Who doesn’t love a good comeback story? They always make for the most interesting races and give us reason to fight back all of the “racing is boring” comments which honestly is hard for me to defend once I watch the Silverstone and Abu Dhabi GP. I included 3 comebacks as an ode to the good ol’ days when there were championship contenders (that’s right, plural) and wheel to wheel racing for podiums. There’s absolutely no doubt that I have most probably missed your favorite comebacks but hey, that’s what the comments are for. So presented to you in no particular order, here are my top 3 comebacks, enjoy!
- John Watson and Niki Lauda – US Long Beach GP 1983
Not that I needed an excuse to relive the McLaren glory days but this incredible comeback by these two iconic drivers surely does make it easier. The 1983 US Long Beach GP did not start off for the drivers quite the way they would’ve imagined it to. Future World Champion Niki Lauda and British racing legend teammate John Watson had a less than impressive qualifying, granting them P22 and P23 respectively on the grid. I’d like to take now to mention the talent they were up against at that time maybe as a justification for their quali positions. We had Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet (who went on to win the WDC that year), Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Elio De Angelis just to name a few all on the same track, what a time to be alive.
The race was definitely more exciting than anything we’ve seen in recent open wheel races.
After 14 retirements, 6 of which were either spins or accidents, and 2 DNQs, in the end only 12 racers saw the chequered flag. But to the relief of McLaren most of the action packed racing was in the front half. And after a few strokes of good luck and skillful overtaking, both the McLaren-Fords saw the finish line with Watson taking P1 and Lauda not far behind him in P2, going up 21 and 22 position respectively. That’s more positions than drivers we have on the grid now.
Oh to see prime McLaren, Williams, Brabham and Lotus race against each other.
- Ayrton Senna – Suzuka GP 1988
I have to mention everyone’s spoken or unspoken favorite Ayrton Senna. My first instinct was to go with the European GP in 1993 but after some research, I stumbled upon this gem (yes I am ashamed I haven’t read about this glorious race before but I’ve lived to regret it and I’m trying to move on), Senna had secured Pole position at qualification as he had already done 13 times the same season, out qualifying his then 2 time World Champion teammate Alain Prost. He was an absolute shoe-in for leading and finishing the race at the same position. But when race day came around, the lights went out and away everyone went…except Senna. While all the other drivers roared past him, Senna had stalled it. By the time he successfully started the McLaren up again and began racing, he was in 14th place. But not for long, in Lap 1 itself Senna was able to overtake 7 of the racers, including Palmer, Piquet and Streiff, ahead of him and taking him up to P7. By lap 20 after overtaking left and right and a simple pass, courtesy of an engine failure by Capelli, he had climbed up to P2. Only his teammate, Prost, ahead of him now.
By the 27th lap, only half of the race done, Senna was right back where he belonged at P1 clinching his first World Championship title while at it. Talk about fairytale endings.
- Jenson Button – Canadian GP 2011
Although I know the 2011 season doesn’t exactly fit the “exciting season” criteria, I did still want to mention this great race and great driver. As someone who did not watch this (or any of the aforementioned races) live, I can only imagine how exciting, nerve wrecking and exhausting it must have been for everyone involved. The 2011 Canadian GP stretched for over 4 hours with 6 safety cars and a red flag all, of course, in the wet. Honestly this list has only cemented my love for wet races.
Buttons starting position wasn’t bad at all and definitely not the worst on this list. Starting 7th on the grid ahead of 7 time WDC Schumacher is not a bad place to be. After retaining P7 under the safety car for the first 7 laps, the 8th lap is when it started going downhill. After colliding with teammate Hamilton and causing a puncture for himself and a retirement for Lewis. Button’s subsequent pit stop not only lead him to lose a few important positions but also got himself penalized in the process, losing him 8 places and stood at P15 by lap 9. But after the 2 hour race suspension and restart Jenson had redeemed himself up to an impressive P9. But after yet another collision, this time with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, Jenson came out the other end with another puncture forcing him to pit for a 5th time and in doing so pushed him all the way down to last place, P21.
Now for the good part, after coming out on set of new Intermediates, Button was able to go from P21 in lap 37 to P10 in Lap 51 with less than 20 laps remaining. But it’s the 6th and final safety car that allowed Button to fight for a podium position against Vettel, Schumacher and Webber. And by Lap 65 he was head to head with race leader and reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel with only 5 laps to go all while putting in fastest laps. After a rookie mistake behalf of Vettel at turn 6, it was an easy and smooth overtake for the race win after a hard and rocky Canadian GP. If this race proved anything about Jenson Button, it’s his unwavering persistence and how much we miss him now.
I would love to know your favorite comebacks! Comment down below or let me know on my socials Reddit and Instagram
Formula1 Yknow 