F1's best of a golden era, ranked by a driver who lived it
John Watson raced against - and beat - them all, and was team-mate to some of Formula 1's best-ever drivers. That makes the ex-McLaren driver perfectly placed to choose his top 10 drivers of 1974-82
In late 2018, Autosport magazine asked its readers to vote for their favourite era of Formula 1, with 1974-82 coming out on top. This was the era after Jackie Stewart retired and before the turbo-powered cars began to clean up, swiftly followed by the Alain Prost-Ayrton Senna rivalry.
Considering the formidable talent on offer during 1974-82, John Watson - the five-time grand prix winner turned commentator - is perfectly placed to pick out his leading drivers of the era.
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Marcus Simmons is the Deputy Editor of Autosport magazine. As a child he was a regular on the chalk banks of Thruxton – hence his unhealthy obsession with 1970s Formula 2 and F3 – before he became an MSA timekeeper at the age of 17. At 19, his reporting debut for Motoring News arguably overshadowed Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal as the sporting moment of June 1986, and he joined the staff in 1990 after graduating from his degree course in Plymouth. A parallel Formula First career – which was as incident-packed as his childhood exploits in show-jumping and hunter trials – finished when he wrote off his car and put himself in hospital in 1991.
Marcus moved to Autosport in the summer of 1996. Since then he has had two stints as a freelancer and a brief spell as editor of Motor Sport magazine, during which the revered green cover was revived, before he rejoined Autosport in 2008. He lives in Teddington with his wife (who, gratifyingly, grew up within earshot of Castle Combe), daughter, stepson, dog, cat and guitars, and additionally has an adult daughter and stepson.
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