1,400hp F1 turbo monsters
21 May 2007 Turbos were banned in F1 in 1989 after the cars became too fast for the tracks. The ‘80s saw the most insanely powerful F1 cars ever. Trackside’s Keith Collantine picks the five turbo monsters that defined a spectacular era. Turbo power brought shocking speed and flame-belching spectacle to Formula 1 in the ‘80s. With hundreds of extra horsepower at the touch of a button, drivers could overtake each other far more easily than today. F1 bosses are thinking of bringing turbos back – though limited to 770hp and using biofuel to be more environmentally friendly. But wouldn’t it be great to see a return to cars like these…
Renault introduced turbo engines to F1 in 1977. Early models were dubbed ‘yellow teapots’ for their bright livery – and the fact that they often retired in clouds of smoke. But two years later Jean-Pierre Jabouille gave the car a fairytale win at the team’s home race in Dijon. Unfortunately the crowd was so mesmerised by his team mate’s battle with Gilles Villeneuve for second place Jabouille’s win was almost overlooked. Brabham-BMW BT52 (1983) Within four years all the front runners had turbo power – but the explosively powerful engines often failed to last the distance. Qualification was based on a single lap. Teams used every trick to unleash maximum power from the engines for that circuit – even if it meant they detonated on the way back to the pits.
It won driver Nelson Piquet the world championship. McLaren-TAG Porsche MP4-2 (1984) BMW lost its crown to German rivals Porsche, whose engines powered McLaren to three consecutive drivers’ championship from 1984-6. The Porsche technicians used their expertise from sports car racing where fuel efficiency was crucial. This was especially important as the governing body began limiting the amount of fuel available to teams to make the cars slower and safer.
In 1987 Piquet and British hero Nigel Mansell drove for the dominant Williams team. Now the teams were being forced to use less turbo boost to slow the cars down. But Honda’s powerful engine outgunned every other car on the track while using less fuel than the Porsches. Despite winning the drivers and constructors’ championships Honda and Williams fell out. The Japanese manufacturer took its engines to rivals McLaren. McLaren-Honda MP4-4 (1988) Thought Michael Schumacher’s Ferraris were the most dominant F1 cars ever?
Gordon Murray was one of the car’s designers - he would later pen the McLaren F1 road car. The governing body had tried to make ‘normal’ engines more competitive with turbos. But in the face of McLaren’s dominance they gave up, and banned turbos for 1989. Racing round-up German Touring Car Championship, Lausitzring British rookie Paul di Resta leads the championship ahead of his home race at Brands Hatch next month. Despite driving a two year-old car he finished second to former F1 champion Mika Hakkinen and now leads the title race. World Touring Car Championship, Valencia There was another British triumph on the world touring car stage as James Thompson won both races in his N Technology Alfa Romeo. Andy Priaulx jointly leads the championship with team mate Jorg Muller after finishing fifth and second. British F3 Romania The British F3 championship made its first visit to the streets of Romania. Briton Sam Bird broke his victory duck but championship leader Marko Asmer also took a victory to pull further ahead. Auto Trader links Insane go-kart is quicker than Dodge Viper |
Renault RS10 (1979)
Brabham used petrol that was 84 per cent Toluene – a highly powerful and dangerous chemical. In qualifying the car was reputedly capable of an eye-watering 1,400hp.
Williams-Honda FW11B (1987)
The MP4-4 took 15 wins from 16 starts. All that prevented a clean sweep was a lapped driver who crashed into Ayrton Senna at the Italian round.Page 1
