F1 CAR RACING HISTORY
At the same time, there was a fight brewing between the FIA and FOCA. The FIA wanted ground effects banned for safety reasons. The FOCA led by Bernie Ecclestone thought this would give advantage to the turbo powered F1 cars such as Renault and Ferrari. The FOCA teams (such as Williams, Lotus,..) boycotted the San Marino GP while the FIA rendered the Spanish FOCA organized GP invalid. The differences between FIA and FOCA were eventually settled by the Concorde Agreement. Yes, Bernie had left his first mark on the sport and has been the major influence on how modern day F1 is run.
By the end of the decade, McLaren was practically undefeatable, winning no less than 6 F1 titles between 1984 and 1989. It was also marked by the fierce battle between Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. McLaren and Senna continued to dominate the F1 into the nineties, until the powerful Honda withdrew their engine supply and Williams with Adrian Newey built superior F1 cars. So superior that Nigel Mansell had wrapped up the World title with still 6 races to go!
The technical evolution of F1 had increased immensely. F1 cars now had active suspension and traction control and many other driver aids. The fear that the driver would become obsolete grew bigger and for 1994, FIA planned some changes and banned most of these technologies...
However 1994 is a year not many F1 fans will forget, for in a dark weekend at Imola, F1 lost Ratzenberger and Senna. Perhaps F1 had thought itself invulnerable as it was 12 years since the last fatality in a F1 race. FIA had to react and more changes for more safety were introduced. With the death of Senna, F1 had a sudden generation shift and a new era began.. the era Schumacher. And with Ferrari approaching a 20 year drought in world titles, they hired the then double world champion to bring Ferrari back to glory. But the opposition was not easy and it wasn't until the year 2000 that Ferrari could call itself F1 Champion again. The last few years have seen the latest trend in F1: big car constructors get involved. Jaguar, Honda, Renault and also Toyota are entering F1. All have the same goal.. to become World Champion.. but not all will achieve this! Who will win and who will lose will eventually be added to the glorious history of F1.
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