On September 17'th 1975 I celebrated my 21'st birthday with my best friend who also turned 21 that day (Stirling Moss turned 46 that day as well). We had our first legal taste of alcohol and exchanged small gifts. I got a corgi diecast (made in the UK) of a Lotus 72 with Ronnie at the wheel. I took it down from the shelf just now to remember that day and my late friend who was killed 26 years later by a drunk driver. When you're an old man you never know what will come up from your past on any given day. Thanks Aiden, that was a really good day and a really good memory.
@@leonardobaracchi7040 Yeah, it was illegal alcohol because I was underage. All civilized nations have drinking age laws.... Strange customs where ever you live that allows drinking at any age. Where ever you live it has a very high rate of alcoholism. Probably Russia where the UN estimates an 80% a national alcoholism rate. 4 out of 5 Russians are alcoholics...which might explain some of the problems Russia is having in Ukraine
For me the 1970's created some of the most iconic cars in F1 history. The Lotus 72, 78, 79, James Hunts & Jochen Maas' McLaren M23, Ferrari 312T3 & T4, and the Brabham BT -46b. Those were just beautiful cars and still are to me. Great video and loved hearing about the Lotus 72 which raced during the time the racing bug bit me and getting hooked on motorsports. Thanks.
You're right that history remembers not the inventor, but the person who made it work. 25 - monocoque, 49 - as per 25 + DFV as stressed member, 72 - modern aerodynamic and cooling layout, 79 - full blown ground effect. Everything that has followed has really been development of these previous cars.
Most of the advancements in racecar design were created by Jim Hall and the Chaparral 2 series. Composite construction, side radiators, ground effect, movable aero, semi auto gearbox, and fan down force. The more open rules of sports car racing probably led to more opportunities for innovation. In F1 you have to sneak these things in or the FIA and politics will kill them.
Partly true. Some were sneaked in copyin chapparal, but others were sheer Genius of F1 designers, and Chapman played the "part of the Lion" in these, as we Say in Italy
"...but it was the barrier that caused the death..." Good new everybody! Airlines can never be responsible for crashes because all the deaths are actually caused by the ground! /s
12:16 the red/white/gold is John Player Gold Leaf and the black/gold is John Player Special (JPS). It’s the same company, just different product ranges.
My Dad has this as a Scalextric car from the 70s! I got to see it in person at the F1 Exhibition in London at the Excel Centre 2 weeks ago. I highly recommend going for peeps in the UK whilst it is here!
I got my 1st Scalextric set for Xmas in 1968, which had cigar shaped Lotus and Ferrari cars. But my first memory of an actual F1 race is of a Lotus 72 belting up Beau Rivage. Probably 1971, but I was watching in b/w, so I don't recall the livery. Emerson Fittipaldi's car with the JPS colour scheme is my all-time fave livery.
If you want back a decade It would have been half of the grid... In a couple of occasions the entire starting team of Ferrari was wiped out during the season (unlucky, given that Ferrari cared safety more than anybody else...Chapman in partic)
And Emmo himself almost died but not behind the wheel. He survived a horrific plane crash over his ranch in Brazil. The racing world held its breath for a few agonizing days. I breathed a huge sigh of relief hearing that despite his injuries, his doctors said he would make it.
I still wonder if you gave Newey a rule book from the 70s or 80s and told him to design a car to those specifications what we would end up with given the benefit of hindsight and accumulated knowledge
I grew up in Sweden in the seventies so the Lotus 72 was THE Formula 1 car for me. Everywhere you could see pictures of Ronnie Peterson in that beautiful black and gold JPS Lotus. I still think it's the best looking Formula 1 car of all time.
There’s a couple of high quality (albeit old) model kits of the 72 from Tamiya in 1/20 and 1/12 scale that are detailed enough and accurate enough for builders to completely understand how these cars worked with accurate brakes, suspension, DFV etc etc.
I think this is one of the greatest cars that has hit the F1 track. Along with the genius of Chapman and the remarkable drivers like Rindt, Emeo and Peterson. 50 years later and we are think talking about this car. Great clip Mr Millward
The deep dive into AC and RE while discussing F1 is a really weird venn diagram that I just happen to be in the circle of. Toss in some Elder scrolls lore and maybe a shout-out to the WWE and I'm there
The Barenaked Ladies are a local band and not well known worldwide and I'm super stoked to hear a reference to an obscure song like shoebox, my shoebox of lieeeees.
I lived in norfolk in 70s, we would spend hours at hethel watching the f1 cars and prototype street cars pounding around their test track, used to drink in pub that the engineers would drink in on a Friday night, few secrets after a couple of pints.
It always seemed unfair to some drivers that some would say that particular drivers wouldn't make mistakes... when some were driving championship winning cars, others were trying to make noncompetitive cars competitive.
Any time you're discussing most important F1 car it's one of three Lotuses, or a McLaren. 49, 72, 79 or MP4/1. Whilst the 49 monocoque is vital, the MP4/1 Carbon tub a ground zero, the 79 the best looking F1 car ever, the 72 has to take the nod. It looks like a F1 car, and nothing else got close for years.
Not the first time, in 1964 John Surtees won the title despite scoring less points overall than Graham Hill Of course, this only happened because Jim Clark retired one lap from the end but still.
Always said that, if you take away the daft points in 88 and justifiably punish senna for suzuka 1990.... senna should have 1 title. He was cast but massively lacking in being an overall great I say.
You do realise both Prost and Senna knew the rules before the season started? And drop scores had been in place for decades? As soon as they tested the car and seen the advantage they had, both knew only wins would count.
@solsol1624 yes, that is correct. However that doesn't change the fact that over 16 races Prost scored more points. Just never rated senna as an all round great. Certainly not as consistent or highly rated as Prost, Clark, lauda, fangio or Schumacher in my book.
@virtualracinguk9189 consistency was never going to win that year. I was a massive Senna fan, but as I'm older I'd put him and Prost as equals, although going about things in a very different manner.
The first car to have side mounted radiators was also the first competitive car with a wing, the Chaparral 2G. When the Lotus 72 came out the French designer Maurice Philippe was pontificating on his genius and that side mounted radiators "presented the lowest moment of polar inertia" and new principles of wing design maximizes downforce with minimal drag". The designer/owner/driver of all the Chaparrals Jim Hall (as true a Texan as ever lived) was asked about those statements. ...."Yeah, I'm certain it does lower the polar moment but I located them there for better weight distribution and to get as much weight on the back tires as possible (CanAm cars still to this day regularly spin the rear wheels in 4th gear), plus we eliminated a bunch of plumbing weight and the cockpit is much cooler...... I'm not sure I understand the principles of his wing design"....(Phillipe's wing design lasted one season). Maurice Phillipe on the strength of his involvement with the Lotus 72 went on to design one of the worst Indy Cars of the 70's the 1972 Vel Parnelli Team Viceroy Indy Car. In 1980 Jim Hall went on to win Indy with the first INDY ground affects car the Chaparral 2K in the modest stoic Texan manner you would expect.....BTW, the Chaparral 2K is a real looker
Great video, very important F1 car and I would agree the most important, incdentaly i would also say Jackie Stewart is one of if not the kost important driver in F1 hisotry due to his safety campiing
Jochen Rindt was partly to blame for the fatal injuries he suffered. He didn't fasten the crotch straps of the seatbelt - some sources say for comfort, others say he was concerned they would slow him getting out of the car in the event of a fire. As a result when he crashed and hit the barrier he submarined under the seatbelt, which caused fatal neck injuries.
1:20 I feel like the Ferrari F2002 gets overlooked. I could be mistaken but I think that car had a better win ratio than the F2004 and in 2003 it was still competitive until the F2003 replaced it after San Marino.
maybe but i think because with the F2004 Schumacher won 13 races and he had 10 poles compared to the F2002 wich he had 11 wins and 7 poles ,but better finish ratio . Also he finished al the races on podium and i think in 2004 chinese gp he had a off weekend !
McLaren MP4/2 is the car most forgotten on these lists: 3 driver championships, 2 contructor championships in it's 3 years of use, 1984, 85 and 86. BUT I love the Lotus 72!
The 72 has a samba song to his name as well, song name is lotus 72d performed by Zé Roberto, the song was composed while Zé was watching the brazilian gp in 72 if I remember correctly
What mclaren did in '84 and '88 is exceptional. Nowadays It's much easier to go on a winning streak. In the '80s that was something umbelievable. I would only compare it with some Clark dominance.
Once upon a 1970 I had some new school shoes, think they were called trackers, they had various animal footprints on the soles, sounds crazy but they were popular, anyway I digress, in the box was a very large poster, side view of a 1970 Lotus 72. That had pride of place on my bedroom wall until it was usurped by a front 3/4 shit of the black BMW CSL flying, literally at the Nurburgring. Loved the 73 season, those huge rear wings mounted so far back, they were on the following row of the grid. The great thing about the mid seventies gp cars is they were all so different, 72, Tyrell 34, BT44 Brabham, 312 Spazanieve, compare that to today .
Emerson is probably a fascinating person to look at the career of, F1 champion at 25 in 1972 yet still in ridiculous speed single seaters as late as 1996... and still winning close to that
@AidanMillward tbf I have seen a lot say that too, nice guy, adores racing even in his 70s, honestly his career seems fascinating as a rare breed who did family over legend status (although I consider him one anyway) and then did something that other F1 greats failed at (see Alonso), not only do well in Indy, actually win both the title and 2 500s
This isn’t the greatest Formula 1 car of all time, imo. That would be Williams FW14 which was the most technologically advanced F1 car to date. But Lotus 72 is certainly the most influential F1 cars of all time. Because today, more than half a century later, its modern counterparts still have designs which was first introduced by the Lotus 72.
I feel so very, very old... Yes the Lotus 72 was revolutionary and the memory of watching Rindt dragon-taming the original car round Westfield or Hawthorn at Brands Hatch in 1970 or Peterson hurling the final iteration of the thing around Woodcote or Copse at the original layout of Silverstone still gives me goosebumps, but... the greatest ever? Big claims for a car that was initially fast but so fragile and so difficult to drive fast. By the time the rear suspension worked well enough for Emmo to win his first title and Peterson to work his magic at Silverstone, other teams were rapidly learning to do the same things better. A great car, yes, but not the greatest ever, in my admittedly opinionated opinion.
The Lotus 72 might surely be among the most influential cars of all time, but in terms of success, I guess the McLaren MP4/2 is much closer. Its evolutions dominated over two whole seasons and then Prost won another championship when there was too much infighting between Mansell and Piquet. But apart from that, the mid-80s appear to have been technology-wise a little less disruptive than the years before and after, so it seems to have been easier for Dennis, Barnard and Nichols to maintain their lead unless Porsche wasn't willing to upgrade their engines any further.
Two of the other cars which I feel should be given a mention among the greatest for their longevity are the McLaren M23 (2 drivers championships, 1 constructors, race wins in 4 seasons - all of their wins in 1977 were with the M26 weren't they?) and the MP4/2 (3 drivers and 2 constructors championships). The latter especially gets overshadowed by the MP4/4!
The Japapnese got the Lotus 72 in the iconic black and gold colour scheme for their version of Gran Turismo 3, though, I forget what it was called there, along with five others, we only got two of those, Senna's 1990 McLaren and Hill's 1996 Williams, known as the Polyphony 002 and 001 respectively! I wonder on your takes on those six (assuming I can dig up what the other three were...)!
The 72 is and was the model for all F1 cars since and extremely long in use. Maybe the Maserati 250 had as long a competition life but that was not as game changing.
How the chuff is a modern day fat, heavy road car going to beat a lightweight V8 Formula 1 car...??? Top Gear is for supposed entertainment only, not a source of reference...🙄
@@AidanMillwardI’ll defend Rebecca a little bit here because she was still an 18 year old rookie but yeah, not telling Chris or Richard about the shit she had to go through was dumb AF
@@sh-spectrum409 it’s cos capcom decided to release the REmake before 0 so didn’t bother factoring it all in. If 0 had come first maybe they would have. I don’t think she tells Richard in Umbrella Chronicles either. They’re just “where Enrico?”
@ on its own the remake is utterly brilliant and one of the best remakes of all time. But zero was just shoehorned in as if it wasn’t an afterthought. Actually, both games on their own are pretty good but as part of the bigger story they don’t. So maybe remakes of both will fill in some of the holes and give more screen time to the bravo team STARS members who were just background extras that don’t say or do anything beyond screaming.
I saw a "Lotus" Eletre electric SUV today. 5.1m long, 2.2m wide and 2.6 tonnes, -it looked like an elephant had been painted British racing green and parked on the side of the street. If they could somehow connect the wheels to Colin Chapman spinning in his grave it would leave Max Verstappen in the dust.
Yawn...🥱🥱😴🥱 There'd be no-one happier than Colin Chapman at all the financial, technology, manufacturing & global reach Geely has brought to Lotus Cars... Chapman only produced lightweight sports cars because that was all he & Group Lotus' ever-strained cashflow could afford to design & manufacture...they were cheap cars to build & sold on a 100% markup...
I know I’m being a bit pedantic here but he means incandescent light bulbs. For the youngsters here, they were used in ancient times and you are most likely to see them in a museum or your parent’s house.
There are lies, damn lies and statistics. When I studied statistics at A-level, the teacher introduced the subject like this: If you ask a mathematician "what is 2 + 2?" they will say "the answer is 4". But if you ask a statistician the same question, they will say "what answer would you like?"
What about Cooper Climax putting the engine behind the driver? Everybody from Formula Ford through F1 and Indycar the sports car racing followed this formula.
It depends on your selected parameters that define a "proper modern F1" car. Sure the 72 was the first to have aero as a prime design consideration, but before it the Lotus 49 (1967) was the first to have the engine bolted onto the chassis tub and be the mounting base for the rear suspension. The Lotus 25 (1962) was the first to have a tub-type monocoque chassis. The mid-engine layout that has been standard in F1 for nearly 70 years was pioneered by Auto Union in the 1930s
Maurice Philippe also penned the Vel's Parnelli Jones VPJ-1 for the 1972 Indy 500. It was the one with the goofy sidepod wings. Wasn't as successful as the Lotus 72.
Is it the best performing F1 car of all time? Might be. Is it the greatest - YES - because 55 years on, it’s still what we all think about when someone asks, “what does an F1 car look like?” The Lotus 72 is the literal design standard.
It's weird, isn't it? I'm inclined to like stuff from just before to just after my birthdate best. '70, in my cold case. Music certainly. F1 cars, fashion, architecture. Not movies though, although some westerns... And I don't know many books from that era. Just Pirsig's, and I like that one a lot. Is that a common thing?
In time the 2023 Red Bull Honda RB19 will be the bench mark of all F1 designs. 95,45% win record. It is going to take some beating. Verstappen does help.
I think I'll just spam McLaren MP4/2 here....Lauda, Prost. TAG/Porsche V6 turbo engine, they DIDN'T use self destructing qualifying engines and still kicked ass.....MP4/4 is just a one hit wonder by comparison.
Sorry, but the Lotus 72 may have won a lot of races, but the moving of g he engine from in front of the driver to behind him was probably the most important inovation in F1. This makes the Cooper T51 the important car todate as it was a lasting legacy that to this day has not been improved on.
Brabham ( Denny Hulme) driving should not have won in 67. The engine was about 70 hp less than the Lotus 49. Brabham just built excellent handling Cars. At the time I believe in F2 he was the biggest manufacturers of racing cars. In 68 it was clear the Repco just couldn’t keep up.
@ You miss my point. Seeing the Lotus 49 in the skin it was a leap ahead of previous Lotus’s , It was beautifully built using I suspect some plane building techniques. Brabham & Ron Tauranac used a space frame as he had done since 1962 with a fibreglass body . It was a quick car with good brakes & down around the minimum weight for F1 cars at the time. I have read many times that the 49 at first was not an easy car to drive. The 49 was a real leap in F1 car construction. . Note both cars were very dangerous the driver sitting on fuel tanks.
Oh yeah. The stats in every sport. Back in the day I had someone in my TL dissing Higuaín as a crap forward and in his arguments with other people he kept saying "unless you can show me a statistic showing me otherwise". I eventually butted in and posted the statisttics I found somewhere: most goals/shot at fifty some percent (I no longer remember the precise number), more than double the second. Then suddenly "statistics mean nothing, it's all about feeling". Effing dishonest idiots.
@@AidanMillward pretty common, fans move goalposts all the time. Which is why the eye test in football at least is Important, before CR7 the world's top scorer in international was Ali Daie from Iran and nobody even remotely considered him a legend of the game for that. And then you had CR7 fans throwing the stat around like some trophy.
one thing to note about the Lotus 63, the front halfshafts that connect the drive to the front wheels are protected by little metal tubes that go directly above the driver's ankles. if they crash, they'd be absolutely fucked.
5:48 Ehmm... how is it that there are a Brabham-Ford, Brabham-Repco and Brabham-Climax in one season? And why were the Repco and Climax only there for one race each?
There are also seasons where teams ran multiple different engine manufactures, so they would be listed in multiple places Williams, for example, finished 4th and 11th in 1983 with the former being a Ford engine and the latter being a Honda engine Lotus, in the same season, ran both Ford and Renault engines so had two constructors results, as did McLaren with Ford and TAG (Porsche)
I would argue the most important car in F1, at least in recent history, is the Brawn BGP-01. Not only did Brawn have the 100% championship record, but it convinced Mercedes to buy the team, join F1, and go on to win their championships. That also led to McLaren no longer being Mercedes primary engine customer, with all the preferential treatment. So after a few years of failing they bring Honda back in. That doesn't work out for them, but does for Red Bull, who have been reaping the benefits for the last few years. That whole fiasco would lead to the ousting of Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh from the now failing McLaren team, leading to the Zak Brown era and their current resurgence.
On September 17'th 1975 I celebrated my 21'st birthday with my best friend who also turned 21 that day (Stirling Moss turned 46 that day as well). We had our first legal taste of alcohol and exchanged small gifts. I got a corgi diecast (made in the UK) of a Lotus 72 with Ronnie at the wheel. I took it down from the shelf just now to remember that day and my late friend who was killed 26 years later by a drunk driver.
When you're an old man you never know what will come up from your past on any given day. Thanks Aiden, that was a really good day and a really good memory.
Drinking age used to be 21 in the UK? A good lesson to cherish memories.
@@filipruml Nope, California.
@@markalbert9011Not sure why I assumed UK. Anyway thanks for sharing.
So what did you drink until that 1975?! Illegal alchol?! Strange costumes in the usa..!
@@leonardobaracchi7040 Yeah, it was illegal alcohol because I was underage. All civilized nations have drinking age laws....
Strange customs where ever you live that allows drinking at any age. Where ever you live it has a very high rate of alcoholism. Probably Russia where the UN estimates an 80% a national alcoholism rate. 4 out of 5 Russians are alcoholics...which might explain some of the problems Russia is having in Ukraine
How to make a classic Aidan Millward video in 3 easy steps:
1 Dry humor
2 Historical topic
3 A random video game reference which is in fact spot on
GG Ubisoft!
You forgot
4. Occasional pro wrestling and/or hockey reference which is/are also spot on
5. Handful of carefully selected photographs
6 Simpsons
@@PanderingSlats😊😊😊❤😊❤😊❤😊😊❤😅❤😊😊❤😊😊❤❤😊❤😊😊❤😊😊❤😊😊❤😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊o😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊pp😊😊😊😊😊p😊😊😊9😊😊😊😊0😊ll9l0llll😊lll0l0ll😊l😊lllllllllllllll9😊l9lllllll0l0lllllllll0llllllllllllllllllll0llllllllll😊lll0l000llllllllll0llllllllllllllllll0lllllll0llll0llllll0ll0llll0llllll
And his disclaimers for the trolls crying "what about this" or "you missed that" when he creates an admittedly partial list.
Six-wheel acid trip 😄 That was gold
Aye, made me chuckle too.
For me the 1970's created some of the most iconic cars in F1 history. The Lotus 72, 78, 79, James Hunts & Jochen Maas' McLaren M23, Ferrari 312T3 & T4, and the Brabham BT -46b. Those were just beautiful cars and still are to me. Great video and loved hearing about the Lotus 72 which raced during the time the racing bug bit me and getting hooked on motorsports. Thanks.
You're right that history remembers not the inventor, but the person who made it work. 25 - monocoque, 49 - as per 25 + DFV as stressed member, 72 - modern aerodynamic and cooling layout, 79 - full blown ground effect. Everything that has followed has really been development of these previous cars.
Most of the advancements in racecar design were created by Jim Hall and the Chaparral 2 series. Composite construction, side radiators, ground effect, movable aero, semi auto gearbox, and fan down force. The more open rules of sports car racing probably led to more opportunities for innovation. In F1 you have to sneak these things in or the FIA and politics will kill them.
Partly true. Some were sneaked in copyin chapparal, but others were sheer Genius of F1 designers, and Chapman played the "part of the Lion" in these, as we Say in Italy
"...but it was the barrier that caused the death..."
Good new everybody! Airlines can never be responsible for crashes because all the deaths are actually caused by the ground! /s
12:16 the red/white/gold is John Player Gold Leaf and the black/gold is John Player Special (JPS). It’s the same company, just different product ranges.
Black and gold JPS colours are what I remember the best from Lotus.
If Adrian Newey says it's good, that's all the endorsement it needs.
Anyone else notice the name "Fitz Dickwell" in the list of Patreon people? Well played.
Nope, but I have seen Oliver Clothesoff and Big Jim Nasium on others Patreon
My Dad has this as a Scalextric car from the 70s!
I got to see it in person at the F1 Exhibition in London at the Excel Centre 2 weeks ago. I highly recommend going for peeps in the UK whilst it is here!
I got my 1st Scalextric set for Xmas in 1968, which had cigar shaped Lotus and Ferrari cars.
But my first memory of an actual F1 race is of a Lotus 72 belting up Beau Rivage.
Probably 1971, but I was watching in b/w, so I don't recall the livery.
Emerson Fittipaldi's car with the JPS colour scheme is my all-time fave livery.
13:05 its so eerie to see Peterson, Cevert, and Revson right next to each other in the standings knowing what happened to them later….
If you want back a decade It would have been half of the grid... In a couple of occasions the entire starting team of Ferrari was wiped out during the season (unlucky, given that Ferrari cared safety more than anybody else...Chapman in partic)
And Emmo himself almost died but not behind the wheel. He survived a horrific plane crash over his ranch in Brazil. The racing world held its breath for a few agonizing days. I breathed a huge sigh of relief hearing that despite his injuries, his doctors said he would make it.
I still wonder if you gave Newey a rule book from the 70s or 80s and told him to design a car to those specifications what we would end up with given the benefit of hindsight and accumulated knowledge
I grew up in Sweden in the seventies so the Lotus 72 was THE Formula 1 car for me. Everywhere you could see pictures of Ronnie Peterson in that beautiful black and gold JPS Lotus. I still think it's the best looking Formula 1 car of all time.
There’s a couple of high quality (albeit old) model kits of the 72 from Tamiya in 1/20 and 1/12 scale that are detailed enough and accurate enough for builders to completely understand how these cars worked with accurate brakes, suspension, DFV etc etc.
Every car after Senna and Ratzenberger, every car with a Halo after Bianchi, every car after Grosjean. I just hope there is not another 'after'.
I think this is one of the greatest cars that has hit the F1 track.
Along with the genius of Chapman and the remarkable drivers like Rindt, Emeo and Peterson. 50 years later and we are think talking about this car.
Great clip Mr Millward
Thanks!
Hello Aidan: Thank you very much for drawing the link between the 63 and the 72. I still have very fond memories of the JPS 72's. Have a lovely day.
Saw it in person at the Donington museum. Sadly gone that place, it was Ronnie Peterson's 1974 car.
72's still available to see...Classic Team Lotus tours at Hethel...
The 72D is so much fun to drive in Assetto Corsa. There's just enough aero to keep you on the road.
The deep dive into AC and RE while discussing F1 is a really weird venn diagram that I just happen to be in the circle of. Toss in some Elder scrolls lore and maybe a shout-out to the WWE and I'm there
Excellent as always
The Barenaked Ladies are a local band and not well known worldwide and I'm super stoked to hear a reference to an obscure song like shoebox, my shoebox of lieeeees.
@@JohnRoscoeYT they’ve got a good cult following here. My Favourite band by far
Looooooove the game references
The 49 was the first real modern post war design.Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.
I lived in norfolk in 70s, we would spend hours at hethel watching the f1 cars and prototype street cars pounding around their test track, used to drink in pub that the engineers would drink in on a Friday night, few secrets after a couple of pints.
What fun that must have been.
Bird In Hand...?!? 😉🍻🏁
Chapman added a bit too much lightness. Lotus has had a disproportionate number of fatal accidents killing drivers who don’t make mistakes
It always seemed unfair to some drivers that some would say that particular drivers wouldn't make mistakes... when some were driving championship winning cars, others were trying to make noncompetitive cars competitive.
What a lovely turn of phrase: "The plucky privateer starter pack." Wp sir.
Any time you're discussing most important F1 car it's one of three Lotuses, or a McLaren. 49, 72, 79 or MP4/1. Whilst the 49 monocoque is vital, the MP4/1 Carbon tub a ground zero, the 79 the best looking F1 car ever, the 72 has to take the nod. It looks like a F1 car, and nothing else got close for years.
The funny thing is they also have the best liveries ever.
A mid-engined Cooper T51 Climax kicked off the evolution big time first.
We had a whole bunch of 72s racing in South Africa's local F1 series in the 1970's.
Or the biggest plot hole of '88 where Prost failed to win despite having the most points, because the point systems was spaghetti.
Not the first time, in 1964 John Surtees won the title despite scoring less points overall than Graham Hill
Of course, this only happened because Jim Clark retired one lap from the end but still.
Always said that, if you take away the daft points in 88 and justifiably punish senna for suzuka 1990.... senna should have 1 title. He was cast but massively lacking in being an overall great I say.
You do realise both Prost and Senna knew the rules before the season started? And drop scores had been in place for decades? As soon as they tested the car and seen the advantage they had, both knew only wins would count.
@solsol1624 yes, that is correct. However that doesn't change the fact that over 16 races Prost scored more points. Just never rated senna as an all round great.
Certainly not as consistent or highly rated as Prost, Clark, lauda, fangio or Schumacher in my book.
@virtualracinguk9189 consistency was never going to win that year. I was a massive Senna fan, but as I'm older I'd put him and Prost as equals, although going about things in a very different manner.
That AC3 ending is diabolical thinking how they actually never tied it up ... But atleast we got AC4 black flag out of that
First! Another great Aiden video!
The first car to have side mounted radiators was also the first competitive car with a wing, the Chaparral 2G. When the Lotus 72 came out the French designer Maurice Philippe was pontificating on his genius and that side mounted radiators "presented the lowest moment of polar inertia" and new principles of wing design maximizes downforce with minimal drag".
The designer/owner/driver of all the Chaparrals Jim Hall (as true a Texan as ever lived) was asked about those statements. ...."Yeah, I'm certain it does lower the polar moment but I located them there for better weight distribution and to get as much weight on the back tires as possible (CanAm cars still to this day regularly spin the rear wheels in 4th gear), plus we eliminated a bunch of plumbing weight and the cockpit is much cooler...... I'm not sure I understand the principles of his wing design"....(Phillipe's wing design lasted one season).
Maurice Phillipe on the strength of his involvement with the Lotus 72 went on to design one of the worst Indy Cars of the 70's the 1972 Vel Parnelli Team Viceroy Indy Car. In 1980 Jim Hall went on to win Indy with the first INDY ground affects car the Chaparral 2K in the modest stoic Texan manner you would expect.....BTW, the Chaparral 2K is a real looker
Oh yeah, I forgot. Hall introduced the scoop or cold air intake for the engine claimed by the 72 on his Chaparral 2D in 1966.
Cool info.
@@andrewashmore8000 👍
Great video, very important F1 car and I would agree the most important, incdentaly i would also say Jackie Stewart is one of if not the kost important driver in F1 hisotry due to his safety campiing
Jochen Rindt was partly to blame for the fatal injuries he suffered. He didn't fasten the crotch straps of the seatbelt - some sources say for comfort, others say he was concerned they would slow him getting out of the car in the event of a fire.
As a result when he crashed and hit the barrier he submarined under the seatbelt, which caused fatal neck injuries.
Very good video, I even like the music. 😂
1:20 I feel like the Ferrari F2002 gets overlooked. I could be mistaken but I think that car had a better win ratio than the F2004 and in 2003 it was still competitive until the F2003 replaced it after San Marino.
maybe but i think because with the F2004 Schumacher won 13 races and he had 10 poles compared to the F2002 wich he had 11 wins and 7 poles ,but better finish ratio . Also he finished al the races on podium and i think in 2004 chinese gp he had a off weekend !
McLaren MP4/2 is the car most forgotten on these lists: 3 driver championships, 2 contructor championships in it's 3 years of use, 1984, 85 and 86. BUT I love the Lotus 72!
16:22 Williams really got a DNQ and 2nd place in the same season.
It could be even more extreme: look up Nelson Piquet's 1982 season...
In 1990 Leyton House had a double DNQ in Mexico and the next race, in France, they almost got 1-2 finish
The 72 has a samba song to his name as well, song name is lotus 72d performed by Zé Roberto, the song was composed while Zé was watching the brazilian gp in 72 if I remember correctly
Have you been able to go to the F1 Exhibition at ExCel? Emmo’s JPS livery Lotus 72 is one of the first things you see.
I haven't. Getting down there is a mission when I've got other more pertinant things to do.
What mclaren did in '84 and '88 is exceptional. Nowadays It's much easier to go on a winning streak. In the '80s that was something umbelievable. I would only compare it with some Clark dominance.
Once upon a 1970 I had some new school shoes, think they were called trackers, they had various animal footprints on the soles, sounds crazy but they were popular, anyway I digress, in the box was a very large poster, side view of a 1970 Lotus 72.
That had pride of place on my bedroom wall until it was usurped by a front 3/4 shit of the black BMW CSL flying, literally at the Nurburgring.
Loved the 73 season, those huge rear wings mounted so far back, they were on the following row of the grid.
The great thing about the mid seventies gp cars is they were all so different, 72, Tyrell 34, BT44 Brabham, 312 Spazanieve, compare that to today .
An argument could be made for the Cooper T51 as well.
ofc another informative piece to make me, a late 80's Senna/MP4-4 nut think, so maybe that Lotus was the bridge gap and a special car...... thank you.
Nice hat today!
Emerson is probably a fascinating person to look at the career of, F1 champion at 25 in 1972 yet still in ridiculous speed single seaters as late as 1996... and still winning close to that
@@jordza2k11 nice guy as well from the brief moments I spent with him in the lockdowns.
@AidanMillward tbf I have seen a lot say that too, nice guy, adores racing even in his 70s, honestly his career seems fascinating as a rare breed who did family over legend status (although I consider him one anyway) and then did something that other F1 greats failed at (see Alonso), not only do well in Indy, actually win both the title and 2 500s
everything is opinion, except the AC rant, spitting facts!
@@dylanangel2870 Rebecca’s convenient memory loss is also facts.
Absolutely!
This isn’t the greatest Formula 1 car of all time, imo. That would be Williams FW14 which was the most technologically advanced F1 car to date.
But Lotus 72 is certainly the most influential F1 cars of all time. Because today, more than half a century later, its modern counterparts still have designs which was first introduced by the Lotus 72.
I feel so very, very old... Yes the Lotus 72 was revolutionary and the memory of watching Rindt dragon-taming the original car round Westfield or Hawthorn at Brands Hatch in 1970 or Peterson hurling the final iteration of the thing around Woodcote or Copse at the original layout of Silverstone still gives me goosebumps, but... the greatest ever? Big claims for a car that was initially fast but so fragile and so difficult to drive fast. By the time the rear suspension worked well enough for Emmo to win his first title and Peterson to work his magic at Silverstone, other teams were rapidly learning to do the same things better. A great car, yes, but not the greatest ever, in my admittedly opinionated opinion.
Sounds like a took analysis
The Lotus 72 might surely be among the most influential cars of all time, but in terms of success, I guess the McLaren MP4/2 is much closer. Its evolutions dominated over two whole seasons and then Prost won another championship when there was too much infighting between Mansell and Piquet. But apart from that, the mid-80s appear to have been technology-wise a little less disruptive than the years before and after, so it seems to have been easier for Dennis, Barnard and Nichols to maintain their lead unless Porsche wasn't willing to upgrade their engines any further.
Two of the other cars which I feel should be given a mention among the greatest for their longevity are the McLaren M23 (2 drivers championships, 1 constructors, race wins in 4 seasons - all of their wins in 1977 were with the M26 weren't they?) and the MP4/2 (3 drivers and 2 constructors championships). The latter especially gets overshadowed by the MP4/4!
Wow, so that's *two* reasons why the 1969 Canadian Grand Prix is historically significant.
The more you know.
The Japapnese got the Lotus 72 in the iconic black and gold colour scheme for their version of Gran Turismo 3, though, I forget what it was called there, along with five others, we only got two of those, Senna's 1990 McLaren and Hill's 1996 Williams, known as the Polyphony 002 and 001 respectively! I wonder on your takes on those six (assuming I can dig up what the other three were...)!
The 72 is and was the model for all F1 cars since and extremely long in use. Maybe the Maserati 250 had as long a competition life but that was not as game changing.
Not even a modern day BMW, Mercedes, or Audi can beat the Lotus 72... as it was proved on Top Gear about 12 years ago.
How the chuff is a modern day fat, heavy road car going to beat a lightweight V8 Formula 1 car...???
Top Gear is for supposed entertainment only, not a source of reference...🙄
Easily the most iconic.
Nah, Rebecca just wanted Richard & Chris to die.
She’s also the only character in the series that’s genuinely scared. The others just go “ah a’ite looks like this is happening”
@@AidanMillwardI’ll defend Rebecca a little bit here because she was still an 18 year old rookie but yeah, not telling Chris or Richard about the shit she had to go through was dumb AF
@@sh-spectrum409 it’s cos capcom decided to release the REmake before 0 so didn’t bother factoring it all in. If 0 had come first maybe they would have.
I don’t think she tells Richard in Umbrella Chronicles either. They’re just “where Enrico?”
@@AidanMillward Christ, I actually forgot how little Capcom cared for the writing in their games back then
@ on its own the remake is utterly brilliant and one of the best remakes of all time. But zero was just shoehorned in as if it wasn’t an afterthought.
Actually, both games on their own are pretty good but as part of the bigger story they don’t. So maybe remakes of both will fill in some of the holes and give more screen time to the bravo team STARS members who were just background extras that don’t say or do anything beyond screaming.
Isn't there a song about this car?
I saw a "Lotus" Eletre electric SUV today. 5.1m long, 2.2m wide and 2.6 tonnes, -it looked like an elephant had been painted British racing green and parked on the side of the street.
If they could somehow connect the wheels to Colin Chapman spinning in his grave it would leave Max Verstappen in the dust.
Yawn...🥱🥱😴🥱
There'd be no-one happier than Colin Chapman at all the financial, technology, manufacturing & global reach Geely has brought to Lotus Cars...
Chapman only produced lightweight sports cars because that was all he & Group Lotus' ever-strained cashflow could afford to design & manufacture...they were cheap cars to build & sold on a 100% markup...
That graphic (assume Wikipedia) is a bit weird for the 72 season as it lists Emmo as finishing 10th in the USA, and should read retired.
It does not list Emmo as finishing 10th, it lists Lotus. Reine Wisell drove a Lotus that day to a 10th place finish.
The highest placed car was eligible for points. There is small print on the first graphic explaining this.
I know I’m being a bit pedantic here but he means incandescent light bulbs. For the youngsters here, they were used in ancient times and you are most likely to see them in a museum or your parent’s house.
theres a wedge-shaped Lotus hot wheels car from 1969-70 ish... interesting.
Obviously the correct answer is the jet engine car from Simpsons Hit & Run 👌
Isn't that the end of Assassin's Creed 2 when Desmond kills Lucy?
Thought it was brotherhood.
Nope. That's "Brotherhood". AC2 ends with escape from the hideout.
They all blurred into one by that point. Haven’t played them since
@@AidanMillward though technically you weren't wrong - third Assassin's Creed game was indeed "Brotherhood". 3 was fifth. ;)
Well, it seems I've got it wrong also. But the AC3 ending was also a shitshow.
There are lies, damn lies and statistics.
When I studied statistics at A-level, the teacher introduced the subject like this: If you ask a mathematician "what is 2 + 2?" they will say "the answer is 4". But if you ask a statistician the same question, they will say "what answer would you like?"
Its final year was the year of my birth.
Was i the 911 like??? still if not, awesome car
What about Cooper Climax putting the engine behind the driver? Everybody from Formula Ford through F1 and Indycar the sports car racing followed this formula.
No doubt the Lotus 72 is the pioneer for being for being the 1st proper modern F1 car
It depends on your selected parameters that define a "proper modern F1" car. Sure the 72 was the first to have aero as a prime design consideration, but before it the Lotus 49 (1967) was the first to have the engine bolted onto the chassis tub and be the mounting base for the rear suspension. The Lotus 25 (1962) was the first to have a tub-type monocoque chassis. The mid-engine layout that has been standard in F1 for nearly 70 years was pioneered by Auto Union in the 1930s
Maurice Philippe also penned the Vel's Parnelli Jones VPJ-1 for the 1972 Indy 500. It was the one with the goofy sidepod wings. Wasn't as successful as the Lotus 72.
Swan not Davy re light.
Is it the best performing F1 car of all time? Might be. Is it the greatest - YES - because 55 years on, it’s still what we all think about when someone asks, “what does an F1 car look like?” The Lotus 72 is the literal design standard.
It's weird, isn't it? I'm inclined to like stuff from just before to just after my birthdate best. '70, in my cold case. Music certainly. F1 cars, fashion, architecture. Not movies though, although some westerns... And I don't know many books from that era. Just Pirsig's, and I like that one a lot.
Is that a common thing?
That picture makes the car look so small, if a racing motorcycle is a crotch rocket, that thing is a butt rocket.
In time the 2023 Red Bull Honda RB19 will be the bench mark of all F1 designs. 95,45% win record. It is going to take some beating. Verstappen does help.
The kinks have not been worked out on ANY of the 737Max aircraft, BTW.
I think I'll just spam McLaren MP4/2 here....Lauda, Prost. TAG/Porsche V6 turbo engine, they DIDN'T use self destructing qualifying engines and still kicked ass.....MP4/4 is just a one hit wonder by comparison.
ATS '63!!!
Sorry, but the Lotus 72 may have won a lot of races, but the moving of g he engine from in front of the driver to behind him was probably the most important inovation in F1. This makes the Cooper T51 the important car todate as it was a lasting legacy that to this day has not been improved on.
Why would the fans say they were screwed? 😆
Don't mind me, I'm just here to moan that you didn’t say 'Loti' or 'Lotususses' this time.
Fittipaldi won the championship in 1974....
Brabham ( Denny Hulme) driving should not have won in 67. The engine was about 70 hp less than the Lotus 49. Brabham just built excellent handling Cars. At the time I believe in F2 he was the biggest manufacturers of racing cars. In 68 it was clear the Repco just couldn’t keep up.
@@beagle7622 lotus should have built a more reliable car 💁🏻♂️
@ You miss my point. Seeing the Lotus 49 in the skin it was a leap ahead of previous Lotus’s , It was beautifully built using I suspect some plane building techniques. Brabham & Ron Tauranac used a space frame as he had done since 1962 with a fibreglass body . It was a quick car with good brakes & down around the minimum weight for F1 cars at the time. I have read many times that the 49 at first was not an easy car to drive. The 49 was a real leap in F1 car construction. . Note both cars were very dangerous the driver sitting on fuel tanks.
Oh yeah. The stats in every sport.
Back in the day I had someone in my TL dissing Higuaín as a crap forward and in his arguments with other people he kept saying "unless you can show me a statistic showing me otherwise". I eventually butted in and posted the statisttics I found somewhere: most goals/shot at fifty some percent (I no longer remember the precise number), more than double the second. Then suddenly "statistics mean nothing, it's all about feeling". Effing dishonest idiots.
Sounds like a Manchester United supporter😂
A few years ago it was “Schumacher is the greatest! Most wins and poles stats don’t lie” then Hamilton smashed those records and it was “Nuh uh!”
@@AidanMillward pretty common, fans move goalposts all the time. Which is why the eye test in football at least is Important, before CR7 the world's top scorer in international was Ali Daie from Iran and nobody even remotely considered him a legend of the game for that. And then you had CR7 fans throwing the stat around like some trophy.
@ Messi has a world cup so is better by default. 💁🏻♂️
one thing to note about the Lotus 63, the front halfshafts that connect the drive to the front wheels are protected by little metal tubes that go directly above the driver's ankles. if they crash, they'd be absolutely fucked.
5:48 Ehmm... how is it that there are a Brabham-Ford, Brabham-Repco and Brabham-Climax in one season? And why were the Repco and Climax only there for one race each?
Customer cars.
@@AidanMillwardah, thanks. Is there enough in there to make a vid? As in ambitious but rubbish. I'm curious now
There are also seasons where teams ran multiple different engine manufactures, so they would be listed in multiple places
Williams, for example, finished 4th and 11th in 1983 with the former being a Ford engine and the latter being a Honda engine
Lotus, in the same season, ran both Ford and Renault engines so had two constructors results, as did McLaren with Ford and TAG (Porsche)
Obviously the best car of all time was Herbie the Lovebug
The mp4 4 was the best car ever it finished 1 and 2 in must of the racers that season
I would argue the most important car in F1, at least in recent history, is the Brawn BGP-01. Not only did Brawn have the 100% championship record, but it convinced Mercedes to buy the team, join F1, and go on to win their championships. That also led to McLaren no longer being Mercedes primary engine customer, with all the preferential treatment. So after a few years of failing they bring Honda back in. That doesn't work out for them, but does for Red Bull, who have been reaping the benefits for the last few years. That whole fiasco would lead to the ousting of Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh from the now failing McLaren team, leading to the Zak Brown era and their current resurgence.
Not sure what it is about this video that led to me getting a penis enlargement ad...... (no, it's not my search history, honest)
Greatest, debatable. Most important, probably. Sexiest, hell yes!!!