F1's Best Comeback Drives
by Craig Normansell on Apr 26th, 2011The Badgerometer is where we compile a Top 5 things from the previous grand prix (or anything else we fancy when there's no race). Sometimes the racing is barely featured...
Mark Webber wowed the fans with a rip-roaring drive from 18th on the grid to 3rd place in last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, but are there any other drives from the past that were just as impressive? The Badgerometer investigates!
Nobody forgets their first win, especially if you come through the field from nowhere. Rubens Barrichello had come close so many times before driving for Jordan and Stewart, but once he was signed to partner Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, many thought he would ease to his first win. Alas, it would take a chaotic race at the old Hockenheim for the Brazilian to break his duck.
Lining up a lowly 18th, Rubens cut his way through the field thanks to his alternate two-stop strategy. Then, a disgruntled Mercedes employee made his way onto the track in protest of losing his job, bringing the safety car out so he could be removed safely. The incident brought many drivers in to pit. Rubens was now third, but he inherited the lead when the rain began to fall on the circuit. Braving it on slicks while everyone else around him pitted for wets, his wet-weather prowess coupled with that gamble secured him a maiden victory. The slowing-down lap showed just how much it meant to the Brazilian:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD8_VnNSnIQ&feature=related
The polarising figure of Michael Schumacher can not be exemplified more than in the Belgian Grand Prix of 1995. The German and his arch-rival Damon Hill had suffered due to Spa's nature of producing rain from nowhere, which put Hill in 8th and Schumacher further back in 16th, but in more changeable conditions Hill had moved up to lead by half distance.
When Hill made his first pit stop for fresh slick tyres, Schumacher took over at the head of the field. It then started to rain and while Hill went back to the pits for wet weather tyres, Schumacher stayed out on his slicks. The Williams driver rapidly caught up with the German, but despite lapping six seconds a lap slower, Schumacher was able to keep Hill behind him until he went off the wet track and Hill passed him. Almost immediately the changing track conditions began to favour slicks once more and Schumacher re-passed Hill who pitted again, this time for slicks.
The rain intensified, and both men stopped for wets for the final showdown. But, thanks to the Brit speeding in the pit-lane and having to serve a penalty, Hill spent the final laps catching and passing Martin Brundle for second place. Schumacher won, but the manner in which he defended his position from Hill came under intense scrutiny from all quarters.
Kimi Raikkonnen may be mixing it up on gravel at the moment (with one eye on cracking America), but we should never forget just how brilliant a driver he was in F1. One of his best drives - arguably the best - happened in Japan in 2005. The Saturday had been a rain affected qualifying that had put all the title contenders way down the field. Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher lined up in 14th and 16th places respectively, but it was even worse for the McLarens - the Iceman was 17th while hot-headed team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya was one place behind in 18th.
From the off it was clear the usual names were going to have to work hard all afternoon to gain places. Alonso managed to jump to eighth by the end of the first lap, but Kimi went wide and lost yet more places. A glimmer of hope happened when Montoya crashed so heavily that the safety had to make an appearance. That played into McLaren's hands after all, closing the gap for Raikkonen and also helping with their pit-stop strategy.
Heading into the final laps, Raikkonen was only 5 seconds behind Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault and was closing fast, and heading into the start of the final lap, this happened:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGq9WOxoqsQ&feature=related
It was Kimi's final race win for McLaren, and will go down in his career as one of the greatest drives.
Now, we at Badger love the nostalgia the '60's hold for F1. Jim Clark seemed to be a driver apart from the rest, especially when he had the bit between his teeth. He was comfortably leading at Monza in 1967 when a tyre punctured. He lost an entire lap while having the wheel changed in the pits. Rejoining sixteenth, Clark ripped back through the field, progressively lowering the lap record and eventually equalling his pole time, to regain the lost lap and the lead.
He was narrowly ahead of fellow legends Jack Brabham and John Surtees starting the last lap, but his car had not been filled with enough fuel for such a performance: it faltered, and finally coasted across the finish line in third place. Although Clark didn't win that day, it was a remarkable drive that showcased his talent better than any win or title.
The greatest comeback drive for Badger can be summed up in the next two videos. Just for your info, the McLarens of John Watson and Niki Lauda had qualified 22nd and 23rd, but that wasn't going to mean their afternoon was over. Here's the extended highlights of the race for you to enjoy!
Comments and Discussion
I do enjoy these Top 5's, you normally pick the correct events but -in my opinion- always get them in the wrong order!
TV coverage has improved immeasurably since 1983, i know the clips are just highlights but you'd be forgiven for thinking there were only ever 8 cars in the race if you missed the start. The McLaren's came through almost completely unnoticed and were leading at half-distance which goes to show the chasm in laptime which existed between the fast and slow cars of the period.
I'd have put it at 5 for this reason, not 1.
Still, the '83 cars were gorgeous to look at and Keke Rosberg was a nutter! Tambay's fault though, did he think the Williams was just going to disappear when he turned-in?
Raikkonen really shouldn't have been in a position to win the 2005 Japanese GP. Fisichella had qualified 3rd and had the car underneath him to hit the front early-on and sail off into the distance. He didn't, he inherited the lead after the first pitstops (and early SC) and just wasn't fast enough mid-race. And that's why Kimi caught him, utterly stupid fumble from both Renault and Giancarlo though not to take anything away from Raikkonen or Alonso who were both brilliant that day.
In fact i'd probably have included both Raikkonen and Alonso in this list for that race.
I think that performance was what really soured me on Schumacher. No matter whatever he's done; there will always be an asterisk next to his name.
there has to be a better number 1 than this! Looks like the maccas had a massive laptime advantage up until the top 10 and then most of the cars in front either binned it or retired. Did John Watson pay you guys off or sumin?
I loved Keke's drive until he was taken out by that silly Frog. That spin should be more of a classic moment than it has been, my jaw dropped open, his start was brutal as well!
As much as i hate to say it, there were a number of mega drives from Schumi from the back of the grid. Did Jenson pull one off in the Brawn as well? Also I'm sure there have been some in Monaco, which is a hell of a place to achieve a win from the back, i just can't think of it without going and researching it. There must have been dozens in the 60's & 70's.
John Watson's other notable mega-drive from the back was in 1982 at Detroit. This is a great one to watch...
Highlights...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs6lFAXwflw&feature=related
Full race in parts...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onRCOtvwP4o
Other great drives through from the back were at the Monaco GP of 1984, where we saw Ayrton Senna come from 13th to 2nd in the Toleman, and Stefan Bellof came from 20th to 3rd in the Tyrrell in the same race. Definately worth watching if you've never seen it.
Jim Clark's drive has to be number one for me, simply because it was regarded as impossible to catch the pack if you dropped out of the slipstream, so to catch an entire lap alone was just amazing. All the other drivers at the time were in awe and Jackie Stewert still says it was the best race performance.
Also I'd have included Panis at Monaco in 1996 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BS-xH6ceqw). Starting a lowly 14th on the grid (at Monaco this might as well be last!) he managed to win the race. Incredibly, he gained most of his places through passes rather than retirements. His first and only win in a career that sadly lost it's momentum after he broke his leg at Canada in 1997
Ah, good choice with Panis, but was it really a 'comeback' drive?
We wanted to capture the spirit of racers who are usually at the front end of the grid that had to start further back due to car problems/rain/mistakes in qualifying.
Still a great win from the Frenchman though! One of the classics in my opinion.