Did you know? Is a new series of articles about stories, facts, news and anecdotes about the Formula One the most of us have forgotten. It are those forgotten little facts that make the sport we love so interesting. As I love to dig into a lot of magazines such as as Autosport MotorSportMagazine and so on it is easy investigation to do.
Did you know: That James Hunt signed a deal with Ferrari for 1979? However, Hunt had a sponsor contract with Vauxhall which let Agnelli to cancel the deal. Instead of take Hunt he accepted the deal he had with Vauxhall. Imagine what could have happen with James racing for Ferrari in 1979 and beyond. Eventually, Hunt ended up at Walter Wolf Racing and left the scene after the Monaco Grand Prix.
Did you know: That the original BRM P160 design came from the famous Das brothers? They were well known for their architectural designs. In 1973 they designed a car for BRM. The P160 was a wing car, at that time it was something new. Sadly, the car was never built.
Did you know: That Red Bull thought they bought the Jordan Grand Prix team from Eddie Jordan at the end of 2004, so they could debut together their Red Bull Racing team and Toro Rosso team? Eventually the deal didn’t happen and Red Bull ended up purchasing our beloved Minard F1 Team.
Did you know: That Lewis Hamilton was asked by McLaren to race for the team at Brazil in 2006. It seems McLaren was not happy with Pedro’s results. However, Hamilton declined the offer from the team. Eventually he would debut in 2007 for the team, and almost won the championship in 2007.
Did you know: Bernie Ecclestone had a dream for 2013. His dream was to have Kimi and Schumi, who retired from race after 2012, as a driver duo at the Lotus team? Eventually this didn’t happen due to the financial situation of the team. If it would have happened, Grosjean would have raced for the Sauber team in 2013.
Did you know: That the Jaguar Racing was looking for a new driver in 2001, they offered Heinz-Harald Frentzen a big amount of money to race for the team in 2001 and 2002. Eventually he turned down the offer for the team. Perhaps for the better.
Do you remember: That the Williams team sacked Alex Zanardi after the 1999 season? Williams was looking for a new driver. A couple of drivers were mentioned and rumoured. Juan-Pablo Montoya, Jos The Boss, Darren Manning and even Jacques Villeneuve! Eventually Jenson Button won a shoot out with Janqueira and became one of the drivers.
Did you know: That if you still don’t see Taki Inoue as true legend you will see him like after reading this. For the 1996 season Inoue contacted Ken Tyrrell and told him he would like it to race for the team in 1996. Personally I would have let him two or three Grand Prix’s just for the shake of it. Eventually, Tyrrell ended up with Salo and Katayama.
Do you remember: That Arrows had a rough season in 2002. Mid-season the team disappeared from the grid with a lot of scandals and strange behaviour. Though, Fernando Alonso was asked to replace Heinz-Harald Frentzen who left the team in mid-season. While this never happened it seems that Sebastian Bourdais already had a contract to race for the team in 2003!
Did you know: That Jos Verstappen was asked by Tom Walkinshaw to return to the team after Heinz-Harald Frentzen left the team? As the car was designed around Verstappen his driving style he probably believed it could help the team. Eventually, Arrows disappeared from the grid.
Do you remember: That Damon Hill told Eddie Jordan during the season he was to retire early? He was to quit with the Formula One after the British Grand Prix. His replacement would have been Mika Salo. However, Michael Schumacher broke his leg during the British Grand Prix. Ferrari asked Mika Salo to take over the seat. Which meant that Hill stayed at Jordan. While there were talks with Jos Verstappen to replace Hill as well. Though, Verstappen was busy with the Honda project!
