The Mexico start bedlam that F1 has learned from

So, you say FIA officials screwed up during the Italian Grand Prix? I tend to disagree. I don’t recall seeing the starter come off his rostrum, stand on Charles Leclerc’s front wheel in order to get a better view of the grid – and then start the race from this precarious post. Believe it or not, something along these lines actually happened 60 years ago this month. 

To be fair, looking at today’s FIA Sporting Regulations, there’s no precise mention of where the starter should position himself. By my reckoning, there’s more than 3,000 words covering everything a driver should do during the final countdown – almost from the moment he’s been bothered by dumb TV reporter questions as he walks to the grid. You know the sort of thing: a breathlessly urgent enquiry about his strategy when starting 13th. I mean, what’s he expected to say? “Yeah, well, obviously (a favourite F1 word) I’m hoping to have a gradual slide to the back of the field, get to the finish, obviously complain to my engineer about tyre deg, have a quick massage and then, obviously, off home to see Mum.” Sorry – I’m obviously digressing. 

There’s no reference to the starter’s location mainly because the drivers are focused on the lights and don’t need to check out the movement of the person pushing the button. It wasn’t always like that, of course. Back in the day, correctly reading the body language of the man with the flag could give you a head start. But if anything got lost in translation, there could be confusion – as happened at Silverstone in 1971. 

The prospect for pandemonium was established when Clay Regazzoni put his Ferrari on pole. ‘Regga’ was notorious for jumping the start from the second or third row, largely because he could get away with it thanks to the reluctance of officials to reprimand a naughty driver with a bandit moustache and grin. At the British GP that year, however, Regazzoni faced a quandary. Pole position – only the second of his career – would bring unaccustomed scrutiny. On the other hand, he had Jackie Stewart’s Tyrrell alongside (precisely how Clay felt about Jackie would be revealed as they fought for second place on the final lap of the 1972 German GP, and Regazzoni unceremoniously shoved the Tyrrell into the barrier – Stewart has rarely, if ever, been so incandescent).

The start of the 1971 British GP came under scrutiny

Photo by: Motorsport Images

So, there we were at Silverstone, the cars rolling forward from a dummy grid that curved out of sight on the original profile of Woodcote corner. Regga, urgently blipping the throttle of his flat-12, saw Dean Delamont raise the Union Flag, let out the clutch – and then realised the RAC official had become unsure of himself and remained holding the flag in an upright position. Normally, Regazzoni would have been spearing his way towards Copse in a cloud of Firestone smoke. On this occasion, he hit the brakes.  

Unfortunately, Clay’s reputation had gone before him because several drivers were watching the Ferrari’s rear wheels rather than Mr Delamont who, in any case, was partially hidden from the back rows because of the grid contour. Jackie Oliver, starting from the penultimate row, leapt forward then stopped, only to be hit from behind with such force that his McLaren was shoved into the back of Graham Hill’s Brabham, breaking the BT34’s rear suspension. Whereupon Delamont finally dropped the flag. 

Keen to create an impression in front of the Mexican president and the F1 world during the country’s first (non-championship) GP in November 1962, the excitable officials somehow contrived to have three men on the grid, each of whom thought he should be starting the race

After wisely waiting for a few seconds, marshals leapt over the small retaining wall and dragged the stricken Brabham into the pitlane approach road. They managed this moments before the pack, led by Regazzoni, powered through Woodcote with its 150mph apex a whisker away from Hill’s car. The drama wasn’t yet over. Dave Charlton, struggling with a loose oil pipe on his Lotus 72, was steaming – in every sense – into the pits and got caught out by the parked Brabham. To avoid a big collision, Charlton had to urgently swing left – onto the racing line. Fortunately, no one was coming. 

All the aforementioned, however, is kindergarten stuff compared with the bedlam 60 years ago in Mexico. Keen to create an impression in front of the Mexican president and the F1 world during the country’s first (non-championship) GP in November 1962, the excitable officials somehow contrived to have three men on the grid, each of whom thought he should be starting the race.  

F1 race starts are now controlled and prescribed processes - a world away from what happened in Mexico 60 years ago

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

A predictable lack of coordination became evident when Jim Clark’s pole-position Lotus stalled and no one seemed to know what to do. The Lotus mechanics had no doubts – they ran to the car and effectively caused the start to be delayed. Following a battery change the first push-start failed and, as the Lotus was rolled back, John Surtees’ Lola began emitting smoke, suggesting something under the engine cover might be on fire. There was no question further back when Walt Hansgen’s Lotus caught alight, accelerating official panic onto another level.

Mechanics with fire extinguishers were still on the grid when one official jumped onto the front wheel of Clark’s (now running) Lotus and signalled the grid to get ready. A second man indicated 30 seconds to go – at which point the third official, who had the advantage of holding the flag, immediately dropped it… and the race was on. The first official fell from his Dunlop perch, bounced off the front of the Lotus and was narrowly missed by Roger Penske’s Lotus, while Jack Brabham ran into official number two. As arguably seems right and proper, only the man with the Mexican flag remained unscathed.  

In 60 years, they’ve got the hang of how to start races. It only remains for FIA to figure out how to finish them.

Drivers complete practice starts on the grid at the Mexican GP

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images