The golden era of Formula 1

[S griffin]

Most people watch F1 to watch the best drivers in the world do their thing, but we also want cars that a) can provide great racing and b) test the drivers

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

One thing that has changed is that back in the earlier years we had quite a few drivers from a fairly wealthy background, including some playboys, who were quite exception-ably talented pilots. People like James Hunt, for example. This appears to be no longer the case.

You can add Prince Bira for instance and what we used to call "suite-case drivers". Seems we still have at least one around…

[chillibowl]

4 current drivers, or 20% of the grid, has a billionaire for a parent.

And several more have parents once involved in the sport.

I suspect the rest come from affluent families and those that may not still come from affluent communities or countries.

While its never been a sport of mass participation, i suspect its far more 'elite' now then the 'gentleman' driver era of the past.

But what i find interesting is that even among the so called rich kids, the talent and fitness level is truely elite.

Driver competition wise, this is a golden age for me.

[S griffin]

Certainly today’s level of driver talent is higher than other eras. At least we don’t have people like Inoue or Deletraz anymore

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Certainly today’s level of driver talent is higher than other eras. At least we don’t have people like Inoue or Deletraz anymore

Well, some other eras perhaps. Inoue and Deletraz don't go back all that far.....

[BertMk2]

Late 90's for me, the cars sounded good and it was just before the aero bits started getting too fiddly - but I think that was just a golden time for motorsport in general:

GT - Porsche 911 GT1, McLaren F1, Toyota GT-One, Dodge Viper, Lister Storm
Touring car - Super touring
Rally - Impreza WRC, Corrolla WRC, Lancer, Cordoba WRC, 206 WRC, Focus WRC, Maxi Megane, 306 Maxi, Ibiza kit car

That's not a bad set of options is it? The breadth of quality across all of those categories hasn't been matched since.

[S griffin]

Yes late 90s were good, but let’s not forget it was in 98 we had those horrible grooved tyres, probably one of the worst ideas ever

[chunterer]

I went for 74-82 as mu interest started at the end of that period.

However my 'fever' period was 83-93 and hasn't been anywhere near as engrossing since. The exception being when Montoya was there shaking things up.

[BTCC frog]

I have decided to revive this as I have been thinking about the question recently, and I didn't actually vote on the poll.

Gerard C described the 1950s as 'heroic times', which is the real main advantage of this era. The tracks in the 1950s were certainly the best in the history of Formula 1, when 'street circuit' meant Rouen-Les-Essarts or the old Spa-Francorchamps rather than Sochi or Valencia, but they were extremely dangerous and there were a lot of deaths in the era. We had some all-time greats in the 1950s in Fangio, Ascari and Moss, while the likes of Farina, Gonzalez, Hawthorn and Brooks were good too, but there were plenty of amateurs on the grid and the average level of an F1 driver was at its lowest at the very beginning. However, the best were just as good as in any other era and Fangio's drive at the Nurburgring in 1957 was one of the all-time greatest. The lack of footage of the racing also makes it difficult to rate as the golden era, and even those alive at the time would have been able to see relatively very little of the races. But with the little footage available the cars are more exciting. Dominant victories were also common, and in 1952, Alberto Ascari won every race of the season. The shared cars rule was also quite ridiculous and should never have been allowed. But there's just something beautiful about the 1950s, even if the racing wasn't as good. The old-fashioned and less advanced technology of it makes it somewhat charming, and they were indeed heroic times.

The 1960s were a better era, in my opinion. The cars were far better, and probably my favourite in Formula 1 history. It was an era of serious innovation, and most of the great tracks remained. The best drivers of the era were as good as those of the 1950s, in this case Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill, but there were more other good drivers than there had been previously, including champions such as Jack Brabham, John Surtees, Denny Hulme, Jochen Rindt and Emerson Fittipaldi, as well as Bruce McLaren, Jacky Ickx, Dan Gurney, Jo Siffert and Chris Amon. It was easier to get a chance in F1 than it is now, with more seats available and generally less wealth required to make it up the ladder. But the drawbacks of the era are the same as those of the 1950s, namely safety, as the number of lives claimed in F1 was similar. Perhaps the danger of F1 added a level of excitement, but there is no doubt that far too many people were being killed in accidents. The lack of footage of the racing is also a problem, but there were some great drives such as that of Jim Clark in Spa 1963 or Jackie Stewart in Germany 1968, and some great races such as Silverstone 1965 and Monza 1971.

1974-82, chosen by readers of Autosport as the greatest era, was perhaps the most competitive era, as Niki Lauda was the standout driver as one of the elites of history, but there were plenty of other very strong drivers including Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Ronnie Peterson, Mario Andretti, Alan Jones, Carlos Reutemann, Giles Villeneuve, Nelson Piquet, John Watson and Keke Rosberg, and Lauda was the only driver to win more than one championship, while there were 11 different winners in the 1982 season. This was another era of innovation, but the last era dominated by it, and involved the likes of the six-wheeled Tyrrell and the Brabham fan car. The era included perhaps Formula 1's greatest ever season in 1976 with the incredible title battle between James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Footage of the racing was improving by this time as well. The loss of great tracks, either just before or during this era, such as Spa, Rouen, Reims and the Green Hell were a disappointing yet necessary feature for improving safety and while it was better during this time than it had been in the previous two eras, there were still a few deaths. The era had some improved racing, and included the legendary scrap between Giles Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux at Dijon. It also included the crazy end to the Monaco GP in 1982.

1983 to 1993 won this particular poll, and a big positive of this era was further improvements to safety, with Elio de Angelis the only F1 death. It included the infamous rivalry between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, while the controversy between the two was exciting but of course had its drawbacks, while Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell were the other stars of the era. The race starts were particularly thrilling during this time due to the difference in speeds and the jostling about, with Jean Alesi taking the lead in Portugal 1993 one that sticks in my mind, and the cars looked extremely fast and were great to watch, playing a large part in why the likes of Senna, Mansell and Alesi are considered some of the best drivers to watch in F1 history. There was now far more footage of the racing, making the racing easier to follow. 1986 was another contender for the greatest season with an incredible championship battle and finale, and 1984 was another classic. The main problem with the era, in my opinion, is that reliability played too great a part in deciding the races, and championships, and that is a big problem for me. The innovation of the cars was also less compared to previous eras.

The era that followed was 1994-2005, and I would probably say this was the worst era of Formula 1. It may always get the majority vote in fan surveys, but refuelling was terrible for the racing, and there was not as much overtaking as there could have been at this time. The era was dominated by Michael Schumacher, and while this was very much a positive for the first half, when he was not in the best car but putting in heroic performances such as in Spain 1996. But in the second half, when he did have the best car, it made the championship duller as Schumacher and Ferrari utterly dominated at times. But amongst the worst era was one of the best seasons in F1 history, 1997, a battle between a good driver in a fantastic car against a fantastic driver in a good car, which ended in controversy but with the right outcome, and the season also included almost-wins for Damon Hill with Arrows and Jarno Trulli with Prost.

2006-2013 wasn't really an era of Formula 1. It is defined only by the V8 engine, and I included it more as an in-between time. It shouldn't have been the best era, as it started with more refuelling and ended with the unnecessary use of DRS, but somehow this era produced some great championships. 2006 was a great battle between Schumacher and Alonso, the king versus the young upstart. Then 2007 was a good battle between Ferrari and McLaren and almost a rookie champion. 2008 saw better races, and the greatest ever championship finale, decided at the final corner. Then 2009 was one of the great team stories for Brawn, and 2010 was the only four-way championship decider, and was good as the one season between the refuelling era and the DRS era. 2011 included the Canadian GP, the greatest race of all time. Then 2012 was seven different winners in the first seven races, and a great season performance from Alonso. It also had the continuation of improved race footage and graphics to be able to follow what was going on throughout the race.

Really, the modern era should be the best ever. We have the greatest crop of drivers, everything that happens is filmed so you can follow everything that goes on in an F1 race, there is more overtaking than ever before. But the biggest issue is the dirty air effect that means the cars can't follow closely at all. To counter this, DRS has become too powerful and means that overtakes are too easy once you get close enough, but the difficulty is getting close in the first place, which just isn't good racing. The tracks are also not as good as they have been in any other era of F1. Most seasons of the era were not great, and 2015 was the dullest I've seen, but it did end with one utterly incredible season in 2021, with a championship scrap between Hamilton and Verstappen that lasted the entire season, and almost every race being a contender for best of the season if it had occurred in any of the previous eight seasons. But it all ended with huge amounts of controversy, and this was made far worse by the fact that every moment of it was followed by unthinking and unpleasant outrage on social media, putting F1 in a bad light. But the priority of show over sport in the finale has created fears that it could become the new norm to prioritise the show, and that would be terrible for Formula 1 as a sport.

Looking at it objectively, 1983-93 is probably the best era, but personally I look with most fondness at 1961-73. But really Greem's answer of 1950 to the present day is probably the correct one for the golden era, and every one has its merits. I just wish I had been born in 1940 and could have lived through them all. Hopefully the era beginning with 2022 will be as good as the rest of them, but I confess I currently do not have high expectations, although it is good that the cars can follow more closely. Apologies for the very long comment; I wasn't expecting it to be that long when I started

[porsche962fan]

Originally Posted by BTCC frog

Looking at it objectively, 1983-93 is probably the best era, but personally I look with most fondness at 1961-73. But really Greem's answer of 1950 to the present day is probably the correct one for the golden era, and every one has its merits. I just wish I had been born in 1940 and could have lived through them all. Hopefully the era beginning with 2022 will be as good as the rest of them, but I confess I currently do not have high expectations, although it is good that the cars can follow more closely. Apologies for the very long comment; I wasn't expecting it to be that long when I started

wouldn't the 1982 season be considered the best of all time ? (minus the fatalities)

- 11 race winners out of 16 races
- none of the 11 winners won more than 2 times
- underdogs did win races
- the eventual title winner was also one race winner and was a very close battle

[S griffin]

Great analysis, can’t disagree with a lot of what you said there. However I just want to point out your claim that Ascari won every GP in 1952 is not strictly true. What is actually true is that he won every GP he won every GP he was entered in, ignoring the Indy 500 which he also competed in. The one GP he missed was won by teammate Taruffi

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by BTCC frog

The era that followed was 1994-2005, and I would probably say this was the worst era of Formula 1. It may always get the majority vote in fan surveys, but refuelling was terrible for the racing, and there was not as much overtaking as there could have been at this time.


The era was dominated by Michael Schumacher, and while this was very much a positive for the first half, when he was not in the best car but putting in heroic performances such as in Spain 1996. But in the second half, when he did have the best car, it made the championship duller as Schumacher and Ferrari utterly dominated at times.

Refuelling was great, because it diversified pitstop strategies.


And it's not a single era, but two. 1994-2000 had thrilling championship fights and multiple race winners.

[Plantagenet]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Refuelling was great, because it diversified pitstop strategies.


And it's not a single era, but two. 1994-2000 had thrilling championship fights and multiple race winners.

Given how stupendously heavy the current generation of cars are, I would be massively in favour of refuelling being brought back. Sorry, off topic I know.....

[V8 Fireworks]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Refuelling was great, because it diversified pitstop strategies.

I have to disagree. Watching the 1996 season there are almost NO overtakes on circuit at all, it's dreadful. It was much that way for the entire 90's/00's refuelling era. Refuelling almost certainly produced inferior racing.

Golden era: '89 - '92, wailing 3.5L NA, wide 2.15m cars, small front tyres (slicks), fat rear tyres (slicks), beautiful sleek yet unfussy car design: perfection!

[V8 Fireworks]

Originally Posted by Plantagenet

Given how stupendously heavy the current generation of cars are, I would be massively in favour of refuelling being brought back. Sorry, off topic I know.....

I suggest to go back and watch the refuelling era races and note how little overtaking or on-track battling there is...

On-track action increased significantly since 2010 when refuelling was banned:



I suspect a lot of people calling for refuelling to return have forgotten how processional those races used to be:

1996 Canadian Grand Prix
2022 Canadian Grand Prix

The difference in on-track action compared to even a 'boring' 2022 race could not be more vast! Most F1 races with refuelling strategies used to be like that '96 Canadian GP: on-track battles were very rare indeed. People are quick to forget.

[Plantagenet]

Originally Posted by V8 Fireworks

I suggest to go back and watch the refuelling era races and note how little overtaking or on-track battling there is...

On-track action increased significantly since 2010 when refuelling was banned:



I suspect a lot of people calling for refuelling to return have forgotten how processional those races used to be:

1996 Canadian Grand Prix
2022 Canadian Grand Prix

The difference in on-track action compared to even a 'boring' 2022 race could not be more vast! Most F1 races with refuelling strategies used to be like that '96 Canadian GP: on-track battles were very rare indeed. People are quick to forget.

I think you're right V8 Fireworks that nostalgia is clouding my judgement a little here - and on a broader point, it is interesting that nearly everybody favors the past rather than the present - humans seem to be hardwired this way!

One thing i would perhaps point out though, in reference to your graph, is of course 2010/11 marked the introduction of things like KERS and DRS which does probably act as a bit of a confounder in comparing overtaking across the different eras.
Is there any reason to believe that with things like DRS likely to stay in F1, that refueling would make overtaking worse than it currently is? I genuinely don't know but I would love to see some of the current cars shed some weight and this strikes me as an easy-ish way to do it.

[bathurst77]

Golden years of any sport is nearly always the first few years after you discovered and got hooked by it.

Golden years of music is always "when I was 16 - 25"

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by bathurst77

Golden years of any sport is nearly always the first few years after you discovered and got hooked by it.

Golden years of music is always "when I was 16 - 25"

For a moment I thought you said 1916-25! Lol!!!

[V8 Fireworks]

Originally Posted by chunterer

For a moment I thought you said 1916-25! Lol!!!

Personally I'm still waiting for ragtime to come back into fashion.

Those vintage Edison cylinders with the purely acoustic recordings are quite something!

[broadrun96]

Wonder how must correlation there would be between years in depth following of F1 started and years voted as "golden age." Based on things I've seen regarding entertainment industry, it's nearly dead-on. When you have the newly piqued interest you'll remember that fondly.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by bathurst77

Golden years of any sport is nearly always the first few years after you discovered and got hooked by it.

Golden years of music is always "when I was 16 - 25"

I was minus 5 for gold age

I remember more from 16-25 and there is some good stuff. Wouldn’t argue it was golden though.

[S griffin]

I wouldn't say 2007-2016 was my golden era if we're going by 16-25. It's only since I moved out in 2016 I started to find my feet

[Casper]

I think the golden era for F1 was when drivers began to reasonably expect to get out of the car at the end of a race and not be in hospital or have died in a race incident.

[coppice]

I saw my first F 1 race in April 1971 and my first Grand Prix 3 months later. Every season has nearly always involved watching the best drivers in the world drive the fastest cars around road race circuits. So, in hindsight Pedro Rodriguez's BRM P160 might look like ancient history - and it is - but only in hindsight. On the day , it looked amazing, sounded wonderful and was breathtaking to see.

So it is a hard question. I guess the era I enjoyed most was the period from the exponential growth of power from 1982 to 1987 , but I adored the early NA era , when there were V8s , V10s and V12s to savour and I still loved the final iteration of V10s as the noise and spectacle was mesmerising. 2.4 V8s were unremarkable - hysterical noise but a step down from the previous era .

I was at Silverstone Friday and Saturday to see V6 hybrids for the first time live. You'd have to be very determined not to be gobsmacked at the spectacle of Copse at 170mph or whatever it now is . Noise fine - unlikely to ruin what is left of my hearing.

I will pick a year as peak F1 for me - 1986, as the three days I spent at Brands Hatch are the most spectacular and best days I've ever had at a race circuit .But any year is fabulous, as it unfolds

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by coppice

I was at Silverstone Friday and Saturday to see V6 hybrids for the first time live. You'd have to be very determined not to be gobsmacked at the spectacle of Copse at 170mph or whatever it now is . Noise fine - unlikely to ruin what is left of my hearing.

I'll expand more on this (possibly) later, but I was at Silverstone yesterday for my first live experience of F1 for over 30 years. It was the 'noise' that left me completely nonplussed. Both I and my son couldn't believe how little noise these cars now make. The F3s earlier in the day (who put on a good show) were about 3-4 times louder. I remember standing just down from Druids at Brands Hatch for practice for the European Grand Prix in (I think) 1985 (or was it '86?) feeling my ears actually hurt at the sound of the cars. I'm not saying I want that experience back, but I wonder if people have just got used to the cars being really very quiet these days...?