Above Winkelhock led
on his only F1 start at
the Nurburgring in 2007
Right Davidson stayed
loyal to BAR as a tester,
which led to Super
Aguri race seatBelow right Hill started
the trend of graduating
from tester to racer
with Williams in 1993(^10) 1 AUGUST 2019
ccess to a Formula 1 grid can
feel as diffi cult as penetrating
Fort Knox. Standing guard at
the pitwall entrance is a line
of security guards clocking the passes
of every person who tries to traverse
the hallowed asphalt.
Mechanics wheeling a set of four tyres
wrapped in heated blankets have been
known to be stopped if their passes are
not visible. Only team members who have
a job to perform are allowed on the grid.
Permission is also granted to TV crews,
senior dignitaries, random celebrities
and – of course – the 20 competing
F1 drivers. No substitutes allowed.
Although the rule has been relaxed in
recent years, it was strictly enforced in
- That year, Markus Winkelhock, son
of hard-charging 1980s F1 racer Manfred,
was a test driver for the Spyker team. As
he walked across the pitlane to join his
outfi t on the starting grid for the British
Grand Prix, his progress was impeded
by the raised arm of a security guard.
Wearing the team’s kit and pointing
to his pass, Winkelhock remonstrated
with the hard-nosed offi cial.
“But I am Spyker’s test driver,” he
pleaded. It was no good. He was forced
to watch through the catch-fencing,
standing alone in the pitlane.
Two weeks later at the Nurburgring,
Winkelhock was leading the European
Grand Prix, in a Spyker. Following
a sponsorship row with incumbent
Christijan Albers, Winkelhock was
given a late call-up and, with nothing
A
to lose from last on the grid, he was
switched onto wet tyres by technical
boss Mike Gascoyne as a storm cloud
approached. When the rest of the fi eld
pitted on lap two, the German found
himself in the lead – at one stage with
a 30-second advantage – and stayed
there for six laps before retiring with
hydraulic failure after 13 laps.
It was to be Winkelhock’s one and
only grand prix start. By the Hungarian
GP two weeks later, Sakon Yamamoto
had taken his seat.
It isn’t known if Winkelhock found
the same security man to gloat over his
newly granted access, but the incident at
Silverstone highlighted the diff erence in
status between a race driver and being
merely a reserve driver. It might sound
important but, for all their hard workand unseen preparation, it’s only when the
understudy gets the call-up to take over
the major part that the world takes notice.THE ART OF TESTING
To understand a car and engineer it to
travel quicker was traditionally a job
performed by an F1 team’s race drivers.
From Ferrari’s proving ground at Modena
in the 1950s to the weeks of running at Rio
de Janeiro ahead of the season starting in
Brazil in the 1980s, the race drivers were
the quickest and most adept. Testing would
also help them develop a car to their liking.
With increased technology in the 1990s,
such as semi-automatic gearboxes, active
suspension and traction control, teams
needed to dedicate more time to testing
their car’s systems to enhance reliability
before committing them to a grand prixALL PHOTOGRAPHYMOY