Formula One Features — September 1989

In the intense heat and humidity of a race like the recent Brazilian Grand Prix, drivers are working hard in extreme heat. They are encased in triple-layer nomex suits, balaclavas and full-face helmets. The body's reaction is to sweat. If, in the course of a race, fluid loss becomes too serious, drivers pass out. It is only natural. Unconsciousness is the body's inbuilt protection mechanicism, yet when a driver does collapse everyone throws their hands up in horror. How can it happen?

"What was the gap between Senna and Prost on the last lap?" asked a frantic French radio journalist, running his fingers through his hair aggressively. His job on the Sunday afternoon at a Grand Prix is to scream down an intercontinental telephone line to his studio in Paris. His reports go every five minutes. He needs constantly updated and instantaneous information.

"I'm happy," said Gerhard Berger at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. "I'm happy to be alive. I was very close to not being alive in San Marino."

When the lights go from red to green at a Grand Prix, 27 powerful cars accelerate hard towards the first corner. Twenty-six of them have qualified for the race; some of them have even survived the turmoil of pre-qualifying. The 27th car has not qualified -- but it is always guaranteed a place on the grid...

The 1989 season was not exactly what one might call an easy year for Camel Team Lotus. It will not be remembered fondly by anyone associated with the team, or indeed by the many fans who have followed Lotus since the days when Colin Chapman ran the show, when Lotus was THE team.