"If I drive for Ferrari, I'll be dead by the end or the year"

In the movie "Grand Prix", Jean-Pierre Sarti describes it this way to Louise Frederickson during Monza practice:

"You have to grasp the mind of Sr. Manetta, my darling. If a driver can be reached by those tactics, it means he probably will fear for his place on the team. That is exactly what Manetta wants, because that driver will try all the harder to win. He will perhaps take a risk which he would ordinarily avoid. And risks are always risks."

(Manetta was the Enzo Ferrari-like character. And fittingly, Sarti loses his life in the race the following day.)

 

I stopped pushing myself in driving after I did a 560 in the hills near my home. At the end, I was in the passenger seat and with my right foot on the brake pedal. Seats belts were not around. Even thou I did not have to change my underwear, I realize racing is for fools. Since that time, I have driven fast but never at real risk.

Track drivers are scary. I cannot pass them anymore. I am but an amateur. Of course I am now old.

12 cylinders or walk.

 

The drivers of the 50's through the 70's, maybe even through the 80's, were a different breed than the drivers of today. There was real danger in the driving experience during competition. Brian Redman is a very intelligent person, with a family, so something in him overcame the fear to allow him to successfully compete.

Today, safety standards are such that it is really difficult to imagine serious injury or even death. A driver today would be more willing to take a risk, for likely he will only damage the car, not him/herself. So if someone asks who are the drivers with true bravado, I would respond with names like Bandini, Moss, Fangio, Foyt, Petty, etc.

 

what a great story - it was different back then. Even in the movie 'Enzo Ferrari', the character tells Piero to add the customary 2 seconds to the time shown the driver.

 

It's called "WIN AT ANY COST"...very effective strategy, eh?

 

He was probably right though, Ferrari didn't treat his drivers very well, I don't think he even liked them very much, for instance I believe it was Acari who died for no reason during a practice session as well. In Ferraris eyes the worst thing for a driver was to be in love or distracted by a women as you lose that drive to push a bit harder and are not focused. Ascari was involved in a realationship at the time of his death and did not want to drive that day but was pushed into it.

Even a simple accident by today standards could be fatal then, the cars would explode easily and were very fragile, not to mention the tracks had lots of heavy objects such as trees and concrete posts to run into, todays drivers have it easy no comparison, back then death was reality and many drivers were lost regularly.

 

Yes absolutely racing was more dangerous then, but the drivers drove differently, at least the smart ones did. I thin kit was Moss who said, and I have to paraphrase here: " In turn 10 I never made a mistake, because there were trees on either side of the road. But in turn 11 there was nothing to hit. I spun off all the time there."

I race the same way today. In the corners where the consrquences of going off are a big accident, you keep something in hand. That slight lift, or braking a bit earlier, costs you a tenth or two, but you make it through that particular corner every time. The difference between competent (me) and really good drivers, is how much you have to keep in hand for those hairy corners. Anyone can go balls out into a hairpin with lots of runoff. Talent gets you through Eau Rouge (nearly) flat. Oveconfidence gets you killed (see Stefan Bellof)

 

Definitely a different breed of individual back then. I would say it's fair to assume that, to be a race car driver in the mortal era, one really had to have a passion for the sport. And while the notion of dying could easily occupy your mind away from the track, drivers would be consumed with competition on the track.

 

I think you're talking about Castellotti. Although the precise circumstances surrounding Ascari's death are still a mystery, I don't think Enzo pushed that one into the grave.

As to Ascari, I believe less than two weeks after he put his formula 1 car into the harbor at Monaco and sustained a concussion, he dropped by Monza where Ferrari, specifically Castellotti, was doing some testing. He was not dressed or at all prepared for driving - he was wearing a suit and tie and did not have his helmet or gloves. He was also known to be extremely superstitious, so everyone in the pits was shocked when he stuffed his tie into his shirt, asked Castellotti if he could borrow his helmet, jumped into 0562 and started doing hot laps. A few laps later, he lost it and was killed. Hypotheses range from an animal crossing the track, to tire failure, to an aneurism caused when a clot from his recent concussion broke loose and went to the brain. I think he died in Castellotti's arms. There's a spooky picture taken by a photographer that happened to be there when Ascari left the pits in 0562 - all the italian newpapers ran it the next day with "the last picture of Ascari alive!" captions - it shows Castellotti looking at Ascari, who is wearing Castellotti's helmet and getting into the car while a couple of pit babes look on.

Castellotti's death was, I believe, caused indirectly by Enzo's iron-fisted management when it came to pushing his drivers. Castellotti had had a couple of late party nights with his actress girlfriend (I think her name ws Dalia Carla) when he got a call from Enzo to go to the Modena Autodromo. I don't think Enzo made any secret that he did not care for her or Castellotti's relationship with her. I think Maserati, who also tested there, had set a new lap record the day before and Enzo was not going to allow an interloper to hold a lap record on his own turf. So he pushed the factory team and Castellotti to get their butts over to the track the next morning with the intent (or mandate?) to take back the record. Between an early morning, dew on the track, cold tires and a tired Castellotti, he clipped a curb and tossed the car (formula 1) into an elevated concrete platform. He died at the scene - his helmet was shattered and actually had a tire track on it.

 

Good afternoon Dubai Vol,

That bit you posted makes me think about the current World Rally Championship drivers. They are going through the trees on both sides at nearly every race. Then when they have races without trees on one side of the road, there might be a cliff on the other.

Definitely the F1 guys today and Le Mans drivers have safer conditions. The cars are built better too. Unfortunately, accidents still happen and people still die in racing, especially in WRC.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat

 

When Hemmingway wrote his bit on racing, bullfighting and mountain climbing being the only "True " sports, it was an entirely different era.
I must agree on the WRC note though.
Jaclie Stewart talks of his close friends deaths in FASTER! and you can see where his obsession with safety comes from.

 

Racing is inheriently dangerous. Even today, with all of the safety measure modern racing series put forth. I think it is because racing is so dangerous that so many of us are drawn to it. It takes a very courageous person to go out and put forth life threatening speeds every time.

 

I think Gilles put it very well:

"I don't have any fear of a crash. No fear of that. Of course, on a fifth gear corner with a fence outside, I don't want to crash. I'm not crazy. But if its near the end of practice, and you're trying for pole position maybe, I guess you can squeeze the fear ..."
Gilles Villeneuve on Fear