THERE WILL BE MORE HISTORY POSTS COMING SOON (hopefully!)

Ayrton Senna: “If you no longer go for a gap, then you no longer a racing driver”

One of the greatest Formula 1 drivers ever- and one of my favourites.

-Ayrton Senna Da Silva was a Brazillian racing driver for drove in Formula 1 for many teams like Lotus, McLaren-Honda and Williams Racing- and became a 3- time Formula 1 world champion and an inspiration to many people around the world for not just his racing skills but for his good deeds and help to those who needed it using his charitable organisations.

-Especially when he drove for McLaren-Honda, he was famously rivals to his teammate Alain Prost (who became one of his best friends later, I think) and other racing drivers like Nigel Mansell (U.K) and Nelson Piquet (Brazil).

-Prost and Senna were rivals even after Prost left McLaren-Honda to join Ferrari- and their rivalry caused many racing incidents during their fights for wins, points and championships.

-Senna was known to use mental and psychological games as one of his tools in his racing strategy and was quick to overtake.

Hence the quote above.

-There was a race where he drove a racing car with one hand and another incident at the Monaco Grand Prix where he was so focused in driving that he completely let his muscle memory and inner intuition take over.

-Another reason why Senna is one of my favourite Formula 1 drivers was because he believed in God :) 

-During a race, it is commonly known that he saved another racing driver's life (that driver's name was Erik Comas) after a major crash which could have resulted in the driver's car exploding if he didn't intervene quickly.

-In his last Formula 1 race (the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola during the 1990s), he wanted to lift up the late Ratzenberger's  (who tragically died in a racing crash at Imola due to unsafe conditions at the track) national flag after his win but unfortunately, his fatal crash stopped him.

But it didn't stop everyone from continuing to remember his name and achievements to completely cement him into the hall of Formula 1 legends.

Senna Sempre! ("Senna Always" in Portuguese) 

Juan Manuel Fangio- "El Maestro"

 

-Juan Manuel Fangio (1911- 1995) was a racing driver from Argentina who became Formula 1's first ever world champion.

-he started his driving journey as a driver for the military during his service and then entered racing by driving for Chevrolet in the Argentinean Grand Prix (which isn't a Formula 1 race) 
This "Grand Prix" was a race from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Lima, Peru.

- Later, he became a 5 time Formula 1 world champion and won world championships with Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and even Mercedes, becoming (so far) the only Formula 1 driver to win championships for 4 teams each.

-he has the highest win and pole position percentage.

-he was also kidnapped by Cuban rebels during a Formula 1 race event once.

-After Formula 1, he entered sports-car racing with Ferrari and Maserati in the 12 hours of Sebring.

-he worked with Horacio Pagani to build a fast car named the Pagani Zonda ("strong Argentinean mountain wind") 

-After his retirement, he became an honorary president of Mercedes-Benz Argentina.

Formula 1 Legends- Jim Clark

 

-Jim Clark (1936- 1968) started as a young boy driving farm vehicles to entering as a racing driver  for the first time by driving touring cars, then entering Formula 1 with Lotus, and winning the Indy 500 even though he wasn't an American driver.
This series of achievements was known to the world of motorsports as the triple crown of motorsport.

-Other series of motorsports that he has also raced in: Tasman Series, British Formula 4 and French Formula 4.

-He had an unbeaten record which was only beaten later on by other racing drivers like Prost, Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

- Many other legends of Formula 1 like Ayrton Senna was inspired by him.

Colin McRae- "If in doubt, flat out"

 

Colin McRae was a Scottish rally driver who drove for Subaru and drove with Carlos Sainz Sr. (Carlos "Smooth Operator" "El Matador" Sainz Jr.'s dad) who was also his teammate and rival along with his other rival Tommi Mäkinen, who drove for Toyota.

McRae was the first Brit to win a rally after he won his home rally in Britain, after a long time. Although he had a British citizenship, he was actually Scottish.

And during the 1995 season, he became the world's youngest rally champion.

The impressive thing about him was that he kept driving in a rally even after many crashes and wrecks, earning him a spot in the world rally championship.

Queen of Speed

 

Known by by many nicknames such as the "Queen of Speed" and the "Queen of the Hill", Michèle Mouton, a French woman, became the fastest female rally driver.
She was one of the rally drivers that led Audi to win a championship during the Group "B" era of rally events- and was also a winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans just because she didn't stop overtaking even when it was raining on the track and she was driving with slick tyres on.

Other than being a fast rally or racing driver, she became an important member of the FIA for rally events and co-founded the "Race of Champions" in memory of her former rival- Henri Toivonen.

A few notable quotes from her:

"Driving for me is independence- freedom!"

The first rally event in Europe

 

The first (known to me, so far) rally event in Europe was the Rallye De Monte Carlo in 1911 which began as a method of bringing tourists to visit Monaco.
From my research, it is said that the participating drivers of this rally event will drive through the cold Alps into Monaco, where it was warm and slightly comfortable.
And, it's first winner was a French man named Henri Rougier, who was also a cyclist.

This rally event is still conducted in the present rally championships of today's age.