closest finish?

[renniesmill]

schumacher finished the canadian gp 0.174s ahead of barrichello, is this the closest finish ever?
i remember there was a very close one too, i think one of them was senna but not sure, anyone can tell me please?
thx!

[Gerard]

Renniesmill, the closest finish ever in formula one was at the Italian Grand Prix of 1971.
Peter Gethin in a BRM won by 0.010 sec. from Ronnie Peterson.
As a matter of fact, the first 5 finished within 0.6 seconds of each other.

1. Peter Gethin - BRM - ..........1h 18m 12.600
2. Ronnie Peterson - March - .....1h 18m 12.610
3. Francois Cevert - Tyrrell - ...1h 18m 12.690
4. Mike Hailwood - Surtees - .....1h 18m 12.780
5. Howden Ganley - BRM - .........1h 18m 13.210

[renniesmill]

many thanks Gerard!

[Gerard]

Some more information.

Here's a picture of that finish:


picture dennis david.

Last week's Canadian GP finish was the 7th closest finish in history.

Here's a list:

1. Italian GP 1971 - 0.010 sec...Pether Gethin & Ronnie Peterson
2. Spanish GP 1986 - 0.014 sec...Ayrton Senna & Nigel Mansell
3. Dutch GP 1976 - 0.020 sec...James Hunt & Clay Regazzoni
4. Italian GP 1969 - 0.080 sec...Jackie Stewart & Jochen Rindt
5. French GP 1954 - 0.100 sec...Juan Manuel Fangio & Karl Kling
-. British GP 1955 - 0.100 sec...Stirling Moss & Juan Manuel Fangio
-. French GP 1961 - 0.100 sec...Giancarlo Baghetti & Dan Gurney
6. Austrian GP 1982 - 0.125 sec...Elio de Angelis & Keke Rosberg
7. Canadian GP 2000 - 0.174 sec...Michael Schumacher & Rubens Barrichello
8. Italian GP 1967 - 0.200 sec...John Surtees & Jack Brabham

[Minardi fan]

Ok, so what is the BIGGEST margin someone has won by???

[skidmark]

The best thing about the 1971 Italian GP was that going into the last lap Peter Gethin was almost the full length of the straight behind the first five.

He drove like a demon whilst the others fought with each other, and he drove the last four or five corners on opposite lock ... which in a big old BRM takes some doing !!

The other interesting thing about that race was that Emerson Fittipaldi finished 8th in that wonderful contraption ... the Lotus Pratt & Whitney Gas Turbine !!!

Wouldn't it be great to get the first 5 or 6 driving that closely together now ... instead of an overtaking maneouvre being the highlight of the race, it should be the norm.

[Jared]

Minardi fan, this is just a guess, but didn't Damon Hill win the 1995 Australian GP by 2 laps? Surely, there has to be a greater margin of victory earlier in the sport, perhaps Jackie Stewart's four-minute lead at the Nurburgring, 1968?

[Bononi]

Those were the days...
As you can see the most recent (except last week GP) of these gaps were in 1986 !
It is sure a remark to what has been happening in the 90s...

[Gerard]

The biggest margin someone has won by was at the Spanish Grand Prix of 1969.
Jackie Stewart won the race in 2h 16m 53.990sec.
Bruce McLaren finished second, 2 laps behind.

[renniesmill]

i am impressed you managed to have that picture!!!

[Schume]

Nice one Gerard.

Jackie Stewart also had another big win in the 69 season when he won the British by a lap from Jacky Ickx.