Inside Motorsports Vol. 1 2018/Q1 - Part I | Page 12

1980's: f 1 becomes so f ast,
FIA needs t o st ep in...
I n t he 1980's, t ur bochar ged engi nes
became i ncr edi bl y power f ul : 1400+ BHP
on qual i f yi ng and ar ound 1200 BHP
dur i ng t he r ace. An i nt er est i ng
compar i son: Mer cedes pr obabl y del i ver s
a l i t t l e mor e t han 1000 BHP on
qual i f yi ng
t oday...The
l evel
of
downf or ce got
much
hi gher
as
t echnol ogy pr ogr essed. Car s became so
f ast , t hat
dr i ver s st ar t ed
to
exper i ence bl ackout s on qual i f yi ng
sessi ons! That was t he per i od, when
dr i ver s st ar t ed t o pay at t ent i on t o
t hei r condi t i on and do physi cal t r ai n.
FI A st epped i n 1984: t hey have r emoved
t he ski r t s, and i n 1989 t hey compl et el y
banned t he t ur bochar ged engi nes f r om
F1. Fun f act : F1 saw t he most over t aki ng
dur i ng t he ear l y '80s, despi t e t he huge
downf or ce l evel ...
"I've al ways been
r easonabl y f at al ist ic"
- Nigel Mansel l