -- 10
8. Lotus-Ford -- 9
9. Ligier-Matra -- 4
10. Brabham-Ford -- 3

This was Arnoux's season of dominance. More generally, this season was all Renault. After Prost stormed the second half of the season in the RE30, it was now his teammate's chance to shine. And Arnoux didn't just shine like a star, he exploded like a supernova. Ronnie Peterson set a nigh-unbeatable 100 points scored in total back in 1973. Rene Arnoux just tied that record.

Even with Arnoux's dominance, there were a few minor blips in his hot streak. The first was in the opening rounds of the season, where Gilles Villeneuve and, out of all people, Andrea de Cesaris, scored victories in Brazil and Long Beach. Indeed, in those opening rounds, it looked like it was going to be a wacky season, with oddball victories and disqualifications galore (And I MEAN DQ's galore.). Heck, Villeneuve was the only driver keeping pace with Arnoux in the first few races of the season, but sadly his fatal crash in Zolder halted what would've been a decent title fight.

The second blip came when Brabham launched onto the scene in Great Britain with their recently-installed BMW turbos and a concept called refuelling that allowed them to gain an advantage early in the race for precious Castellotti-Clark Cup points. Indeed, their four race win streak from Brands Hatch to Dijon almost killed Arnoux's record setting season. However, Arnoux took two more Castellotti-Clark Cup wins in Italy and Caesar's freakin' Palace to announce to the world that he was truly untouchable.

Wow, I'm amazed how far back Rosberg is although I never expected him to do well in this one. Just 15 points!

1983 Season(Best 11 Results) (Points:9-6-4-3-2-1)





The newcomer, the dominator, the contender: Tambay, Arnoux and Piquet.

There's no denying, these three - Patrick Tambay, Rene Arnoux and Nelson Piquet - were the main contenders for the title come season end. But in the middle, this season had so, so many people playing bit parts here and there, that it'd probably be impossible not to mention most of the supporting players.

First mention has to go to the dominators of the early part of the season. It was unsurprising that it would be Alain Prost and the dominant Renault that'd get a jump early on the rest of the field, given Renault's absolutely dominant season last year. The surprise came in Keke Rosberg, who was sticking the normally-aspirated Williams in places it clearly wasn't meant to be in. After winning in Brazil and finishing second at Long Beach, which came after this miraculous save when diving for the Three Lap victory, a win in Monaco launched him to the top of the standings after five rounds.

The funny thing about that, Rosberg would only score one more point for the entire season.

After Belgium, where Andrea de Cesaris took his seemingly annual victory in the Alfa Romeo, Prost assumed the lead of the championship. But it wouldn't last long.

At Detroit, Piquet, who'd had a very shaky start to the season, especially stalling on the grid in Imola, finally got on track with a win, and Rene Arnoux took second place with his new team, Ferrari.

And so began the brief spell of Ferrari finding fabulous form for fantastic finishes for four fetes. Four races, four victories, and THREE 1-2's. However, unlike most seasons where a team was dominant, no one driver got a heads up over the rest. Arnoux and teammate Tambay were neck-and-neck, splitting two victories apiece over that four race spell. The only advantage Arnoux had was at Detroit, where he finished second as Tambay stalled on the grid. But that caused an issue.

The last race of that dominant streak, Austria, was the eleventh round of the season. For this season, only the best 11 results counted. And for Arnoux, he had already scored points in all rounds. However, given the Castellotti-Clark Cup standings at the time, and with just four rounds left, Arnoux shouldn't be worried...

------------------------------------------------
Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1983 Austrian Grand Prix(4 Rounds to Go)

1. Rene Arnoux -- 55
2. Patrick Tambay -- 49
3. Alain Prost -- 41
4. Nelson Piquet -- 33
------------------------------------------------

These four drivers were basically everyone that could challenge Rene Arnoux for whatever he could offer. Tambay still had one points finish to complete 11. Prost was consistent, but his not-that-fast pace over the latter half punished him, had was two points finishes down on Arnoux.

But Piquet, thanks to his dire early-season form, still had three points finishes left. It'd be a tall order to challenge for the title, but not impossible. But maybe too far to dethrone king Arnoux, that is, if Tambay doesn't play Brutus and dethrones his teammate himself.

Zandvoort came around, and for the first time in a long, loooong time, the king was wounded. Arnoux suffered all sorts of gremlins in qualifying and only lined up on the grid in tenth. What's worse, Piquet was pole, and Tambay was second. If Tambay won, he'd be ahead and probably difficult to catch.

The lights went out. And Tambay stalled on the grid. Again. An easy victory for Piquet as Arnoux salvaged a point. An inconsequential point, as under the 'best 11' results, it wouldn't be counted.

------------------------------------------------
Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1983 Dutch Grand Prix(3 Rounds to Go)(Dropped Scores in Brackets)

1. Rene Arnoux -- 55 (56)
2. Patrick Tambay -- 49
3. Nelson Piquet -- 42
4. Alain Prost -- 41
------------------------------------------------

Next would be Ferrari's stomping ground, Monza. A real scrap. The front two rows was a healthy mix of both Ferraris and both Brabhams. And out of all four of them, the one that wasn't contending for the title, Riccardo Patrese, shot off into an early lead of the race, with Piquet trailing right behind. Tambay looked good in third, but for some reason, started dropping back as the first three laps. First behind Arnoux. Then behind Eddie Cheever, Arnoux's less-than-impressive replacement at Renault. However, it looked like the race would be a championship spoiler for Patrese, potentially denting teammate Piquet's hopes for a comeback in the Castellotti-Clark Cup...

...until, almost by command, Patrese's engine expired on lap three. Conspiracy, I think not. Piquet breezed by to take the win, but Arnoux's second place helped him extend some ground over teammate Tambay, who finished a disappointing fourth. Someone more disappointed than Tambay, though, was Alain Prost, whose remaining hopes for the Castellotti-Clark Cup were dashed with the result.

------------------------------------------------
Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1983 Italian Grand Prix(2 Rounds to Go)(Dropped Scores in Brackets)

1. Rene Arnoux -- 60 (62)
2. Patrick Tambay -- 52
3. Nelson Piquet -- 51
------------------------------------------------

The plan was simple for Arnoux. All he needed to do was finish second in just one of the last two races, and he'd take his second consecutive Castellotti-Clark Cup. He'd already done that at least six times out of the last seven races. What's one more for the Cup?

As it turns out, Brands Hatch proved to be a oddball event thanks to the surprising dominance of Lotus. Elio de Angelis raced off with Brabham's championship spoiler, Riccardo Patrese, to battle ahead while Nigel Mansell, who performed admirably well in qualifying, was noticeably slower and tried to hold everyone back before giving way and falling out of the points by the Three Lap mark.

The bad news was that, obviously, Rene Arnoux didn't seal his title. In fact, by finishing in sixth, he was in grave danger as he picked up zero points to his counted score. The good news for Arnoux, though, was that Piquet couldn't catch up to the wild cards of Patrese and de Angelis in front, and Tambay was denied a points finish by Nigel Mansell and Manfred freakin' Winklehock. This eliminated the second Ferrari from the Castellotti-Clark Cup battle. And it's all down to two.

------------------------------------------------
Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1983 European Grand Prix(1 Round to Go)(Dropped Scores in Brackets)

1. Rene Arnoux -- 60 (63)
2. Nelson Piquet -- 55
------------------------------------------------

However, Nelson Piquet was now under threat of dropped points. And thanks to that, there would only be one scenario that would give Piquet the championship in the season-ending South African Grand Prix...

He had to win. And pray that Arnoux finished off the podium.

Qualifying, basically half the battle in the Castellotti-Clark Cup, was promising for Arnoux. Teammate Tambay, already announced to be departing from Ferrari before this race, took pole to do his once-challenger, now-teammate a favour. He held off the Brabhams, with Piquet in second and Patrese third, and Arnoux was in fourth. All Arnoux needed to do was gain a position off the start, and hold it there until the Three Laps are done.

Right from the start, the Brabhams got the jump they wanted, as both cars swamped Tambay off the line. And this time, Patrese wasn't being the spoiler to Piquet. Instead, for three solid laps, Patrese played as Piquet's rear gunner, ensuring nobody would take the Three Lap Victory away from Piquet.

All eyes, then, were on third place.

Tambay had dropped to third by lap one, mainly due to suspected car trouble, but in all honesty, it couldn't have worked better for Ferrari. As Arnoux qualified fourth, all Tambay had to do was cede third place to the fellow red and white Italian car, and hold off the rest of the pack as Arnoux could finish third and, therefore, clinch the title.

And so, on lap two, Tambay ceded third to a red and white Italian car.

Only problem: IT WASN'T ARNOUX.

It was de Cesaris.

Rene Arnoux had an awful start. And I mean awful. He let de Cesaris by. He let Prost by. He let goddamn Rosberg by. Rene Arnoux was now in 7th. He would stay there for the entirety of the Three Laps.

Don't let the fact that Piquet is the seventh champion in seven seasons distract you from the fact that Rene Arnoux blew a 22-point lead in the 1983 Castellotti-Clark Cup with four rounds left.


Nelson Piquet, stealing his first Castellotti-Clark Cup at the death

Driver's Standings(Dropped points/Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Nelson Piquet -- 62 (64) -- 4 Wins: DET NED ITA RSA
2. Rene Arnoux -- 60 (63) -- 3 Wins: SMR CAN GER
3. Patrick Tambay -- 52 (54) -- 3 Wins: USW GBR AUT
4. Alain Prost -- 48 (52) -- 1 Win: FRA
5. Riccardo Patrese -- 41 -- 1 Win: EUR
6. Eddie Cheever -- 29
7. Keke Rosberg -- 25 -- 2 Wins: BRA MON
8. Andrea de Cesaris -- 22 -- 1 Win: BEL
9. Elio de Angelis -- 11
10. Jacques Laffite -- 5 (1 3rd)
11. Michele Alboreto -- 5 (1 4th)
12. Mauro Baldi -- 1
=. Manfred Winklehock -- 1
=. Derek Warwick -- 1
=. Nigel Mansell -- 1

Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. Ferrari -- 117
2. Brabham-BMW -- 105
3. Renault -- 81
4. Williams-Ford -- 29
5. Alfa Romeo -- 23
6. Lotus-Renault -- 12
7. Tyrrell-Ford -- 5
8. ATS-BMW -- 1
=. Toleman-Hart -- 1
=. Williams-Honda -- 1

1984 Season(Best 11 Results) (Points:9-6-4-3-2-1)

The start of the season would be hectic, with many teams trying whatever new technology they had at their disposal. Especially with the advent of turbocharged engines, Williams and McLaren had tried out new turbo engines from Honda and TAG respectively, ditching the old faithful Cosworths. Brabham were sticking with the BMW engine that gave Piquet the Castellotti-Clark Cup last season, and there were shakeups all around the grid.

Michele Alboreto was an early contender, winning two races early in the season. Patrick Tambay stuck his nose in there with a win in France, while Nelson Piquet and Alain Prost took early season victories of their own. But after the first five races, I had to stop, go downstairs, take a glass of water and have a think.

DEREK WARWICK was leading the championship.

That lead wouldn't last long though, as up came Alboreto to take the championship lead right back at Monaco. And even then, Alboreto couldn't last too long at the top, and lost the championship lead to both Nelson Piquet and Alain Prost at Detroit, in a race where both race-winner Piquet and Alboreto been eliminated from on lap one if the red-flag didn't fly after their massive start-line accident.

After that, though, Alboreto disappeared.

And I mean disappeared. Scored absolutely zero points for the next six rounds of the championship, from Dallas to Monza.

And in that six-race span, Piquet and Prost took a stronghold to the championship. From the five-race stretch from Britain to Italy, they finished 1-2 four times. And in the three-race stretch from Austria to Italy, Patrick Tambay joined them to finish 1-2-3 in three consecutive races. And in the same order too: Piquet 1st, Prost 2nd, Tambay 3rd.

Despite the good set of results, that was the major problem for Prost: He ALWAYS finished second. Piquet and Prost were 1-2 in the Three Lap Champs seven times this season. And Piquet beat Prost on six of those occasions. Other results helped Prost's Castellotti-Clark Cup fight, but only marginally. He needed a few miracles in the final two races of the season to usurp Piquet off his throne. AND he had to combat dropped points as well.

In Europe, the penultimate race of the season, Prost did everything he could. He got a good jump, and off into the lead he went. But it wouldn't be enough. Piquet finished third, which with dropped scores and countback taken into account, was enough to seal the Cup with one race left on the calendar.

Apart from the front two, though, the battle for third in the championship was just as intense, if plagued by unreliability.

Patrick Tambay won the French Grand Prix early in the season, and as mentioned, had that streak of 3rd place finishes behind Piquet and Prost near the end of the season. Apart from that, though, he was nowhere. Lotus sparked some sort of revival after disappointing campaigns in previous years, and both Nigel Mansell and Elio de Angelis took Three Lap Champs wins in Dallas and Hockenheim respectively. They had more than their fair share of podiums, but it was often split up with dry spells without points.

And you cannot say dry spells without points this year without mentioning Michele Alboreto. He was right up there with Piquet and Prost for the title until Detroit. And then...nothing. For six races. Piquet and Prost were all buddying up getting one-twos, Tambay was the rag-tag who'd join them on the podium all the time, and the Lotuses were getting the scrappy wins that fell off the table. And Alboreto did absolutely nothing. Still, his strong start to the season would be hard to overcome, wouldn't it.

After all that, you know which one of them got third in the 1984 Castellotti-Clark Cup? Answer: none of them.

Third went to, out of all people, Derek Warwick.


Nelson Piquet on his way to his second consecutive Castellotti-Clark Cup.

Driver's Standings(Dropped points/Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Nelson Piquet -- 78 -- 7 Wins: RSA CAN DET GBR AUT NED ITA
2. Alain Prost -- 75 (77) -- 3 Wins: SMR MON EUR
3. Derek Warwick -- 37 (39)
4. Elio de Angelis -- 35 -- 1 Win: GER
5. Michele Alboreto -- 34 -- 2 Wins: BRA BEL
6. Nigel Mansell -- 30 -- 1 Win: DAL (1 2nd, 3 3rds, 1 4th)
7. Patrick Tambay -- 30 -- 1 Win: FRA (1 2nd, 3 3rds, 3 6ths) that countback tho
8. Keke Rosberg -- 21 -- 1 Win: POR
9. Niki Lauda -- 21 (2 3rds)
10. Rene Arnoux -- 15
11. Teo Fabi -- 9
12. Ayrton Senna -- 5
13. Manfred Winkelhock -- 4
14. Eddie Cheever -- 2

Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. McLaren-TAG -- 98
2. Brabham-BMW -- 87
3. Renault -- 69
4. Lotus-Renault -- 65
5. Ferrari -- 49
6. Williams-Honda -- 21
7. Toleman-Hart -- 5
8. ATS-BMW -- 4
9. Alfa Romeo -- 2

1985 Season(Best 11 Results) (Points:9-6-4-3-2-1)

This was, without question, the season of Senna.

That 100 total points record set by Ronnie Peterson in 1973 and Rene Arnoux in '82? After 12 years, finally, someone has beaten it. And that person was a Brazilian in only his second season in the sport driving for a team that hasn't been on top for seven years.

Everything fell into place for Senna. Three wins in the first four races. Five wins in the first eight. Finishing second pretty much any time he didn't win a race. There was no question that, from the start of the season, Senna would lose his grip of the Castellotti-Clark Cup.

And yet, despite his record breaking season, he almost did.

Keke Rosberg was that one blip in Senna's early-season dominance. He won the first race in Brazil, but since then, his early-season form stalled as he...well...stalled in Portugal, got a slow start in San Marino and dreadful qualifying performances in Monaco and Canada made him feel like a flash in the pan behind the dominance of Senna and de Angelis in the Lotuses.

But from Detroit onwards, Rosberg found some serious pace in his Williams, particularly in qualifying laps, highlighted by that downright historic lap at Silverstone. His qualifying pace, without a doubt, led to magnificent results in the middle of the season.

Him and Senna went on to have quite the duel over the Castellotti-Clark Cup victories in the mid-season races, like at Nurburgring, where Senna's amazing leap into the lead from fifth was undone by Rosberg shortly after, and most results were an intense series of reversing 1-2 finishes between Senna and Rosberg. However, Senna had small blips in the mid-season, like a failure to score points in Austria due to engine glitches and a trip to the gravel -- thanks to a tight squeeze in turn 1 by Rosberg -- affecting his Three Lap result at Monza.

Suddenly, what seemed like a record-breaking season by Senna was now under serious threat by Rosberg. And given Rosberg's stuttering early season form, dropped scores could only help Rosberg close up what was now a nine-point gap. However, with Rosberg's shocking qualifying in Belgium putting paid to his chances of a points finish, Senna comfortably won in Belgium, and simply fended off Rosberg for the victory in Brands Hatch to all-but-seal the crown for the young Brazilian.

Rosberg, mad that he lost the title after such a close battle, and the fact that Senna spun him out after the Three Lap Champs race finished, went on to do some very naughty things to Senna later in the race. However, it was too little, too late, to reverse anything Senna had done. And the Brazilian, in only his second year in the sport, coasted in the final two races to seal the new total points record for himself.


Ayrton Senna on his way to sealing his first Castellotti-Clark Cup in 1985.

Driver's Standings(Dropped points/Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Ayrton Senna -- 87 (101) -- 7 Wins: POR SMR MON DET GBR BEL EUR
2. Keke Rosberg -- 81 (84) -- 6 Wins: BRA FRA GER NED ITA AUS
3. Alain Prost -- 45 (46) -- 1 Win: AUT
4. Elio de Angelis -- 39 (41) -- 1 Win: CAN
5. Nigel Mansell -- 37 -- 1 Win: RSA
6. Michele Alboreto -- 37 (2 2nds)
7. Nelson Piquet -- 19
8. Niki Lauda -- 10
9. Stefan Johansson -- 6
10. Eddie Cheever -- 3 (1 4th)
=. Andrea de Cesaris -- 3
=. Teo Fabi -- 3
13. Patrick Tambay -- 2 (1 5th)
=. Thierry Boutsen -- 2 (1 5th)
=. Gerhard Berger -- 2 (1 5th)
16. Marc Surer -- 2 (2 6ths)
17. Rene Arnoux -- 1
=. Derek Warwick -- 1


Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. Lotus-Renault -- 142
2. Williams-Honda -- 121
3. McLaren-TAG -- 56
4. Ferrari -- 44
5. Brabham-BMW -- 21
6. Arrows-BMW -- 4
7. Alfa Romeo -- 3 (1 4th)
=. Ligier-Renault -- 3 (1 4th)
=. Toleman-Hart -- 3 (1 4th)
10. Renault -- 3 (1 5th, 1 6th)

1986 Season(Best 11 Results) (Points:9-6-4-3-2-1)

Piquet did not take too kindly to Senna destroying the record books last year. His chance for a three-peat was ruined.

Okay, Senna was not fully to blame -- Piquet was saddled with a pile of horse manure that was the Brabham BT54 and Goodyear tyres -- but there was still retribution to be had for the former Castellotti-Clark Cup holder. Sensing big bucks from Williams and a blister in Brabham's competitiveness, Piquet made the move to the Grove-based outfit for 1986, pairing up with Nigel Mansell.

The move paid off in the first few races, as prime Piquet and youthful Senna traded wins in the first three races of the season. Then, despite underperforming and finishing well out of the points at Monaco, Piquet took another victory at Spa-Francorchamps. Three wins in the first five races wasn't bad.

Then Piquet's season was interrupted for a special intermission. He didn't finish make the Three Lap podium for the next three races. His teammate Mansell went on a three-peat of victories, Senna a three-peat of second places, and Rene Arnoux in a Ligier almost made it a three-peat of third places.

This weird, out-of-the-blue repetitiveness of a Mansell-Senna-Arnoux podium was shattered as Piquet snapped back into winning form in the UK in front of Nige's adoring faithful, then finished second in the next two races. Rosberg snapped the final three-lap victory of his career in the first of those two, but the second spelled trouble for Nelson as Senna, who should've been winner in Germany if it weren't for him going completely missing after lap 2, took just his second victory of the season in Hungary to retake the championship lead.

------------------------------------------------
Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1986 Hungarian Grand Prix(5 Rounds to Go)

1. Ayrton Senna -- 65
2. Nelson Piquet -- 60
3. Nigel Mansell -- 51
------------------------------------------------

Thing is, Senna mainly took the championship lead due to sheer consistency. In an archaic championship system with only the best 11 rounds selected for the title, Senna couldn't really score much else unless he finished on the podium. Piquet and Mansell still had two rounds to fill the 11 round quota, and they had much more inconsistency to their name.

Which is why the next two rounds in Austria and Italy felt like the black sheep of the season. Neither race had Senna in the points (he didn't finish A LAP) in Hungary, Piquet and Mansell only made one podium in the stretch, and both races were won by Gerhard Berger in his Benetton, who had barely been anywhere near the top until now. Berger's bounce to the top had shook up the table quite a bit. Not because Berger was in championship contention -- he's a full light year away to the top three -- but because the woeful results of the top three had slimmed things down considerably.

------------------------------------------------
Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1986 Italian Grand Prix(3 Rounds to Go)

1. Nelson Piquet -- 65 (66) -- 4 Wins
2. Ayrton Senna -- 65 -- 2 Wins
3. Nigel Mansell -- 60
------------------------------------------------

The next round in Portugal was all Mansell's, having taken the lead from pole-sitter on lap one and never looking back for the next two laps. Piquet only finished third, leaving him on 66 points, behind both Mansell and Senna on 68. However, both Mansell and Senna had more points to lose with future results. The title race further bottlenecked into Mexico.

It was only fitting, then, that the top three in qualifying were Senna, Piquet and Mansell. The three could all duke it out, fair-and-square, in what was to be the most electrifying three-way, Three Lap Championship battle in history, some thirty years removed from the biggest one in 1956.

Mansell stalled on the grid. Piquet easily ran away with the win. This was the day the word "anti-climax" had found its true definition.

In fact, due to dropped points, Piquet's lead was almost assured, but nowhere near out of the woods. Senna AND Mansell had to win and hope Piquet finished third or lower. That was all that was required.

The next race became the definition of the word "climax". It was everything Mexico City wasn't. The first lap battle had three changes for the lead. Mansell, Senna and Piquet. But in what order?

Mansell had led off the line. Into East Terrace, Senna dived down his inside, and Mansell's poor run left him vulnerable to Piquet and Rosberg to breeze right on by. Then, down the back straight, Senna's Lotus was no match for Piquet's Honda-powered Williams. At this rate, Piquet would win the championship.

Senna, however, would be involved in one more overtake on lap three.

However, it wasn't for the lead. It was just Rosberg fighting his way into second in his final Grand Prix. And in the lead was Piquet, taking his third Castellotti-Clark Cup.


An overhead of the first three-time Castellotti-Clark Cup winner since Jackie Stewart in 1971.

Driver's Standings(Dropped points/Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Nelson Piquet -- 79 (87) -- 6 Wins: BRA SMR BEL GBR MEX AUS
2. Ayrton Senna -- 70 (81) -- 2 Wins: ESP HUN
3. Nigel Mansell -- 68 (72) -- 4 Wins: CAN DET FRA POR
4. Gerhard Berger -- 38 -- 2 Wins: AUT ITA
5. Alain Prost -- 34 (38) -- 1 Win: MON
6. Keke Rosberg -- 33 -- 1 Win: GER
7. Rene Arnoux -- 16
8. Michele Alboreto -- 14
9. Teo Fabi -- 7
10. Stefan Johansson -- 6
11. Patrick Tambay -- 3
12. Johnny Dumfries -- 2 (1 5th)
13. Alan Jones -- 2 (2 6ths)
14. Philippe Alliot -- 1

Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. Williams-Honda -- 159
2. Lotus-Renault -- 83
3. McLaren-TAG -- 71
4. Benetton-BMW -- 45
5. Ferrari -- 20
6. Ligier-Renault -- 17
7. Lola-Ford -- 5

1987 Season(Best 11 Results) (Points:9-6-4-3-2-1)

All other seasons in the past were quite open, but by the ninth race of the season, this title race looked as good as done. Nigel Mansell had won six of the nine rounds of the championship. His teammate, three-time champion Nelson Piquet had taken the other three. There was a twenty point chasm between the two Williams teammates, the class of the field, with Ayrton Senna playing catch up in the Lotus.

Then Piquet won the next two races, and though Mansell finished 4th both occasions, a title fight looked eminent. It was down to eight points, and thanks to dropped points, the title race got exciting but a little confusing, as everyone broke out their calculators to figure out what exactly could happen to the title fight.

The next two races, however, distanced the gap between Mansell and Piquet, and Piquet needed a miracle in the last three races of the season. Instead, it would be Mansell who got that miracle.

At Mexico, a good start saw Piquet in third, but Alain Prost, who'd been uncharacteristically out of contention the entire season, was looking for a way past throughout the first lap. And then, in a controversial move, he took Piquet out of contention on lap one. Who knows if he'd been paid off by Mansell, or he didn't want to see a four time Castellotti-Clark Cup winner. Whatever the case, Prost had knocked Piquet out of the championship.

The very next race, Piquet got his miracle through Nigel Mansell injuring himself in qualifying for the race, but even if he still had been in contention, Gerhard Berger stole whatever glimmer of hope Piquet had left by winning the last two races, though his only consolation was finally overtaking championship namesake Jim Clark, in the all-time wins list.


Nigel Mansell becoming the first British Castellotti-Clark Cup champion in a decade.

Driver's Standings(Dropped points/Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Nigel Mansell -- 83 (89) -- 7 Wins: SMR MON DET FRA GER HUN ESP
2. Nelson Piquet -- 74 (80) -- 5 Wins: BRA BEL GBR AUT ITA
3. Gerhard Berger -- 52 -- 3 Wins: POR JPN AUS
4. Ayrton Senna -- 49 (55)
5. Thierry Boutsen -- 37 -- 1 Win: MEX
6. Alain Prost -- 33
7. Michele Alboreto -- 30
8. Teo Fabi -- 14
9. Eddie Cheever -- 5
10. Riccardo Patrese -- 3
11. Stefan Johansson -- 2

Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. Williams-Honda -- 170
2. Ferrari -- 82
3. Lotus-Honda -- 55
4. Benetton-Ford -- 51
5. McLaren-TAG -- 35
6. Arrows-Megatron -- 5
7. Brabham-BMW -- 2

1988 Season(Best 11 Results) (Points:9-6-4-3-2-1)


Senna versus Prost.

The moment Senna joined McLaren-Honda at the end of 1987, the rumour spill started spreading. In his four years in Formula One, he already had a Castellotti-Clark Cup under his belt, with another runner-up spot in the championship and nine wins for the young Brazilian. He would join Alain Prost, who was no stranger to a Castellotti-Clark Cup trophy himself, winning it in 1981. In the six years since, though, he was always on the edge of a title battle without actually being in contention for a title. His Renaults and McLarens since then weren't terrible, but not great, and neither was his three-lap pace.

But this season would change all that. Honda had moved from Williams to McLaren. The MP4/4 was an absolute masterstroke. Throughout the entirety of 1988, nobody would touch McLaren. This intensified the rivalry between its' two drivers, the young Brazilian with no fear behind the wheel and on the fast-track to success, against the calculative French mainstay in the pack, hunting for his first taste of success in a longggg time.

The season would start brilliantly for Prost, with Senna's car malfunctioning from pole position and forcing him to start from pit lane, giving Prost a clear run to the first Three Lap victory of the season. However, Senna would catch up in the championship through trading wins with Prost race by race, and with an inconsistent Prost scuffing his starts in San Marino and Monaco, Senna managed to be level on points with Prost despite finishing outside the points (and later being disqualified) in his home race.

Silverstone was the definite black sheep of the entire season. The Ferraris of Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto secured a front row lockout on the grid, and with yet another slow start from Prost in treacherous conditions, Berger was able to hold notable wet-weather expert Senna in an incredible Three Lap drive to take Ferrari's first win of the season, ruining McLaren's home race. It would also be Ferrari's only win of the season, just a month before Enzo Ferrari's passing.

However, following the British Grand Prix, Ayrton Senna went on an absolutely freakish run of form. From the next four races, from Hockenheim to Hungary, Spa and Monza, Ayrton took all four three-lap victories. Since his disappointment in Brazil, Senna NEVER finished outside the top two since then. He also had hit the maximum of eleven points finishes at Italy, and with all his points finishes in the top two, the only way he could gain points from there would be to win.

However, it's not like Senna was worried. Prost had a horrific run of form from Britain to Hungary, amassing just three points in a three race spell, the same as Mauricio freakin' Gugelmin in the March. I mean, it's good news if you're Gugelmin, but when you're in the best car of a generation, and your teammate is literally treated as a god in his home nation, it wasn't the best look for Prost. And after Italy, his title was as good as lost...

------------------------------------------------
Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1988 Italian Grand Prix (4 Rounds to Go)

1. Ayrton Senna -- 87
2. Alain Prost -- 60
------------------------------------------------

Twenty-seven points behind. That's not a typo. Sure, Senna's point total would be nearly static, but what was asked of Prost for the final races would be monumental. He'd need to win every single race. All Senna needed to do was to win one more race to seal his second title.

His mission looked as good as dead after the green flag fell in Portugal, though. Senna was in the lead at the end of lap 1. But Prost was gaining out of the final turn. He needed the lead. Senna also needed the lead.

As Prost went for the overtake, Senna squeezed him within inches of the pit wall.

Yet Prost stuck the move. He was 1/4 of the way there.

In Spain, Prost would get some assistance. As Prost ran away with the lead from the start, Nigel Mansell, who had been relegated to a midfield runner in the Williams-Judd after his championship last year, regained some of his Three Lap prowess by getting past Senna into second, and when Senna made a move for second to catch up to Alain, Mansell executed the perfect cutback move to get back by. Halfway there, Alain.

In Japan, Senna had claimed yet another pole position, and with Prost alongside him, yet another battle was set to rage on.

And then Senna stalled at the start. Despite climbing back up to 5th from the horror show of a start, Prost won yet again. Three races ago, the gap was 27 points. Now, it was down to five.

------------------------------------------------
Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1988 Japanese Grand Prix (1 Round to Go)

1. Ayrton Senna -- 87 (99) (Points to drop: 6)
2. Alain Prost -- 82 (87) (Points to drop: 3)
------------------------------------------------

The last race was upon us. Senna was on track to break Ronnie Peterson's and Rene Arnoux's total points record of 100, but for the points that counted, Prost was just a win away from stealing Senna's thunder and simultaneously tying Peterson's record of eight wins in a season.

Adelaide Street Circuit was the scene, and Senna claimed yet another pole position, but as we all know, it was the race start that mattered. Prost, having started the season scuffing his starts and falling miles behind the pack, had found his form, and Senna was stumbling.

The start at Adelaide wasn't a bad one from Senna, but it was a magnificent one from Prost, and he had already fully cleared the Brazilian by the first chicane. The stage was set for a ferocious, Three Lap battle for the title.

Then up came Gerhard Berger. He played spoiler for McLaren as a whole in Great Britain, and felt he was good enough to play spoiler for McLaren here today. After lap one, he was right on the back of Senna. Ayrton needed to claw onto the back of Prost for Castellotti-Clark Cup glory, but he couldn't ignore the Austrian on his tail. As Berger battled with Senna, Alain escaped.

As lap three came to a close, Berger ran Senna wide at the Dequetteville hairpin, and took second place. It was just insult to injury, though, as Prost was in the lead at the end of lap three. He came in the clutch. From twenty-seven points behind just four races ago, he faced a concrete pit wall, he needed Senna's engine to stall, and he required help from a resurgent Brit and a rogue Austrian, and he needed to fend everyone else off.

And he came through and won. By one point.


Alain Prost, pulling off the improbable

Driver's Standings(Dropped points/Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Alain Prost -- 88 (96) -- 8 Wins: BRA MEX CAN FRA POR ESP JPN AUS
2. Ayrton Senna -- 87 (103) -- 7 Wins: SMR MON DET GER HUN BEL ITA
3. Gerhard Berger -- 60 (67) -- 1 Win: GBR
4. Michele Alboreto -- 31
5. Nigel Mansell -- 23
6. Nelson Piquet -- 18
7. Alessandro Nannini -- 14 (1 3rd)
8. Thierry Boutsen -- 14 (2 4ths)
9. Riccardo Patrese -- 13
10. Ivan Capelli -- 11
11. Mauricio Gugelmin -- 4 (1 4th)
12. Satoru Nakajima -- 4 (2 5ths)
13. Eddie Cheever -- 2

Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. McLaren-Honda -- 199
2. Ferrari -- 98
3. Williams-Judd -- 36
4. Benetton-Ford -- 28
5. Lotus-Honda -- 22
6. March-Ford -- 15
7. Arrows-Megatron -- 2

Wow, that IS a shock!!!

It's crazy you have so many epic stories with this format... maybe the sprint races aren't such a bad idea :p

1989 Season(Best 11 Results) (Points:9-6-4-3-2-1)


The Season of Senna

Last season, Ayrton Senna collapsed in the final four races as Alain Prost took the title with four straight wins. That probably set something off in Ayrton. From the looks of how this season progressed, that 'something' must've been vengeance.

From 16 races, he scored eleven wins. His three second places didn't even count, as dropped scores only counted his eleven best results, which were all wins. He'd done something only the likes of Jim Clark had done roughly 25 years ago, which was to score the maximum number of points possible. All records, from most wins in a season to most points scored in a season, were well and truly shattered by a Brazilian, hurt by last year's collapse, seeking more.

Even the race for second place in the championship was a no-brainer, as Alain Prost played a firm second fiddle this season, completing out eight McLaren one-twos with a few wins of his own. It wasn't a total McLaren lockout this year, though, as Gerhard Berger and Riccardo Patrese snuck in a few wins for Ferrari and Williams to maintain some sense of parity in the field. Even Alex Caffi got in on the act and nabbed a podium in Hungary, though he still finished behind Pierluigi Martini's MInardi in the standings.

Driver's Standings(Dropped points/Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Ayrton Senna -- 99 (117) -- 11 Wins: SMR MON MEX USA CAN GBR GER BEL ITA ESP AUS
2. Alain Prost -- 67 (75) -- 2 Wins: FRA JPN
3. Gerhard Berger -- 52 (54) -- 1 Win: POR
4. Riccardo Patrese -- 40 (41) -- 2 Wins: BRA HUN
5. Nigel Mansell -- 39
6. Thierry Boutsen -- 30 (31)
7. Alessandro Nannini -- 16
8. Pierluigi Martini -- 7
9. Alex Caffi -- 6
10. Philippe Alliot -- 5
11. Ivan Capelli -- 2 (1 5th)
=. Martin Brundle -- 2 (1 5th)
13. Andrea de Cesaris -- 2 (2 6ths)
14. Derek Warwick -- 1
=. Stefano Modena -- 1
=. Jonathan Palmer -- 1

Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. McLaren-Honda -- 192
2. Ferrari -- 93
3. Williams-Renault -- 72
4. Benetton-Ford -- 16
5. Dallara-Ford -- 8
6. Minardi-Ford -- 7
7. Lola-Lamborghini -- 5
8. Brabham-Judd -- 3
9. March-Judd -- 2
10. Arrows-Ford -- 1
=. Tyrrell-Ford -- 1

1990 Season(Best 11 Results) (Points:9-6-4-3-2-1)


The Season of Senna, AGAIN

We thought Senna's previous season was dominant. Taking eleven wins and maxing out all his results.

Well. He went one better this season. One more win this season, with twelve. One more total point scored than last season, though that was no matter as he maxed out all his points counted for the title. One more championship to his name, levelling him with Stirling Moss and Nelson Piquet with total championships won. And in the wins leaderboard, Ayrton Senna has now become the most winningest driver by a LOOOOONG margin, stepping a full ten wins clear at the top of the standings.

With Senna's total dominance, not many drivers got a peep at the top step at the podium, but even then there were some unique surprises. Jean Alesi took a shock victory at Phoenix, helped by some lucky qualifying and an impressive start. Thierry Boutsen doubled his win tally at a twisty Hungaroring. Nigel Mansell took an unexpected victory when, for some odd, indiscernible reason, Senna and Alain Prost, who'd just moved to Ferrari, took each other out at the first turn. And lastly, with Prost's move to Ferrari turning into a disaster with each race, it was Senna's new teammate, Gerhard Berger, being a solid second fiddle, scoring nine second places and taking the opportunistic victory at France.

And can we also give a quick shoutout to Andrea de Cesaris for scoring a podium with Scuderia Italia at Phoenix, well done that man.

Driver's Standings(Dropped points/Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Ayrton Senna -- 99 (118) -- 12 Wins: BRA SMR MON CAN MEX CAN GBR GER BEL ITA POR ESP AUS
2. Gerhard Berger -- 67 (81) -- 1 Win: FRA
3. Nigel Mansell -- 44 -- 1 Win: JPN
4. Thierry Boutsen -- 35 -- 1 Win: HUN
5. Alain Prost -- 35 (2 2nds)
6. Jean Alesi -- 26 -- 1 Win: USA
7. Riccardo Patrese -- 22 (24)
8. Nelson Piquet -- 18
9. Alessandro Nannini -- 8
10. Andrea de Cesaris -- 4 (1 3rd)
=. Roberto Moreno -- 4 (1 3rd)
12. Pierluigi Martini -- 2
13. Derek Warwick -- 1

Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. McLaren-Honda -- 199
2. Ferrari -- 79
3. Williams-Renault -- 59
4. Benetton-Ford -- 30
5. Tyrrell-Ford -- 26
6. Dallara-Ford -- 4
7. Minardi-Ford -- 2
8. Lotus-Lamborghini -- 1

1991 Season(Points:10-6-4-3-2-1)


Goodness sake, HOW MANY SEASONS OF SENNA ARE THERE?

Guys, gals and non-binary pals, I think Senna might be a god over three laps.

This season was the first in three years where he received a semi-decent challenge through Nigel Mansell's Williams. In addition, the "best x results" limit was finally banished to the shadow realm, which meant scoring enough wins for what was 'maximum points' back then wasn't going to cut it. The Williams FW14 was far superior, technologically, to McLaren's MP4/6. If there was any season to cut the three-peat, this was going to be it.

But Senna used his god powers in the first four races of the season to curse the Williamses with hubris, taking three wins out of the first four. However, Mansell finally got to grips with the devil power of the Williams, and aside from sparing Alain Prost some mercy to win his home Grand Prix in 'a truck' (Ferrari have not confirmed a ute model of the 643 for the time being), Nige took the next four wins out of five. At the end of the German Grand Prix, Mansell was one point behind Senna. With momentum on his side, everyone was ready to mourn the end of Senna's reign.

And then came the resurrection of Senna. The next three races were Hungary, Belgium, and Italy. He won them all. And for the rest of the races he didn't win, he blessed other drivers in the field, including Mansell's own teammate, to take away wins from his rival in the season. Then in the final race, as if to secure his demigod status, he cast a storm onto Adelaide, flooding the circuit, and then piloted his ark to a Castellotti-Clark Cup coronation in a dead-rubber race.

Driver's Standings(Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Ayrton Senna -- 115 -- 7 Wins: USA BRA MON HUN BEL ITA AUS
2. Nigel Mansell -- 95 -- 4 Wins: CAN MEX GBR GER
3. Gerhard Berger -- 58 -- 2 Wins: ESP JPN
4. Riccardo Patrese -- 54 -- 2 Wins: SMR POR
5. Alain Prost -- 34 -- 1 Win: FRA
6. Jean Alesi -- 24
7. Stefano Modena -- 11
8. Nelson Piquet -- 9
9. Michael Schumacher -- 7
10. Roberto Moreno -- 4
11. Pierluigi Martini -- 3
12. Satoru Nakajima -- 1
13. Mauricio Gugelmin -- 1


Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. McLaren-Honda -- 173
2. Williams-Renault -- 149
3. Ferrari -- 58
4. Benetton-Ford -- 20
5. Tyrrell-Honda -- 12
6. Minardi-Ferrari -- 3
7. Leyton House-Ilmor -- 1

WaffleCat wrote:And then came the resurrection of Senna. The next three races were Hungary, Belgium, and Italy. He won them all. And for the rest of the races he didn't win, he blessed other drivers in the field, including Mansell's own teammate, to take away wins from his rival in the season. Then in the final race, as if to secure his demigod status, he cast a storm onto Adelaide, flooding the circuit, and then piloted his ark to a Castellotti-Clark Cup coronation in a dead-rubber race.

Absolute poetry.

At least Ferrari's banzai at Magny-Cours was a success!

1992 Season(Points:10-6-4-3-2-1)


Nigel Mansell trashing the field, as he always did, in Spain..

Remember how I mayyyy have compared a certain, mustachioed, Brummie driver as playing the role of a demon as opposed to the Brazilian, Philip-Morris liveried god last season?

Well, this year, hail Satan.

For this year, Satan, known otherwise as "Nigel Mansell", harnessed the devil power provided to him by the dominant Williams to torture the rest of the field. He finished in the points in every race, was in the top two for every race bar one, scored a record number of points and humiliated the rest of the pack. Even then, he could only tie Ayrton Senna's record for total wins from 1990 with 12 wins, but even sharing that record is enough to capture the total dominance of the red, devilish 5.

As if that wasn't enough, most other races in the calendar were taken by the other Williams, the elder statesman Riccardo Patrese, which meant that Williams won 15 out of 16 races this season, and bested even McLaren 1988 with ELEVEN one-twos. The one disruption was who else but Ayrton Senna, sneaking in a win at Canada. The parity in this field, in general, was SERIOUSLY lacking. Williams, McLaren and Benetton (not Ferrari) hogged the points paying positions, and only six teams scored points, including a mini-resurgence of Lotus, the lowest since 1969.

This season was one-sided, and barely a contest. That's what happens when Satan rules a season of Formula One.

Driver's Standings(Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Nigel Mansell -- 141 -- 12 Wins: RSA MEX ESP SMR MON GBR GER BEL ITA POR JPN AUS
2. Riccardo Patrese -- 100 -- 3 Wins: BRA FRA HUN
3. Ayrton Senna -- 67 -- 1 Win: CAN
4. Gerhard Berger -- 31
5. Michael Schumacher -- 30
6. Martin Brundle -- 19
7. Jean Alesi -- 17
8. Mika Hakkinen -- 5
9. Johnny Herbert -- 3
10. Ivan Capelli -- 2
11. Thierry Boutsen -- 1

Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. Williams-Renault -- 241
2. McLaren-Honda -- 98
3. Benetton-Ford -- 49
4. Ferrari -- 19
5. Lotus-Ford -- 8
6. Ligier-Renault -- 1

Even with record-breaking season, it is notable that Patrese is closer to Mansell here than in real-life. (52 points)

1993 Season(Points:10-6-4-3-2-1)




The record setter, the returner, and the rookie (well, close enough, Brabham in 1992 didn't mean jack in the Castellotti-Clark Cup)

The silly season heading into 1993 provided a major toss up in the silly season, and even by the time Kyalami came around to open the year, nobody had a clear idea who would be the favourite. Surely, with Satan Mansell out of the way, the four-time champion Ayrton Senna was in the clear to match Jim Clark's total of five championships, but with Honda pulling out of Formula One and leaving McLaren to deal with the painfully normal Ford engine, eyes turned back to the dominant Williams outfit.

Alain Prost returned from a sabbatical to have one last go in Formula One, and placing himself in Formula One's top team gave him a chance to crown himself a three-time Castellotti-Clark Cup winner for a third team, following his distant titles five and twelve years ago for Renault and McLaren respectively. However, his teammate would be one Damon Hill, son of the unluckiest driver in all Castellotti-Clark Cup history, and I say that without hyperbole. A five-time runner-up of the championship, primarily thanks to one namesake of the championship trophy (Clark, not Castellotti), could father Graham's curse be avenged by his son, potentially preventing Senna from becoming a five-time championship winner himself? The story was already written, McLaren and Williams prepared their swords (well, 3/4 of them, Michael Andretti elected to be a sidequest character this year) as we headed into South Africa.

Things weren't looking too brightly for Graham's kid, as one turn into the season he'd pirouetted himself out of the Three Lap fight for the victory. That aside, it seemed to be a return to form for Senna as he picked up two wins in the first three races, especially exemplified by his stunning drive in horrendous conditions at the most glamorous of settings for the European Grand Prix, Leicestershire. Hill managed to pick himself back up and dust himself off, though, and two consecutive victories in San Marino and Spain launched himself back into the fight for the Cup. With teammate Prost also picking up two wins, including the token victory from pole in Monaco, the first six races saw Prost and Senna literally inseparable, with Hill being very separable following his slip up in South Africa.

------------------------------------------------
Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1993 Monaco Grand Prix (10 Rounds to Go)

1. Ayrton Senna -- 40 (2 wins, 2 2nds, 2 3rds)
=. Alain Prost -- 40 (2 wins 2 2nds, 2 3rds)
3. Damon Hill -- 31
------------------------------------------------

Then something odd happened.

Damon Hill, a thirty-three year old sophomore in Formula One, with his rookie season in a terrible, dying Brabham, in his first season in a competitive car, son of the unluckiest Castellotti-Clark Cup driver ever, suddenly became the world's best driver ever, over three laps.

He won in Canada. He won in France. He won in his home race at Silverstone. He won in Germany. And then he won in Hungary. Yes, count that all up. He won FIVE. ON. THE. TROT. And, if you're tallying up the rest of the races, he'd won seven of the last EIGHT. This streak is better than what Jim Clark ever managed. It's Senna 89-90 levels of dominant. Five on the trot is, from what I can tell, the longest win streak anybody had managed in the Castellotti-Clark Cup until now. And Damon Hill had managed it.

Throughout this streak, the lack of pace in Senna's McLaren became evident when he started qualifying three seconds behind the Williamses in multiple events, and he couldn't even overtake the Ligiers in France for a podium spot. He did manage to put up a fight with Alain Prost at Britain, though, and kept his French rival at bay for second in that race. Prost retaliated by running both himself and Senna off the road at the start at Hockenheim, leaving Senna well back in the pack and pointless for the first time this season. Prost got bitten back with karma, though, as his own car petered out on the formation lap in Hungary. All this chaos, though, left Damon Hill with a truly massive lead...

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Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1993 Hungarian Grand Prix (5 Rounds to Go)

1. Damon Hill -- 81
2. Alain Prost -- 60
3. Ayrton Senna -- 58
------------------------------------------------

Damon Hill had his streak of stunning stints stopped at Spa thanks to teammate Prost, but he was still a wonderful 17 points clear with four rounds left. Prost and/or Senna would need a terrific run of good results to keep up. However, neither driver finished consistently on the podium for the next three races. Finally, a Castellotti-Clark Cup would be engraved with a (British) Hill name. About thirty years too late, but about time.

That is, if Damon kept his form.

He didn't even need to do any dominant winning streak. And, with Prost and Senna's results the way they were, he didn't even need to podium in every race, either. All Damon needed was a steady stream of points. And yet, in the next three races, Damon encountered three separate disasters.

In Italy, a slow start saw not just Jean Alesi go by him, a rarity for the Ferrari this season to be running well, but also saw Senna challenging him for fourth into turn one. The resulting collision that poked Senna into the air and nudged Hill into the gravel put them back down into ninth and tenth. And, though Damon would win the full-length race, he could only make it back up to 7th over three laps, and thus nul points on the board. Senna's tumble also set him back in his hunt for a fifth Castellotti-Clark Cup.

In Estoril, we saw a repeat of what happened in the Hungaroring. The Williams, on pole, stalling as the cars set off for the formation lap, placing him at the back of the grid and scoring zero points. Except, this time, it wasn't Prost, but Hill that failed to get going. The race itself was an oddity, as Jean Alesi of all people claimed just his second Three Lap victory, Mika Hakkinen took a podium in his first race for McLaren replacing side character Andretti, and Alain Prost could only muster a fourth place finish. Hill was still ahead, but only by four points now.

In Japan, Damon Hill wasn't on the front row this time, but still in sixth on the grid, he could at least score some points to keep a title fight going, right? Nope, he bathed his tyres in wheelspin off the start, let a debuting Eddie Irvine in the Jordan zoom right past him, and couldn't get back past him in Three Laps. He finished seventh again, but through no fault of a collision or a problem with the car. He, on merit, scored no points in Suzuka. In the best car.

Alain Prost had only won once in these disastrous three races. And yet, he had eviscerated that 17 point gap and taken the championship lead for himself coming into Australia.

I could provide you with a table on probable results as to what could've happened in Australia. How Damon Hill could pull himself out of this miserable hole. But the Three Lap race itself was as anticlimactic as they come. Hill finally finished on the podium again, but he was a significant distance behind Prost in second and Senna, having broke the 50 win barrier last race, in first. If he hadn't spun in South Africa. If he hadn't had those three separate calamities at the end of the championship, this would've been an incredible title to celebrate.

But, as for now, it seems that a Hill will never win the Castellotti-Clark Cup. It's not bad luck. It's not horrible form. None of that could explain Damon blowing a 21 point lead in five races (technically, four).

Only fate.


I know it's weird to call him an unlikely champion, but it's true. Your unlikely champion, Alain Prost

Driver's Standings(Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Alain Prost -- 95 -- 4 Wins: BRA MON BEL ITA
2. Damon Hill -- 91 -- 7 Wins: SMR ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN
3. Ayrton Senna -- 88 -- 4 Wins: RSA EUR JPN AUS
4. Michael Schumacher -- 50
5. Jean Alesi -- 28 -- 1 Win: POR
6. Gerhard Berger -- 19
7. Martin Brundle -- 10
8. Mika Hakkinen -- 9
9. Riccardo Patrese -- 6
10. Mark Blundell -- 5
11. Jyrki Jarvilehto -- 4
12. Rubens Barrichello -- 3 (1 4th)
13. Karl Wendlinger -- 3 (1 5th)
14. Johnny Herbert -- 2
15. Michael Andretti -- 1
=. Aguri Suzuki -- 1
=. Eddie Irvine -- 1

Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. Williams-Renault -- 186
2. McLaren-Ford -- 98
3. Benetton-Ford -- 56
4. Ferrari -- 45
5. Ligier-Renault -- 15
6. Sauber -- 9
7. Jordan-Hart -- 4
8. Lotus-Ford -- 2
9. Footwork-Mugen Honda -- 1

1994 Season(Points:10-6-4-3-2-1)


Michael Schumacher muscling his way to a championship filled with tragedy and controversy.

In a perfect world, this was supposed to be the title fight of the century. Ayrton Senna had just moved to the almighty, all dominant Williams outfit, and with Prost out of the way, it would've been a nice championship battle. Even in the first two rounds, he had a clear competitor in Michael Schumacher. The German driver, for the past two seasons, had always been consistent but never quite the force he was hyped up to be. He was the only driver from the top three teams in 1992 to not score a podium, and likewise the only driver in the top five last season to fail to win a Three Lap race. Regardless, he finished in the top five in the standings on both counts, and with a new, suspiciously fast Benetton, he took his first win at the Pacific Grand Prix as Senna got tipped into the gravel trap on lap one.

Then came San Marino. Senna won after three laps, yes. But lap seven was all that people could talk about, and suddenly, the best driver in the Castellotti-Clark Cup was gone.

Schumacher was left all alone at the top. He tried to make things exciting by getting himself disqualified in Silverstone and Spa, banning him from a further two races. But Damon Hill was nowhere near as good as he was last year to mount a threatening challenge. Following Senna's death, Schumi won every race he took wasn't disqualified from, except for the chaotic mess in Hockenheim and the oddity of Jerez. Everything else, though, was his.

Well, except for the constructor's championship. Not even Schumacher's poor performances could lift up the hopeless trio of Jyrki, Jos and Johnny that combined for just eleven points, and Senna's replacements in Coulthard and the returning Mansell did well enough to solidify Williams as the top team that season. Even Ferrari came somewhat close as Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger (not '94 Larini though) managed to string together consistent results in a resurgence in form for the Italian outfit. And while we're doing shoutouts, let's give one to Ukyo Katayama for nabbing a podium while battling cancer. Top marks.

Driver's Standings(Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Michael Schumacher -- 104 -- 8 Wins: PAC MON ESP CAN FRA HUN JAP AUS
2. Damon Hill -- 80 -- 3 Wins: GBR BEL EUR
3. Gerhard Berger -- 55 -- 2 Wins: GER POR
4. Jean Alesi -- 40 -- 1 Win: ITA
5. Mika Hakkinen -- 26
6. David Coulthard -- 23
7. Ayrton Senna -- 20 -- 2 Wins: BRA SMR
8. Rubens Barrichello -- 17
9. Nigel Mansell -- 10
10. Heinz-Harald Frentzen -- 9
11. Ukyo Katayama -- 5 (1 3rd)
12. Martin Brundle -- 5 (2 5ths, 1 6th)
=. Jos Verstappen -- 5 (2 5ths, 1 6th)
14. Johnny Herbert -- 4 (1 3rd)
15. Olivier Panis --4 (1 4th)
16. Christian Fittipaldi -- 3
17. Jyrki Jarvilehto -- 2 (1 5th)
=. Eric Bernard -- 2 (1 5th)
19. Mark Blundell -- 1 (1 6th)
=. Eddie Irvine -- 1 (1 6th)

Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. Williams-Renault -- 133
2. Benetton-Ford -- 115
3. Ferrari -- 95
4. McLaren-Peugeot -- 31
5. Jordan-Hart -- 18
6. Sauber-Mercedes -- 9
7. Tyrrell-Yamaha -- 6 (1 3rd)
8. Ligier-Renault -- 6 (1 4th)
9. Footwork-Ford -- 3

RIP Senna.

Petition to rename the competition the Castellotti-Clark-Senna Cup.

Or just Clark-Senna Cup.

1995 Season(Points:10-6-4-3-2-1)


Schumacher climbing above the Hill (both the one in Monaco, and the driver) for two in a row.

Michael Schumacher looked set to win this championship from lap one in race one. And by lap three on race six, the title seemed to be all his. Four wins out of the first six and second in the other two, it was almost as good as a perfect start. The Williamses of Damon Hill and David Coulthard, in his first full season in Formula One, did their level best to keep up, but slip ups like Coulthard lazily spinning into the gravel in Canada and competitive Ferraris butting past them for podiums here and there left Schumi with a nineteen point lead out of Canada.

Damon Hill started to turn up the wick, though, winning three out of the next four. He could have won all four consecutively, but a broken driveshaft in Hockenheim tossed him out of the lead that race in a title-defining moment, giving Schumacher the win with the fourteen-point swing. Without that DNF, Hill would have the lead in Belgium, where the mixed conditions threw up an odd three-lap result, throwing Jean Alesi a bone for his hard work with a gift of a win.

Hill still had a shout, but being eleven points back, he'd need Williams to pull in more victories. Another four-on-the-trot stretch, perhaps?

Well, Williams did win the next four races. Bad news, they were all Coulthard.

Yep, Coulthard, who had been a bit of a woeful teammate up until now (though, if you see the standings, not as incompetent as Johnny Herbert), was a full 21 points behind Hill. If the phrase "Hill has a 21 point lead", that was the lead he had when he botched the end of the 1993 season. And, like '93, that 21 point lead disappeared in four races. Damon's curse with a 21 point lead wasn't even that bad. He managed three podiums from Italy to Okayama. The thing is, Coulthard managed four straight wins in that same period.

All this time, though, Schumacher steadily racked points, and still maintained a ten-point lead with two races to go. If DC continued his current form, he would be in with a clear shout for the title.

Then the rain came in Suzuka, and the Williamses struggled badly. Coulthard was stuck behind Eddie Irvine (who somehow played a wrench in the Castellotti-Clark Cup fight in Suzuka for the second time in three years), and Hill couldn't find a breakthrough, leaving Schumacher to win the race (only his second since the first six races) and clinch the title. And to rub further salt into Damon's wound, Coulthard won the season finale in Australia, cementing the fact that we, as a collective, can never trust Damon Hill with a 21 point lead over anybody ever.

Driver's Standings(Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Michael Schumacher -- 107 -- 6 Wins: BRA SMR ESP CAN GER JPN
2. David Coulthard -- 95 -- 6 Wins: ARG ITA POR EUR PAC AUS
3. Damon Hill -- 89 -- 4 Wins: MON FRA GBR HUN
4. Jean Alesi -- 52 -- 1 Win: BEL
5. Gerhard Berger -- 43
6. Johnny Herbert -- 14
7. Mika Hakkinen -- 12
8. Rubens Barrichello -- 11
9. Eddie Irvine -- 9
10. Mika Salo -- 3
11. Olivier Panis -- 2 (1 5th)
12. Heinz-Harald Frentzen -- 2 (2 6ths)
=. Martin Brundle -- 2 (2 6ths)
14. Mark Blundell -- 1

Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. Williams-Renault -- 184
2. Benetton-Renault -- 121
3. Ferrari -- 95
4. Jordan-Peugeot -- 20
5. McLaren-Mercedes -- 14
6. Ligier-Mugen-Honda -- 4
7. Tyrell-Yamaha -- 3
8. Sauber-Ford -- 2

Question: How do you count 2021 Belgian GP?

Abbaschand wrote:Question: How do you count 2021 Belgian GP?

Half points? Quarter points?

1996 Season(Points:10-6-4-3-2-1)


Another rout for Williams, again with a rookie in the number two seat, but would Villeneuve peak the summit of Hill? (Sorry, Hill puns are in order)

While the offseason was filled with big moves, such as Schumacher transferring to Ferrari, with Prancing Horse teammates Berger and Alesi making the jump back to Benetton, most of these points would be rendered moot by the time the first few races of the Castellotti-Clark Cup were through. Everyone else in the field were categorically ignored in favour of the two Williams in Hill and Villeneuve, who split the first four races among each other evenly. The scriptwriters of the show, the cinematographers capturing the action, and the journalist prepping the interview questions were all squarely centered on two people. Damon Hill, who was assigned the role of 'senior' despite being in only his fourth full season of Formula One, and a Canadian newcomer playing the typical 'North American hotshot denounced by European snobbery' role in a few Hollywood films, Jacques Villeneuve, son of 1979 champion Gilles.

However, after David Coulthard had a flash in the pan win in his McLaren-Mercedes San Marino thanks to Villeneuve getting in a tiff with Jean Alesi, the championship started to kick into Hill's favour. He took three out of the next four wins as Villeneuve barely tapped on the podium's door throughout that span, and the sportwriters were again out in droves to report that this season was finally one for the Hills. After being denied by the literal namesake of the championship year after ungodly year in the 1960's, it seems that Graham's son could finally avenge his father in the championship he could never win. He came close three years prior, but maybe now was the time.

But one thing to note. After France...

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Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1996 French Grand Prix (7 Rounds to Go)

1. Damon Hill -- 66
2. Jacques Villeneuve -- 45
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Damon Hill had a 21 point lead. And if you remember anything from my previous posts about this championship nearly a full nine months ago...

WaffleCat, writing about the 1993 Three Lap Champs, naive as they were about today's world wrote:None of that could explain Damon blowing a 21 point lead in five races

WaffleCat, recounting the 1995 Three Lap Champs in the middle of questioning their gender identity wrote:...we, as a collective, can never trust Damon Hill with a 21 point lead over anybody ever.

And as the 21 point prophecy foretold, Hill's world crumbled around him. He still scored points, yes, but his source of podium intakes ran dry. Sometimes due to bad starts, and sometimes due to Jean Alesi hogging the 2nd place spot on the podium all to himself in this timeframe. He was lucky Schumacher took his sole win of the season in Hungary, otherwise Villeneuve would've won three out of the four races following France. After Belgium, with Villeneuve triumphant after Three Laps and Hill denied yet another podium thanks to Coulthard bothering to try for the first time since his win in San Marino, Hill's lead went from comfortable to red alert...

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Castellotti-Clark Cup Standings: 1996 Belgian Grand Prix (3 Rounds to Go)

1. Damon Hill -- 79
2. Jacques Villeneuve -- 72
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The collapse was ready. Everyone was about to shout "Jenga!" as Hill's tower was ready to crumble. Villeneuve was in makeup, about to shoot the final scene of his Hollywood comeback. Two prodigal sons were seemingly ready to emulate their fathers, one in becoming a champion, the other in emulating the prodigal runner-up. Will a rookie claim the Castellotti-Clark Cup for the first ever time? Will Hill, in his final year in a Williams, be like his father and never win a title? Do people even shout "Jenga!" when the game ends?

I guess we may never know, as this time, Hill's tower stayed strong. He won all of the final three races, while his title rival took a complete nosedive. No more curse surrounding his family. No more myths by some rando with a Brett Lunger avatar questioning the 21 point lead conspiracy (though, come on, it has SOME validity). And no more questioning his talent. A Hill has finally reached the peak.

But seriously, DO people shout "Jenga!" when playing Jenga?


A Hill, in a London Rowing Club helmet, has finally won the Castellotti-Clark Cup.

Driver's Standings(Tiebreaker criteria in brackets)

1. Damon Hill -- 109 -- 8 Wins: BRA ARG MON CAN FRA ITA POR JPN
2. Jacques Villeneuve -- 78 -- 5 Wins: AUS EUR ESP GBR BEL
3. Jean Alesi -- 60
4. Michael Schumacher -- 52 -- 1 Win: HUN
5. Gerhard Berger -- 38 -- 1 Win: GER
6. David Coulthard -- 25 -- 1 Win: SMR
7. Mika Hakkinen -- 23
8. Rubens Barrichello -- 12 (1 3rd)
9. Eddie Irvine -- 12 (2 4ths)
10. Mika Salo -- 2 (1 5th)
=. Heinz-Harald Frentzen -- 2 (1 5th)
12. Martin Brundle -- 2 (2 6ths)
13. Jos Verstappen -- 1


Constructor's Standings(Tiebreaker Criteria in brackets)

1. Williams-Renault -- 187
2. Benetton-Renault -- 98
3. Ferrari -- 64
4. McLaren-Mercedes -- 48
5. Jordan- Peugeot -- 14
6. Tyrrell-Yamaha -- 2
=. Sauber-Ford -- 2
8. Footwork-Hart -- 1

WaffleCat wrote:
But seriously, DO people shout "Jenga!" when playing Jenga?

I don't. Did you know that, "The name jenga is derived from kujenga, a Swahili word which means 'to build'." So in this championship, was Damon building a mountain out of a molehill?