Drivers Final Races

[rjbetty]

For the next instalment of our historical retrospective, I would like to look back at driver's swansong races, and which ones went out with a bang, or a whimper. Just whichever ones stand out to you I guess. I would like to nominate a few

Stellar (or good) swansong races
Martin Brundle - Japan 1996, Jordan - a good 5th place in his final race.

Michael Schumacher - 2006 and 2012 - very strong races in Brazil, overcoming problems on both occasions to finish 4th and 7th respectively.

Gerhard Berger - Jerez 1997 - 4th place, apparently slipstreaming Irvine on the final straight to steal 4th place!


And in Rallying
Tommi Makinen - Wales Rally GB 2003, Subaru - despite being a spent force by then, rallied (ahem) himself for one final push to fight with Mcrae, on a rally he hated, to score 3rd place (he only had one other podium that season, 2nd in Sweden).

Carlos Sainz (Snr) - Greece 2005, Citroen - Having retired after 2004 on a poor note having retired from Australia, Carlos got the chance to put things right by subbing for Francois Duval who was in the doghouse. He took 4th in Turkey before finishing off for good with a podium for 3rd place on the Acropolis, before promptly tersely asking Citroen if they would mind not bothering him again to do any more rallies!


And now the bad...
Have to choose Damon Hill for Jordan in 1999 sadly; slipping off at the Spoon curve as in '95, having been nowhere. He then parked his healthy car and slinked off, and that was that.

I would also have to choose Nigel Mansell as well then. Nowhere in Spain 1995 for McLaren, went off lazily then trundled back to the pits a lap down (only a third of the race gone?), basically went "sod this" and walked off not to be seen again. All this while Ron Dennis of all people, wanting everything to be just so, had top brass from Marlboro visiting that race!

Nick Heidfeld - 2011 Hungarian GP, Lotus - Went out in an inferno.

Sutil and Gutierrez last year - 15th and 16th in Abu Dhabi, though the car would have to take some blame.

[AAReagles]

One that immediately came to mind was Jim Clark's win in the 68' season opener on New Years Day at Kyalami...

Others would be Lauda in Montreal in 78', then surprisingly coming back in 82' before finishing it finally in Austrailia in 85'. And Andretti as a temp for Ferrari in 82', helping them secure the constructor's title during a dreadful season. His last race at Ceasar Palace grand prix, retiring after suspension failure.

[rjbetty]

Fisi's final race at Abu Dhabi 2009 was cr@p... (sob)

[steveaki13]

A shout for Rene Arnoux?

41 years old terrible season for Ligier. Last race in Australia 1989 qualified 26th out of 30 to sneak into the race last on the grid.

Then had a collision on Lap 4.

[D-Type]

I'm trying to think of anyone finishing his career with a win - I can't. Is there one??

[rjbetty]

I'm trying to think of anyone finishing his career with a win - I can't. Is there one??

It could have been Nigel Mansell, but nooooooo, he had to try to squash himself into a McLaren didn't he? :p

Alain Prost was close, but didn't quite win Australia '93.

Mika Hakkinen also won his penultimate race.

Frentzen and Irvine both bagged a podium in their final few races, while Vitaly Petrov came oh so close to a point for Caterham in Brazil 2012.

Jan Magnussen finished 6th in his final ever F1 race in Canada '98. Too late though.


However, Jean Alesi crashed out of his final race; the only time he DNFed all year...

[Rollo]

I'm trying to think of anyone finishing his career with a win - I can't. Is there one??

AAReagles already did mention someone - Jim Clark :(

[AAReagles]

Fisi's final race at Abu Dhabi 2009 was cr@p... (sob)

Well... at least he didn't end up like Clay Regazzoni, in a wheel chair after survivng a direct hit into the hairpin at Long Beach (1980).
:(
Interesting Arnoux was brought up. I was thinking of him as well. I liked how he handled the politics w/Prost & Renault. Unshakled and off to Ferrari in 1983, I was hoping he would pull it off. Damn near did too.

Another Frenchman I admired was Jacques Laffite. He always seemed easy-going. Was unfortunate to tangle w/the remains of the Shadow of Tom Pryce at Kyalami. And sad to see his GP career end at Brands Hatch (86') with broken legs. Looked like 1979 was going to be his and Ligier's year, but....

[AAReagles]

I'm trying to think of anyone finishing his career with a win - I can't. Is there one??

Other than what rjbetty provided, I could only think of Alan Jones who won that damn stupid Caesar's Palace GP in 1981; but he made a couple of (very brief) comebacks that would have been better to avoid. Teams Arrows and Haas.

I liked how Jacky Ickx went out. After tangling w/Derek Daly at the Glen' in 79', he left F1 and pursued what he did best - endurance racing. Went on to win Le Mans two more times (1981 & 1982), as well as the Paris-Dakar Rally (1983). Still can't believe he pulled off that dramatic 69' Le Mans win after his walking protest (against the running start), at the start of the race. He won by a 100 meters - the closest margin in Le Mans history. :)

Edit: That cheesey 1966 Ford victory is technically the closest margin of victory, but it was staged. Sorry. :blackeye:

[anfield5]

Other than what rjbetty provided, I could only think of Alan Jones who won that damn stupid Caesar's Palace GP in 1981; but he made a couple of (very brief) comebacks that would have been better to avoid. Teams Arrows and Haas.

I liked how Jacky Ickx went out. After tangling w/Derek Daly at the Glen' in 79', he left F1 and pursued what he did best - endurance racing. Went on to win Le Mans two more times (1981 & 1982), as well as the Paris-Dakar Rally (1983). Still can't believe he pulled off that dramatic 69' Le Mans win after his walking protest (against the running start), at the start of the race. He won by a 100 meters - the closest margin in Le Mans history. :)

Edit: That cheesey 1966 Ford victory is technically the closest margin of victory, but it was staged. Sorry. :blackeye:

66 LeMans staged finish was even worse than it looked as the second car across the line was declared the winner as MclAren and Hulme had covered a greater distance than Amon and Miles. McLaren left a small margin to Miles and it was expected than Miles/Hulme would be declared winners after the examination of the photo finish. But the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), the body responsible for the Le Mans 24 hour race and the Circuit de la Sarthe declared the McLaren/Amon car had won the race, having covered more distance in 24 hours, as it had started the race several places behind the Miles/Hulme car. The ACO estimated the difference to 8 meters ie McLaren would have needed to be 8+ metres behind Miles. This was a terrible disappointment for Ken Miles who expected the triple crown Daytona-Sebring-Le Mans

Kinda makes the Monaco debacle with Hamiltwat look petty

[AAReagles]

66 LeMans staged finish was even worse than it looked as the second car across the line was declared the winner... This was a terrible disappointment for Ken Miles who expected the triple crown Daytona-Sebring-Le Mans

Kinda makes the Monaco debacle with Hamiltwat look petty
Absolutely spot on.


With Miles to perish a short time later, it cultured the photo-op decision as a classic case of how NOT to embelish on success.

Wonder how the PR folks at Ford reacted (notice I didn't say 'felt') later on, when an American driver (Miles) was killed in America while sorting out one of THEIR cars.

Yeah, now how's that for a press release. Right out of sunny California.

Edit: Ken Miles was British, not American. Sorry, I got him mixed up w/Masten Gregory. :blackeye:

[jens]

Webber ended his career with a second place in the brilliant Red Bull. So this was certainly a high. Usually drivers end up nowhere though. It is just not about bad final race results, but generally being stuck in bad cars with the career literally going nowhere. I can't remember, what Barrichello, Trulli, Fisichella, Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, etc did in their final race, their career was effectively over already. Heidfeld's Lotus-Renault engine blew up I think?

I remember Herbert crashed out violently in his last race. Did he even get injured? But he was having a bad season too anyway.

M. Schumacher ended his first career with a 4th (Brazil 06) and then 7th (Brazil 12), so that was pretty okayish compared to most. Certainly he was a notable feature in those races.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Coulthard crashed on the first turn at Brazil if I remember correctly?

[AAReagles]

It is just not about bad final race results, but generally being stuck in bad cars with the career literally going nowhere....

The only notable exception to that, as best as I can recollect, would be Michael Andretti. Whether or not he had Senna as a teammate made little difference, he wasn't committed enough (while still living in the states) to achieve what was possible. A blown opportunity given to a bonehead, IMHO.

Last race: 1993 Italian GP, 3rd place - his highest finish in the in the series.

[Ex-Jagboy]

I'm trying to think of anyone finishing his career with a win - I can't. Is there one??

The Peter Collins swansong victory at Silverstone, memorable for those fortunate enough to have witnessed it, almost falls into that category,

[Mekola]

Lauda's swansong race winning with the Brabham-Alfa at Imola 1979 (1st retirement) could be considered among stellar ones, despite Imola was a non-championship race. In his definitive retirement in 1985 he had an accident on lap 57 when was leading the race at Adelaide.

[AAReagles]

Lauda ranks high on my list: to make a comeback - twice - and get the job done, was almost unbelievable.

His story was much needed after losing Villeneuve, Jones and Pironi within less than a year.

[Ex-Jagboy]

Mike Hawthorn`s final race in the Moroccan GP in 58, resulted in him not winning the race, but the world championship by finishing 2nd behind the Moss Vanwall.

[D-Type]

The Peter Collins swansong victory at Silverstone, memorable for those fortunate enough to have witnessed it, almost falls into that category,
He was killed in the next race, so it doesn't come into the same category as a driver's final race before retiring.

[D28]

The classic case for going out with style surely belongs to Sir Jack Brabham. In his 126th GP, Mexico 1970. he qualified 4th and was in for a podium behind the Ferraris when his Cosworth blew. All this when he was 44 years old and still ultra competitive. Except for atrocious luck in 1970 he could have had 2 or even 3 wins instead of the 1 at S Africa. He picked the perfect time to hang it up, while still at the top of his game.

[Mintexmemory]

The classic case for going out with style surely belongs to Sir Jack Brabham. In his 126th GP, Mexico 1970. he qualified 4th and was in for a podium behind the Ferraris when his Cosworth blew. All this when he was 44 years old and still ultra competitive. Except for atrocious luck in 1970 he could have had 2 or even 3 wins instead of the 1 at S Africa. He picked the perfect time to hang it up, while still at the top of his game.

Not atrocious luck really. At Monaco he couldn't handle the pressure of being chased down by Rindt - a sign he'd become diminished. He knew how good Rindt was having been his boss the previous year. Then at Brands he mis-calculated the fuel load in a bid to be ultra light, running out on the last lap for Jochen to pass him again - same engine with a very predictable consumption!
Take nothing away though he was the guy who handled the intro of 3l F1 far and away better than anyone else - on a shoestring.

[D28]

Not atrocious luck really. At Monaco he couldn't handle the pressure of being chased down by Rindt - a sign he'd become diminished. He knew how good Rindt was having been his boss the previous year. Then at Brands he mis-calculated the fuel load in a bid to be ultra light, running out on the last lap for Jochen to pass him again - same engine with a very predictable consumption!
Take nothing away though he was the guy who handled the intro of 3l F1 far and away better than anyone else - on a shoestring.

I considered the Monaco debacle and Jack did fess up to making a rare mistake on his braking point and credited Rindt with a superb drive. However, the marshals made a total mess of clearing the back markers and allowing the 2 leaders to race the final few laps. On one lap Jack had to take to the footpaths to pass someone weaving side to side; 5 seconds lost on his lap times in one lap alone is mentioned in his autobiography. My opinion is that Jack had just enough advantage in hand to see the win, given proper attention to the blue flags by cars being lapped.

As for the British GP, I thought the fuel problem was simply a pickup problem of the last dregs which happened in those days. According to Jack in When The Flag Drops, the tanks were topped up on the grid and there should have been about 2 gallons remaining.
"one of those things we shall never find out" Hence bad luck IMO.

[Rollo]

Considering Tyrell's 1-2 the year before at the same circuit, Jackie Stewart probably would have won the 1973 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, except for terrible circumstances. He'd already intended to retire after the race anyway.