Classic F1 Videos

Eddie Irvine was a crazy playboy driver who made a sensational debut in F1 by unlapping himself against an angry Ayrton Senna who proceeded to storm round to his garage and deliver a swift left hook!

Irvine is famous for his playboy antics such as going down to his hotel bar wearing his Ferrari overalls to pick up the chicks.

But less well known about his is that he was already a self-made millionaire before he reached F1 - thanks to his canny stock market investments.

He came close to the title in the year that Schumacher broke his leg but ultimately finished a close second.

Still, he was a very flamboyant personality and exciting to watch, off the track mainly….

*** CLICK HERE for 2ND PART *** »

Michele Alboreto was a bit of a journeyman in F1, doing a total of 13 seasons by the time he retired in 1994.

He actually trained in design and apparently even raced in his own non-F1 car.

He was at his peak in 1985 when at Ferrari and challenged Alain Prost that season for the championship but finished 2nd, not helped by reliability issues.

After that he went from poor team to poor team and never reached those dizzying heights again.

Despite this, Alboreto does have other respectable motorsport accolades to his name including the Le Mans 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours.

Sadly, he died in 2001 whilst testing in Germany.

*** CLICK HERE for 2ND PART *** »

The Australian GP at Adelaide in ‘86 has gone down as one of the greatest classic grand prix ever.

Titles have often gone down to the wire in F1, but only rarely has a championship gone down to the last race with any one of three drivers still able to take the crown.

That year, teammates Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet plus Mclaren’s Alain Prost battled it out.

Mansell was in the best position - despite losing a battle against Prost, he needed only to coast to 4th to seal the title.

Suddenly the Goodyear tyres started to fail and before Mansell could pit, his tyre exploded down the back straight, the car lurching from side to side like a wild animal but Mansell able to control it till it reached a standstill.

It remains one of the defining pieces of archive footage from this classic period of F1 racing in the 80s. Enjoy!

Monza was host to the 9th GP at Monza which is considered to be one of the best ever in F1.

Being in the early 70s, you still had many of the heroes from the romantic 60s driving, including the likes of Jackie Stewart, Chris Amon, Ronnie Peterson, Mike Hailwood and Jacky Ickx.

Before they destroyed Monza with its numerous chicanes, this race was more like Talladega and low drag was everything. Many even raced without front wings to gain as much of a slipstreaming advantage as possible!

This was a race of severe attrition with several challengers dropping out of the race for various reasons.

The race was eventually won by Peter Gethin in a BRM. But to get there, the race experienced over thirty (yes 30!) changes for the lead!

Thus this GP remained the fastest ever in history until 2003 when Michael Schumacher broke the record.

The finish came down to a photo with only 0.01s seperating the cars of Gethin and Ronnie Peterson which remains the closest ever finish in F1!

Enjoy the videos and remember to click the “MORE VIDEOS” link below for the second part.

*** CLICK HERE for 2ND PART *** »

David Purley only competed in a handful of Grand Prix in F1 and never scored any points.

He will be best remembered for his valiant efforts to save his friend Roger Williamson at the Dutch Grand Prix at sandy Zandvoort in 1973.

The car overturned and Purley did his best to try to flip it over, despite the risk of fire. However, the flames were simply too powerful and Purley’s efforts were ultimately futile.

Purley was almost famous for apparently suffering the highest ever survived deceleration experienced by a human ever when he crashed at Silverstone and experienced a 178h deceleration resulting in bad injuries.

WARNING - these videos contain graphic footage. Do not watch if you are easily offended.

The first video in particular is interesting as it is not highlights footage but an excerpt from the original live Dutch broadcast.

*** CLICK HERE for 2ND PART *** »