Formula 1 races without world championship status
A Formula 1 race without world championship status ( non-championship races in English ) is a series of automobile races that were advertised in accordance with the current Formula 1 regulations. For various reasons, however, they did not count as runs of the FIA - Formula 1 World Championship and were therefore not included in the annual points award for drivers and teams. The last Formula 1 round without world championship status took place in 1983 at Brands Hatch .
history
background
In the history of Grand Prix sport , in addition to the few main events, the so-called Grandes Épreuves , there were a large number of other races per season from the start. The spectrum ranged from purely national races with an amateur character to traditional international major events, such as the Gran Premio di Tripoli , whose importance was hardly less than that of the Grandes Épreuves. Many of these races were also advertised according to the so-called “international racing formula” - from which Formula 1 emerged from 1948 - while other organizers stipulated their own regulations. In times when there was still no comprehensive live broadcast on television, this made it possible for a wide audience to experience Grand Prix racing cars up close, even in regions that were sometimes quite “remote”. In addition, such events offered teams and drivers good opportunities to gain additional racing experience and to test new vehicles or components. Furthermore, the entry and prize money - depending on the importance of the races, sometimes quite impressive - provided important additional income, especially for the private drivers who were still numerous at the time.
Even after the introduction of the World Automobile Championship in 1950, which only included the results of the Grandes Épreuves, numerous such events continued to be held, which followed the Formula 1 regulations but did not count towards the World Championship. During this time, some of the traditional races from the pre-war period, such as the Gran Premio di Roma, were continued. There were also attempts to establish regional Formula 1 races in the province. These include, for example, races in the British Cornwall or in the French Haute-Garonne . Individual events served to promote regional structures or also pursued political purposes, such as the Brazilian Grande Prêmio Presidente Medici (1974).
At times, some of these races also had the purpose that new organizers who wanted to host a Formula 1 world championship run had to prove their suitability to the CSI as a supervisory authority by initially organizing races without world championships. That was the case for the Spanish Grand Prix in 1967 , in Argentina in 1971 and in Brazil in 1972 . However, the organizers of the Japanese Grand Prix no longer required a test run before the 1976 World Championship run was held for the first time .
Occasionally there were also sport-political reasons why a Formula 1 race did not receive world championship status, for example in the case of the Spanish Grand Prix in 1980 : it was initially planned as a world championship run. However, he was revoked after the implementation of the world championship status. This decision was based on a dispute between the FIA and the Formula 1 constructors' association FOCA .
From the mid-1970s, there was a decline in World Cup-independent races. Increasingly, large automobile manufacturers pushed their way into Formula 1 as engine suppliers for the works teams (starting with Alfa Romeo , Renault and Honda ); The increasingly lucrative sponsorship and increasing revenues from television broadcasts also led to the successful racing teams becoming more prosperous. The teams now attached more importance to extended, often multi-day test drives before and during the season, which continuously decreased the importance and prestige of the World Cup-independent races. Individual events were also primarily designed as show events, such as the Dubai Grand Prix in 1981 . In 1990 a race in Donington Park was announced for the Easter weekend , but canceled at short notice due to a lack of participation.
Several traditional events, which had initially been Formula 1 races without world championship status, were announced according to the Formula 2 regulations from the second half of the 1960s . Many of them were then a regular part of the Formula 2 European Championship . These included the Gran Premio di Roma and the Gran Premio del Mediterraneo in Italy, the Grand Prix de Pau in France and the BRDC International Trophy in Great Britain.
Different developments in individual countries
The most widespread were World Championship-free Formula 1 races in Great Britain . In the first year of the automobile world championship, there were eight different Formula 1 races without world championship status, in 1955 there were 11. From 1950 to 1983 almost 40 different events were organized here, but few of them were repeated several times. The most successful event was the BRDC International Trophy of the British Racing Drivers' Club in Silverstone , which came to a total of 26 editions in Formula 1 configuration. The Race of Champions was run fifteen times , the International Gold Cup at Oulton Park fourteen times, and the Glover Trophy ten times. However, numerous races remained unique events. This applies to the Scottish Grand Prix ( 1951 ), the International 2000 Guineas in Mallory Park ( 1962 ), the August Cup in Crystal Palace ( 1954 ) or the Gunnar Nilsson Memorial Trophy in Donington Park ( 1979 ). The last Formula 1 race to date was the 14th edition of the Race of Champions in 1983 .
The situation in Italy was similar . In addition to the Italian Grand Prix , which was traditionally held in Monza , there were 13 different non-world championship racing events according to Formula 1 regulations from 1950 to 1979 . The Gran Premio di Siracusa was most often held in Sicily ; it came to 12 editions, which, given the climatic conditions in southern Italy, often represented the first Formula 1 races in Europe. The Gran Premio del Mediterraneo , the traditional Grand Prix of Naples and the Grand Prix of Modena each had four editions, the also established race in Pescara and the one in Bari three each. There were also various individual events on different courses.
In the Federal Republic of Germany there were only a few Formula 1 races without a World Championship. In the early 1960s, the Solitude Grand Prix was held four times in Stuttgart ; otherwise it stayed with individual races at the Berlin AVUS or at the Hockenheimring .
Over the years, some riders made their breakthroughs through their performances in a race that was not part of the World Championship. In April 1961, for example, the hitherto relatively unknown Giancarlo Baghetti beat the competition at the Gran Premio di Siracusa. In 1978 Keke Rosberg won in the weak Theodore Ford despite heavy rain against the two Lotus 79 pilots Mario Andretti and Ronnie Peterson , whose innovative car used the ground effect .
National championships
The national Formula 1 championships in South Africa and Great Britain played a special role .
Most of the Formula 1 races without world championship status were independently organized individual races that were not integrated into higher-level structures of contiguous series of competitions. It was different in South Africa. A separate Formula 1 championship was regularly held here from 1960 to 1975, which included up to ten races on tracks in South Africa, Rhodesia or South Rhodesia and Mozambique every year . The rules were based on those of Formula 1. The races were mostly dominated by drivers from southern Africa, who often use vehicles they had built themselves. However, some of the races, which usually took place between the end of December and the beginning of January, were also interesting for teams and drivers participating in the Formula 1 World Championship. At the beginning of the 1960s, they repeatedly contested two or three races a year in South Africa in order to test their material in good climatic conditions before the start of the next world championship season. With the exception of the Grand Prix of South Africa , these races each had no world championship status.
In Great Britain, a British Formula 1 championship was also established, which was also known as the Aurora AFX Formula 1 series. It was mainly drivers who had not yet received a cockpit in a world championship team; outside of the world championship races, they were able to gain racing experience with Formula 1 material. With the exception of March 781 , the vehicles used in this series were usually older cars of the world championship teams , some of which were brought to the start here as used cars over several years. With the exception of Theodore Racing and RAM Racing , only those teams competed in the Aurora AFX Formula 1 series that were not also involved in the Formula 1 World Championship. The Aurora AFX Formula 1 series existed from 1978 to 1982.
Overview: Formula 1 races without championship status
The table below only includes the years in which the respective races were advertised according to the Formula 1 regulations and did not belong to any championship. Further requirements for which vehicles with other formulas were permitted are not listed here. The same applies to the races in 1952 and 1953 : In those years, the automobile world championship was announced for Formula 2 vehicles. Not only the world championship races, but also almost all races without world championship status were Formula 2 races during these years.
The races of the Intercontinental Formula and the races of the South African and British Formula 1 championships are also not shown . See the main articles there.
See also
literature
- Adriano Cimarosti: The Century of Racing . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9 .
- Chris Ellard: Long Forgotten Races: The Non-championship F1 Races 1954 to 1965. W3 Pupl., Alderney 2009, ISBN 978-0-9545352-0-9 .
- Chris Ellard: The Forgotten Races: The Non-championship Formula 1 Races 1966 to 1983 , ISBN 0-9545352-0-0 .
Web links
- Statistics of the World Championship-free Formula 1 races from 1949 to 1983 on the website www.silhouet.com
- The specialist journalist Alan Henry on the history of Formula 1 races without a world championship
Individual evidence
- ^ Marc Zimmermann: Formula 1 in Interlagos. Vol 1: 1972-1980. Books on Demand, 2012, ISBN 978-3-8482-2152-3 , p. 13.
- ↑ F150: Formula 1: 50 golden years Volume II 1999, p. 77.
- ↑ F150: Formula 1: 50 golden years Volume II 1999, p. 77f.
- ↑ Adriano Cimarosti: The century of racing , motor book publisher Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9 , S. 307th
- ↑ In the course of 1980 and 1981 the clashes between the two organizations continued.
- ^ Thenational.ae
- ^ Damien Smith: Great Racing Cars , Motor Sport Magazine, 2014
- ↑ F150: Formula 1: 50 golden years Volume II 1999, p. 77.
- ↑ For the South African Formula 1 Championship, see Ken Stewart, Norman Reich: Sun on the Grid. Grand Prix and Endurance Racing in Southern Africa . London 1967, ISBN 1-870519-49-3 .
- ↑ The Grande Prêmio da Cidade de Rio de Janeiro was held twice in the 1952 season: The first edition took place on January 20, 1952, the second on December 14, 1952.
- ↑ The Cornwall MRC Formula One Race was held twice in the 1954 season: the first time on June 7, 1954 and the second time on August 2, 1954. On June 7, 1954, a Formula 2 race also took place at the same location.