F1 Battles Alan Jones v's Alain Prost Germany 1981

[Cassnet]

love these cars

[arr4089]

and one dick head dislikes this, you idiot

[Rcrby525]

back when f1 was f1

[mrcheuk40]

is it me or the f1 cars are moving kinda slow compared to now

[Malloyism]

these cars seem faster than todays F1;s or am i seeing things. Are they ground effected?

[Kamma8]

@Malloyism I'm not sure if it's the case going back this far, but there were times when F1 cars had more horsepower than they do today.

[johnbumstacker]

Serves Prost right for weaving!

[danthemanpatrick]

to imagine DRS on the old Hockenheimring... oh, the speed

[LuddXGaming]

@danthemanpatrick Oh, the engine failures

[danthemanpatrick]

@LuddXGaming You know? As of right now, I honestly wouldn't mind seeing a huge plume of thick grey smoke coming from the back of Vettel's RB7. I wish him NO physical harm in any way whatsoever. I just dislike the fact that he currently has a 124-point lead over 2nd-place JB. What a genius Peter Prodromou is.

[LuddXGaming]

@danthemanpatrick I agree, I like Vettel, he's funny and shit, but the fact that he keeps winning too often makes me ''hate him'' in a way I can't explain. If the championship was as tight as in 2007 (the year Räikkönen won) where 3-4 drivers could win the title at the very last race, I'd probably be cheering for him. But I won't, because that's not the case. Nope, Webber and Button (y).

[danthemanpatrick]

@LuddXGaming Yeah, 2010 was awesome in that regard also. I was honestly happy for Vettel to win in 2010.

[Morthelion]

@danthemanpatrick Imagine DRS, the old ring AND V10!!

[mrmactknife]

Where was Murray Walker?

[MegaMrDamo]

Thats why they put in tighter chicanes in 1995, overtaking is hard on swooping chicanes

[beeDUB75]

Have to say I am very much looking forward to the return of the turbos in 2014

[MyThoughtsSoSublime]

30 years since I last saw that clip and I always remembered it as the equal of any move ever. Exceptional era.

[malamagr]

Arnoux should have been punished, by FIA or Renault, for not moving over on the straight when he was blocking the battling leaders. Idiot cost his team and teammate victory for no reason other than procrastinating on the inevitable because he didn't like how it felt. Just pull over on the straight and let them by.

Awesome driving from Prost, keeping the momentum up, choosing the best line, while watching the mirrors. Think he only blocked 'legally', one move each time.

[FelineGuitars]

Fantastic racing ...and nice to hear James Hunt doing the commentary

[thash1127]

better racing than nowadays and no movable wings, it's possible, there just needs to be more "wing" under the car than above it, that's how they can run so closely together

[bigbeatle1]

good old times, pity it´s over

[38Avril]

2 Alan

[SmeurkeDeKat]

There's no chicane at the Ostcurve! That's one beast of a corner

[gtsgtsgt]

WTF happened to this track, it was so much better before why do people always have to change something good to a piece of shit

[mkbuddy]

Whos the commentator

[roywhiteo5]

is this james hunt commentating?

[TheColinChapman]

I think it would be worth mentioning that the one who drove the most clever race was Nelson Piquet. He was gentle on his car an on his tyres and waited until everyone in front of him ran into trouble. Piquet won the race.

[immortalperser]

I enjoyed the fantastic overtake and the great presentation (although it hurt to watch Prost -one of my favorites- being overtaken skillfully.) Thanks for posting the video; you seem to be very knowledgeable about F1.

[CaxiasFreguesia]

Alan Jones was mistreated by the Destiny, he should have been two or three times world champion.

[TheColinChapman]

I'll never forgive me that. I was a teenager back then, and I was sitting on the stand right at the Sachs bend. I was biting my nails watching the battle between Prost and Jones. But the moment it happened, I was busy staring into the plunging neckline of the busty girl sitting next to me. A pair of hooters made me miss one of greatest moves in motorsport history. That's what you get for being controlled by your homones during puberty. But on the other hand - I think it would happen again....

[f1educator]

@TheColinChapman lol. Probably not at the same person though. I suspect her neckline may be somewhere down near her waistline by now...

[Tomasch]

@TheColinChapman Just cause I'm curious....where there video walls back then?

[TheColinChapman]

@Tomasch No, there weren't. When the devil hits, he hits twice! :-)

[Tomasch]

@TheColinChapman Was there a stadium speaker? How could you follow a race back then?

[TheColinChapman]

@Tomasch Yes, there was. Kalli Hufstadt, he still is in business today! :-))

[Tomasch]

@TheColinChapman No, he is not. I was there in 2004 and remember the minute of silence for him before the race. He died in January 2004....RIP

[TheColinChapman]

@Tomasch unfortunately you're right, and I was wrong. I was at Hockenheim in 2001 for the last time to watch a Gramd Prix race, there I could still hear him. I'll miss him!

[hottotrot75]

alan jones great driver,he deserved more than one f1 title...

[thash1127]

the ostcurve, without the chicane was just awesome, i would've loved to watch a race from that viewing area

[insimonia1990]

loving the way that jones goes round the ostkurve

[mellilore]

The overtaking is rather Prost misjudgement. Imo what 's really great is the way Jones get through the next and especially the last turn of Motodrom, he's slightly and finely drifting his Williams in order to maximize the speed. Awesome and decisive drive!

[hjjubnh]

If Jones would have finished this race in 1st position he'd have been the 1981 champion...

[szewei85]

haha this is the best pre senna vs prost duels ever xD

[CaxiasFreguesia]

What a beautiful F-1 the Renault RE 30 and the magnificent Allan Jones, in reality he deserved much more than his lonely title of 1980, brave man, courageous and always doing his best although sometimes not protectet by the fortune.

[cstrnutt2004]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had forgotten how great F1 was back in those days. Movable wings?, Single tyre manufacturer?, V8 engine formula?

Just give my Ford DFV v8 against a v6 turbo and i'll take my chances. THIS FIGHT WAS ABSOLUTE MAGIC!!!!!!!!

[FlyBoyGrounded]

But surely Jones didn't win this race? Wasn't this the season when the Williams had fuel starvation problems which popped up again here after Jones had lost the Monaco GP to Villeneuve with the same problem?

[hottotrot75]

how good is this,,,todays f1 sux compared to this stuff

[sglasto]

Close racing that was more interesting than that godawful Bahrain GP

[lucianoestivill]

What is interesting here, is watching a young Prost fighting like mad, in a correct but tough way, as tough as Gilles, Senna, Arnoux, Rosberg, Mansell, the "Piquet of old", etc...... When Prost battled against Jones in the stadium it was unbeliavable.... If not not for his helmet, I could have said it wasn't Alain but Arnoux, Gilles, Keke, Senna, Nigel Mansell, etc. Cool days!!!

PD: it was a fantastic battle, a high class battle, talent against talent, excellent!!!

[M1ggins]

@lucianoestivill in a correct and tough way? he was weaving from one side of the track to the other, I can't stand Prost, usee to be my hero until I realised he was a despiccable hypocrite.

[lucianoestivill]

@M1ggins There are no-hypocrite great champions in F1. To get that high, selfish attitudes, hypocritical ways, and egocentrism are a constant issue..... Prost, Senna, Mansell, Lauda, Piquet, Schumacher, Alonso, etc., used to be that way....

[M1ggins]

@lucianoestivill he complained bitterly about Senna doing similar, and called Senna dangerous, then rammed him off at Suzuka 89 to win, a hypocrite for sure.

[lucianoestivill]

@M1ggins Agree, you are right, but his opposition was exactly the same, specially Ayrton, who crashed on Prost next year, with 25 cars behind, at 180mph, saying that "Prost closed the door so He couldn't avoid the crash, and a years later said He simply didn't brake, that is to say, with Prost closing or not the door with his Ferrari, He would have crashed anyway. At least Prost said that He closed the door on Senna. No angels here, F1 is a dirty bussiness, you know...

[lucianoestivill]

As always, one of the most professional whiners in F1 history (Arnoux) was furious when his second driver Prost started 1981 season kicking his ass (just look at the gap on qualys)...... He behaved like a jerk there, He should have let Prost, Jones and Reutemann overlap him just moving aside on the main straigth, but He prefered to let them overlapping them in the Stadium, moving to the left: a secure gift to Jones to overtake Prost.. Clearly, some kind of "undercover cheating" to his teammate!

[f1educator]

Perhaps. Arnoux didn't actively block Prost inthe Stadium or let Jones attack Prost either. Jones still had to make the most of the opportunity.

I wish more F1 battles were like this - almost lasting the entire race, woth totally different cars and finished off with such a superb move.

[lucianoestivill]

But you know Arnoux deliberally move aside in the correct place so as to allow Jones take the most of it, specially in the place Williams had a better performance (Stadium). Arnoux SHOULD HAVE LET the leaders overlap him in the straights, instead of blocking them, specially when one of them was his teammate..... Eventually, Arnoux finished his career shamefully (as a "hard to overtake backmaker") while Jones was a F1 Champion, and his teammate Prost is a Super-Champion, a legend in motorsport!

[f1educator]

I don't know if it was in Arnoux's mind to deliberately cost Prost the lead. Arnoux's position in the race was pure bad luck and he had nothing to hold against Prost for his position in 1981. AFAIK Arnoux only had an issue by mid-1982 when he was ordered to let Prost win the French GP.

I certainly wouldn't say Arnoux's decision to move over should take something away from Jones. Prost had a fair and equal chance to own that corner but Jones just did him on guts and experience.

[lucianoestivill]

I'm not talking about magnificent Jones steel balls overtaking!!! It was fantastic!!! As fantastic as novice Prost (and 2nd driver in Renault, 1st driver was Arnoux.....) resisting Jones attempt in Stadium even when his Renault was not the best car to figth with a Williams in the Stadium...... But it's clear Arnoux was a backmaker and had to let leaders overlap him not in a riskful part of the track, specially when his teammate was doing his 110% commitement to resist Jones... He behaved BADLY!

[f1educator]

cool.

and since when has Arnoux behaved well?

[lucianoestivill]

I don't know when Rene behaved well, but I know when He started to behave bad: from mid 1981 season, when his novice 2nd driver kicked his ass, specially on the first 7-8-9 races of that season, specially on qualies........ But his worst part was his shameful period in Ligier from 87 to 89: a hard to overtake BACKMAKER....... A pity....... He was a wasted talent, and He did ALL to waste it!!!!.

[bavarianbass]

sad but true

[McLarenMercedes]

@lucianoestivill

Arnoux a whiner? Nothing compared to Nigel Mansell I think. He believed Ferrari gave Prost favorable treatment. Funny how he missed that Prost thought the same about Senna when they were team mates in McLaren 1988-1989.

[beeDUB75]

What they did to Hockenhiem was criminal. Far worse than any Abu Dhabi or China...... Great old track seen here graced by two great old drivers.

[dariounited]

@beeDUB75 so true!!! one of my favourite races to watch and they carved that circuit up like a Christmas turkey...shame

[testacorsa150]

Jones´ car has Layland written on the sides of the car - how ironic - lol

[airtongarbin]

prost lo l 2.22 more than half tire on the grass top speed wow!!! were the snake smoke years 80 real circuit real drive skills and less political..

[mallamoozoo]

I SOOOO much prefer the F1 of old - these raw circuits with their irregular shapes, rough edges, grass outside, bumps galore, cut through forests and hills - compared to the absolutely sterile, clinical computer drawn modern "Aerodrome" circuits like Abu Dhabi - nope forget it - I've finished with F1 after 25 years. It's no longer real driving. Villeneuve and Senna would have been bored to tears driving now.

Post more of this stuff from the golden years!

[lucianoestivill]

Yeah malla my Friend: for the very first time in my life, I missed a F1 race. I was tyred and said to myself: "time to go to bed, this ridiculous Abu Dhabi race isn't interesting enough to watch, I prefer sleeping 2 more hours, than losing my time with this robotic race".

[f1educator]

It was a dull race, as usual, but then you missed the last few laps? A chase and little battle *almost* of old. Pretty exciting, by today's standards anyway.

F1 will be better in 2010 when we finally get to see refuelling banned. You will find drivers on very different tyre conditions and compounds in the last 1/3 of the race, yet all on equal fuel, meaning we should get more battles like JB and MW in the last race... and battles of old too.

[indigoblue555]

@lucianoestivill - ..retarded or uneducated

people stating that Prost was not a real racer would love watching a pack of crazy

or suicide oriented drivers killing each other lap after lap just to show bravery and skill at any cost ! Sick drivers for sick

enthusiasts...

[f1educator]

Prost in this race reminds me of Senna @ Lotus. Only a couple of wins to their name and out-performing the car. Meaning they were usually at the front struggling to hang-on to their lead and being determined and aggressive with it.

Prost didn't really race again like this after 1981. He knew how to win later on in his career.

[indigoblue555]

@f1educator -Agree.He was defending shutting the door and smartly choosing his line after Senna style...Nodoubt he changed his driving in the years.The talented pupil got into a professor !

Raw speed and aggressive behaviours

were overshadowed by a deeper care about set up,smart strategy to preserve the car and skip excessive risks,while obviously speed was still there....A top driver who had a perfect mastering of the race, strictly focused on the final win and not on the single race.