The greatest overtakes ever in Formula One…….part one……

A recent blog post about Jean Alesi leading the race at Phoenix, Arizona in 1990 (and his cheeky overtake of Ayrton Senna) provoked a bit of discussion about what might be the greatest overtakes in the history of Formula One.

It’s a great question and one which will be virtually impossible to answer, and will involve opinions flying around because I’m sure that none of us would agree on a top 5, 10 or even 100!

In the current world of DRS, cars which appear almost to be stuck to the track and in fairness enough turbulence that getting a car close for an overtake needs the use of DRS I’m not sure that many overtakes from the past ten years would make my top ten…..but given I’m far more interested in the period of F1 between 1986 and around 1995 (give or take a year or two) for me these years at the end of the turbo era, and then the domination of McLaren-Honda, Williams-Renault and latterly Benetton is a slightly more focused period of time to have a look at.

Classic compilations of this period, which appear on Youtube or social media groups tend to highlight a few obvious candidates for a top ten……Ayrton Senna on the opening lap at Donnington 1993, Mansell at Silverstone 1987, Mansell at the Hungaroring in 1989, Piquet on Senna again at the Hungaroring in 1986 and I’m sure many more.

However the idea of fighting wheel to wheel , lap after lap is in essence one of the main reasons I love the sport. Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna fighting it out literally centimetres apart at the Spanish Grand Prix of 1991, sparks flying and Nigel making the pass into the first corner is an iconic moment. Drivers at top speed giving each other just enough space, duelling without leading to contact – impressive stuff I’m sure you’d agree.

Senna and Schumacher might of taken the art of the overtake and also the risks involved to a new level (depth?) by on occasion forcing an overtake with an opponent, but Senna and his distinctive yellow helmet was enough for some drivers to subconsciously allow him to overtake. In part this explains why Senna was able to deal with lapping traffic more effectively than his McLaren team mate Alain Prost.

Back to great overtakes though and of course the TV coverage of the races is far more likely to be focused on the action at the front of the field. Senna vs Mansell / Prost / Berger / Piquet / Schumacher etc are all going to be in the top 25, but watching any older grand prix coverage on Youtube allows us to witness many other drivers performing above what might be expected of their cars.

Classic tracks such as Suzuka, Spa or even Hockenheim (before they chopped it down to the sterile current track……) allowed drivers to excel. Witnessing a Formula One car through Eau Rouge or blasting through the forest in Germany was, and would still be, incredible.

Rather than trying to identify great overtakes (which at this point I realise is an almost impossible task!) maybe recognition of some outstanding performances where the driver elevates the car or team well beyond what was expected is a more appropriate measure?

Ivan Capelli finishing 2nd in Portugal in 1988 and France in 1990; Stefan Johansson bringing his Onyx home 3rd at the 1989 Portuguese GP and 'Our Nige', Nigel Mansell finishing 2nd in the Williams-Judd at the 1988 British Grand Prix could all fall into this category.

Johnny Herbert bringing a 2 ½ year old Lotus 102D home in 6th place at the 1992 South African Grand Prix is an obvious suggestion for me – a car described by Murray Walker as being almost eligible for the London to Brighton run!

The French Grand Prix of 1992 is a great example of four drives worthy of note – Martin Brundle (3rd), Mika Hakkinen (4th), Eric Comas (5th) and Johnny Hebert (6th) all put in great drives in this single race; all four drivers achieving (or equalling) their best results of the season in a race which was stopped and restarted due to heavy rain. Time for me to re-watch this race to get remind myself how it panned out, and maybe I’ll spot a few more contenders for the top 25 overtakes of all time!