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The All time Legends! Image Courtesy: Formula1.com
The man of few words, Jack Brabham probably tops the charts as the most underrated Champion of all time. He fought hard for his first Championship, not by pace or grit, but rather using opportunistic moves. The legendary Moss was his main rival, and not many expected Brabham to emerge as the Champion. He went on to overshadow everyone on the grid in the following year to clinch his second Championship, but the real story was in 1966 when he became the first man in the history of Formula 1 to win a grand prix in his own team.
The year 1966 further turned out to be a ‘moolah’ as he clinched his third World Championship. Perhaps age wasn’t on his side, Brabham was 40 when he won his third World Championship, and he retired from the competitive sport 4 years after this success story, but remained an aggressive force until his retirement. Brabham’s early days were inspiring to say the least, he worked in an engineering shop, then in a garage, and then joined the Air Force where he was trained to fill a wartime shortage of ‘Flight Mechanics’. He opened his own Engineering establishment in 1946, and was introduced to motorsport through his friend, and to whom Brabham built a car to race along the dirt ovals. Brabham moved to England in 1955, and after a successful talks with Cooper, Brabham became a driving force of Formula 1.
Brabham’s technical knowledge was responsible for Copper to take the rear engine route, and even in his third Championship victory year, Brabham was involved in the technical side of his own team. All these happened in the era where Formula 1 was witnessing an fierce rivalry between the Italians and the mighty Germans. Maybe, Ferrari could have convinced this Australian to join them in the 1960’s? Would have been an interesting story in its own right.
With 33 Pole positions, 25 Wins of the 72 Entries, Jim Clark would emerge as a natural talent, certainly one of his kind or Probably on the similar lines of Fangio. Jim Clark sporadically made a mistake, and it wasn’t his cup of tea to be involved in an accident. For someone who was on a rolling contract, just because he would be free to leave the team whenever he felt, this kind of explains his mindset on racing. A farm boy, who is a natural talent, and a genius behind the wheels, his peers loved him for his qualities as a human. Despite his dominance at all circumstances, Clark often stated that he is baffled with his pace, especially when the car isn’t upto the mark.
Clark nearly considered quitting racing altogether on two occasions – one, as he battled through the worst weekend of Formula 1’s history at Spa in 1960, and again in the following year, when he was blighted by his involvement in a collision at Monza that took the life of Ferrari’s Wolfgang von Trips and 14 spectators. His elevation as a star came in the year 1965, when he dominated the Indianapolis 500.
Despite being shy, and hating the spotlight, Jim Clark was loved by the public, and his sudden death left many in shock. His loyalty to Colin Chapman was never to be questioned, Clark wasn’t technically sound, and he looked up to Chapan for technical solutions, and the two shared an amazing bond. Perhaps, the less competitive season in 1966 where he decided to leave the sport for the first time for being uncompetitive, and could have been Ferrari’s opportunity to grab this natural talent.
Ferrari wasn’t actually struggling in this era of mid 60’s to say the least, drivers were winning the races, and they bagged a Championship in 1964. Their struggles only amplified in the late 60’s when their drivers were struggling to win even the odd races. Things turned to be slightly better in the early 70’s when there were there or thereabouts, but the performance was largely inconsistent. This could be due to the lack of continuity post the 1966 season, Surtees retired after a row with the Team’s manager Eugenio Dragoni, and in the following season, Chris Amon, Mike Parkes, and Lorenzo Bandini were the driving force of this team.
Perhaps, after the retirement of Surtees from his job at Ferrari, the team could have opted for the likes of Jim Clark who could have lifted the team’s morale with his sheer pace. The other potential driver could have been Graham Hill who by then won a World Championship, and suffered a disastrous season, and was contemplating a switch to his former team Lotus. He eventually joined Team Lotus for the 1967 season, and helped the team to rebuild to its former glory during its devastating times as the team lost its motivation due to fatal crashes of Jim Clark, and Mike Spence.
