News index

January 19, 2012: A profile of the six-wheeled Tyrrell that boasts a record of one victory and 13 podium finishes in two fleeting seasons

January 11, 2011: Respected Tyrrell designer Derek Gardner has died at the age of 79

November 5, 2010: Our resident expert - Steven Lynch - is back to answer more of your burning questions

April 2, 2010: Our resident expert - Steven Lynch - is back to answer more of your burning questions

January 13, 2010: Slim Borgudd only scored one point in his brief time in Formula One, but he was an accomplished racing driver as well as being successful in his other life as a musician

December 18, 2009: Former Formula 1 driver Ukyo Katayama has been rescued from Mount Fuji in Japan

December 7, 2009: Normally if your father is turning 70 you might club together with your family and get him a nice watch, but not if your dad is three-time world champion Sir Jackie Stewart .

October 17, 1981: Nelson Piquet claimed the world championship thanks to a fifth-place finish in Las Vegas, the two points it brought enough to put him one point clear of Carlos Reutemann who was back in eighth. Alan Jones, who had announced his retirement three weeks earlier, signed off with an impressive victory and some stinging attacks on his rivals

September 27, 1981: Jacques Laffite's second win of the year in the penultimate race in Canada set up a tense finish to the season, sending the Formula One circus to Caesar's Palace with three drivers in the hunt for the title - Carlos Reutemann on 49 points, Nelson Piquet on 48, and Laffite on 43

September 13, 1981: Another weekend where the turbocharged cars dominated ended with Alain Prost securing his third win of the season from Alan Jones, while Carlos Reutemann regained the championship lead. The race was also memorable for a spectacular accident involving John Watson

August 30, 1981: Alain Prost took his second win of the season for Renault, leading the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort for all but a few dozen yards during a fierce battle with Alan Jones. Nelson Piquet's second place put him level with Carlos Reutemann in the drivers' championship

August 16, 1981: The Austrian Grand Prix was won in style by Jacques Laffite for the Talbot-Ligier team and much of the work was done by someone else many months before

August 2, 1981: Nelson Piquet put his championship aspirations back on course with victory in the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim

July 18, 1981: John Watson followed third in Spain and second in France with a popular victory in his McLaren at Silverstone

July 5, 1981: It was a happy weekend for the local fans as Alain Prost driving a Renault won the French Grand Prix

June 21, 1981: After a season dominated by off-track politics and disputes, purists were delighted that the Spanish Grand Prix was memorable for the right reasons, Gilles Villeneuve winning a thrilling race where less than one-and-a-quarter seconds separated the first five cars

May 31, 1981: Gilles Villeneuve showed Ferrari had put its appalling 1980 season behind it with victory in Monte Carlo, but yet again the weekend was as memorable for off-track events as anything on it.

May 17, 1981: Carlos Reutemann won the Belgian Grand Prix but it was a weekend marred by endless bickering over the legality of cars and the death of a mechanic when he fell from the pit wall and a serious accident involving another

March 15, 1981: The season started with victory for defending world champion Alan Jones at Long Beach, suggesting it was going to be another long campaign for Williams' rivals. Despite rule changes which removed skirts from cars, it was as-you-were in the USA.