Brabham Racing Organisation
Encyclopedia
Motor Racing Developments Ltd., commonly known as Brabham (icon), was a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One
racing team. Founded in 1960 by two Australians, driver Jack Brabham
and designer Ron Tauranac
, the team won four drivers' and two constructors' world championships in its 30-year Formula One history. Jack Brabham's 1966 drivers' championship remains the only such achievement using a car bearing the driver's own name.
In the 1960s, Brabham was the world's largest manufacturer of open wheel racing cars
for sale to customer teams, and had built more than 500 cars by 1970. During this period, teams using Brabham cars won championships in Formula Two
and Formula Three
and competed in the Indianapolis 500
. In the 1970s and 1980s, Brabham introduced innovations such as the "fan car"—which won its only race before being withdrawn—in-race refuelling, carbon brakes, and hydropneumatic suspension
. The team won two more Formula One drivers' championships in the 1980s with Brazilian Nelson Piquet
, and became the first to win a drivers' championship with a turbocharged
car.
British businessman Bernie Ecclestone
owned Brabham during most of the 1970s and 1980s, and later became responsible for administering the commercial aspects of Formula One. Ecclestone sold the team in 1988. Its last owner was the Middlebridge Group, a Japanese engineering firm. Midway through the 1992 season
, the team collapsed financially as Middlebridge was unable to make repayments against loans provided by Landhurst Leasing. The case was investigated by the United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office
. In 2009, an unsuccessful attempt was made by a German organisation to enter the 2010 Formula One season
using the Brabham name.
The Brabham team was founded by Jack Brabham
and Ron Tauranac
, who met in 1951 while both were successfully building and racing cars in their native Australia. Brabham was the more successful driver and went to the United Kingdom in 1955 to further his racing career. There he started driving for the Cooper Car Company
works team and by 1958 had progressed with them to Formula One, the highest category of open wheel racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
(FIA), motor sport's world governing body. In 1959
and 1960
, Brabham won the Formula One world drivers' championship in Cooper's revolutionary mid-engined cars.
Despite their innovation of putting the engine behind the driver, the Coopers and their Chief Designer Owen Maddock were generally resistant to developing their cars. Brabham pushed for further advances, and played a significant role in developing Cooper's highly successful 1960 T53 "lowline" car, with input from his friend Tauranac. Brabham was confident he could do better than Cooper, and in late 1959 he asked Tauranac to come to the UK and work with him, initially producing upgrade kits for Sunbeam Rapier
and Triumph Herald
road cars at his car dealership, Jack Brabham Motors, but with the long-term aim of designing racing cars. Brabham describes Tauranac as "absolutely the only bloke I'd have gone into partnership with".
To meet that aim, Brabham and Tauranac set up Motor Racing Developments Ltd. (MRD), deliberately avoiding the use of either man’s name. The new company would compete with Cooper in the market for customer racing cars; as Brabham was still employed by Cooper, Tauranac produced the first MRD car, for the entry level Formula Junior
class, in secrecy. Unveiled in the summer of 1961, the "MRD" was soon renamed. Motoring journalist Jabby Crombac
pointed out that "[the] way a Frenchman pronounces those initials—written phonetically, 'em air day'—sounded perilously like the French word... merde." The cars were subsequently known as Brabhams, with type numbers starting with BT for "Brabham Tauranac".
By the 1961 Formula One season
, the Lotus
and Ferrari
teams had developed the mid-engined approach further than Cooper. Brabham had a poor season, scoring only four points, and—having run his own private Coopers in non-championship events during 1961—left the company in 1962 to drive for his own team: the Brabham Racing Organisation, using cars built by Motor Racing Developments.
. The Brabham Racing Organisation (BRO) started the year fielding customer Lotus
chassis, in which Brabham took two points finishes, before the turquoise-liveried
Brabham BT3 car made its debut at the 1962 German Grand Prix
. It retired with a throttle
problem after 9 of the 15 laps, but went on to take a pair of fourth places at the end of the season.
From the 1963 season
, Brabham was partnered by American driver Dan Gurney
, the pair now running in Australia's racing colours of green and gold. Jack Brabham took the team's first win at the non-championship Solitude Grand Prix
in 1963. Gurney took the marque's first two wins in the world championship, at the 1964 French
and Mexican
Grands Prix. Brabham works and customer cars took another three non-championship wins during the 1964 season
. The 1965 season
was less successful, with no championship wins. Brabham finished third or fourth in the constructors' championship for three years running, but poor reliability marred promising performances on several occasions. Motor sport authors Mike Lawrence and David Hodges have said that a lack of resources may have cost the team results, a view echoed by Ron Tauranac.
The FIA doubled the Formula One engine capacity limit to 3 litres for the 1966 season
and suitable engines were scarce. Brabham used engines from Australian engineering firm Repco
, which had never produced a Formula One engine before, based on aluminium V8 engine blocks from the defunct American Oldsmobile
F85 road car project, and other off the shelf parts. Consulting and design engineer Phil Irving
(of Vincent Motorcycle fame) was the project engineer responsible for producing the initial version of the engine. Few expected the Brabham-Repcos to be competitive, but the light and reliable cars ran at the front from the start of the season. At the French Grand Prix
at Reims-Gueux
, Jack Brabham became the first man to win a Formula One world championship race in a car bearing his own name. Only his former team mate, Bruce McLaren
, has since matched the achievement. It was the first in a run of four straight wins for the Australian veteran. Jack Brabham won his third title in 1966, becoming the only driver to win the Formula One World Championship in a car carrying his own name (cf Surtees
, Hill
and Fittipaldi Automotive
). In 1967
, the title went to Brabham's team mate, New Zealander Denny Hulme
. Hulme had better reliability through the year, possibly due to Jack Brabham's desire to try new parts first. The Brabham team took the constructors' world championship in both years.
For 1968
Austrian Jochen Rindt
replaced Hulme, who had left to join McLaren
. Repco produced a more powerful version of their V8 to maintain competitiveness against Ford's new Cosworth DFV
, but it proved very unreliable. Slow communications between the UK and Australia had always made identifying and correcting problems very difficult. The car was fast—Rindt set pole position
twice during the season—but Brabham and Rindt finished only three races between them, and ended the year with only ten points.
Although Brabham bought Cosworth DFV engines for the 1969 season
, Rindt left to join Lotus. His replacement, Jacky Ickx
, had a strong second half to the season, winning in Germany
and Canada
, after Jack Brabham was sidelined by a testing accident. Ickx finished second in the drivers' championship, with 37 points to Jackie Stewart
's 63. Brabham himself took a couple of pole positions and two top three finishes, but did not finish half the races. The team were second in the constructors' championship, aided by second places at Monaco
and Watkins Glen
scored by Piers Courage
, driving a Brabham for the Frank Williams Racing Cars
privateer squad.
Jack Brabham intended to retire at the end of the 1969 season and sold his share in the team to Tauranac. However, Rindt's late decision to remain with Lotus meant that Brabham drove for another year. He took his last win in the opening race of the 1970 season
and was competitive throughout the year, although mechanical failures blunted his challenge. Aided by number two driver Rolf Stommelen
, the team came fourth in the constructors' championship.
Tauranac signed double world champion Graham Hill
and young Australian Tim Schenken
to drive for the 1971 season
. Tauranac designed the unusual ‘lobster claw’ BT34, featuring twin radiator
s mounted ahead of the front wheels, a single example of which was built for Hill. Although Hill, no longer a front-runner since his 1969 accident, took his final Formula One win in the non-championship BRDC International Trophy
at Silverstone
, the team scored only seven championship points.
Tauranac, an engineer at heart, started to feel his Formula One budget of around £100,000 was a gamble he could not afford to take on his own and began to look around for an experienced business partner. He sold the company for £100,000 at the end of 1971 to British businessman Bernie Ecclestone
, Jochen Rindt's former manager and erstwhile owner of the Connaught team. Tauranac stayed on to design the cars and run the factory.
Tauranac left Brabham early in the 1972 season
after Ecclestone changed the way the company was organised without consulting him. Ecclestone has since said "In retrospect, the relationship was never going to work", noting that "[Tauranac and I] both take the view: 'Please be reasonable, do it my way'". The highlights of an aimless year, during which the team ran three different models, were pole position for Argentinian driver Carlos Reutemann
at his home race at Buenos Aires
and a victory in the non-championship Interlagos Grand Prix. For the 1973 season
, Ecclestone promoted the young South African engineer Gordon Murray
to chief designer and moved Herbie Blash from the Formula Two programme to become the Formula One team manager. Both would remain with the team for the next 15 years. For 1973, Murray produced the triangular cross-section BT42, with which Reutemann scored two podium finishes and finished seventh in the drivers' championship.
In the 1974 season
, Reutemann took the first three victories of his Formula One career, and Brabham's first since 1970. The team finished a close fifth in the constructors' championship, fielding the much more competitive BT44s
. After a strong finish to the 1974 season, many observers felt the team were favourites to win the 1975 title
. The year started well, with a first win for Brazilian driver Carlos Pace
at the Interlagos
circuit in his native São Paulo
. However, as the season progressed, tyre wear frequently slowed the cars in races. Pace took another two podiums and finished sixth in the championship; while Carlos Reutemann had five podium finishes, including a dominant win in the 1975 German Grand Prix
, and finished third in the drivers' championship. The team likewise ranked third in the constructors' table at the end of the year.
While rival teams Lotus and McLaren relied on the Cosworth DFV engine from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, Ecclestone sought a competitive advantage by investigating other options. Despite the success of Murray’s Cosworth-powered cars, Ecclestone signed a deal with Italian motor manufacturer Alfa Romeo
to use their large and powerful flat-12
engine from the 1976 season
. The engines were free, but they rendered the new BT45s, now in red Martini Racing
livery, unreliable and overweight. The 1976 and 1977 seasons
saw Brabham fall toward the back of the field again. Reutemann negotiated a release from his contract before the end of the 1976 season and signed with Ferrari
. Ulsterman John Watson
replaced him at Brabham for 1977. The team lost Carlos Pace early in the 1977 season when he died in a light aircraft
accident.
For the 1978 season
, Murray’s BT46
featured several new technologies to overcome the weight and packaging difficulties caused by the Alfa engines. Ecclestone signed then two-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda
from Ferrari through a deal with Italian dairy products company Parmalat
which met the cost of Lauda ending his Ferrari contract and made up his salary to the £200,000 Ferrari was offering. 1978 was the year of the dominant Lotus 79
"wing car", which used aerodynamic ground effect
to stick to the track when cornering, but Lauda won two races in the BT46, one with the controversial "B" or "fan car" version.
The partnership with Alfa Romeo ended during the 1979 season
, the team's first with young Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet
. Murray designed the full-ground effect BT48 around a rapidly developed new Alfa Romeo V12 engine and incorporated an effective "carbon-carbon braking" system—a technology Brabham pioneered in 1976. However, unexpected movement of the car's aerodynamic centre of pressure
made its handling unpredictable and the new engine was unreliable. The team dropped to eighth in the constructors' table by the end of the season. Alfa Romeo started testing their own Formula One car during the season, prompting Ecclestone to revert to Cosworth DFV engines, a move Murray described as being "like having a holiday". The new, lighter, Cosworth-powered BT49
was introduced before the end of the year at the Canadian Grand Prix
; where after practice Lauda announced his immediate retirement from driving, later saying that he "was no longer getting any pleasure from driving round and round in circles".
The team used the BT49 over four seasons. In the 1980 season
Piquet scored three wins and the team took 3rd in the constructors' championship with Piquet second in the Drivers Championship. This season saw the introduction of the blue and white livery that the cars would wear through several changes of sponsor, until the team's demise in 1992. With a better understanding of ground effect, the team further developed the BT49C for the 1981 season
, incorporating a hydropneumatic suspension system to avoid ride height
limitations intended to reduce downforce. Piquet, who had developed a close working relationship with Murray, took the drivers' title with three wins, albeit amid accusations of cheating. The team finished second in the constructors championship, behind the Williams team
.
Renault
had introduced turbocharged engines to Formula One in 1977. Brabham had tested a BMW 4-cylinder M12 turbocharged engine in the summer of 1981. For the 1982 season
the team designed a new car, the BT50, around the BMW engine which, like the Repco engine 16 years previously, was based on a road car engine block, the BMW M10
. Brabham continued to run the Cosworth-powered BT49D in the early part of the season while reliability and driveability issues with the BMW units were resolved. The relationship came close to ending, with the German manufacturer insisting that Brabham use their engine. The turbo car took its first win at the Canadian Grand Prix
. In the constructors championship, the team finished fifth, the drivers Riccardo Patrese
, who scored the last win of the Brabham-Ford combination in the Monaco Grand Prix
, 10th and World Champion Piquet a mere 11th in the drivers championship. In the 1983 season
, Piquet took the championship lead from Renault's
Alain Prost
at the last race of the year, the South African Grand Prix
to become the first driver to win the Formula One drivers' world championship with a turbo-powered car. The team did not win the constructor's championship in either 1981 or 1983, despite Piquet's success. Riccardo Patrese
was the only driver other than Piquet to win a race for Brabham in this period—the drivers in the second car contributed only a fraction of the team's points in each of these championship seasons. Patrese finished 9th in the drivers championship with 13 points, dropping the team behind Ferrari and Renault to third in the constructors championship.
Piquet took the team’s last wins: two in 1984 with winning the 7th and 8th race of that season, the Canadian Grand Prix
and the Detroit Grand Prix and one in 1985 with winning the French Grand Prix
before reluctantly leaving for the Williams
team at the end of the season. After seven years and two world championships, he felt he was worth more than Ecclestone's salary offer for 1986. Piquet finished 5th in 1984 and a mere 8th in 1985 in the respective drivers championships. The 1986 season
was a disaster. Murray's radical long and low BT55
, with its BMW M12 engine tilted over to improve its aerodynamics and lower its centre of gravity, scored only two points. Driver Elio de Angelis
became the Formula One team's only fatality when he died in a testing accident at the Paul Ricard
circuit. Derek Warwick
, who replaced de Angelis, was close to scoring two points for fifth in the British Grand Prix
, but a problem on the last lap dropped him out of the points. In August, BMW after considering running their own in-house team, announced their departure from Formula One at the end of the season. Murray, who had largely taken over the running of the team as Ecclestone became more involved with his role at the Formula One Constructors Association
, felt that "the way the team had operated for 15 years broke down". He left Brabham in November to join McLaren
.
Ecclestone held BMW to their contract for the 1987 season
, but the German company would only supply the laydown engine. The upright units, around which Brabham had designed their new car, were sold for use by the Arrows
team. Senior figures at Brabham, including Murray, have admitted that by this stage Ecclestone had lost interest in running the team. 1987 was only slightly more successful than the previous year—Patrese and de Cesaris scoring 10 points between them, including two third places at the Belgian Grand Prix
and the Mexican Grand Prix
. Unable to locate a suitable engine supplier, the team missed the FIA deadline for entry into the 1988 world championship and Ecclestone finally announced the team's withdrawal from Formula One at the Brazilian Grand Prix in April 1988. He sold MRD to Alfa Romeo
for an unknown price.
. The new BT58, powered by an engine from Judd
(originally another of Jack Brabham's companies), was produced for the 1989 season
. Italian driver Stefano Modena
drove alongside the more experienced Martin Brundle
. The team finished in eighth place, and Modena took the team's last podium: a third place at the Monaco Grand Prix
. The team also failed to make the grid sometimes: Brundle failed to prequalify at the Canadian Grand Prix
and the French Grand Prix
. The team finished 9th in the constructors' championship at the end of the season.
. Blash returned to run the team. Middlebridge paid for its purchase using £1 million loaned to them by finance company Landhurst Leasing, but the team remained underfunded and would only score a few more points finishes in its last three seasons. Jack Brabham's youngest son, David
, raced for the Formula One team for a short time in 1990, a disastrous year, with Modena's fifth place in the season opening United States Grand Prix
being the only top six finish. The team finished ninth in the Constructors' Championship. Brundle and fellow Briton Mark Blundell
, scored only three points during the 1991 season
. Due to poor results in the first half of 1991, they had to prequalify in the second half of the season, Blundell failed to do so in Japan, as did Brundle in Australia. The team finished 10th in the Constructors Championship, behind another struggling British team, Lotus. In 1992, Damon Hill
, the son of another former Brabham driver and World Champion, debuted in the team after Giovanna Amati
, the last woman to attempt to race in Formula One, was dropped when her sponsorship failed to materialise.
Argentine Sergio Rinland
designed the team's final cars around Judd engines, except for 1991 when Yamaha powered the cars. In the 1992 season
the cars (which were updated versions of the 1991 car) rarely qualified for races. Hill gave the team its final finish, at the Hungarian Grand Prix
, where he crossed the finish line 11th and last, four laps behind the winner. After the end of that race the team ran out of funds and collapsed. Middlebridge Group Limited had been unable to continue making repayments against the £6 million ultimately provided by Landhurst Leasing, which went into administration. The Serious Fraud Office
investigated the case. Landhurst's managing directors were found guilty of corruption and imprisoned, having accepted bribes for further loans to Middlebridge. It was one of four teams to leave Formula One that year. (cf March Engineering
, Fondmetal
and Andrea Moda Formula
). Although there was talk of reviving the team for the following year, its assets passed to Landhurst Leasing and were auctioned by the company's receivers in 1993. Among these was the team's old factory in Chessington, which was acquired by Yamaha Motor Sports and used to house Activa Technology Limited, a company manufacturing composite components for race and road cars run by Herbie Blash. The factory was bought by the Carlin DPR GP2
motor racing team in 2006.
Brabham cars were also widely used by other teams, and not just in Formula One. Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac called the company they set up in 1961 to design and build formula racing
cars to customer teams Motor Racing Developments (MRD), and this company had a large portfolio of other activities. Initially, Brabham and Tauranac each held 50 percent of the shares. Tauranac was responsible for design and running the business, while Brabham was the test driver and arranged corporate deals like the Repco engine supply and the use of the MIRA wind tunnel. He also contributed ideas to the design process and often machined parts and helped build the cars.
From 1963 to 1965, MRD was not directly involved in Formula One, and often ran works cars in other formulae. A separate company, Jack Brabham's Brabham Racing Organisation, ran the Formula One works entry. Like other customers, BRO bought its cars from MRD, initially at £3,000 per car, although it did not pay for development parts. Tauranac was unhappy with his distance from the Formula One operation and before the 1966 season suggested that he was no longer interested in producing cars for Formula One under this arrangement. Brabham investigated other chassis suppliers for BRO, however the two reached an agreement and from 1966 MRD was much more closely involved in this category. After Jack Brabham sold his shares in MRD to Ron Tauranac at the end of 1969, the works Formula One team was MRD.
Despite only building its first car in 1961, by the mid-1960s MRD had overtaken established constructors like Cooper to become the largest manufacturer of single-seat racing cars in the world, and by 1970 had built over 500 cars. Of the other Formula One teams which used Brabhams, Frank Williams Racing Cars
and the Rob Walker Racing Team
were the most successful. The 1965 British Grand Prix
saw seven Brabhams compete, only two of them from the works team, and there were usually four or five at championship Grands Prix throughout that season. The firm built scores of cars for the lower formulae each year, peaking with 89 cars in 1966. Brabham had the reputation of providing customers with cars of a standard equal to those used by the works team, which worked "out of the box". The company provided a high degree of support to its customers—including Jack Brabham helping customers set up their cars. During this period the cars were usually known as "Repco Brabhams", not because of the Repco engines used in Formula One between 1966 and 1968, but because of a smaller-scale sponsorship deal through which the Australian company had been providing parts to Jack Brabham since his Cooper days.
At the end of 1971 Bernie Ecclestone bought MRD. He retained the Brabham brand, as did subsequent owners. Although the production of customer cars continued briefly under Bernie Ecclestone’s ownership, he believed the company needed to focus on Formula One to succeed. The last production customer Brabhams were the Formula Two BT40 and the Formula Three BT41 of 1973, although Ecclestone sold ex-works Formula One BT44Bs to RAM Racing
as late as 1976.
In 1988 Ecclestone sold Motor Racing Developments to Alfa Romeo. The Formula One team did not compete that year, but Alfa Romeo put the company to use designing and building a prototype "Procar"—a racing car with the silhouette of a large saloon (the Alfa Romeo 164
) covering a composite racing car chassis and mid mounted race engine. This was intended for a racing series for major manufacturers to support Formula One Grands Prix, and was designated the Brabham BT57.
from the mid 1960s to the early 1970s. After an abortive project in 1962, MRD was commissioned in 1964 to build an Indycar chassis powered by an American Offenhauser
engine. The resultant BT12 chassis was raced by Jack Brabham as the "Zink-Urschel Trackburner" at the 1964 event
and retired with a fuel tank problem. The car was entered again in 1966
, taking a third place for Jim McElreath
. From 1968 to 1970, Brabham returned to Indianapolis, at first with a 4.2 litre version of the Repco V8 the team used in Formula One—with which Peter Revson
finished fifth in 1969—before reverting to the Offenhauser engine for 1970. The Brabham-Offenhauser combination was entered again in 1971 by J.C. Agajanian
, finishing fifth in the hands of Bill Vukovich II
. Although a Brabham car never won at Indianapolis, McElreath won four United States Automobile Club
(USAC) races over 1965 and 1966 in the BT12. The "Dean Van Lines Special" in which Mario Andretti
won the 1965 USAC national championship was a direct copy of this car, made with permission from Brabham by Andretti's crew chief Clint Brawner. Revson took Brabham's final USAC race win in a BT25 in 1969, using the Repco engine.
. In 1966 MRD produced the BT18 for the lower category, with a Honda
engine acting as a stressed component. The car was extremely successful, winning 11 consecutive Formula Two races in the hands of the Formula One pairing of Brabham and Hulme. Cars were entered by MRD and not by the Brabham Racing Organisation, avoiding a direct conflict with Repco, their Formula One engine supplier.
Brabham, the BT9, won only four major races in 1964. The BT15 which followed in 1965 was a highly successful design. 58 cars were sold, which won 42 major races. Further developments of the same concept, including wings by the end of the decade, were highly competitive up until 1971. The BT38C of 1972 was Brabham's first production monocoque and the first not designed by Tauranac. Although 40 were ordered, it was less successful than its predecessors. The angular BT41 was the final Formula Three Brabham.
Brabham was considered a technically conservative team in the 1960s, chiefly because it persevered with traditional "spaceframe" cars long after Lotus introduced lighter, stiffer "monocoque
" chassis to Formula One in 1962. Chief designer Tauranac reasoned that monocoques of the time were not usefully stiffer than well designed spaceframe chassis, and were harder to repair and less suitable for MRD’s customers. His "old fashioned" cars won the Brabham team the 1966 and 1967 championships, and were competitive in Formula One until rule changes forced a move to monocoques in 1970.
Despite the perceived conservatism, in 1963 Brabham was the first Formula One team to use a wind tunnel
to hone their designs to reduce drag
and stop the cars lifting off the ground at speed. The practice only became the norm in the early 1980s, and is possibly the most important factor in the design of modern cars. Towards the end of the 1960s, teams began to exploit aerodynamic downforce
to push the cars' tyres down harder on the track and enable them to maintain faster speeds through high-speed corners. At the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix
, Brabham were the first, alongside Ferrari, to introduce full width rear wings to this effect.
The team's most fertile period of technical innovation came in the 1970s and 1980s when Gordon Murray
became technical director. During 1976, the team introduced "carbon-carbon brakes
" to Formula One, which promised reduced "unsprung weight
" and better stopping performance due to carbon's greater coefficient of friction. The initial versions used carbon-carbon composite
brake pads
and a steel
disc faced with carbon "pucks". The technology was not reliable at first; in 1976, Carlos Pace crashed at 180 mi/h at the Österreichring
circuit after heat build-up in the brakes boiled the brake fluid
, leaving him with no way of stopping the car. By 1979, Brabham had developed an effective carbon-carbon braking system, combining structural carbon discs with carbon brake pads. By the late 1980s, carbon brakes were used by all competitors in almost all top level motor sports.
Although Brabham experimented with airdams and underbody skirts in the mid 1970s, the team, like the rest of the field, did not immediately understand Lotus' development of a ground effect
car in 1977. The Brabham BT46B
"Fan car" of 1978, generated enormous downforce with a fan, which sucked air from beneath the car, although its claimed use was for engine cooling. The car only raced once in the Formula One World Championship—Niki Lauda
winning the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix
—before a loophole in the regulations was closed by the FIA.
Although in 1979 Murray was the first to use lightweight "carbon fibre composite" panels to stiffen Brabham's aluminium alloy
monocoques, he echoed his predecessor Tauranac in being the last to switch to the new fully composite monocoques. Murray was reluctant to build the entire chassis from composite materials until he understood their behaviour in a crash, an understanding achieved in part through an instrumented crash test
of a BT49 chassis. The team did not follow McLaren's 1981 MP4/1 with their own fully composite chassis until the "lowline" BT55 in 1986, the last team to do so. This technology is now used in all top level single seater racing cars.
For the 1981 season the FIA introduced a 6 cm (2.4 in) minimum ride height
for the cars, intended to slow them in corners by limiting the downforce created by aerodynamic ground effect. Gordon Murray devised a "hydropneumatic suspension
" system for the BT49C, which allowed the car to settle to a much lower ride height at speed. Brabham were accused of cheating by other teams, although Murray believes that the system met the letter of the regulations. No action was taken against the team and others soon produced systems with similar effects.
At the 1982 British Grand Prix
, Brabham reintroduced the idea of re-fuelling and changing the car's tyres during the race, unseen since the 1957 Formula One season
, to allow their drivers to sprint away at the start of races on a light fuel load and soft tyres. After studying techniques used at the Indianapolis 500
and in NASCAR
racing in the United States, the team were able to refuel and re-tyre the car in 14 seconds in tests ahead of the race. In 1982 Murray felt the tactic did little more than "get our sponsors noticed at races we had no chance of winning", but in 1983 the team made good use of the tactic. Refuelling was banned for 1984, and did not reappear until the 1994 season
(until it was banned again in 2010
as a part of cost cutting measures), but tyre changes have remained part of Formula One.
was among those to claim that the cars were fitted with heavily ballasted bodywork
before being weighed at scrutineer
ing. The accusation was denied by Brabham's management. No formal protest was made against the team and no action was taken against them by the sporting authorities.
From 1978, Ecclestone was president of the Formula One Constructors Association
(FOCA), a body formed by the teams to represent their interests. This left his team open to accusations of having advance warning of rule changes. Ecclestone denies that the team benefited from this and Murray has noted that, contrary to this view, at the end of 1982 the team had to abandon their new BT51 car, built on the basis that ground effect would be permitted in 1983. Brabham had to design and build a replacement, the BT52, in only three months. At the end of the 1983 season, Renault and Ferrari, both beaten to the drivers' championship by Piquet, protested that the Research Octane Number
(RON) of the team's fuel was above the legal limit of 102. The FIA declared that a figure of up to 102.9 was permitted under the rules, and that Brabham had not exceeded this limit.
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
racing team. Founded in 1960 by two Australians, driver Jack Brabham
Jack Brabham
Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name....
and designer Ron Tauranac
Ron Tauranac
Ron Tauranac is the former Australian designer for Formula One driver Jack Brabham from 1962 until Brabham's retirement as a driver at the end of the 1970 season. Tauranac briefly owned and managed the Brabham team in 1971, but he sold the team to Bernie Ecclestone in late 1971...
, the team won four drivers' and two constructors' world championships in its 30-year Formula One history. Jack Brabham's 1966 drivers' championship remains the only such achievement using a car bearing the driver's own name.
In the 1960s, Brabham was the world's largest manufacturer of open wheel racing cars
Open wheel car
Open-wheel car, formula car, or often single-seater car in British English, describes cars with the wheels outside the car's main body and, in most cases, one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or fenders...
for sale to customer teams, and had built more than 500 cars by 1970. During this period, teams using Brabham cars won championships in Formula Two
Formula Two
Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, is a type of open wheel formula racing. It was replaced by Formula 3000 in 1985, but the FIA announced in 2008 that Formula Two would return for 2009 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship...
and Formula Three
Formula Three
Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers...
and competed in the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
. In the 1970s and 1980s, Brabham introduced innovations such as the "fan car"—which won its only race before being withdrawn—in-race refuelling, carbon brakes, and hydropneumatic suspension
Hydropneumatic suspension
Hydropneumatic suspension is a type of automotive suspension system, invented by Citroën, and fitted to Citroën cars, as well as being used under licence by other car manufacturers, notably Rolls-Royce, and Peugeot. It was also used on Berliet trucks and is since recently used on Mercedes-Benz...
. The team won two more Formula One drivers' championships in the 1980s with Brazilian Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan...
, and became the first to win a drivers' championship with a turbocharged
Turbocharger
A turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...
car.
British businessman Bernie Ecclestone
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernard Charles "Bernie" Ecclestone is an English business magnate, as president and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration and through his part-ownership of Alpha Prema, the parent company of the Formula One Group of companies. As such, he is generally considered the primary...
owned Brabham during most of the 1970s and 1980s, and later became responsible for administering the commercial aspects of Formula One. Ecclestone sold the team in 1988. Its last owner was the Middlebridge Group, a Japanese engineering firm. Midway through the 1992 season
1992 Formula One season
The 1992 Formula One season was the 43rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 1, 1992, and ended on November 8 after sixteen races...
, the team collapsed financially as Middlebridge was unable to make repayments against loans provided by Landhurst Leasing. The case was investigated by the United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office
Serious Fraud Office (UK)
The Serious Fraud Office is an independent UK Government department that investigates and prosecutes serious or complex fraud and corruption...
. In 2009, an unsuccessful attempt was made by a German organisation to enter the 2010 Formula One season
2010 Formula One season
The 2010 Formula One season was the 61st Formula One season of World Championship motor racing competition. Red Bull Racing won its maiden Constructors' Championship with a one-two finish in Brazil, while Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel won the Drivers' Championship after winning the final race...
using the Brabham name.
Origins
Jack Brabham
Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name....
and Ron Tauranac
Ron Tauranac
Ron Tauranac is the former Australian designer for Formula One driver Jack Brabham from 1962 until Brabham's retirement as a driver at the end of the 1970 season. Tauranac briefly owned and managed the Brabham team in 1971, but he sold the team to Bernie Ecclestone in late 1971...
, who met in 1951 while both were successfully building and racing cars in their native Australia. Brabham was the more successful driver and went to the United Kingdom in 1955 to further his racing career. There he started driving for the Cooper Car Company
Cooper Car Company
The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...
works team and by 1958 had progressed with them to Formula One, the highest category of open wheel racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
(FIA), motor sport's world governing body. In 1959
1959 Formula One season
The 1959 Formula One season included the 10th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on May 10, 1959, and ended on December 12 after nine races...
and 1960
1960 Formula One season
The 1960 Formula One season featured the eleventh FIA World Championship of Drivers, the third International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and numerous non-championship Formula One races...
, Brabham won the Formula One world drivers' championship in Cooper's revolutionary mid-engined cars.
Despite their innovation of putting the engine behind the driver, the Coopers and their Chief Designer Owen Maddock were generally resistant to developing their cars. Brabham pushed for further advances, and played a significant role in developing Cooper's highly successful 1960 T53 "lowline" car, with input from his friend Tauranac. Brabham was confident he could do better than Cooper, and in late 1959 he asked Tauranac to come to the UK and work with him, initially producing upgrade kits for Sunbeam Rapier
Sunbeam Rapier
The Series I Rapier was a pretty car which in general, was well received by the motoring press. Available in a range of attractive two-tone colour schemes typical of the period, it boasted steering column gear change, leather trim and an overdrive as standard fittings. Vinyl trim was an option in...
and Triumph Herald
Triumph Herald
The Triumph Herald was a small two-door car introduced in 1959 by the Standard-Triumph Company of Coventry. Body design was by the Italian stylist Michelotti and the car was offered in saloon, convertible, coupé, van, and estate models....
road cars at his car dealership, Jack Brabham Motors, but with the long-term aim of designing racing cars. Brabham describes Tauranac as "absolutely the only bloke I'd have gone into partnership with".
To meet that aim, Brabham and Tauranac set up Motor Racing Developments Ltd. (MRD), deliberately avoiding the use of either man’s name. The new company would compete with Cooper in the market for customer racing cars; as Brabham was still employed by Cooper, Tauranac produced the first MRD car, for the entry level Formula Junior
Formula Junior
Formula Junior is an open wheel formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI . The class was intended to provide an entry level class where you could use inexpensive mechanical components from ordinary automobiles...
class, in secrecy. Unveiled in the summer of 1961, the "MRD" was soon renamed. Motoring journalist Jabby Crombac
Gérard Crombac
Gérard "Jabby" Crombac was a Swiss auto-racing journalist.In 1954 he purchased the Lotus Mk4 owned by Lotus founder Colin Chapman and began racing with this car...
pointed out that "[the] way a Frenchman pronounces those initials—written phonetically, 'em air day'—sounded perilously like the French word... merde." The cars were subsequently known as Brabhams, with type numbers starting with BT for "Brabham Tauranac".
By the 1961 Formula One season
1961 Formula One season
The 1961 Formula One season was the 12th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, which were contested concurrently from May 14 to October 8 over an eight race series...
, the Lotus
Team Lotus
Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar and sports car racing...
and Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
teams had developed the mid-engined approach further than Cooper. Brabham had a poor season, scoring only four points, and—having run his own private Coopers in non-championship events during 1961—left the company in 1962 to drive for his own team: the Brabham Racing Organisation, using cars built by Motor Racing Developments.
Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac (1961–1970)
Motor Racing Developments initially concentrated on making money by building cars for sale to customers in lower formulae, so the new car for the Formula One team was not ready until partway through the 1962 Formula One season1962 Formula One season
The 1962 Formula One season was the 13th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a nine race series that commenced on May 20 and ended on December 29...
. The Brabham Racing Organisation (BRO) started the year fielding customer Lotus
Team Lotus
Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar and sports car racing...
chassis, in which Brabham took two points finishes, before the turquoise-liveried
Livery
A livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in...
Brabham BT3 car made its debut at the 1962 German Grand Prix
1962 German Grand Prix
The 1962 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring on August 5, 1962.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...
. It retired with a throttle
Throttle
A throttle is the mechanism by which the flow of a fluid is managed by constriction or obstruction. An engine's power can be increased or decreased by the restriction of inlet gases , but usually decreased. The term throttle has come to refer, informally and incorrectly, to any mechanism by which...
problem after 9 of the 15 laps, but went on to take a pair of fourth places at the end of the season.
From the 1963 season
1963 Formula One season
The 1963 Formula One season was the 14th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 14th FIA World Championship of Drivers, the sixth International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and numerous non-championship Formula One races...
, Brabham was partnered by American driver Dan Gurney
Dan Gurney
Daniel Sexton Gurney is an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner.The son of a Metropolitan Opera star, he was born in Port Jefferson, New York, but moved to California as a teenager...
, the pair now running in Australia's racing colours of green and gold. Jack Brabham took the team's first win at the non-championship Solitude Grand Prix
Solituderennen
The Solituderennen events and the 11.4 km Solitudering near Stuttgart were named after the nearby Castle Solitude. Motorsports events were held there from 1903 to 1965....
in 1963. Gurney took the marque's first two wins in the world championship, at the 1964 French
1964 French Grand Prix
The 1964 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on June 28, 1964 at the Rouen-Les-Essarts circuit, Rouen, France. It was the 4th race of the 1964 Formula One season. The race, contested over 57 laps, was won by Dan Gurney for the Brabham team after starting from second...
and Mexican
1964 Mexican Grand Prix
The 1964 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mexico City on October 25, 1964.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Jim Clark - 1:57.24*Fastest Lap: Jim Clark 1:58.37...
Grands Prix. Brabham works and customer cars took another three non-championship wins during the 1964 season
1964 Formula One season
The 1964 Formula One season was the 15th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It included the 1964 World Championship of Drivers and the 1964 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, which were contested concurrently over a series which commenced on May 10 and ended on October 25 after ten races...
. The 1965 season
1965 Formula One season
The 1965 Formula One season, which was the 16th season of FIA Formula One racing, featured the 16th World Championship of Drivers and the 8th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers. The two titles were contested concurrently over a ten round series which commenced on January 1 and ended on October 24...
was less successful, with no championship wins. Brabham finished third or fourth in the constructors' championship for three years running, but poor reliability marred promising performances on several occasions. Motor sport authors Mike Lawrence and David Hodges have said that a lack of resources may have cost the team results, a view echoed by Ron Tauranac.
The FIA doubled the Formula One engine capacity limit to 3 litres for the 1966 season
1966 Formula One season
The 1966 Formula One season was the 17th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a nine race series that commenced on May 22 and ended on October 23...
and suitable engines were scarce. Brabham used engines from Australian engineering firm Repco
Repco
Repco is an Australian automotive engineering company. Its name is an abbreviation of Replacement Parts Company and it is best known for spare parts and motor accessories....
, which had never produced a Formula One engine before, based on aluminium V8 engine blocks from the defunct American Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
F85 road car project, and other off the shelf parts. Consulting and design engineer Phil Irving
Phil Irving
Philip Edward Irving OBE, C.Eng., M.I.Mech.E., M.S.A.E., was an Australian engineer and author, most famous for the Repco-Brabham Formula One and Vincent motorcycle engines...
(of Vincent Motorcycle fame) was the project engineer responsible for producing the initial version of the engine. Few expected the Brabham-Repcos to be competitive, but the light and reliable cars ran at the front from the start of the season. At the French Grand Prix
1966 French Grand Prix
The 1966 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Reims-Gueux on July 3, 1966. It was the '60th Anniversary race' of Grand Prix racing, which had started with the GP of France in 1906. It was the third round of the 1966 World Championship...
at Reims-Gueux
Reims-Gueux
Reims-Gueux was a triangular motor racing road course near Reims, France, which hosted 14 French Grands Prix.Reims-Gueux was first established in 1926 on the public roads between the small French villages of Thillois and Gueux. The circuit had two very long straights between the towns, and teams...
, Jack Brabham became the first man to win a Formula One world championship race in a car bearing his own name. Only his former team mate, Bruce McLaren
Bruce McLaren
Bruce Leslie McLaren , born in Auckland, New Zealand, was a race-car designer, driver, engineer and inventor....
, has since matched the achievement. It was the first in a run of four straight wins for the Australian veteran. Jack Brabham won his third title in 1966, becoming the only driver to win the Formula One World Championship in a car carrying his own name (cf Surtees
Surtees
The Surtees Racing Organisation was a race team that spent nine seasons as a constructor in Formula One, Formula 2, and Formula 5000.-History:...
, Hill
Hill (constructor)
Embassy Hill was a short-lived Formula One team started by the two-time Formula One world-champion Graham Hill, racing as a constructor with its own chassis in...
and Fittipaldi Automotive
Fittipaldi Automotive
Fittipaldi Automotive, sometimes called Copersucar after its first major sponsor, was the only Formula One motor racing team and constructor ever to be based in Brazil. It was formed during 1974 by racing driver Wilson Fittipaldi and his younger brother, double world champion Emerson, with money...
). In 1967
1967 Formula One season
The 1967 Formula One season was the 18th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, contested concurrently over an eleven race series which commenced on January 2, 1967, and ended on October 22...
, the title went to Brabham's team mate, New Zealander Denny Hulme
Denny Hulme
Denis Clive "Denny" Hulme, OBE was a New Zealand racing driver, the 1967 Formula One World Champion for the Brabham team....
. Hulme had better reliability through the year, possibly due to Jack Brabham's desire to try new parts first. The Brabham team took the constructors' world championship in both years.
For 1968
1968 Formula One season
The 1968 Formula One season included the 19th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 1, 1968, and ended on November 3 after twelve races.-Season summary:...
Austrian Jochen Rindt
Jochen Rindt
Karl Jochen Rindt was a German racing driver who represented Austria during his career. He is the only driver to posthumously win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship , after being killed in practice for the Italian Grand Prix...
replaced Hulme, who had left to join McLaren
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...
. Repco produced a more powerful version of their V8 to maintain competitiveness against Ford's new Cosworth DFV
Cosworth DFV
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine...
, but it proved very unreliable. Slow communications between the UK and Australia had always made identifying and correcting problems very difficult. The car was fast—Rindt set pole position
Pole position
The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...
twice during the season—but Brabham and Rindt finished only three races between them, and ended the year with only ten points.
Although Brabham bought Cosworth DFV engines for the 1969 season
1969 Formula One season
The 1969 Formula One season included the 20th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 1, 1969, and ended on October 19 after eleven races.-Season summary:...
, Rindt left to join Lotus. His replacement, Jacky Ickx
Jacky Ickx
Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx is a Belgian former racing driver who achieved 25 podium finishes in Formula One and six wins in the 24 hours of Le Mans.- Racing career :...
, had a strong second half to the season, winning in Germany
1969 German Grand Prix
The 1969 German Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Nürburgring on 3 August 1969 with Formula Two cars competing by invitation. It was the seventh round of the 1969 World Championship for Drivers. The F2 entrants were not eligible for points in the World Championship.-Report:Gerhard Mitter...
and Canada
1969 Canadian Grand Prix
The 1969 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mosport Park on September 20, 1969. Jacky Ickx led home a Brabham 1-2.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Jacky Ickx - 1:17.4...
, after Jack Brabham was sidelined by a testing accident. Ickx finished second in the drivers' championship, with 37 points to Jackie Stewart
Jackie Stewart
Sir John Young Stewart, OBE , better known as Jackie Stewart, and nicknamed The Flying Scotsman, is a Scottish former racing driver and team owner. He competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships. He also competed in Can-Am...
's 63. Brabham himself took a couple of pole positions and two top three finishes, but did not finish half the races. The team were second in the constructors' championship, aided by second places at Monaco
1969 Monaco Grand Prix
The 1969 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Monaco on May 18, 1969. It was the third round of the 1969 Formula One season.- Qualifying :- Race :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standings...
and Watkins Glen
1969 United States Grand Prix
The 1969 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 5, 1969 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York.__FORCETOC__-Summary:...
scored by Piers Courage
Piers Courage
Piers Raymond Courage was a racing driver from England. He participated in 29 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 2 January 1967. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 20 championship points.- Biography :Piers Courage was the eldest son and heir of the Courage brewing...
, driving a Brabham for the Frank Williams Racing Cars
Frank Williams Racing Cars
Frank Williams Racing Cars was a British Formula One team and constructor.-Early years:Frank Williams had been a motor-racing enthusiast since a young age, and after a career in saloon cars and Formula Three, backed by Williams' shrewd instincts as a dealer in racing cars and spares, he realised...
privateer squad.
Jack Brabham intended to retire at the end of the 1969 season and sold his share in the team to Tauranac. However, Rindt's late decision to remain with Lotus meant that Brabham drove for another year. He took his last win in the opening race of the 1970 season
1970 Formula One season
The 1970 Formula One season included the 21st FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 7, 1970, and ended on October 25 after thirteen races...
and was competitive throughout the year, although mechanical failures blunted his challenge. Aided by number two driver Rolf Stommelen
Rolf Stommelen
Rolf Johann Stommelen was a racing driver from Siegen, Germany. He participated in 63 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scored a total of 14 championship points...
, the team came fourth in the constructors' championship.
Ron Tauranac (1971)
Graham Hill
Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. He is the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport — the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and Formula One World Championship.Graham Hill and his son Damon are the only father and son pair both to...
and young Australian Tim Schenken
Tim Schenken
Timothy "Tim" Theodore Schenken is a former racing driver from Sydney, Australia. He participated in 36 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 16 August 1970. He achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 7 championship points...
to drive for the 1971 season
1971 Formula One season
The 1971 Formula One season included the 22nd FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 6, 1971, and ended on October 3 after eleven races.-Season summary:...
. Tauranac designed the unusual ‘lobster claw’ BT34, featuring twin radiator
Radiator (engine cooling)
Radiators are used for cooling internal combustion engines, mainly in automobiles but also in piston-engined aircraft, railway locomotives, motorcycles, stationary generating plant or any similar use of such an engine....
s mounted ahead of the front wheels, a single example of which was built for Hill. Although Hill, no longer a front-runner since his 1969 accident, took his final Formula One win in the non-championship BRDC International Trophy
BRDC International Trophy
The International Trophy is a prize awarded annually by the British Racing Drivers' Club to the winner of a motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit, England...
at Silverstone
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
, the team scored only seven championship points.
Tauranac, an engineer at heart, started to feel his Formula One budget of around £100,000 was a gamble he could not afford to take on his own and began to look around for an experienced business partner. He sold the company for £100,000 at the end of 1971 to British businessman Bernie Ecclestone
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernard Charles "Bernie" Ecclestone is an English business magnate, as president and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration and through his part-ownership of Alpha Prema, the parent company of the Formula One Group of companies. As such, he is generally considered the primary...
, Jochen Rindt's former manager and erstwhile owner of the Connaught team. Tauranac stayed on to design the cars and run the factory.
Bernie Ecclestone (1972–1987)
1972 Formula One season
The 1972 Formula One season was the 23rd FIA Formula One season. It featured the 23rd World Championship of Drivers, the 15th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and numerous non-championship Formula One races. The World Championship season commenced on January 23 and ended on October 8 after...
after Ecclestone changed the way the company was organised without consulting him. Ecclestone has since said "In retrospect, the relationship was never going to work", noting that "[Tauranac and I] both take the view: 'Please be reasonable, do it my way'". The highlights of an aimless year, during which the team ran three different models, were pole position for Argentinian driver Carlos Reutemann
Carlos Reutemann
Carlos Alberto Reutemann , nicknamed "Lole", is an Argentine former racing driver , and later a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party....
at his home race at Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and a victory in the non-championship Interlagos Grand Prix. For the 1973 season
1973 Formula One season
The 1973 Formula One season included the 24th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 28, 1973, and ended on October 7 after fifteen races.-Season summary:...
, Ecclestone promoted the young South African engineer Gordon Murray
Gordon Murray
Prof. Gordon Murray , is a renowned designer of Formula One race cars and the McLaren F1 road car.-Early life:...
to chief designer and moved Herbie Blash from the Formula Two programme to become the Formula One team manager. Both would remain with the team for the next 15 years. For 1973, Murray produced the triangular cross-section BT42, with which Reutemann scored two podium finishes and finished seventh in the drivers' championship.
In the 1974 season
1974 Formula One season
The 1974 Formula One season was the 25th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1974 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, contested concurrently over a fifteen race series which commenced on 13 January and ended on 6 October...
, Reutemann took the first three victories of his Formula One career, and Brabham's first since 1970. The team finished a close fifth in the constructors' championship, fielding the much more competitive BT44s
Brabham BT44
The Brabham BT44 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Murray, Brabham's chief designer. An update of the partially successful BT42 of 1973, the BT44 was a simple design with a standard Ford DFV/Hewland gearbox combination, but was very clean aerodynamically. Murray had an eye for clean...
. After a strong finish to the 1974 season, many observers felt the team were favourites to win the 1975 title
1975 Formula One season
The 1975 Formula One season was the 26th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1975 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently from January 12 to October 5 over fourteen races...
. The year started well, with a first win for Brazilian driver Carlos Pace
José Carlos Pace
José Carlos Pace was a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 73 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on March 4, 1972. He won one race, achieved six podiums, and scored a total of 58 championship points...
at the Interlagos
Autódromo José Carlos Pace
Autódromo José Carlos Pace, also known by its former name Interlagos, is a motor racing circuit located in the city of São Paulo, and named after Carlos Pace, a Brazilian Formula One driver, who had died prior to its naming...
circuit in his native São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
. However, as the season progressed, tyre wear frequently slowed the cars in races. Pace took another two podiums and finished sixth in the championship; while Carlos Reutemann had five podium finishes, including a dominant win in the 1975 German Grand Prix
1975 German Grand Prix
The 1975 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on August 3, 1975. It was the 37th German Grand Prix and the 34th to be held at the Nürburgring. The race was held over 14 laps of the 22 kilometre circuit for a race distance of 319 kilometres.The race was won by...
, and finished third in the drivers' championship. The team likewise ranked third in the constructors' table at the end of the year.
While rival teams Lotus and McLaren relied on the Cosworth DFV engine from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, Ecclestone sought a competitive advantage by investigating other options. Despite the success of Murray’s Cosworth-powered cars, Ecclestone signed a deal with Italian motor manufacturer Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo in Formula One
Alfa Romeo participated in Formula One, as both a constructor and engine supplier, from to .-Success, 1950-1951:In 1950 Nino Farina won the inaugural Formula One World Championship in a 158 with supercharger, in 1951 Juan Manuel Fangio won while driving an Alfetta 159...
to use their large and powerful flat-12
Flat-12
A flat-12 is an internal combustion engine in a flat configuration, having 12 cylinders.The flat-12 is wider than a V12...
engine from the 1976 season
1976 Formula One season
The 1976 Formula One season included the 27th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 25, 1976, and ended on October 24 after sixteen races...
. The engines were free, but they rendered the new BT45s, now in red Martini Racing
Martini Racing
Martini Racing is the name under which various motor racing teams raced when sponsored by the Martini & Rossi distillery that produces Martini vermouth. Martini's sponsorship program began in 1968...
livery, unreliable and overweight. The 1976 and 1977 seasons
1977 Formula One season
The 1977 Formula One season included the 28th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 9, 1977, and ended on October 23 after seventeen races.-Season summary:...
saw Brabham fall toward the back of the field again. Reutemann negotiated a release from his contract before the end of the 1976 season and signed with Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
. Ulsterman John Watson
John Watson (racing driver)
John Marshall "Wattie" Watson MBE is a British former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One, winning five Grands Prix and also in the World Sportscar Championship...
replaced him at Brabham for 1977. The team lost Carlos Pace early in the 1977 season when he died in a light aircraft
Light aircraft
A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a maximum gross take-off weight of or less.Many aircraft used commercially for freight, sightseeing, photography and scheduled flights are light aircraft.Examples of light aircraft include:...
accident.
For the 1978 season
1978 Formula One season
The 1978 Formula One season included the 29th FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on January 15, 1978, and ended on October 8 after sixteen races. Mario Andretti was the season Champion and the last American to date to win a Formula One race...
, Murray’s BT46
Brabham BT46
The Brabham BT46 was a Formula One racing car, designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team, owned by Bernie Ecclestone, for the 1978 Formula One season. The car featured several radical design elements, the most obvious of which was the use of flat panel heat exchangers on the bodywork of the...
featured several new technologies to overcome the weight and packaging difficulties caused by the Alfa engines. Ecclestone signed then two-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver and three-time F1 World Champion. More recently an aviation entrepreneur, he has founded and run two airlines and was manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years.- Early years in racing :Born in Vienna,...
from Ferrari through a deal with Italian dairy products company Parmalat
Parmalat
Parmalat SpA is a multinational Italian dairy and food corporation. Having become the leading global company in the production of ultra high temperature milk, the company collapsed in 2003 with a €14 billion hole in its accounts in what remains Europe's biggest bankruptcy...
which met the cost of Lauda ending his Ferrari contract and made up his salary to the £200,000 Ferrari was offering. 1978 was the year of the dominant Lotus 79
Lotus 79
The Lotus 79 was a Formula One car designed in late 1977 by Colin Chapman, Geoff Aldridge, Martin Ogilvie, Tony Rudd and Peter Wright of Lotus. It is considered by many to be one of the most significant and respected racing car designs of all time....
"wing car", which used aerodynamic ground effect
Ground effect in cars
Ground effect is term applied to a series of aerodynamic effects used in car design, which has been exploited to create downforce, particularly in racing cars. This has been the successor to the earlier dominant aerodynamic theory of streamlining...
to stick to the track when cornering, but Lauda won two races in the BT46, one with the controversial "B" or "fan car" version.
The partnership with Alfa Romeo ended during the 1979 season
1979 Formula One season
The 1979 Formula One season was the 30th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors which were contested concurrently over a fifteen round series which commenced on January 21, 1979, and ended on...
, the team's first with young Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan...
. Murray designed the full-ground effect BT48 around a rapidly developed new Alfa Romeo V12 engine and incorporated an effective "carbon-carbon braking" system—a technology Brabham pioneered in 1976. However, unexpected movement of the car's aerodynamic centre of pressure
Center of pressure
The center of pressure is the point on a body where the total sum of a pressure field acts, causing a force and no moment about that point. The total force vector acting at the center of pressure is the value of the integrated vectorial pressure field. The resultant force and center of pressure...
made its handling unpredictable and the new engine was unreliable. The team dropped to eighth in the constructors' table by the end of the season. Alfa Romeo started testing their own Formula One car during the season, prompting Ecclestone to revert to Cosworth DFV engines, a move Murray described as being "like having a holiday". The new, lighter, Cosworth-powered BT49
Brabham BT49
The Brabham BT49 is a Formula One racing car designed by South African Gordon Murray for the British Brabham team. The BT49 competed in the to Formula One World Championships and was used by Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet to win his first World Championship in .The car was initially designed in...
was introduced before the end of the year at the Canadian Grand Prix
1979 Canadian Grand Prix
The 1979 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 30 September 1979 at Montreal.During practice Niki Lauda announced his retirement from Formula One. Ricardo Zunino replaced him for the race. The organizers would not let the Alfa Romeo team compete unless they pre-qualified...
; where after practice Lauda announced his immediate retirement from driving, later saying that he "was no longer getting any pleasure from driving round and round in circles".
1980 Formula One season
The 1980 Formula One season was the 31st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1980 World Championship of Drivers and the 1980 International Cup for F1 Constructors which were contested concurrently from January 13 to October 5 over a fourteen race series...
Piquet scored three wins and the team took 3rd in the constructors' championship with Piquet second in the Drivers Championship. This season saw the introduction of the blue and white livery that the cars would wear through several changes of sponsor, until the team's demise in 1992. With a better understanding of ground effect, the team further developed the BT49C for the 1981 season
1981 Formula One season
The 1981 Formula One season included the 32nd FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 15, 1981, and ended on October 17 after fifteen races. Nelson Piquet won the Drivers' Championship, claiming the first of his three Formula One titles...
, incorporating a hydropneumatic suspension system to avoid ride height
Ride height
Ride height is the amount of space between the base of an automobile tire and the underside of the chassis; or, more properly, to the shortest distance between a flat, level surface, and any part of a vehicle other than those parts designed to contact the ground...
limitations intended to reduce downforce. Piquet, who had developed a close working relationship with Murray, took the drivers' title with three wins, albeit amid accusations of cheating. The team finished second in the constructors championship, behind the Williams team
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...
.
Renault
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...
had introduced turbocharged engines to Formula One in 1977. Brabham had tested a BMW 4-cylinder M12 turbocharged engine in the summer of 1981. For the 1982 season
1982 Formula One season
The 1982 Formula One season was the 33rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on January 23, 1982, and ended on September 25 after sixteen races. The World Drivers' Championship was won by Williams driver Keke Rosberg. Rosberg was the first driver since Mike Hawthorn in the 1958...
the team designed a new car, the BT50, around the BMW engine which, like the Repco engine 16 years previously, was based on a road car engine block, the BMW M10
BMW M10
The BMW M10/M12 was a straight-4 piston engine produced from 1961 to 1987. Displacement ranged from 1499 cc to 1990 cc.The engine was designed by noted engineer and race driver Baron Alex von Falkenhausen. He was asked to design a small-displacement engine, but felt that this would be...
. Brabham continued to run the Cosworth-powered BT49D in the early part of the season while reliability and driveability issues with the BMW units were resolved. The relationship came close to ending, with the German manufacturer insisting that Brabham use their engine. The turbo car took its first win at the Canadian Grand Prix
1982 Canadian Grand Prix
The 1982 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 13, 1982. Riccardo Paletti was killed at the start of the race, when his car ran into the back of the stationary Ferrari of Didier Pironi who had stalled on the grid...
. In the constructors championship, the team finished fifth, the drivers Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Gabriele Patrese is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and the first to achieve 250 starts at the 1993 German Grand Prix...
, who scored the last win of the Brabham-Ford combination in the Monaco Grand Prix
1982 Monaco Grand Prix
The 1982 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on May 23, 1982.This was the first race following the death of Gilles Villeneuve at the Belgian Grand Prix; consequently Ferrari entered only one driver, Didier Pironi....
, 10th and World Champion Piquet a mere 11th in the drivers championship. In the 1983 season
1983 Formula One season
The 1983 Formula One season included the 34th FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 13, and ended on October 15 after fifteen races. Nelson Piquet won the World Drivers' Championship, his second Formula One title and the first one ever won by a driver using a turbocharged engine...
, Piquet took the championship lead from Renault's
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...
Alain Prost
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur is a French racing driver. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, Prost has won more titles than any driver except for Juan Manuel Fangio , and Michael Schumacher . From 1987 until 2001 Prost held the record for most Grand Prix...
at the last race of the year, the South African Grand Prix
1983 South African Grand Prix
The 1983 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on October 15, 1983. It was the final race of the 1983 Formula One season....
to become the first driver to win the Formula One drivers' world championship with a turbo-powered car. The team did not win the constructor's championship in either 1981 or 1983, despite Piquet's success. Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Gabriele Patrese is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and the first to achieve 250 starts at the 1993 German Grand Prix...
was the only driver other than Piquet to win a race for Brabham in this period—the drivers in the second car contributed only a fraction of the team's points in each of these championship seasons. Patrese finished 9th in the drivers championship with 13 points, dropping the team behind Ferrari and Renault to third in the constructors championship.
1984 Canadian Grand Prix
The 1984 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 17, 1984. It was the seventh round of the 1984 Formula One season.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standings...
and the Detroit Grand Prix and one in 1985 with winning the French Grand Prix
1985 French Grand Prix
The 1985 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on July 7, 1985. It was the seventh round of the 1985 Formula One season....
before reluctantly leaving for the Williams
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...
team at the end of the season. After seven years and two world championships, he felt he was worth more than Ecclestone's salary offer for 1986. Piquet finished 5th in 1984 and a mere 8th in 1985 in the respective drivers championships. The 1986 season
1986 Formula One season
The 1986 Formula One season was the 37th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 23, 1986, and ended on October 26 after sixteen races....
was a disaster. Murray's radical long and low BT55
Brabham BT55
The Brabham BT55 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Murray and David North for the Brabham team owned by Bernie Ecclestone. It used a BMW four-cylinder turbocharged engine tilted over on its side to allow a clear supply of air to the rear wing. The car competed during the 1986 Formula...
, with its BMW M12 engine tilted over to improve its aerodynamics and lower its centre of gravity, scored only two points. Driver Elio de Angelis
Elio de Angelis
Elio de Angelis was an Italian racing driver who participated in Formula One between and , racing for the Shadow, Lotus and Brabham teams. He was killed during testing at the Paul Ricard circuit at Le Castellet in 1986...
became the Formula One team's only fatality when he died in a testing accident at the Paul Ricard
Circuit Paul Ricard
The Paul Ricard Circuit is a motorsport race track built at Le Castellet, near Marseille, France, in 1969 with finance from the eccentric drinks magnate Paul Ricard, who created what essentially became Pernod Ricard...
circuit. Derek Warwick
Derek Warwick
Derek Stanley Arthur Warwick is a British former racing driver from England. He raced for many years in Formula One, but never won a Grand Prix. During the early 1980s he was thought more likely to achieve World Championship success than his contemporary Nigel Mansell, but a series of wrong...
, who replaced de Angelis, was close to scoring two points for fifth in the British Grand Prix
1986 British Grand Prix
The 1986 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on July 13, 1986. It was the ninth race of the 1986 Formula One season...
, but a problem on the last lap dropped him out of the points. In August, BMW after considering running their own in-house team, announced their departure from Formula One at the end of the season. Murray, who had largely taken over the running of the team as Ecclestone became more involved with his role at the Formula One Constructors Association
Formula One Constructors Association
The Formula One Constructors' Association is an organization of the chassis builders who design and build the cars that race in the FIA Formula One World Championship...
, felt that "the way the team had operated for 15 years broke down". He left Brabham in November to join McLaren
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...
.
Ecclestone held BMW to their contract for the 1987 season
1987 Formula One season
The 1987 Formula One season was the 38th season of Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1987 FIA Formula One World Championship for Drivers and Constructors which commenced on April 12, 1987 and ended on November 15 after sixteen races...
, but the German company would only supply the laydown engine. The upright units, around which Brabham had designed their new car, were sold for use by the Arrows
Arrows
Arrows Grand Prix International was a British Formula One team active from to . For a period of time, it was also known as Footwork.-Origins :...
team. Senior figures at Brabham, including Murray, have admitted that by this stage Ecclestone had lost interest in running the team. 1987 was only slightly more successful than the previous year—Patrese and de Cesaris scoring 10 points between them, including two third places at the Belgian Grand Prix
1987 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1987 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on May 17, 1987 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa. It was the third race of the 1987 Formula One season.-Race summary:...
and the Mexican Grand Prix
1987 Mexican Grand Prix
The 1987 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Mexico City on October 18, 1987.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...
. Unable to locate a suitable engine supplier, the team missed the FIA deadline for entry into the 1988 world championship and Ecclestone finally announced the team's withdrawal from Formula One at the Brazilian Grand Prix in April 1988. He sold MRD to Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
for an unknown price.
Joachim Luhti (1989)
The Brabham team missed the 1988 season during the change of ownership. Alfa Romeo soon sold it on, this time to Swiss financier Joachim Luhti, who brought it back into Formula One for the 1989 season1989 Formula One season
The 1989 Formula One season was the 40th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1989 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 26, 1989 and ended on November 5 after sixteen races...
. The new BT58, powered by an engine from Judd
Judd (engine)
Judd is a name brand of engines produced by Engine Developments Ltd., a company founded in 1971 by John Judd and Jack Brabham in Rugby, Warwickshire, England...
(originally another of Jack Brabham's companies), was produced for the 1989 season
1989 Formula One season
The 1989 Formula One season was the 40th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1989 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 26, 1989 and ended on November 5 after sixteen races...
. Italian driver Stefano Modena
Stefano Modena
Stefano Modena is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 81 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on November 15, 1987. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 17 championship points....
drove alongside the more experienced Martin Brundle
Martin Brundle
Martin John Brundle is a British racing driver from England, known as a Formula One driver and as an F1 commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011 and Sky Sports from 2012....
. The team finished in eighth place, and Modena took the team's last podium: a third place at the Monaco Grand Prix
1989 Monaco Grand Prix
The 1989 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Monaco on May 7, 1989.- Race summary :The field was one fewer in Monaco as Ferrari had decided not to run a second car to replace Gerhard Berger, who was injured in an accident at Imola. Elsewhere Tyrrell had new cars that looked promising...
. The team also failed to make the grid sometimes: Brundle failed to prequalify at the Canadian Grand Prix
1989 Canadian Grand Prix
The 1989 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 18, 1989.It was the first Formula One victory for Belgian driver Thierry Boutsen, who won three F1 races overall, all during his two-year stint with Williams-Renault.- Classification :- Notes :*Lap...
and the French Grand Prix
1989 French Grand Prix
The 1989 French Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Paul Ricard on July 9, 1989.-Report:The race saw four drivers replaced by drivers making their first Formula One start: Jean Alesi replaced Michele Alboreto at Tyrrell, Éric Bernard replaced Yannick Dalmas at Larrousse, Martin Donnelly...
. The team finished 9th in the constructors' championship at the end of the season.
Middlebridge Racing (1989–1992)
After Luhti's arrest on tax fraud charges in mid-1989, several parties disputed the ownership of the team. Middlebridge Group Limited, a Japanese engineering firm owned by billionaire Koji Nakauchi, was already involved with established Formula 3000 team Middlebridge Racing and gained control of Brabham for the 1990 season1990 Formula One season
The 1990 Formula One season was the 41st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 11, 1990 and ended on November 4 after sixteen races...
. Blash returned to run the team. Middlebridge paid for its purchase using £1 million loaned to them by finance company Landhurst Leasing, but the team remained underfunded and would only score a few more points finishes in its last three seasons. Jack Brabham's youngest son, David
David Brabham
David Brabham is an Australian racing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists in sports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians to have won the Le Mans 24 Hour sports car race, winning the event in...
, raced for the Formula One team for a short time in 1990, a disastrous year, with Modena's fifth place in the season opening United States Grand Prix
1990 United States Grand Prix
The 1990 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on March 11, 1990 in Phoenix, Arizona. It was the opening round of the 1990 Formula One season. It was the 32nd United States Grand Prix since the American Grand Prize was first held in 1908, and the 25th since the first United States...
being the only top six finish. The team finished ninth in the Constructors' Championship. Brundle and fellow Briton Mark Blundell
Mark Blundell
Mark Blundell is a Formula One, sports car, and CART racing driver. He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the end of the 2008 season when the TV broadcasting rights switched to the BBC....
, scored only three points during the 1991 season
1991 Formula One season
The 1991 Formula One season was the 42nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1991 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 10, 1991 and ended on November 3 after sixteen races...
. Due to poor results in the first half of 1991, they had to prequalify in the second half of the season, Blundell failed to do so in Japan, as did Brundle in Australia. The team finished 10th in the Constructors Championship, behind another struggling British team, Lotus. In 1992, Damon Hill
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title...
, the son of another former Brabham driver and World Champion, debuted in the team after Giovanna Amati
Giovanna Amati
Giovanna Amati is a former professional race car driver from Italy. She is best known as the last female driver to have entered the Formula One World Championship.- Career :...
, the last woman to attempt to race in Formula One, was dropped when her sponsorship failed to materialise.
Argentine Sergio Rinland
Sergio Rinland
Sergio Rinland is an Argentine engineer best known for his work in Formula One. He is currently Owner and Managing Director of the Automotive Engineering and Management consulting company Astauto Ltd.- Career :...
designed the team's final cars around Judd engines, except for 1991 when Yamaha powered the cars. In the 1992 season
1992 Formula One season
The 1992 Formula One season was the 43rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 1, 1992, and ended on November 8 after sixteen races...
the cars (which were updated versions of the 1991 car) rarely qualified for races. Hill gave the team its final finish, at the Hungarian Grand Prix
1992 Hungarian Grand Prix
The 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Hungaroring on 16 August 1992. It was the eleventh round of the 1992 Formula One season...
, where he crossed the finish line 11th and last, four laps behind the winner. After the end of that race the team ran out of funds and collapsed. Middlebridge Group Limited had been unable to continue making repayments against the £6 million ultimately provided by Landhurst Leasing, which went into administration. The Serious Fraud Office
Serious Fraud Office (UK)
The Serious Fraud Office is an independent UK Government department that investigates and prosecutes serious or complex fraud and corruption...
investigated the case. Landhurst's managing directors were found guilty of corruption and imprisoned, having accepted bribes for further loans to Middlebridge. It was one of four teams to leave Formula One that year. (cf March Engineering
March Engineering
March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...
, Fondmetal
Fondmetal
Fondmetal is a Italian wheel manufacturer, founded by Gabriele Rumi.It also was a Formula One constructor from 1991 through 1992, as well as a Formula One engine supplier in 2000 and sponsor of several teams throughout this period...
and Andrea Moda Formula
Andrea Moda Formula
Andrea Moda Formula was a Formula One team, created by Andrea Sassetti, a shoe manufacturer from Italy. In September 1991 he bought the Coloni F1 team after it had failed to pre-qualify a car for every single race that year....
). Although there was talk of reviving the team for the following year, its assets passed to Landhurst Leasing and were auctioned by the company's receivers in 1993. Among these was the team's old factory in Chessington, which was acquired by Yamaha Motor Sports and used to house Activa Technology Limited, a company manufacturing composite components for race and road cars run by Herbie Blash. The factory was bought by the Carlin DPR GP2
GP2 Series
The GP2 Series, GP2 for short, is a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecclestone also has the rights to the name GP1...
motor racing team in 2006.
Potential F1 revival (2010)
On 4 June 2009, Franz Hilmer confirmed that he had used the name to lodge an entry for the 2010 Formula One season as a cost capped team under the new budget cap regulations. The Brabham family was not involved and announced that it was seeking legal advice over the use of the name. The team's entry was not accepted.Motor Racing Developments
Formula racing
Formula racing is a term that refers to various forms of open wheeled single seater motorsport. Its origin lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single seater regulations, or formulae. The best known of these formulæ are Formula One, Formula Two, and...
cars to customer teams Motor Racing Developments (MRD), and this company had a large portfolio of other activities. Initially, Brabham and Tauranac each held 50 percent of the shares. Tauranac was responsible for design and running the business, while Brabham was the test driver and arranged corporate deals like the Repco engine supply and the use of the MIRA wind tunnel. He also contributed ideas to the design process and often machined parts and helped build the cars.
From 1963 to 1965, MRD was not directly involved in Formula One, and often ran works cars in other formulae. A separate company, Jack Brabham's Brabham Racing Organisation, ran the Formula One works entry. Like other customers, BRO bought its cars from MRD, initially at £3,000 per car, although it did not pay for development parts. Tauranac was unhappy with his distance from the Formula One operation and before the 1966 season suggested that he was no longer interested in producing cars for Formula One under this arrangement. Brabham investigated other chassis suppliers for BRO, however the two reached an agreement and from 1966 MRD was much more closely involved in this category. After Jack Brabham sold his shares in MRD to Ron Tauranac at the end of 1969, the works Formula One team was MRD.
Despite only building its first car in 1961, by the mid-1960s MRD had overtaken established constructors like Cooper to become the largest manufacturer of single-seat racing cars in the world, and by 1970 had built over 500 cars. Of the other Formula One teams which used Brabhams, Frank Williams Racing Cars
Frank Williams Racing Cars
Frank Williams Racing Cars was a British Formula One team and constructor.-Early years:Frank Williams had been a motor-racing enthusiast since a young age, and after a career in saloon cars and Formula Three, backed by Williams' shrewd instincts as a dealer in racing cars and spares, he realised...
and the Rob Walker Racing Team
Rob Walker Racing Team
Rob Walker Racing Team was a privateer team in Formula One during the 1950s and 1960s. Founded by Johnnie Walker heir Rob Walker in 1953, the team became F1's most successful privateer in history, being the first and last entrant to win a Formula One Grand Prix, without ever building their own...
were the most successful. The 1965 British Grand Prix
1965 British Grand Prix
The 1965 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on July 10, 1965.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...
saw seven Brabhams compete, only two of them from the works team, and there were usually four or five at championship Grands Prix throughout that season. The firm built scores of cars for the lower formulae each year, peaking with 89 cars in 1966. Brabham had the reputation of providing customers with cars of a standard equal to those used by the works team, which worked "out of the box". The company provided a high degree of support to its customers—including Jack Brabham helping customers set up their cars. During this period the cars were usually known as "Repco Brabhams", not because of the Repco engines used in Formula One between 1966 and 1968, but because of a smaller-scale sponsorship deal through which the Australian company had been providing parts to Jack Brabham since his Cooper days.
At the end of 1971 Bernie Ecclestone bought MRD. He retained the Brabham brand, as did subsequent owners. Although the production of customer cars continued briefly under Bernie Ecclestone’s ownership, he believed the company needed to focus on Formula One to succeed. The last production customer Brabhams were the Formula Two BT40 and the Formula Three BT41 of 1973, although Ecclestone sold ex-works Formula One BT44Bs to RAM Racing
RAM Racing
RAM Racing was a Formula One racing team which competed during the racing seasons of 1976 to 1985. The team entered other manufacturers' chassis from 1976 to 1980, then ran March's team from 1981 to 1983, only entering a car entirely their own in 1984 and 1985.The team was formed in 1975 by Mike...
as late as 1976.
In 1988 Ecclestone sold Motor Racing Developments to Alfa Romeo. The Formula One team did not compete that year, but Alfa Romeo put the company to use designing and building a prototype "Procar"—a racing car with the silhouette of a large saloon (the Alfa Romeo 164
Alfa Romeo 164
The Alfa Romeo 164 is an executive car with saloon body, produced by the Italian automaker Alfa Romeo from 1987 to 1998.The 164 was re-badged as the 168 for the Hong Kong and Malaysian markets, as the number "164" had a very negative connotation , and "168" has quite the opposite The Alfa Romeo 164...
) covering a composite racing car chassis and mid mounted race engine. This was intended for a racing series for major manufacturers to support Formula One Grands Prix, and was designated the Brabham BT57.
Racing history—other categories
Indycar
Brabham cars competed at the Indianapolis 500Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
from the mid 1960s to the early 1970s. After an abortive project in 1962, MRD was commissioned in 1964 to build an Indycar chassis powered by an American Offenhauser
Offenhauser
Offenhauser was an American racing engine manufacturer that operated from 1933 to 1983.The Offenhauser engine, familiarly known as the "Offy", was developed by Fred Offenhauser and his employer Harry Arminius Miller, after maintaining and repairing a 1913 Peugeot Grand Prix car of the type which...
engine. The resultant BT12 chassis was raced by Jack Brabham as the "Zink-Urschel Trackburner" at the 1964 event
1964 Indianapolis 500
The 1964 Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 30, 1964. It was won by A.J. Foyt, but is best known for a fiery seven-car, second-lap accident that resulted in the deaths of Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald...
and retired with a fuel tank problem. The car was entered again in 1966
1966 Indianapolis 500
Results of the 1966 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Monday, May 30, 1966....
, taking a third place for Jim McElreath
Jim McElreath
Jim McElreath , is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series.-Racing career:He raced in the 1961-1983 seasons, with 178 combined career starts, including 15 in the Indianapolis 500 in 1962-1970, 1973–1974, and 1977-1980. He finished in the top ten 101 times, with five victories...
. From 1968 to 1970, Brabham returned to Indianapolis, at first with a 4.2 litre version of the Repco V8 the team used in Formula One—with which Peter Revson
Peter Revson
Peter Jeffrey Revson was an American race car driver who had successes in Formula One and the Indianapolis 500.-Background:Peter Revson was born in New York City, the son of Julie and Martin Revson....
finished fifth in 1969—before reverting to the Offenhauser engine for 1970. The Brabham-Offenhauser combination was entered again in 1971 by J.C. Agajanian
Christopher J.C. Agajanian
Joshua "J.C./Aggie" Agajanian was an influential figure in American motorsports history. He was a promoter and race car owner.- Early life :...
, finishing fifth in the hands of Bill Vukovich II
Bill Vukovich II
William John Vukovich, Jr. , better known as Bill Vukovich II is a former driver in the championship car division of USAC and CART series....
. Although a Brabham car never won at Indianapolis, McElreath won four United States Automobile Club
United States Automobile Club
The United States Auto Club is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, the USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500...
(USAC) races over 1965 and 1966 in the BT12. The "Dean Van Lines Special" in which Mario Andretti
Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti is a retired Italian American world champion racing driver, one of the most successful Americans in the history of the sport. He is one of only two drivers to win races in Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR...
won the 1965 USAC national championship was a direct copy of this car, made with permission from Brabham by Andretti's crew chief Clint Brawner. Revson took Brabham's final USAC race win in a BT25 in 1969, using the Repco engine.
Formula Two
In the 1960s and early 1970s, drivers who had reached Formula One often continued to compete in Formula TwoFormula Two
Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, is a type of open wheel formula racing. It was replaced by Formula 3000 in 1985, but the FIA announced in 2008 that Formula Two would return for 2009 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship...
. In 1966 MRD produced the BT18 for the lower category, with a Honda
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
engine acting as a stressed component. The car was extremely successful, winning 11 consecutive Formula Two races in the hands of the Formula One pairing of Brabham and Hulme. Cars were entered by MRD and not by the Brabham Racing Organisation, avoiding a direct conflict with Repco, their Formula One engine supplier.
Formula Three
The first Formula ThreeFormula Three
Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers...
Brabham, the BT9, won only four major races in 1964. The BT15 which followed in 1965 was a highly successful design. 58 cars were sold, which won 42 major races. Further developments of the same concept, including wings by the end of the decade, were highly competitive up until 1971. The BT38C of 1972 was Brabham's first production monocoque and the first not designed by Tauranac. Although 40 were ordered, it was less successful than its predecessors. The angular BT41 was the final Formula Three Brabham.
Sports cars
Tauranac did not enjoy designing sports cars and could only spare a small amount of his time from MRD's very successful single-seater business. Only 14 sports car models were built between 1961 and 1972, out of a total production of almost 600 chassis. The BT8A was the only one built in any numbers, and was quite successful in national level racing in the UK in 1964 and 1965. The design was "stretched" in 1966 to become the one-off BT17, originally fitted with the 4.3 litre version of the Repco engine for Can-Am racing. It was quickly abandoned by MRD after engine reliability problems became evident.Technical innovation
Monocoque
Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...
" chassis to Formula One in 1962. Chief designer Tauranac reasoned that monocoques of the time were not usefully stiffer than well designed spaceframe chassis, and were harder to repair and less suitable for MRD’s customers. His "old fashioned" cars won the Brabham team the 1966 and 1967 championships, and were competitive in Formula One until rule changes forced a move to monocoques in 1970.
Despite the perceived conservatism, in 1963 Brabham was the first Formula One team to use a wind tunnel
Wind tunnel
A wind tunnel is a research tool used in aerodynamic research to study the effects of air moving past solid objects.-Theory of operation:Wind tunnels were first proposed as a means of studying vehicles in free flight...
to hone their designs to reduce drag
Drag (physics)
In fluid dynamics, drag refers to forces which act on a solid object in the direction of the relative fluid flow velocity...
and stop the cars lifting off the ground at speed. The practice only became the norm in the early 1980s, and is possibly the most important factor in the design of modern cars. Towards the end of the 1960s, teams began to exploit aerodynamic downforce
Downforce
Downforce is a downwards thrust created by the aerodynamic characteristics of a car. The purpose of downforce is to allow a car to travel faster through a corner by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more grip....
to push the cars' tyres down harder on the track and enable them to maintain faster speeds through high-speed corners. At the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix
1968 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1968 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit on June 9, 1968. It was the fourth round of the 1968 Formula One season.- Classification :- Notes :* This was the first race where wings were used on an F1 car...
, Brabham were the first, alongside Ferrari, to introduce full width rear wings to this effect.
The team's most fertile period of technical innovation came in the 1970s and 1980s when Gordon Murray
Gordon Murray
Prof. Gordon Murray , is a renowned designer of Formula One race cars and the McLaren F1 road car.-Early life:...
became technical director. During 1976, the team introduced "carbon-carbon brakes
Disc brake
The disc brake or disk brake is a device for slowing or stopping the rotation of a wheel while it is in motion.A brake disc is usually made of cast iron, but may in some cases be made of composites such as reinforced carbon–carbon or ceramic matrix composites. This is connected to the wheel and/or...
" to Formula One, which promised reduced "unsprung weight
Unsprung weight
In a ground vehicle with a suspension, the unsprung weight is the mass of the suspension, wheels or tracks , and other components directly connected to them, rather than supported by the suspension...
" and better stopping performance due to carbon's greater coefficient of friction. The initial versions used carbon-carbon composite
Reinforced carbon-carbon
Carbon fibre-reinforced carbon is a composite material consisting of carbon fibre reinforcement in a matrix of graphite. It was developed for the nose cones of intercontinental ballistic missiles, and is most widely known as the material for the nose cone and wing leading edges of the Space Shuttle...
brake pads
Brake pads
Brake pads are a component of disk brakes used in automotive and other applications. Brake pads are steel backing plates with friction material bound to the surface that faces the disk brake rotor.- Function :...
and a steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
disc faced with carbon "pucks". The technology was not reliable at first; in 1976, Carlos Pace crashed at 180 mi/h at the Österreichring
Österreichring
The Red Bull Ring is an Austrian race circuit in Spielberg, Styria.The race circuit was founded as Österreichring and hosted the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from to . It was later shortened, rebuilt and renamed the A1-Ring, it hosted the Austrian Grand Prix again from...
circuit after heat build-up in the brakes boiled the brake fluid
Brake fluid
Brake fluid is a type of hydraulic fluid used in hydraulic brake and hydraulic clutch applications in automobiles, motorcycles, light trucks, and some bicycles. It is used to transfer force into pressure...
, leaving him with no way of stopping the car. By 1979, Brabham had developed an effective carbon-carbon braking system, combining structural carbon discs with carbon brake pads. By the late 1980s, carbon brakes were used by all competitors in almost all top level motor sports.
Although Brabham experimented with airdams and underbody skirts in the mid 1970s, the team, like the rest of the field, did not immediately understand Lotus' development of a ground effect
Ground effect in cars
Ground effect is term applied to a series of aerodynamic effects used in car design, which has been exploited to create downforce, particularly in racing cars. This has been the successor to the earlier dominant aerodynamic theory of streamlining...
car in 1977. The Brabham BT46B
Brabham BT46
The Brabham BT46 was a Formula One racing car, designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team, owned by Bernie Ecclestone, for the 1978 Formula One season. The car featured several radical design elements, the most obvious of which was the use of flat panel heat exchangers on the bodywork of the...
"Fan car" of 1978, generated enormous downforce with a fan, which sucked air from beneath the car, although its claimed use was for engine cooling. The car only raced once in the Formula One World Championship—Niki Lauda
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver and three-time F1 World Champion. More recently an aviation entrepreneur, he has founded and run two airlines and was manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years.- Early years in racing :Born in Vienna,...
winning the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix
1978 Swedish Grand Prix
The 1978 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on June 17, 1978 at the Scandinavian Raceway; it was the eighth race of the 1978 Formula One season...
—before a loophole in the regulations was closed by the FIA.
Although in 1979 Murray was the first to use lightweight "carbon fibre composite" panels to stiffen Brabham's aluminium alloy
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
monocoques, he echoed his predecessor Tauranac in being the last to switch to the new fully composite monocoques. Murray was reluctant to build the entire chassis from composite materials until he understood their behaviour in a crash, an understanding achieved in part through an instrumented crash test
Crash test
A crash test is a form of destructive testing usually performed in order to ensure safe design standards in crashworthiness and crash compatibility for various modes of transportation or related systems and components.- Types :...
of a BT49 chassis. The team did not follow McLaren's 1981 MP4/1 with their own fully composite chassis until the "lowline" BT55 in 1986, the last team to do so. This technology is now used in all top level single seater racing cars.
For the 1981 season the FIA introduced a 6 cm (2.4 in) minimum ride height
Ride height
Ride height is the amount of space between the base of an automobile tire and the underside of the chassis; or, more properly, to the shortest distance between a flat, level surface, and any part of a vehicle other than those parts designed to contact the ground...
for the cars, intended to slow them in corners by limiting the downforce created by aerodynamic ground effect. Gordon Murray devised a "hydropneumatic suspension
Hydropneumatic suspension
Hydropneumatic suspension is a type of automotive suspension system, invented by Citroën, and fitted to Citroën cars, as well as being used under licence by other car manufacturers, notably Rolls-Royce, and Peugeot. It was also used on Berliet trucks and is since recently used on Mercedes-Benz...
" system for the BT49C, which allowed the car to settle to a much lower ride height at speed. Brabham were accused of cheating by other teams, although Murray believes that the system met the letter of the regulations. No action was taken against the team and others soon produced systems with similar effects.
At the 1982 British Grand Prix
1982 British Grand Prix
The 1982 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on July 18, 1982.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...
, Brabham reintroduced the idea of re-fuelling and changing the car's tyres during the race, unseen since the 1957 Formula One season
1957 Formula One season
The 1957 Formula One season was the eighth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1957 World Championship of Drivers which commenced on January 13, 1957 and ended on September 8 after eight races. Juan Manuel Fangio won his fourth consecutive title, his fifth in total, in his...
, to allow their drivers to sprint away at the start of races on a light fuel load and soft tyres. After studying techniques used at the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
and in NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
racing in the United States, the team were able to refuel and re-tyre the car in 14 seconds in tests ahead of the race. In 1982 Murray felt the tactic did little more than "get our sponsors noticed at races we had no chance of winning", but in 1983 the team made good use of the tactic. Refuelling was banned for 1984, and did not reappear until the 1994 season
1994 Formula One season
The 1994 Formula One season was the 45th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 27, 1994, and ended on November 13 after sixteen races. The season is remembered as one of the most tragic and controversial seasons in...
(until it was banned again in 2010
2010 Formula One season
The 2010 Formula One season was the 61st Formula One season of World Championship motor racing competition. Red Bull Racing won its maiden Constructors' Championship with a one-two finish in Brazil, while Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel won the Drivers' Championship after winning the final race...
as a part of cost cutting measures), but tyre changes have remained part of Formula One.
Controversy
The fan car and hydropneumatic suspension exploited loopholes in the sporting regulations. In the early 1980s, Brabham was accused of going further and breaking the regulations. During 1981, Piquet's first championship year, rumours circulated of illegal underweight Brabham chassis. Driver Jacques LaffiteJacques Laffite
Jacques-Henri Laffite is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six grand prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. He is now a TV commentator on French television TF1....
was among those to claim that the cars were fitted with heavily ballasted bodywork
Coachwork
Coachwork is the body of a horse-drawn coach or carriage, a motor vehicle , a railroad car or railway carriage. Usually reserved for bodies built on a separate chassis, rather than being of unitary or monocoque construction...
before being weighed at scrutineer
Scrutineer
In general, a scrutineer is a person who observes any process which requires rigorous oversight, either to prevent the occurrence of corruption or genuine mistakes. It is most commonly known as part of voting in an election, where the scrutineer observes the counting of ballot papers, in order to...
ing. The accusation was denied by Brabham's management. No formal protest was made against the team and no action was taken against them by the sporting authorities.
From 1978, Ecclestone was president of the Formula One Constructors Association
Formula One Constructors Association
The Formula One Constructors' Association is an organization of the chassis builders who design and build the cars that race in the FIA Formula One World Championship...
(FOCA), a body formed by the teams to represent their interests. This left his team open to accusations of having advance warning of rule changes. Ecclestone denies that the team benefited from this and Murray has noted that, contrary to this view, at the end of 1982 the team had to abandon their new BT51 car, built on the basis that ground effect would be permitted in 1983. Brabham had to design and build a replacement, the BT52, in only three months. At the end of the 1983 season, Renault and Ferrari, both beaten to the drivers' championship by Piquet, protested that the Research Octane Number
Octane rating
Octane rating or octane number is a standard measure of the anti-knock properties of a motor or aviation fuel. The higher the octane number, the more compression the fuel can withstand before detonating...
(RON) of the team's fuel was above the legal limit of 102. The FIA declared that a figure of up to 102.9 was permitted under the rules, and that Brabham had not exceeded this limit.
Championship results
Results achieved by the "works" Brabham team. Bold results indicate a championship win.| Season | Entrant | Car | Tyres | Engine | Drivers | Constructors Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 1962 Formula One season The 1962 Formula One season was the 13th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a nine race series that commenced on May 20 and ended on December 29... |
Brabham Racing Organisation | Lotus 21 Lotus 21 The Lotus 21 was a Formula One racing car designed by Colin Chapman. It was a mid-engined design using a tubular spaceframe structure skinned with fibreglass panels, of a more advanced build than seen in the Lotus 18... Brabham BT3 Brabham BT3 The Brabham BT3 is a Formula One racing car. It was the first Formula One design to be produced by Motor Racing Developments for the Brabham Racing Organisation, and debuted at the 1962 German Grand Prix... |
Coventry-Climax | Jack Brabham Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.... |
7th (9 points) | |
| 1963 1963 Formula One season The 1963 Formula One season was the 14th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 14th FIA World Championship of Drivers, the sixth International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and numerous non-championship Formula One races... |
Brabham Racing Organisation | Brabham BT3 Brabham BT3 The Brabham BT3 is a Formula One racing car. It was the first Formula One design to be produced by Motor Racing Developments for the Brabham Racing Organisation, and debuted at the 1962 German Grand Prix... Brabham BT7 Lotus 25 Lotus 25 The Lotus 25 was a racing car designed by Colin Chapman for the 1962 Formula One season. It was a revolutionary design, the first fully stressed monocoque chassis to appear in F1... |
Coventry-Climax | Jack Brabham Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.... Dan Gurney Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney is an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner.The son of a Metropolitan Opera star, he was born in Port Jefferson, New York, but moved to California as a teenager... |
3rd (28 points) | |
| 1964 1964 Formula One season The 1964 Formula One season was the 15th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It included the 1964 World Championship of Drivers and the 1964 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, which were contested concurrently over a series which commenced on May 10 and ended on October 25 after ten races... |
Brabham Racing Organisation | Brabham BT7 Brabham BT11 |
Coventry-Climax | Jack Brabham Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.... Dan Gurney Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney is an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner.The son of a Metropolitan Opera star, he was born in Port Jefferson, New York, but moved to California as a teenager... |
4th (33 points) | |
| 1965 1965 Formula One season The 1965 Formula One season, which was the 16th season of FIA Formula One racing, featured the 16th World Championship of Drivers and the 8th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers. The two titles were contested concurrently over a ten round series which commenced on January 1 and ended on October 24... |
Brabham Racing Organisation | Brabham BT7 Brabham BT11 |
|
Coventry-Climax | Jack Brabham Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.... Dan Gurney Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney is an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner.The son of a Metropolitan Opera star, he was born in Port Jefferson, New York, but moved to California as a teenager... Denny Hulme Denny Hulme Denis Clive "Denny" Hulme, OBE was a New Zealand racing driver, the 1967 Formula One World Champion for the Brabham team.... Giancarlo Baghetti Giancarlo Baghetti Giancarlo Baghetti was a Formula One driver who raced for the Ferrari, ATS , BRM, Brabham and Lotus teams... |
3rd (27 pts) |
| 1966 1966 Formula One season The 1966 Formula One season was the 17th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a nine race series that commenced on May 22 and ended on October 23... |
Brabham Racing Organisation | Brabham BT19 Brabham BT19 The Brabham BT19 is a Formula One racing car designed by Ron Tauranac for the British Brabham team. The BT19 competed in the and Formula One World Championships and was used by Australian driver Jack Brabham to win his third World Championship in 1966... Brabham BT20 Brabham BT22 |
Repco Repco Repco is an Australian automotive engineering company. Its name is an abbreviation of Replacement Parts Company and it is best known for spare parts and motor accessories.... |
Jack Brabham Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.... Denny Hulme Denny Hulme Denis Clive "Denny" Hulme, OBE was a New Zealand racing driver, the 1967 Formula One World Champion for the Brabham team.... |
Champion (42 pts) | |
| 1967 1967 Formula One season The 1967 Formula One season was the 18th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, contested concurrently over an eleven race series which commenced on January 2, 1967, and ended on October 22... |
Brabham Racing Organisation | Brabham BT19 Brabham BT19 The Brabham BT19 is a Formula One racing car designed by Ron Tauranac for the British Brabham team. The BT19 competed in the and Formula One World Championships and was used by Australian driver Jack Brabham to win his third World Championship in 1966... Brabham BT20 Brabham BT24 Brabham BT24 The Repco Brabham BT24 was a Formula One racing car design. It was one of three cars used by the Brabham racing team during their championship-winning 1967 Formula One season. Only three BT24 chassis were ever raced.... |
Repco Repco Repco is an Australian automotive engineering company. Its name is an abbreviation of Replacement Parts Company and it is best known for spare parts and motor accessories.... |
Jack Brabham Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.... Denny Hulme Denny Hulme Denis Clive "Denny" Hulme, OBE was a New Zealand racing driver, the 1967 Formula One World Champion for the Brabham team.... |
Champion (37 pts) | |
| 1968 1968 Formula One season The 1968 Formula One season included the 19th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 1, 1968, and ended on November 3 after twelve races.-Season summary:... |
Brabham Racing Organisation | Brabham BT24 Brabham BT24 The Repco Brabham BT24 was a Formula One racing car design. It was one of three cars used by the Brabham racing team during their championship-winning 1967 Formula One season. Only three BT24 chassis were ever raced.... Brabham BT26 |
Repco Repco Repco is an Australian automotive engineering company. Its name is an abbreviation of Replacement Parts Company and it is best known for spare parts and motor accessories.... |
Jack Brabham Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.... Jochen Rindt Jochen Rindt Karl Jochen Rindt was a German racing driver who represented Austria during his career. He is the only driver to posthumously win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship , after being killed in practice for the Italian Grand Prix... Dan Gurney Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney is an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner.The son of a Metropolitan Opera star, he was born in Port Jefferson, New York, but moved to California as a teenager... |
8th (10 pts) | |
| 1969 1969 Formula One season The 1969 Formula One season included the 20th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 1, 1969, and ended on October 19 after eleven races.-Season summary:... |
Motor Racing Developments | Brabham BT26/A | Cosworth DFV Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine... |
Jack Brabham Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.... Jacky Ickx Jacky Ickx Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx is a Belgian former racing driver who achieved 25 podium finishes in Formula One and six wins in the 24 hours of Le Mans.- Racing career :... |
2nd (51 pts) | |
| 1970 1970 Formula One season The 1970 Formula One season included the 21st FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 7, 1970, and ended on October 25 after thirteen races... |
Motor Racing Developments | Brabham BT33 | Cosworth DFV Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine... |
Jack Brabham Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.... Rolf Stommelen Rolf Stommelen Rolf Johann Stommelen was a racing driver from Siegen, Germany. He participated in 63 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scored a total of 14 championship points... |
4th (35 pts) | |
| 1971 1971 Formula One season The 1971 Formula One season included the 22nd FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 6, 1971, and ended on October 3 after eleven races.-Season summary:... |
Motor Racing Developments | Brabham BT33 Brabham BT34 |
Cosworth DFV Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine... |
Graham Hill Graham Hill Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. He is the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport — the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and Formula One World Championship.Graham Hill and his son Damon are the only father and son pair both to... Tim Schenken Tim Schenken Timothy "Tim" Theodore Schenken is a former racing driver from Sydney, Australia. He participated in 36 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 16 August 1970. He achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 7 championship points... Dave Charlton Dave Charlton Dave Charlton is a former racing driver from South Africa. He participated in 13 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on January 1, 1965. He scored no championship points... |
9th (5 pts) | |
| 1972 1972 Formula One season The 1972 Formula One season was the 23rd FIA Formula One season. It featured the 23rd World Championship of Drivers, the 15th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and numerous non-championship Formula One races. The World Championship season commenced on January 23 and ended on October 8 after... |
Motor Racing Developments | Brabham BT33 Brabham BT34 Brabham BT37 |
Cosworth DFV Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine... |
Graham Hill Graham Hill Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. He is the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport — the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and Formula One World Championship.Graham Hill and his son Damon are the only father and son pair both to... Carlos Reutemann Carlos Reutemann Carlos Alberto Reutemann , nicknamed "Lole", is an Argentine former racing driver , and later a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party.... Wilson Fittipaldi Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior is a Brazilian former racing driver and Formula One team owner. He participated in 38 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on May 1, 1972, scoring a total of three championship points. He ran the Fittipaldi Formula One team between 1974 and 1982... |
9th (7 pts) | |
| 1973 1973 Formula One season The 1973 Formula One season included the 24th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 28, 1973, and ended on October 7 after fifteen races.-Season summary:... |
Motor Racing Developments Ceramica Pagnossin Team MRD |
Brabham BT37 Brabham BT42 |
Cosworth DFV Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine... |
Carlos Reutemann Carlos Reutemann Carlos Alberto Reutemann , nicknamed "Lole", is an Argentine former racing driver , and later a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party.... Wilson Fittipaldi Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior is a Brazilian former racing driver and Formula One team owner. He participated in 38 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on May 1, 1972, scoring a total of three championship points. He ran the Fittipaldi Formula One team between 1974 and 1982... Andrea de Adamich Andrea de Adamich Andrea Lodovico de Adamich is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 34 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 1 January 1968. He scored a total of 6 championship points... Rolf Stommelen Rolf Stommelen Rolf Johann Stommelen was a racing driver from Siegen, Germany. He participated in 63 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scored a total of 14 championship points... John Watson John Watson (racing driver) John Marshall "Wattie" Watson MBE is a British former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One, winning five Grands Prix and also in the World Sportscar Championship... |
4th (49 pts) | |
| 1974 1974 Formula One season The 1974 Formula One season was the 25th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1974 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, contested concurrently over a fifteen race series which commenced on 13 January and ended on 6 October... |
Motor Racing Developments | Brabham BT42 Brabham BT44 Brabham BT44 The Brabham BT44 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Murray, Brabham's chief designer. An update of the partially successful BT42 of 1973, the BT44 was a simple design with a standard Ford DFV/Hewland gearbox combination, but was very clean aerodynamically. Murray had an eye for clean... |
Cosworth DFV Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine... |
Carlos Reutemann Carlos Reutemann Carlos Alberto Reutemann , nicknamed "Lole", is an Argentine former racing driver , and later a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party.... Carlos Pace José Carlos Pace José Carlos Pace was a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 73 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on March 4, 1972. He won one race, achieved six podiums, and scored a total of 58 championship points... Rikky von Opel Rikky von Opel Frederick "Rikky" von Opel is a former racing driver from Liechtenstein, the only driver from that nation to have competed in the Formula One World Championship. He won the Lombard North British Formula Three Championship in 1972. He participated in 14 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix... Richard Robarts Richard Robarts Richard Robarts is a British former racing driver from England. He participated in 4 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 13 January 1974. He scored no championship points.... Teddy Pilette Teddy Pilette Theodore "Teddy" Pilette is a former racing driver from Belgium. He participated in 4 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, the first on 12 May 1974 with Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham team.... |
5th (35 pts) | |
| 1975 1975 Formula One season The 1975 Formula One season was the 26th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1975 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently from January 12 to October 5 over fourteen races... |
Martini Racing | Brabham BT44B Brabham BT44 The Brabham BT44 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Murray, Brabham's chief designer. An update of the partially successful BT42 of 1973, the BT44 was a simple design with a standard Ford DFV/Hewland gearbox combination, but was very clean aerodynamically. Murray had an eye for clean... |
Cosworth DFV Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine... |
Carlos Reutemann Carlos Reutemann Carlos Alberto Reutemann , nicknamed "Lole", is an Argentine former racing driver , and later a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party.... Carlos Pace José Carlos Pace José Carlos Pace was a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 73 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on March 4, 1972. He won one race, achieved six podiums, and scored a total of 58 championship points... |
2nd (54 pts) | |
| 1976 1976 Formula One season The 1976 Formula One season included the 27th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 25, 1976, and ended on October 24 after sixteen races... |
Martini Racing | Brabham BT45 | Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo in Formula One Alfa Romeo participated in Formula One, as both a constructor and engine supplier, from to .-Success, 1950-1951:In 1950 Nino Farina won the inaugural Formula One World Championship in a 158 with supercharger, in 1951 Juan Manuel Fangio won while driving an Alfetta 159... |
Carlos Reutemann Carlos Reutemann Carlos Alberto Reutemann , nicknamed "Lole", is an Argentine former racing driver , and later a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party.... Carlos Pace José Carlos Pace José Carlos Pace was a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 73 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on March 4, 1972. He won one race, achieved six podiums, and scored a total of 58 championship points... Rolf Stommelen Rolf Stommelen Rolf Johann Stommelen was a racing driver from Siegen, Germany. He participated in 63 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scored a total of 14 championship points... Larry Perkins Larry Perkins Larry Clifton Perkins is a former racing driver and V8 Supercar team owner from Australia.-Career:... |
9th (9 pts) | |
| 1977 1977 Formula One season The 1977 Formula One season included the 28th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 9, 1977, and ended on October 23 after seventeen races.-Season summary:... |
Martini Racing | Brabham BT45/B | Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo in Formula One Alfa Romeo participated in Formula One, as both a constructor and engine supplier, from to .-Success, 1950-1951:In 1950 Nino Farina won the inaugural Formula One World Championship in a 158 with supercharger, in 1951 Juan Manuel Fangio won while driving an Alfetta 159... |
Carlos Pace José Carlos Pace José Carlos Pace was a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 73 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on March 4, 1972. He won one race, achieved six podiums, and scored a total of 58 championship points... John Watson John Watson (racing driver) John Marshall "Wattie" Watson MBE is a British former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One, winning five Grands Prix and also in the World Sportscar Championship... Hans-Joachim Stuck Giorgio Francia Giorgio Francia Giorgio Francia is a former racing driver from Italy. He was the German Formula Three champion in 1974.Francia unsuccessfully entered two Formula One Grands Prix. The first was in a works Brabham BT45B, in Martini Racing colours, at the 1977 Italian Grand Prix. He was withdrawn during practice... |
5th (27 pts) | |
| 1978 1978 Formula One season The 1978 Formula One season included the 29th FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on January 15, 1978, and ended on October 8 after sixteen races. Mario Andretti was the season Champion and the last American to date to win a Formula One race... |
Parmalat Racing Team | Brabham BT45C Brabham BT46/B/C Brabham BT46 The Brabham BT46 was a Formula One racing car, designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team, owned by Bernie Ecclestone, for the 1978 Formula One season. The car featured several radical design elements, the most obvious of which was the use of flat panel heat exchangers on the bodywork of the... |
Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo in Formula One Alfa Romeo participated in Formula One, as both a constructor and engine supplier, from to .-Success, 1950-1951:In 1950 Nino Farina won the inaugural Formula One World Championship in a 158 with supercharger, in 1951 Juan Manuel Fangio won while driving an Alfetta 159... |
Niki Lauda Niki Lauda Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver and three-time F1 World Champion. More recently an aviation entrepreneur, he has founded and run two airlines and was manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years.- Early years in racing :Born in Vienna,... John Watson John Watson (racing driver) John Marshall "Wattie" Watson MBE is a British former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One, winning five Grands Prix and also in the World Sportscar Championship... Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan... |
3rd (53 pts) | |
| 1979 1979 Formula One season The 1979 Formula One season was the 30th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1979 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1979 International Cup for F1 Constructors which were contested concurrently over a fifteen round series which commenced on January 21, 1979, and ended on... |
Parmalat Racing Team | Brabham BT46 Brabham BT46 The Brabham BT46 was a Formula One racing car, designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team, owned by Bernie Ecclestone, for the 1978 Formula One season. The car featured several radical design elements, the most obvious of which was the use of flat panel heat exchangers on the bodywork of the... Brabham BT48 Brabham BT48 The Brabham BT48 was a Formula One racing car designed and raced by the Brabham team. The car, powered by a 12 cylinder Alfa Romeo engine, raced in the 1979 Formula One season. Its best results were two 4th places.... Brabham BT49 Brabham BT49 The Brabham BT49 is a Formula One racing car designed by South African Gordon Murray for the British Brabham team. The BT49 competed in the to Formula One World Championships and was used by Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet to win his first World Championship in .The car was initially designed in... |
Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo in Formula One Alfa Romeo participated in Formula One, as both a constructor and engine supplier, from to .-Success, 1950-1951:In 1950 Nino Farina won the inaugural Formula One World Championship in a 158 with supercharger, in 1951 Juan Manuel Fangio won while driving an Alfetta 159... Cosworth DFV Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine... |
Niki Lauda Niki Lauda Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver and three-time F1 World Champion. More recently an aviation entrepreneur, he has founded and run two airlines and was manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years.- Early years in racing :Born in Vienna,... Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan... Ricardo Zunino Ricardo Zuniño Ricardo Héctor Zunino is a former racing driver from Argentina who participated in Formula One from to . He competed in 11 World Championship races and two non-Championship Formula One races, the 1980 Spanish Grand Prix and 1981 South African Grand Prix.At the 1979 Canadian Grand Prix, he... |
8th (6 pts) | |
| 1980 1980 Formula One season The 1980 Formula One season was the 31st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1980 World Championship of Drivers and the 1980 International Cup for F1 Constructors which were contested concurrently from January 13 to October 5 over a fourteen race series... |
Parmalat Racing Team | Brabham BT49/B Brabham BT49 The Brabham BT49 is a Formula One racing car designed by South African Gordon Murray for the British Brabham team. The BT49 competed in the to Formula One World Championships and was used by Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet to win his first World Championship in .The car was initially designed in... |
Cosworth DFV Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine... |
Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan... Ricardo Zunino Ricardo Zuniño Ricardo Héctor Zunino is a former racing driver from Argentina who participated in Formula One from to . He competed in 11 World Championship races and two non-Championship Formula One races, the 1980 Spanish Grand Prix and 1981 South African Grand Prix.At the 1979 Canadian Grand Prix, he... Héctor Rebaque Héctor Rebaque Héctor Alonso Rebaque is a former racing driver from Mexico. He participated in 58 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 5 June 1977. He scored a total of 13 championship points... |
3rd (55 pts) | |
| 1981 1981 Formula One season The 1981 Formula One season included the 32nd FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 15, 1981, and ended on October 17 after fifteen races. Nelson Piquet won the Drivers' Championship, claiming the first of his three Formula One titles... |
Parmalat Racing Team | Brabham BT49/B/C Brabham BT49 The Brabham BT49 is a Formula One racing car designed by South African Gordon Murray for the British Brabham team. The BT49 competed in the to Formula One World Championships and was used by Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet to win his first World Championship in .The car was initially designed in... |
Cosworth DFV Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine... |
Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan... Héctor Rebaque Héctor Rebaque Héctor Alonso Rebaque is a former racing driver from Mexico. He participated in 58 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 5 June 1977. He scored a total of 13 championship points... Ricardo Zunino Ricardo Zuniño Ricardo Héctor Zunino is a former racing driver from Argentina who participated in Formula One from to . He competed in 11 World Championship races and two non-Championship Formula One races, the 1980 Spanish Grand Prix and 1981 South African Grand Prix.At the 1979 Canadian Grand Prix, he... |
2nd (61 pts) | |
| 1982 1982 Formula One season The 1982 Formula One season was the 33rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on January 23, 1982, and ended on September 25 after sixteen races. The World Drivers' Championship was won by Williams driver Keke Rosberg. Rosberg was the first driver since Mike Hawthorn in the 1958... |
Parmalat Racing Team | Brabham BT49D Brabham BT49 The Brabham BT49 is a Formula One racing car designed by South African Gordon Murray for the British Brabham team. The BT49 competed in the to Formula One World Championships and was used by Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet to win his first World Championship in .The car was initially designed in... Brabham BT50 Brabham BT50 The Brabham BT50 was a Formula One racing car designed and raced by the Brabham team. The car, powered by the four-cylinder 1.5 litre turbocharged BMW engine, raced in the 1982 Formula One season.-Design and development:... |
Cosworth DFV Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine... BMW M12/13 |
Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan... Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Gabriele Patrese is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and the first to achieve 250 starts at the 1993 German Grand Prix... |
5th (41 pts) | |
| 1983 1983 Formula One season The 1983 Formula One season included the 34th FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 13, and ended on October 15 after fifteen races. Nelson Piquet won the World Drivers' Championship, his second Formula One title and the first one ever won by a driver using a turbocharged engine... |
Fila Sport | Brabham BT52/B Brabham BT52 The Brabham BT52 was a Formula One car designed for the Brabham team by longtime Brabham designer Gordon Murray for the 1983 F1 season. The car ran on Michelin tyres... |
BMW M12/13 | Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan... Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Gabriele Patrese is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and the first to achieve 250 starts at the 1993 German Grand Prix... |
3rd (72 pts) | |
| 1984 1984 Formula One season The 1984 Formula One season was the 35th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1984 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1984 Fomula One World Championship for Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a sixteen race series which commenced on March 25,... |
MRD International | Brabham BT53 Brabham BT53 The Brabham BT53 was a Formula One car designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team for the 1984 Formula One season and was a development of the BT52 which had carried the teams lead driver Nelson Piquet to the championship... |
BMW M12/13 | Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan... Teo Fabi Teo Fabi Teodorico Fabi , better known as Teo Fabi, is an Italian former racing driver.-Career:Fabi participated in 71 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on January 23, 1982. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 23 championship points... Corrado Fabi Corrado Fabi Corrado Fabi is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 18 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 13 March 1983, scoring no championship points. He was the 1982 European Formula Two Champion driving a March-BMW.... Manfred Winkelhock Manfred Winkelhock Manfred Winkelhock was a German racing driver. Born in Waiblingen, he was the brother of Joachim Winkelhock and father of Markus Winkelhock, also both racing drivers.... |
4th (38 pts) | |
| 1985 1985 Formula One season The 1985 Formula One season was the 36th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1985 Formula 1 World Championship which commenced on 7 April 1985 and ended on 3 November 1985 after sixteen races. World Championship titles were awarded for both Drivers and Manufacturers.-Season... |
Motor Racing Developments Ltd | Brabham BT54 Brabham BT54 The Brabham BT54 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team for the 1985 Formula One season. The car was powered by the BMW M12 4cyl turbo engine and used Pirelli tyres.... |
BMW M12/13 | Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Souto Maior , known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He was Formula One world champion in , and . He is one of eight drivers to win three or more world championships, the others being Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna , Alain Prost , Juan... Marc Surer Marc Surer Marc Surer is a former racing driver from Switzerland. He participated in 88 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 9 September 1979. He scored a total of 17 championship points.... François Hesnault François Hesnault François Hesnault is a former racing driver from France. He participated in 21 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 25 March 1984... |
5th (26 pts) | |
| 1986 1986 Formula One season The 1986 Formula One season was the 37th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 23, 1986, and ended on October 26 after sixteen races.... |
Motor Racing Developments Ltd | Brabham BT54 Brabham BT54 The Brabham BT54 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team for the 1985 Formula One season. The car was powered by the BMW M12 4cyl turbo engine and used Pirelli tyres.... Brabham BT55 Brabham BT55 The Brabham BT55 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Murray and David North for the Brabham team owned by Bernie Ecclestone. It used a BMW four-cylinder turbocharged engine tilted over on its side to allow a clear supply of air to the rear wing. The car competed during the 1986 Formula... |
BMW M12/13/1 | Elio de Angelis Elio de Angelis Elio de Angelis was an Italian racing driver who participated in Formula One between and , racing for the Shadow, Lotus and Brabham teams. He was killed during testing at the Paul Ricard circuit at Le Castellet in 1986... Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Gabriele Patrese is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and the first to achieve 250 starts at the 1993 German Grand Prix... Derek Warwick Derek Warwick Derek Stanley Arthur Warwick is a British former racing driver from England. He raced for many years in Formula One, but never won a Grand Prix. During the early 1980s he was thought more likely to achieve World Championship success than his contemporary Nigel Mansell, but a series of wrong... |
9th (2 pts) | |
| 1987 1987 Formula One season The 1987 Formula One season was the 38th season of Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1987 FIA Formula One World Championship for Drivers and Constructors which commenced on April 12, 1987 and ended on November 15 after sixteen races... |
Motor Racing Developments Ltd | Brabham BT56 Brabham BT56 The Brabham BT56 was a Formula One car designed by John Baldwin and Sergio Rinland and raced by the Brabham team in the 1987 Formula One season. The car was powered by the Straight 4 turbocharged BMW engine and raced on Goodyear tyres. Brabham finished 8th in the 1987 Constructors Championship with... |
BMW M12/13/1 | Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Patrese Riccardo Gabriele Patrese is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, and the first to achieve 250 starts at the 1993 German Grand Prix... Andrea de Cesaris Andrea de Cesaris Andrea de Cesaris is an Italian former race car driver. He started 208 races but never won; his is the longest career without a race victory. A string of accidents early in his career earned him the nickname 'Andrea de Crasheris',... Stefano Modena Stefano Modena Stefano Modena is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 81 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on November 15, 1987. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 17 championship points.... |
8th(10 pts) | |
| 1989 1989 Formula One season The 1989 Formula One season was the 40th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1989 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 26, 1989 and ended on November 5 after sixteen races... |
Motor Racing Developments | Brabham BT58 Brabham BT58 The Brabham BT58 was a Formula One racing car designed by John Baldwin and Sergio Rinland for the Brabham team which raced in the 1989 Formula One season. The teams cars were driven by Italian Stefano Modena and the 1988 World Sportscar Champion, the returning Martin Brundle. It made its debut at... |
Judd Judd (engine) Judd is a name brand of engines produced by Engine Developments Ltd., a company founded in 1971 by John Judd and Jack Brabham in Rugby, Warwickshire, England... |
Martin Brundle Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle is a British racing driver from England, known as a Formula One driver and as an F1 commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011 and Sky Sports from 2012.... Stefano Modena Stefano Modena Stefano Modena is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 81 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on November 15, 1987. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 17 championship points.... |
9th (8 pts) | |
| 1990 1990 Formula One season The 1990 Formula One season was the 41st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 11, 1990 and ended on November 4 after sixteen races... |
Motor Racing Developments | Brabham BT58 Brabham BT58 The Brabham BT58 was a Formula One racing car designed by John Baldwin and Sergio Rinland for the Brabham team which raced in the 1989 Formula One season. The teams cars were driven by Italian Stefano Modena and the 1988 World Sportscar Champion, the returning Martin Brundle. It made its debut at... Brabham BT59 |
Judd Judd (engine) Judd is a name brand of engines produced by Engine Developments Ltd., a company founded in 1971 by John Judd and Jack Brabham in Rugby, Warwickshire, England... |
Stefano Modena Stefano Modena Stefano Modena is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 81 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on November 15, 1987. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 17 championship points.... David Brabham David Brabham David Brabham is an Australian racing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists in sports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians to have won the Le Mans 24 Hour sports car race, winning the event in... Gregor Foitek Gregor Foitek Gregor Foitek is a former racing driver from Switzerland. He won the 1986 Swiss Formula 3 Championship. Moving up to Formula 3000 he was widely blamed for causing a race stopping crash at Brands Hatch in 1988, the restart of which led to a second major crash on the first lap in which Johnny... |
10th (2 pts) | |
| 1991 1991 Formula One season The 1991 Formula One season was the 42nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1991 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 10, 1991 and ended on November 3 after sixteen races... |
Motor Racing Developments Ltd | Brabham BT59Y Brabham BT60Y |
Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha may refer to:* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services** Yamaha Motor Company, a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company... |
Martin Brundle Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle is a British racing driver from England, known as a Formula One driver and as an F1 commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011 and Sky Sports from 2012.... Mark Blundell Mark Blundell Mark Blundell is a Formula One, sports car, and CART racing driver. He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the end of the 2008 season when the TV broadcasting rights switched to the BBC.... |
9th (3 pts) | |
| 1992 1992 Formula One season The 1992 Formula One season was the 43rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 1, 1992, and ended on November 8 after sixteen races... |
Motor Racing Developments Ltd | Brabham BT60B | Judd Judd (engine) Judd is a name brand of engines produced by Engine Developments Ltd., a company founded in 1971 by John Judd and Jack Brabham in Rugby, Warwickshire, England... |
Eric van de Poele Eric van de Poele Eric van de Poele is a Belgian racing driver and former Formula One driver. He participated in 29 Grands Prix, debuting on 10 March 1991. He scored no championship points.... Giovanna Amati Giovanna Amati Giovanna Amati is a former professional race car driver from Italy. She is best known as the last female driver to have entered the Formula One World Championship.- Career :... Damon Hill Damon Hill Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title... |
NC (0 pts) |
External links
- www.forix.com Biography of Jack Brabham, with significant content on the early years of the Brabham team.
- www.nvo.com Picture gallery of historic Brabhams.
- www.motorracing-archive.com Summary history of Brabham 1961–1972, including significant race results and production numbers for all models. (Archived here).
- www.oldracingcars.com Complete race history of all Brabham F1 models from 1966 to 1982 and links to Brabham research projects on other models.
- www.f3history.co.uk History of Formula Three, including Brabham (under 'Manufacturers'). (Archived here)
- www.autocoursegpa.com Complete world championship Brabham team statistics