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The forgotten F1 car that could have been champion

In the early 1970s, the Lotus 72 was king - although its crown slipped once Tyrrell began to produce its own cars. But Brabham's BT33 also had its own designs on the Formula 1 throne, and got far closer than it was ever given credit for

People tend to remember the most successful Formula 1 cars - or the machines that were surprising or unmitigated disasters.

There are plenty that sit between those two categories and a small handful only missed out on winning championships by the smallest of margins. The 2005 McLaren MP4-20 raced by Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya is probably the best-known recent example, but a less obvious car could have been a title winner 50 years ago.

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Author Kevin Turner

Kevin Turner is Autosport’s Chief Editor. While studying History at the University of York, Kevin began covering UK club events as a freelance reporter for Autosport and Motorsport News. He joined the Autosport staff as Editorial Assistant on the magazine in 2006, winning what is now known as the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award. He became National Editor in 2008 and over the next few seasons covered a range of international events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as the British Touring Car Championship and British GT. Kevin became Features Editor before switching to edit Motorsport News in 2014.

He returned to Autosport in 2016 to become editor of the magazine, a dream job that is still part of his role.

He became Chief Editor in 2020, helping to plan content for autosport.com and Autosport’s podcast as well as seeing the magazine through the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin also led work on the special publication celebrating 70 years of Autosport and has been a judge on the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, formerly known as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, since 2008. He lives in Warboys with his wife and two children.