Last night, I watched a full-length video of the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix, and a few things struck me about the race, and about F1 in general during that particular time.
The footage first of all reminded me how ungainly and bulky many of the cars of that time looked, in particular those of the teams which were still running turbocharged engines. Maybe this impression is amplified by many years of watching leaner and more compact normally-aspirated cars. That said, I have read more than one journalist remark how development was curtailed in readiness for the new 3.5 litre regulations to come in 1989.
It was notable how much of an impression some of the "atmo" cars made at Suzuka, particularly Ivan Capelli in the March, and to a lesser degree the Benettons. After a promising start, both the Ferraris and Lotuses seemed to struggle.
The performance of the March chassis against the mighty McLarens was impressive, and this of course was an early indication, in F1 terms at least, of the talents of one Adrian Newey...
Sometimes the memory can play tricks. My recollection was that once he had taken the lead, Ayrton Senna had built up a sizeable lead. However, the video revealed something different. Alain Prost stuck doggedly to his task for many laps, and Senna really had to work for the victory, which of course clinched his first world championship.
One thing that has changed since 1988 is the nature of the television coverage. Satoru Nakajima and Aguri Suzuki seemed to get about 60 percent of the airtime!
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