On the 1st of March, the South African Grand Prix has repeatedly marked moments when Formula One stood on the brink of change.

In 1969, Jackie Stewart’s victory at Kyalami signalled the beginning of a new professional era — one that would culminate in his first World Championship.

In 1975, Jody Scheckter thrilled a home crowd with a calm and disciplined performance under sustained pressure.

In 1980, Renault’s turbocharged power units dominated at altitude, demonstrating that forced induction was no longer an experiment but the future of the sport.

And in 1992, Nigel Mansell and the technologically advanced Williams FW14B showcased the electronic sophistication that would define a season of dominance.

Across four decades, one circuit repeatedly revealed where Formula One was heading next.

This is the story of the race at Kyalami that revealed the future.

Send a text

Music by #Mubert Music Rendering

On 28th February, we mark the birthdays of Mario Andretti and Sébastien Bourdais — two champions separated by generations, united by a shared ambition.

Both conquered American open-wheel racing. Both crossed the Atlantic to test themselves in Formula One. Only one became World Champion.

In this episode of Chequered Past, we explore what happens when greatness travels — and why it does not always translate.

From Andretti’s full immersion at Lotus, to Michael Andretti’s difficult McLaren season, from Jacques Villeneuve’s immediate success to Alessandro Zanardi’s struggle for synchronisation, from Juan Pablo Montoya’s fearless adaptation to Bourdais’ battle in a modern junior team — this is the story of ambition, alignment and the narrowing margin between series.

Because Formula One is not simply the pinnacle.

It is its own ecosystem.

And crossing into it requires more than talent — it requires transformation.

Send a text

Music by #Mubert Music Rendering

In 2006, Formula One’s championship fight reached its decisive phase — and history turned on a single plume of smoke.

In Part Two of our season review, Martin Elliot follows the final chapter of the duel between Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher — a battle that would close one era and confirm another.

From the controversy of Monaco to the strategic turning point in Shanghai, the title fight tightened until the two drivers arrived at Suzuka level on points. There, with Schumacher leading and poised to take control of the standings, an engine failure transformed the championship.

As Alonso sealed his second world championship in Brazil and Schumacher bowed out after seven wins and one final defiant drive, 2006 marked more than a season.

It marked transition.

The first year of the V8 era.
The final season of the tyre war.
And the end of one of the most dominant careers in Formula One history.

An era closed.
The torch passed.

Cover image: By Tinou Bao - the battle - Alonso vs Schumi, CC BY 2.0, Link

Send a text

Music by #Mubert Music Rendering

In 2006, Formula One staged a duel between its past and its future.

In Part One of this two-part season review, Martin Elliot revisits the opening half of a championship that would come to define a turning point in modern Formula One history.

Reigning world champion Fernando Alonso began the season as the standard everyone else had to beat — but already committed to leave Renault F1 Team at the end of the year. Across the paddock, Michael Schumacher and Scuderia Ferrari regrouped after a bruising 2005, determined to reclaim their authority.

This episode explores:

• The introduction of the new 2.4-litre V8 regulations
• The final season of Formula One’s tyre war between Michelin and Bridgestone
• Renault’s early-season dominance
• Ferrari’s resurgence through the European summer
• The controversial banning of Renault’s mass damper
• And the momentum swing that transformed the championship

From Bahrain to Monza, the balance of power shifts dramatically — culminating in Schumacher’s emotional retirement announcement at Ferrari’s home race, with the title fight still hanging in the balance.

Part One sets the stage for a final three-race showdown that would test legacy, resilience and destiny.

Join us again tomorrow for engine failure, one final Ferrari charge through the field and a championship sealed in Brazil from racing’s rich and chequered past.

Cover image: By Ryosuke Yagi - P1020190.JPG, CC BY 2.0, Link

Send a text

Music by #Mubert Music Rendering

On 25th February 1968, the Tasman Series arrived at Sandown Park for the Australian Grand Prix — Round 7 of a championship that had become a summer proving ground for the world’s best drivers.

At its centre stood Jim Clark.

Already a multiple Tasman champion and just weeks removed from victory at the 1968 South African Grand Prix, Clark was locked in a fierce battle with Chris Amon for supremacy in Australasia. Amon had opened the season with victory in the New Zealand Grand Prix — a triumph he would never replicate in the Formula One World Championship — and the duel between the two had defined the summer.

At Sandown, the contest reached its peak.

Clark prevailed by just a tenth of a second, securing what appeared at the time to be another masterclass in precision and control. The Tasman Series would continue to Longford the following week. The championship would be decided there.

But history would cast Sandown in a different light.

Six weeks later, Clark would lose his life at Hockenheim. The Australian Grand Prix of 1968 would stand as the final Grand Prix victory of his career — in any category.

In this episode of Chequered Past, we revisit the full arc of that Tasman season — from Amon’s New Zealand triumph to the rain-soaked finale at Longford — and reflect on the afternoon that quietly became the last great victory of one of motor racing’s greatest champions.

Send a text

Music by #Mubert Music Rendering

On 24 February, we celebrate the birthday of one of Formula One’s most analytical and accomplished champions: Alain Prost.

Known simply as The Professor, Prost built his legacy not on spectacle, but on calculation. From losing the 1984 championship to Niki Lauda by half a point, to defeating the faster Williams cars in 1986, to winning the 1989 title despite fewer victories than Ayrton Senna, Prost proved that championships are won across seasons — not moments.

This episode explores how defeat shaped his philosophy, how arithmetic became his weapon, and how his final title in 1993 completed a career defined by precision rather than passion.

Four world championships.
Fifty-one victories.
A legacy built on margins.

This is the story of The Professor Who Calculated Everything.

Send a text

Music by #Mubert Music Rendering

On February 23rd, 1958, the reigning World Drivers’ Champion Juan Manuel Fangio was approached in the lobby of Havana’s Hotel Lincoln and calmly informed that he was being taken by revolutionaries.

The Cuban Grand Prix was meant to showcase glamour, modernity, and control under Fulgencio Batista’s regime. Instead, it became one of the most extraordinary political moments in motorsport history.

In this episode of Chequered Past, Martin Elliot explores the dramatic kidnapping of Fangio by members of the 26th of July Movement, the decision to run the race without its biggest star, and the tragic accident that overshadowed the event. Drawing on Gerald Donaldson’s authoritative biography Fangio, we revisit a moment when the world of Grand Prix racing collided directly with revolution.

Fangio would be released unharmed. The race would produce a winner. But Havana 1958 marked a turning point — the moment Formula One was pulled unmistakably into the political realities of the world beyond the circuit.

A story of composure, symbolism, and the uneasy relationship between sport and power.

Send a text

Music by #Mubert Music Rendering

Born in Vienna on 22nd February 1949 into Austria’s industrial elite, Niki Lauda was never supposed to become a racing driver — let alone a three-time World Champion. Yet from the moment he financed his own path into Formula One, Lauda built a career defined not by romance or recklessness, but by judgement.

In this episode of Chequered Past, we trace Lauda’s journey from indebted outsider to Ferrari’s analytical architect, through the inferno of Nürburgring in 1976 and the rain-soaked decision at Fuji that cost him a title. We explore how he rebuilt Ferrari, why he walked away as reigning champion, and how he returned to claim a third crown by half a point in 1984.

But this is not just the story of survival. It is the story of autonomy. From the Brabham fan car to his role in persuading Lewis Hamilton to join Mercedes, Lauda consistently aligned himself with structure, clarity and advantage.

He did not chase mythology.
He chose his terms.

Join us as we explore the life and legacy of the champion who proved that intellect could be as powerful as instinct in Formula One.

Send a text

Music by #Mubert Music Rendering