"So the last race of the '87 season was Adelaide, my
home race. By that point, I'd already figured, well, Hildebrand weren't going
anywhere, they didn't look like they were gonna improve for next season, I
should start looking for another drive. At that point I couldn't help being a
little concerned, 'coz I mean, there's always the chance that I switch teams
and the team I switch to ends up being just as terrible as Hildebrand had been.
I mean, look at Alonso this season, he could be winning races with Ferrari but
instead he's fucking nowhere.
"But worse than that, of course, there was the
chance that I wouldn't get another drive, and that would be it, my F1 career
over. I couldn't handle that. Now that I'd gotten onto this crazy ride, I
didn't wanna get off. None of us did. So I cast my net as wide as possible,
chatting to all sorts of teams. I talked to Tyrrell, who'd already beaten us to
the Colin Chapman Trophy for non-turbo cars. I talked to Brabham, obviously,
but they ended up skipping '88 so that was a waste of time. I talked to March,
I talked to Zakspeed, I talked to Dallara, who'd be joining in '88… in the end,
it was March who signed me.
"But as well as just talking to everyone I could, I
also decided that in that final race at Adelaide, I was gonna drive the damn
nuts off that car, and show everyone on the paddock just what I was capable of.
I'd done well so far that season, but I still had no points, whereas Allen Berg
still had his from Hockenheim. People had started to take notice of me, even in
that uncompetitive Hildebrand, but I needed just that one really solid
performance, to really sell myself as a top-quality driver. I figured,
Adelaide's a circuit with a lot of retirements every year, and I knew it pretty
well, so I stood a pretty good chance.
"Now, I can't say I was the least popular driver on
the grid - I don't think anybody these days would know who Philippe Streiff was
if he hadn't paralyzed himself in '89 - but I certainly didn't have the support
that drivers like Prost, Senna, Piquet, and Mansell had. At least, not until
Adelaide. Suddenly, you're the only local driver on the grid, and the eyes of
an entire nation of sports fans are focused squarely on you. Hopes weren't
exactly high, considering who I was driving for and everything, but you still
gotta cheer on the local boy, haven't you?"
The four young drivers all nodded in affirmation. Though
only Brooke and Sergio had home Grands Prix - Sergio for the first time in his
lifetime - all four had home favourites to cheer on. Stefan had Max Verstappen
- who was the same age as he was - Sergio had his namesake Sergio Perez, Brooke
had Daniel Ricciardo, and Heimo, of course, had ex-World Champion Kimi
Raikkonen to cheer on, not to mention potential future champion Valtteri
Bottas.
"So yeah, when I turned up at Adelaide prior to the
race, the atmosphere was unlike any other race I'd ever been to at that point,"
Conor continued. "Everywhere I went, there were people cheering me on, or
asking for my autograph, or wishing me good luck for the race. The grandstands
were full of Australian flags, as well as the usual British, French, and
Brazilian ones, and I had about three different TV networks lining me up for
interviews. Compared to what I'd experienced before, it was quite the trip. It
was also even more of a motivator for me: I thought, all these people have come
here just to watch me drive this piece of crap, I can't let them down.
"I ended up 17th in qualifying that weekend, which
put me ahead of all the other non-turbo cars, and a few of the turbos as well. I
think that was my best qualifying that year as well, so that was probably enough
to raise a few eyebrows. During the race I ended up as high as 4th at one
point, ahead of Jonathan Palmer, but then towards the end my transmission
started to go a bit funny and I had to settle for 5th in the end. Still my
first-ever points though, and at my home race as well. I think that one performance
was the point where people really started to sit up and think, hang on a
minute, this bloke can actually drive!" Conor chuckled.
"But yeah, that was my first season in F1 over and
done with. Hildebrand finished… was it ninth in the championship that year? I
think it was ninth. I think Tyrrell were in eighth, and we were behind them, so…
yeah, probably ninth. As for myself, I was 18th in the drivers' championship,
with just those two points. After how Adelaide went, I was pretty confident
that somebody would sign me for '88,
and sure enough, March came round and said, yeah, we'll give you the drive. Funnily
enough, I think they'd finished below us in the championship that year, so it
didn't seem like the smartest of moves at the time, but I could sense that
Hildebrand were going to struggle in '88, and March were going to go places. So
I figured it'd be a good move.
"As it happened, I was right. You see, March had just
hired a new designer for that year. You might have heard of him: he's called
Adrian Newey." The youngsters' ears pricked up at the mention of a very
familiar face. "Yep. The very same Adrian Newey who designed the
all-conquering Williamses of the early 90's, and the Red Bulls of the last few
years. '88 was his first season as an F1 designer, and I have to admit, the
March 881 wasn't his best design; it was too cramped, and the nose was too
narrow, your legs weren't very comfortable. It was still undeniably fast,
though. Compared to the old Hildebrand, that thing was a fucking revelation. I
thought to myself, this is it, this is the season I finally make my mark on
this sport. And sure enough, it was."
No comments:
Post a Comment