Formula 1 is a series built on innovation. From its very creation, the innovation of the cars to create faster, safer, stronger machines has been a driving force for the series. Engineers now, as in the Golden Age of racing, pour meticulously over designs in an effort to build the best cars. Throughout the history of racing, many people have contributed to the production of some of the finest racing cars in the world. Three men, however, stand out as innovators who not only built tremendous cars but changed the course of racing in so doing.
The Innovators of the Innovation Age of Formula 1
The first of these great innovators is Colin Chapman. Born Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman on May 19, 1928 in a suburb of London, the young Chapman found that he took quickly to anything mechanical and that he had a particular talent for engineering. He studied the subject at University College London and for a short period designed and flew aircraft for the RAF. Airplanes would remain a great passion for Chapman, as did sailboats, throughout his life, causing Chapman to occasionally suggest that he only raced in order to support his love of both aforementioned activities. Race, for whatever reason, he did and he won. Famous for his partnership with Lotus, Chapman created designs that pushed Formula 1 into the future. Well known for being a minimalist, Chapman, built cars that were notoriously frail. Chapman often said he wanted his cars to cross the finish line, win, and then fall apart with the next wheel turn after doing so. This fragility was a well calculated risk to make the cars lighter and more athletic and drivers such as Jim Clark, Graham Hill, and Emerson Fittipaldi drove his cars to countless victories. Chapman’s genius gave life to engineer masterpieces such as the full monocoque and inboard brakes, as well as ground effects which he debuted on the 79. Chapman’s vision was ahead of his time and by persisting in following it he changed Formula 1 and racing going forward.
Bruce McLaren is another innovator who changed the course of motor racing. Born in New Zealand, McLaren came to England after winning a racing scholarship. While Chapman produced machines that were light and built to just barely survive the race, McLaren built cars that were meant to last. Be it in his Formula 1, CANAM, or IndyCars, McLaren built cars that were solid, strong, fast, and again, ahead of their time. McLaren instinctively knew how to build engines that were not only powerful, but reliable. Both his Formula 1 and CANAM cars pumped out more horsepower than their competitors combined and for many years “The Bruce and Denny Show” was a familiar staple at tracks across the globe. One of the first to use wings and really work with aerodynamics, McLaren found his passion, and talent, lie not in the driving of his famous cars but in the creating and building of the machines that would bear his name and carry motorsport into the future. Designs such as the M2B and M4B not only looked sleek and had great aerodynamics, they also housed massive V8 engines that roared ferociously around the famed circuits of Formula 1, propelling the team to victory and to their rightful places in the history books.
When it comes to innovators, however, there stands alone, one man who has influenced, and continues to influence, motorsport like no other. Enzo Ferrari is a legend. His background and personal history is a storied as that of his cars. His presence lingers in every inch of every car that bears his name. No matter the circuit, a sea of red can be seen as the famous Prancing Horse is held aloft, waving unfaltering in the wind. From the very beginning Ferrari has vision.
Enzo Ferrari’s cars had massive engines that propelled their gorgeous, sleek bodies to the checked flag repeatedly. When asked about aerodynamics in later years, Enzo would reply that they are for “those who cannot build big engines.” While he may not have been entirely correct on that point, he was not entirely wrong either. His cars were a testament to pure, unadulterated horsepower. Magnificent machines that thundered down straights and around corners were driven by the likes of Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio. Enzo saw, in his cars, the future of motor sport. He built street cars to pay for his racing cars and encouraged competition between his drivers, his passion was his Formula 1 cars and it showed in the brilliance of his creations. It was, however, his ability to design powerful, consistent, high performance engines and build the chassis to match that made Ferrari a legend. His record of victories speaks for itself and today, as in days long past, the name Ferrari inspires wonder, admiration, and most of all passion.
Formula 1 is a sport built upon innovation. Every year as new cars are revealed and teams re-invent themselves for a new season, it is the innovation, the creation of speed that fans clamor to see. It is the innovation and vision of the engineers and the teams that provide the drivers with the possibility of victory and continue to propel the sport into the future and beyond.
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