Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019: Best of the F1 cars

Past and present grand prix machines have long been a highlight of Goodwood, and this year was no exception

Autocar

6 July 2019

Follow @@autocar

Slide of

F1 machines have long starred at Goodwood

Since the first Festival of Speed, Formula One machinery, such as this classic Lotus, have been a key feature of the hillclimb that sits at the centre of the event. This year's event was no exception, with some of the greatest machines in grand prix history in action, alongside cars from many of the current teams.
Slide of

Mercedes-Benz W125 (1937)

Mercedes was one of the dominant forces in pre-war Grand Prix racing, and one of its finest machines was the W125 the firm developed for the 1937 season. Powered by a supercharged in-line eight-cylinder engine, uiltimately developed to produce 537bhp at its peak, the W125 was notable among other things for its innovative suspension. Until then most grand prix cars had featured stiff springs with little damping; the W125 feature long spring travel but with stiff dampers.
Slide of

Williams-Ford FW08 (1982)

Grand Prix machinery from throughout the decades heads up the Goodwood hillclimb course each year, including this Williams-Ford from the 1980s. The racer was an evolution of the FW07, which helped Williams break through to become a race and championship-winning constructor.
Slide of

Pre-war smoke and thunder

Pre-war grand prix machines offer an attack on all the senses, thrilling the Goodwood crowd with some epic engine noise and plenty of spectacle.
Slide of

Ferrari 126 (1983)

Ferrari has a storied Formula 1 history, and its machines always entertain at Goodwood, with plenty of the marque's drivers on hand to be reunited with their old machines. Rene Arnoux raced this Ferrari 126 in 1983, using it to claim three of his seven career wins, and was on hand to drive it again in Sussex – while also tackling the hill in the Renault RS10 F1 car.
Slide of

Leyton House CG901 (1990)

Essentially a rebranded version of March Engineering Leyton House Racing – named after a Japanese real estate firm – only lasted for two Formula One seasons in 1990 and 1991, but it had a lasting impact. Its distinctive (and unsuccessful) CG901 was designed by a young Adrian Newey, who went on to develop race and title-winning machines for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull. A notable feature of the CG901 was its narrow cockpic, designed by Newey for maximum aerodynamic benefit but which made it a tight fit for drivers. Newey himself managed to squeeze into the machine at Goodwood though.
Slide of

Mercedes-Benz W125 (1937)

Pre-war grand prix cars such as the Mercedes-Benz W125 are always a spectacular sight at Goodwood, with drivers having to wrestle the machinery over the bumps of the hillclimb course
Slide of

Mercedes-Benz W165 (1939)

Powered by a 1.5-litre twin supercharged V8 four-stroke developed in order to make the car competitive in the 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix, the W165 was developed in just eight months. That rapid development time paid off, with the machine taking a one-two finish in the event it was conceived to dominate.
Slide of

Lola-Ford T90 (1966)

Technically this is an Indy Car, but we're featuring it in a gallery of Formula One cars because it was driven by a double F1 world champion Graham Hill and featured plenty of grand prix technology in its engineering. Hill used this car to win the 1966 Indianapolis 500, dodging a huge 14-car pile-up at the start and leading home fellow grand prix legend Jim Clark.
Slide of

Lotus-Ford 38 (1966)

This is another Indianapolis 500 racer with a strong grand prix heritage. Jim Clark used a Lotus 38 to claim a historic victory in the Indy 500 in 1965, the first win in the event for a rear-engined car. This machine, presented at Goodwood in distinctive 'rocket red' STP livery, was campaigned by American racing legend Al Unser in 1966 and then by Clark in 1967.
Slide of

Tyrrell-Ford 006 (1973)

Sir Jackie Stewart's 80th birthday was celebrated at this year's Festival, with several tributes to the three-times Formula One world champion. Stewart took to the hill in several of this cars, including this Tyrrell-Ford 006 that he used to claim the 1973 title. His sons, Paul and Mark, also drove some of their dad's finest cars.
Slide of

Red Bull Racing RB8 (2012)

With testing rules limiting teams from running their latest F1 machines, most current grand prix squads wheel out cars from a few seasons ago – albeit with this year's livery – for promotional events. This Red Bull machine might be painted like the car Max Verstappen used to win the recent Austrian Grand Prix, but it's actually a Sebastian Vettel-era machine from 2012.
Slide of

Renault Sport E20 (2012)

This car was actually the Lotus E20 when it raced in 2012, before the Enstone-based team was sold to Renault to become the French firm's works outfit. Current racer Daniel Ricciardo drove the car along with development drivers Guanyu Zhou (pictured) and Max Fewtrell.
Slide of

Williams-Renault FW19 (1997)

Williams dominated Formula One in the mid-1990s, claiming a string of championships with drivers including Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and Damon Hill. Jacques Villeneuve would use this car to claim the title in just his second season of Formula One.
Slide of

Williams-Renault FW19 (1997)

The Williams-Renault FW19 claimed eight wins from 17 races during the 1997 season, although Villeneuve only took the title after a dramatic (and controversial) final round title battle with Michael Schumacher. Renault quit the sport after the 1997 season, and Williams struggled the following year running a customer version of the firm's engines.
Slide of

Mercedes AMG F1 W08 EQ (2017)

Since F1 moved to its current technical rules in 2014, the Mercedes-AMG squad has dominated. Lewis Hamilton used the W08 to secure the fourth of his five world championships (so far, at least) in the 2017 season, claiming nine race wins. Valtteri Bottas, who was in attendance at Goodwood alongside test driver Esteban Ocon, won three times.
Slide of

Mercedes F1 W08 EQ (2017)

Lewis Hamilton followed up his 2017 title in this Mercedes-AMG F1 W08 EQ with another title in 2018, and currently leads the 2019 points. The only driver to beat him over the course of a season since 2014 was team-mate Nico Rosberg, who won the 2016 championship before retiring from the sport.

Close

Read time: 0 mins

Category:

Sports car

Advertisement