To Hell and Back by Niki Lauda

Author:Niki Lauda [Lauda, Niki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473577954
Publisher: Ebury Publishing

CHAPTER TWELVE

FROM 400 TO 1,000 HORSEPOWER

Formula 1 1972–1985

THE 1972 MARCH delivered some 400 horsepower; the 1985 McLaren-TAG delivered around 1,000 at full charge pressure. Between 1972 and 1985 I had first-hand experience of the 12-cylinder BRMs, Ferraris and Alfas, the gradual demise of the 8-cylinder Cosworth, and the supremacy of the turbos. New materials came on the scene – the most notable being carbon fibre – and all manner of aerodynamic trickery. There was also the grotesque aberration known as the wing-car era.

In order to gain some impression of the absurdity of today’s 1,000hp cars, you need look no further than Monaco: qualifying there is just about the most perverse experience imaginable in motor racing today, because the rpm intervals are so much tighter than anywhere else. Under normal driving conditions, there is an rpm interval of some 2,300 revs when changing up; since maximum revs are at 11,500, the next gear down should be somewhere about 9,000rpm. Not so in Monaco: there you have about 1,000 revs to play with at most – you are hitting 10,500rpm and, as a result, already coming up fast to the 11,500 limit.

Eventually, the whole procedure gets on top of you. As you accelerate, you find you can’t shift fast enough to keep up with the tight rpm interval and the sudden turbo surge. You are slammed up against the rev limiter – literally: as the revs build up, the turbo kick forces your head back, then you hit the limiter and your head is jolted forward, then you shift gear and your head is yanked backwards again, and so on – three times in a row.

Fortunately for me, the McLaren-TAG had a rev limiter which operated progressively, with the result that the power did not cut out as abruptly as in other engines. Watching the BRM drivers in 1985 was particularly bizarre: you heard the rev limiter go hmmmm-pap-pap-pap, then you saw the driver’s head being jerked forward. The whole sequence of movements was so disjointed that there was no way the driver could properly coordinate it all – steering, shifting gear, accelerating, adjusting to turbo surge: his reflexes simply couldn’t cope. On top of this, there is the feeling of sheer terror as you thread the needle through Sainte Dévote and zoom up the cratered street towards Casino, or as you take the tunnel or the chicane. All of this happens at full boost, usually with other cars getting in your way. Believe me, the experience has to be lived to be appreciated.

Extreme situations like these – 1,000hp qualifying laps in Monte Carlo – have precious little, if anything, to do with driving in the conventional sense. As far as real driving is concerned, however, there is not all that much difference between a 400hp and a 1,000hp car. One’s subjective ‘feel’ for the limit remains the same over the years (apart from the fact that, in the wing-car era, you couldn’t hold your head straight). The most remarkable feature of

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