The Story of Simtek 

I can't imagine what it must've been like to be there that weekend, especially when it would've been much harder to keep up with ongoing developments without smartphones and the internet. Sounds like you had quite a few pleasant interactions with the Simtek team, especially David Brabham. I bet getting a tour of the garage at Spa was great experience. Thanks for sharing! Out of interest you said you've been going to races since '86 - which grand prix that you've attended has been your favourite?

@@TheOutsideLine While you may not be able to keep track of everything at the races it was usually possible to keep up with a lot and be able to follow the race - after all the cars keep going by in sequence and you can spot changes. If you paid attention (i.e. the bottle of red wine did not kick in yet) you could spot that drivers were out and if they re-appeared they had either boxed or had a spin. You can usually tell which driver it is by the helmet colours or by different colour mirrors or TV camera cover. I think there was only once I struggled and that was the entrance to Parabolica at Monza where the cars were so fast it really was a blurr of colour. There was PA at a lot of races but you could not hear it with the cars out on track - although some tracks were better than others. I recall one race at Barcelona where Katayama(?) in a Tyrrell was hounding Berger in a Ferrari into turn 1 - he eventually pressured Berger off. I think none of that was caught on camera. I was getting bored of F1 in the early 1990s and I went to Montreal in 1992 and watched Mansell in a Williams go through the 'S' on the back straight (now the area that leads to the pit lane)- the speed the car was going and how fast it changed direction was something else. I was at turn1 at Barcelona in 1995 when Mansell was racing for McLaren - that was an evil handling car and it seemed to struggle to turn corners! Tracks have been changed over time - when I started going to Monza you could still sit in a grandstand on the outside of Lesmo2 - that stand was pulled down. Conversely, the inside of the track at Lesmo 1 I swear that you could almost reach the cars as they apexed from the spectator area - it was a matter of 3 or 4 feet away. I do recall standing there during qualifying one year and Prost went past and just looked quicker than anyone else I'd seen - that did turn out to be the pole lap. That access is no longer there. The Italian tracks usually had the stands open to all on the Friday and some open on the Saturday. A lot of other tracks that did not happen. I've been to nine races at Monza and six at Imola. I recall one race where as the lead cars dropped out and the Ferraris went up the order you could hear the cheer all around the track! There was also the heartache of Alesi leading only to have a rear hub fail! The sound of the V12s as they shrieked around Monza first thing (also at Spa) was spine-tingling. Silverstone used to be good for the number of events that were going on. The limiting of access by enclosing public areas (general admission) and putting concrete down meant my last race there was 1997. If you want to be entertained that is now Melbourne (Adelaide as the same) - if there wasn't something on track or overhead it was the lunch break or a red flag! The downside is that viewing isn't that great. I went to Indy for the races from 2000 to 2004. If you go to any USA race make sure you have a radio scanner (I bought one in 1997 on a trip that took in Mid-Ohio, Elkart Lake (both Indycar) followed by Spa-Francorchamps (F1) - that was quite a three weeks. The radio frequencies of the teams and drivers are sold for a few dollars and work OK. That helps with following what is going on. I was using it at Spa in 1997 and it was a very hot day and I heard Barrichello say it was raining at the top part of the track. Sure enough a few minutes later we had a flash storm and most were drenched (on my five trips to Spa it rained at one point on all of them). I've not been to a Grand Prix since 2009 sadly for various reasons. If I went I'd be tempted by The Circuit of the Americas (a track with elevation changes and hopefully, spectator friendly access to different parts of the track). A lot of the new tracks look a bit boring to be honest with spectator access restricted). The following are the tracks I've been to - if I've been more than once I've shown the number (I would go back to some of the tracks I've only been to once); Adelaide (5), Melbourne, A-1 Ring, Buenos Aires, Spa-Francorchamps (5), Sao Paulo, Montreal (8), Donington, Silverstone (7), Magny-Cours (2), Paul Ricard, Hockenheimring, Nurburgring, Budapest (2), Imola (6), Monza (9), TI Aida, Suzuka, Monte Carlo (2), Estoril (2), Barcelona (3), Jerez (2), Indianapolis (5)

I have to say I'm immensely jealous of your experiences going to races. You've been to so many amazing circuits and seen cars and drivers that are now very much classed as legends of the sport. Even though it may not have been a competitive race, I can imagine seeing Mansell in that 92 Williams would've been something special indeed. Also the fact that you could just tune into the team radio for a few dollars blows my mind. I can imagine the access has very much tightened since. Safety, security etc. It's a shame, but completely understandable. I think you went to races at the perfect time, in the perfect era. It's a shame you've not been in such a long time, but at least you've been to so many.

@@TheOutsideLine I recall one time I went to Imola for the race and met up with a German guy I knew from the Grand Prix Contact club (this was really before there was much on the internet). We blagged our way into the restricted area at Variante Alta (I think I had a card with Autosport around my neck). He was a bit more brazen and was standing the wrong side of the barrier. I was too sensible for that. Also a mate had a full press pass for Portugal and Spain in 1990 and he loaned it to me on the Saturdays. For the Spanish race he did not have pitlane access. I was in there for Portugal though and I had to scamper between the garages and have eyes all around as cars were coming in and out of the pits. In the afternoon I stood at the exit of a turn with only a few feet between me and the track - I think there was only two tiers of guard rail (but there may have been three). I did think 'what would happen if a car spun on the exit. I managed to get lots of autographs at both tracks - I got Senna's after qualifying started in Portugal (he didn't leave the pits until 30 minutes into the session). Yes, fond menories!

The fact you could even get that close (fake pass or not) just blows my mind. And to be able to move between garages while cars were coming in and out... that experience just wouldn't happen today! Did Senna say much when you got his autograph?

Thanks man, appreciate it!

Thanks very much! Yeah, I hope to do more like this for F1 and other motorsports in the near future! Glad you enjoyed, thanks for the support!

Thanks, I really appreciate it! 😃

Thanks David! Really appreciate it! Yeah I think that livery on that simple design just looked so nice. Plus we love rooting for an underdog.

@@TheOutsideLine certainly do 👍

Thanks very much! 😃

Cheers mate! Yeah I hope the new rules will help new teams enter and stay going forward.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching. 🙂

I want 1993

This era of F1 cars, before the aero got so advanced, was for me the best looking era. But it was also the cars I watched growing up, so I am a bit biased!

Thank you! I'm very glad you enjoyed it! 😀

@@TheOutsideLine Yeah it was great you deffinetly deserve more subscribers

Very kind of you to say. I appreciate it! 🙏

@@TheOutsideLine no problem mate

That's great to hear! Thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed it! 😃

This just came up in my recommended as well. I like your story style, subbed!

That's great to hear and I'm glad you enjoyed it - thanks for subbing!

Thanks! You aren’t the first person who has suggested to do a video on Tyrrell so I think at some point I will! 😃

I can't remember my sources as it has been a while, but yeah I think I saw from a couple of places that he had an off that caused some damage to his car, which was a factor in that fateful incident. Such a tragedy, but never forgotten.

@@TheOutsideLine thanks again for that reporting of it

Sadly all the ones I've found are people doing runs on Assetto Corsa or F1C. Not found any actual footage. Hopefully someone else does!

@@TheOutsideLine Thank you for the info! Keep up the great clips

No problem, thanks very much!

Yeah the livery and the looks were probably the best things about the team by far! 😂 I think Nick just got impatient after seeing his designs misused or not get used. He definitely should've waited a bit longer before entering. I didn't know that about him being listed as test driver! Very interesting if he was. I get the logic of him wanting to test his own design, but at the same time he's not a racing driver. Or maybe he was listed because they couldn't afford an actual test driver. Who knows!

I know - it's a shame they didn't last. Although I recently listened to Adrian Newey's audiobook and it sounds like Nick Wirth delegated way too much. So much so that engineers from Simtek asked Adrian for help when he was at Williams. Thanks for the pronunciation tip! I should've checked that really, as it didn't feel right saying it that way. Will definitely remember that for future videos!

Agreed, they were beautiful cars. Not the fastest, but great looking!

Thanks mate, appreciate it! 👍🏼 My accent is a mixture of Lancashire and Oxfordshire. I've never been called Welsh before but I don't mind it! 😅

That's a good idea. He had such a long F1 career so I'm well aware of him but don't know lots about him. Would be interesting to research.

Ah yes, you're right - a minor wording error on my part. He failed to qualify for the race, rather than pre-qualify. My bad! 😬😄

Ouch! Simtek were slow, this is very true, but Andrea Moda could only dream of qualifying 14th and finishing 9th. Simtek had brief glimpses of looking like a midfield team. Andrea Moda were always shockingly bad.

Haha, well because I was talking about Newey at a time of his career when he was an unknown newbie, before he became this car design guru, I thought it would be funny for me to pronounce his name like I didn't know who he was... ..and that reason is exactly why I should not try to be funny! 😂

You couldn't make it up. Think they could've scored points and been a solid midfield team if they didn't have so much bad luck. But sadly we'll never know.

Yeah, he seemed to like it there for whatever reason!

@@TheOutsideLine it had to do with circuits with a lot of corners and not long straghts i think. The man was a high technical driver, in rain he was also exeptional.

His career path was so strange. He was clearly talented on his day. He blew everyone away in a test session in late-'94, lucked upon the open Benetton seat, and had moments of excellence but also a fair few mishaps. After losing that drive he was never anywhere near that again.

@@TheOutsideLine yeah thats right. It was becouse of Lehto's injury he got in the 2nd Benneton, problem was that the car was made for Schumacher and Verstappen couldn't even reach the pedals properly. Verstappen left benneton and Weber if i remember correctly symtek, footwork, tyrrell, Honda, steward, Arrows and minardi were his other teams. Honda was very promesing but the main engineer died and Honda pulled the plug. I think Max has a lot of advantge learning from his dad what not to do in the F1 world.

Oh yeah I definitely think Max will have taken a lot from his Father's mistakes in the sport. And tbf it's serving him pretty well!