F1 Brands Hatch 1979 - McLaren onboard

[sookster54]

IIRC that's a Cosworth V8

[tech9803]

Brands Hatch is a nice-looking circuit with an interesting layout. Too bad they don't still have F1 races here instead of the sterile, boring new tracks.

[thrillathakilla]

@tech9803 If they did have F1 races there'd have to be a lot of changes to the track (Gravel traps extended) track made longer,etc. I don't know if the owners have the money to do it and also the track is right next to a motorway so I don't know if they'd get the planning, especially with the forests and residents surrounding it too

[F1000X]

This is a McLaren? It sounds like a V12. Did McLaren test a V12 in 1979? Could they be doing something funny with the exhaust, like using 180 degree headers?

[oddjobjujitsu]

now this is what a real F1 car should sound like.....manual gear changes with a clutch ....i love F1 but today is is just so sterile....no real passion ....i miss cars with low down force and big tires and lots of mechanical grip.....

[mikefranky]

@oddjobjujitsu ...Yeah same here,i love watching f1 on a sunday afternoon sitting down with my beef dinner but you cant beat the old f1 in the 70's and 80's for entertainment!!

[ginodelchiosco]

ed il sonoro da dove arriva?

[SGOMMINO71]

Ma i nuovi "PILOTI" sanno che cosa significa fare una scalata con doppietta (punta/tacco)? saprebbero guidare senza servosterzo? senza controllo di trazione? con un cambio che buca il palmo della mano destra?

[sardosfish]

@SGOMMINO71 SONO UNA BANDA DI POPPANTI VIZIATI.

[SweetSoulBrother84]

I reckon this track is better as the British GP. The hills and lush scenery are something missing from modern F1 tracks and gives it more of a British vibe. That said, Silverstone is a belter of a track, I just wish they designed it somewhere that's meant to be smooth, like Sakir, that way we have the best of both worlds. Probably just a bit too sacrilegious to do now though.

[RudyZombe]

It's a daunting task for eveyone: technicians, mechanics and pilots !!.

[PrivateRyan798]

look at those shifts, i bet they would've killed for paddles :P

[joecroucher]

that has to be the most awsome sound ive ever heard

[c0c0asauce]

dur wheres the paddles, how can you shift without paddles???

[iKilledZed]

@c0c0asauce back in the old days they used stick and clutch...

[gasfgiop]

@c0c0asauce This was F1 in 1979, drivers didn't have those. They had gears and a clutch.

[SRQshark]

what a lovely sound

[zabraoota]

worriors compared to how close the driver is to front end of the car.

[moptim]

DFV sounds so sweet. did the gearboxes btw have syncromeshes?

[keithcar]

@moptim no it is dog engagement.

[Petislaif]

Es para pelarsela

[Petislaif]

Es para pelersela

[jbutton113]

@wrangomonger I know, I hate the V8's to be honest, especially compared to the V10's, which were great.

[hdbuster18]

I love bradns hatch!

[ThyMiguez]

Orgasmic sound.

[WiseGuy02]

Would love to see a new series, based on the look and engines of the old cars but with today's safety. Perhaps with a pop out roll over bar so the drivers could sit up a bit more like the 80's too. Be cheaper than F1, and a whole field of old style V8's would sound awesome.

[elturko000001]

10pts

[connected1914]

hell !! listen to that sound!!!

and wow how dangerous were those cars...but the pilots felt more free

[ALowRes]

Den heutigen Piloten in der F1 wird außer Substanz - Hirnmasse - nichts mehr abverlangt. :(

[sookster54]

That's definitely a McLaren, I recognize the front rollbar and white mirror. But oddly that doesn't even sound like the V8, unless the rear cover is off and the pipes are exposed, the only other engine I can think of is the flat-12 which he drove the previous year to that.

[tool5150]

the old cars are so much cooler than the new computer engineered ones back then you needed just your brains to build a great car now we have computers that do alot of for us takes the human touch out of it i think and the sound back then was heaven

[omotigre2004]

In front of the car there no protection, no wings, downforce era

[punkerbr]

Best F1 era

[John27346]

These seventies F1 cars look like quite a handful.

[32SQUID]

Awesome video. Awesome audio. Man, I swear, the older racing cars just sound so much more beautiful.

[LesCrapio]

It seems that he was not using full power all the time.

[PoopTupe]

Revs up to try match the speed of the engine to gearbox easier change in old boxes

[113stDFX9900]

thats a pretty neat angle

[macsm]

why the accelerating sound every time when changing gears down?

[PallePingvin]

because the revs go up when you change down

[Saki2407]

@PallePingvin That's called "Heel and Toe"

[SlamScreenMedia]

@PallePingvin All cars revs go up when you change down at high speed...

[saulocpp]

Punta-taco, bro. Braking, but preparing to accelerate again. They want high revs after leaving the corner.

[fateola]

heel and toe

[homerthegreat46]

heel toeing, blip the throttle as you go down gears to match the engine speed with the wheel speed...stop the weight moving to the front of the car as u turn in....

[tool5150]

@homerthegreat46 thanks tips lol

[T1carus]

1980 brittish gp was at brand hatch

[SpeedsNeverEnought]

hun? What a lot of people on the pits for a Mclaren testing season, as far as I know there were no Brands Hatch on F1 calendar in 1979. And there's a Renaut stoped at 1:16?

[cduartebr]

I'm not sure, but it seems that video and sound aren't synchronized. But engine sound is breathtaking! I wished my 1.0L car sounded like that, lol...

[indiasrainbow]

play the sound out of your car stereo , connect speakers under the bonnet. :P

[MsFarQ2]

they are synchronized, just watch the gear changes.. Back then they didnt have the braking nor traction of a modern-day open wheeler so that's why it seems that way

[Stereolabdream]

my goodness-that bar behind the steering wheel looks deadly! but i'm assuming it serves some safety purpose? Anyone know?

[W1zzar3]

yes :D it´s there to save drivers head when car rolls over "roof" or top

[guillermo968]

to keep the car from falling on the driver's helmet, theres another over the driver's head , and the one behind the wheel.

[joe744]

ford engine in 79 yes they change to porsche until 1984 i think with prost and lauda teamates

[Waitingforriki]

This couldn't be the British Grand Prix as it was held at Silverstone that year ('79) I should know as I was there! Can anyone confirm if this was the fabbled 'Race of Champions'..the F1 race held each year at Brands Hatch back then..The sister non championship event was the 'International Trophy' held at Silverstone..Thanx..

[JpNineteen82]

did mclaren use a porsche engine then?

[VR46YAMAHA]

No, DFV Ford V8.

[JpNineteen82]

thx mate u saved me lookin up wiki :), sounds beefy anyway does the ford!

[JpNineteen82]

god that looks awesome and sounds even better!

[KX5OO]

Wicked....

[connell256]

a sound and a half tbh cant get any better

[KX5OO]

The video and sound was better then than today.

[KillerDreck89]

@KX5OO, that's what I call music.

[tommycat1313]

Real car and real driver....rare thing these days

[Descent82]

Unbelievable how far up front they sat. This was back in the days when race cars were machines to be feared, and only the bravest of men and women willingly got into the cockpit.

[mauriciochulo]

real racers

[allnightlongg]

wow amazing track!

[amjan]

Those cars were monsters.

[BananaGear]

fair go, thats some great footage. see him change gear? ha, no buttons!

[ABCY2012]

amazing era...

[kusitof]

Impresionante, parece que lleva un kart.

[ijlines]

Brands GP circuit is wonderful. In 1985 (I was about 7 or 8 yys old at the time) my local school was allowed to do a 10 lap charity bike ride around the Indy circuit. Where the Indy circuit leaved the GP circuit l, the road had been closed off with cones. Myself and friend decided to go for a lap of the GP circuit and sneeked past the barrier!. We cycled a lap of the GP circuit. To be able to cycle such a historic piece of Tarmac i will not forget. Long live Brands Hatch.

[NewYankee01]

what was the steeper incline the hill at druids or station

[400SA]

Awesome! There really was no nose on F1s back then. Not much separating you from an object in a crash.

[winters19]

Almost like a big go-cart!!!

[T1carus]

there was still a bit of stuff in between you and whatever you hit, the height of the driver adds to the perspective it is really short

[zoomer46]

is there a version where the sound is in sinc?

[niels007007]

often the camera was image only and sounds where randomly overlayed afterwards.. Its not out of sync, its a separate recording of perhaps another car all together that simply doesn't match the video. This is true for almost all onboards you see until the late 70s, the 'Lap of the Gods' dvd *does* have the right sound.

[JuanAntonioo92]

exelent video!!

[CRISTIANLUISCAMP0Y]

this is 1980.

[NewYankee01]

1 year off 1979.

[CRISTIANLUISCAMP0Y]

but in 1979 the race was held at silverstone , in 1980 , the race was held in brands hatch.

[NewYankee01]

the way you can tell is the ats at the start of the pits

[oldfart4751]

Giving away my age here, but my F1 hero was Jim Clarke. Smooth on the track, but a gentleman off it. Notice the gear shift, no traction control and other modern driver aids, plus all the other safety aids they have today. They were real drivers.

[creatyve]

i agree with everything except for the safety aids. I think even the real drivers would want those! But the true drivers were in this era.

[thrillathakilla]

He's my favourite too and I'm 19.

My favourite story about Jim is he was sat with Moss and Hill at Nurburgring one year, they were talking about the track and Moss told the secret to the Karussell (Brake at the rock on your right and aim for the tallest tree) so Jim went to bed and Graham and Stirling went into the woods, cut the tree down and moved the stone. Jim went out the next day and set the lap record

[creatyve]

lmao, thats hilarious

[rich1701]

what engine is in the back of that Mclaren? a Cosworth right? i didn't realise they sounded so mosquitoish

[darkarts59]

love the sound of the 70's cosworths, nice and high pitch unlike todays boring engines.

[stangeli7]

I'm Italian and I was a teeneager when John Watson was driving. He was my hero, I don't know why, maybe because he was fast but not so luky, or maybe because of his simple manners. All I Know is that I wasn't interested in Ferrari, but I liked Wattye so much.

[NewYankee01]

be the same next year. foggy as fuck

[NewYankee01]

in some aspects id have too agree but in a big way the sport is still too dangerous. it does seem like a driver is never likely to be killed again but never rule it out. all it takes is for something to hit their head and its lights out. and still fuji 07 was mega bad. just think what its like driver down the road at 70 when its foggy. the f1 drivers were going near 200. all it takes is for one car to lose it in turn one and you have one of the biggest f1 smashes ever. trouble is it'll prob

[balitaSR]

there's no bravery without danger, without exagerated speed or height or whatever, and there's no dream for the people either... harrison's "faster" accurately depicts what it is all about

[NewYankee01]

whose harrison?

[balitaSR]

george, from the beatles ;)

[NewYankee01]

oh yeah and before somebody says oh youre wrong. its spa. spa doesn't have anywhere near the same type of thing. yes eau rouge but thats about it.

[NewYankee01]

but yes brands has to come back. its a track that will scare the living shite out of racers. It wasn't good to say this 30 years ago because the aero wasn't good and if a driver came off there was a big chance of death. Nowadays though its safer and itd be good for the current drivers to experience the forces, they need more of a challenge. interlagos is the closest to the hunkering down/lifting off of cars. shame.

[rosun82]

F1 is not that dangerous anymore, even on such a circuit. Because even the 2nd place get 8 pts, and the qualify is not that important. Plus, if you overdrive a car, you will be punished for changing engine or gear box....Now it seems everybody just trying to finish the race instead of win

[thrillathakilla]

In some ways I agree. The FIA is completely obsessed with every team having the exact same components for a whole season. Now the cars have to be set up on the thursday and then nothing more can be done to them. It's silly!

[NewYankee01]

i know what you are saying about the "they are interested" but really its a fantastic clip of a car that wasn't a legendary car but the engine made a legendary sound. the people who made this would have seen this and put commentary. tv stations wouldn't exclusively stick with their own. last italian that got way better proffesional acclaim wasn't trulli or fisichella, it was jean alesi and he himself didn't reach great heights.

[EASYTIGER10]

Truly beautiful to watch.

Might be on dangerous ground here, but Brands has more interest, beauty and charisma than windswept Silverstone ever had/will have. It's got hills, dips, proper curves, and is one of those circuits where you really feel you've "been" somewhere. None of the artificiality of the Priory/Luffield complex or Vale.

If only F1 could come back (sigh)....

[NewYankee01]

zzzzzzzzoooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmm­mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[stoked33]

so much power. he can't go full throttle until he's pretty much completely straight.

awesome

[NewYankee01]

this is the most watchable brands hatch vid ever

[mattcrash69]

beasts those mclarens were

[XTR1337]

unbelievable sound ..

f%$(ing modern F1 sounds :<

[sinbaadi]

As good as the engine sound is, it's a shame the sound is not being made by that car on that lap.

[thekenemy]

It's been 11 years since I went to a gp, but they called them whining go-carts then too. But they sound nothing like on tv when they blast by just a few meters away! Ahh... standing at raidillon, already half deaf from F3000 and Porsche cup... and then a benetton starts up in the pits below and immediately launches on the straight... awesome. Guy next

[thekenemy]

to me, veteran f1 fan, started crying! It hits you like a force of nature. So incapacitatingly loud, yet so beautiful. Deep, rich sound, vibrating your guts. And then a gust of wind... It's the feel really, your ears just can't cope. Like an overdose of all possible tones at once, then a scream from the abyss

[thekenemy]

echoing through the hills. Well more like screaming trough a giant subwoofer, not shrill at all, just so... gas-guzzling, fire-breathing... and always with a full-bodied rumbling bass set to it, around the whole track. Sigh... I've got to go watch again soon, even if they are a bit shrieky now

[agentolshki]

i was 3yrs old living bout a mile na half away when that was filmed

[biritsuee]

the engine sounds so great..............

[marciohyde]

Fantastic!

[stangeli7]

Watson was my favourite pilot, when I was a boy, and this video gives me still strong emotions.

Ste

[aljuk]

Nice note. Shame about the commentary.

[EASYTIGER10]

What's wrong with the commentary?? Is it because it's "foreign"? I love the fact that Italians - the people that gave us Ferrari and Alfa Romeo - are interested in a British driver on a British circuit. It doesn't take a degree in Italian to work out what he's saying anyway.

[thegreatbasher]

My Grandad worked for Cosworth in those days. They were the kings of the sport, 105+ consecutive races or somehting like that. Shame they have now quit :-(.

[vandiemen90]

Nice to see this, but wish it had been a quick lap.

[McLarenMercedes]

Nah,if this was in 1979 it was the McLaren M28 or M29,both of which were uncompetitive and won no races for McLaren.Poor John Watson hated those models and said in a interview nothing worked on them.They were aerodynamically unefficient and had the torsional rigidity of a paper bag.I agree the CosworthV8 sounds lovely.

[Rockmunky1990]

listen to that....

[deagle666]

Beatiful...beatiful...engine..­..

[Redvaliant]

Most excellent. Even though it is a slow/pit-in lap, that car sounds evil.