Fairmont Hairpin at night. The slowest corner in all of Formula 1, drivers have to use full steering lock to negotiate this bend. The Fairmont hotel on the right forms the roof of the tunnel the cars will negotiate after heading downhill from here through the double right of Portier.
Monte Carlo, Monaco.
TAG-Porsche TTE P01 1.5 litre turbocharged V6 used in the McLaren MP4/2 and MP4/3 Formula 1 cars.
With boost limited to 4 bar in 1987 this engine would produce 960bhp in race trim and 1,100bhp for qualifying. 1988 saw boost pressures limited to 2.5 bar with a corresponding drop in output and turbos were banned altogether in 1989 meaning this remains one of the most powerful F1 engines ever produced. It would be 2003 at the height of the 19,000rpm V10 before Formula 1 saw 900bhp again.
Stuttgart, Germany.
My car in the Hotel de Paris reserved space on the entrance to Casino Square. I was watching the F1 qualifying and every time the cars exit Massenet they drive right over this parking space! Look out for it in the race tomorrow!
By the time you add in all the barriers to this photo it gives you some idea of just how tight the circuit round Monte Carlo actually is. When the Formula 1 cars enter this corner, maybe 50 metres behind and to the left of shot, they are doing over 170mph. They slow to a little over 100mph for Casino just beyond the cars in the distance.
Monte Carlo, Monaco.
The Hall of Champions.
To save me looking out all the info sheets we picked up when we were there I put “Ferrari Hall of Champions” into Google to see if I could get the exact line up of cars on display and the first link was to my own tumblr! Pleasing yet annoying at the same time!
These are the last 8 Ferrari cars to win the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship title. Left to right, F399, F1-2000, F2001, F2002, F2003-GA, F2004, F2007 and F2008.
Galleria Ferrari, Maranello, Italy.
The dismally lit Hall of Champions at the Ferrari museum, the Galleria Ferrari.
Surely if you have a multitude of Formula 1 race and world championship winning trophies you can find a better way of presenting the collection than on dimly lit shelves over a fire exit in the corner of a room. There was one small door in and out of this room that you could easily miss, so much so that as I went round taking photos practically no one came through. On top of it all, someone should tell them if you have a building full of red cars you can’t use bright pink lighting to show them off!
I’ve loved Ferrari since I was 3 years old, but after the stunning Porsche Museum in Stuttgart and the beautifully presented Lamborghini Museum at the factory, only 30km or so from Maranello, the Ferrari museum was a very poor cousin.
Galleria Ferrari, Maranello, Italy.
TAG-Porsche TTE P01.
This 1.5L V6 powered the mighty McLaren MP4/2 to the F1 Constructors Championship title in 1984, and again in 1985 in the MP4/2B. 1986 saw Alain Prost take the driver’s title in the MP4/2C but with the engine showing it’s age the constructor’s crown went to Williams with Honda power. The engine was tweaked for 1987 but the MP4/3 was unsuccessful and McLaren switched to Honda engines the following year.
Representing something of a turning point in Formula 1, with turbo pressures capped at 4 bar in 1987 this engine produced over 1,100hp for qualifying. 1988 saw the limits drop to 2.5 bar with a corresponding fall in output and by 1989 turbochargers were banned altogether in F1. The days of the 1000hp+ monsters were over.
Porsche Museum, Stuttgart, Germany.
The abandoned grandstand of the old Reim-Gueux GP circuit.
The circuit opened in 1926 and in 1950 was host to Formula 1 in it’s inaugural year as a world championship. F1 last visited in 1966 and by 1972 the circuit was closed for good. In recent years the old adverts on the grandstand and the pit buildings opposite have been repainted but the sounds of a Ferrari V12 and Jaguar straight-6 have been replaced by trucks hurtling past on the D28.
Reims, France.
I'm Gordon. I live near Glasgow, Scotland.
This blog is a wee collection of my travels, my work and my life in general.
All photos are my own, unless it's a reblog or I say otherwise.
