Five motorsport myths it’s time to bust

Mercedes are silver because they stripped off white paint in 1934

The legend is that Mercedes, and in general German racing cars, race in silver because of an incident at a race in 1934. The tale, one told by team chief Alfred Neubauer and even Mercedes themselves, is that the team’s car for the ’34 Eifelrennen was too heavy for a 750kg weight limit, so they stripped the white paint from the car to get it below that limit.

The problem is that the cars ran before the race, and no images show them in white. Also, the regulations at the time of the race do not include mention of a 750kg weight limit. The paint stripping story appears to have been added into history by Neubauer’s autobiography, and several drivers later added it into stories they told. The simple story is that the silver arrows have always been silver. To be fair to Mercedes, before its anniversary race at Hockenheim – you know the one that went so wrong, Lewis Hamilton had a minute-long pit stop? – the press release referred to the story as a “legend”. 

It is worth noting here that German cars, including Auto Unions, did run in white in their time, but there is no real evidence that the paints were removed for weight reasons. 

Drag racing is over a quarter-mile

A quarter-mile is drag racing, right? That’s what it is. We refer to “standing quarters” when talking about acceleration and it’s the universal measure. The sport was first formalised in 1950 and has been running ever since to that 1,320ft measure.

Thing is, top leven Funny Car and Top Fuel drag racing is no longer held over a quarter of a mile. It used to be, but then a series of accidents, culminating in the death of driver Scott Kalitta, spooked the organisers and the distance was changed. Drag racing is now held over an even 1,000ft, in order to leave more runoff at the end of each strip. While NHRA changed its rules in 2009, pretty much every governing body has followed suit. While other senior levels and bikes do use a 1,320ft course, the big blown nitro-fueled cars (the ones you're most likely to see on TV) worldwide are down to 1,000ft. 

Modern F1 is the most boring ever

Formula 1 cars cannot follow each other and they used to race wheel-to-wheel every single weekend. At least that’s the case if you ask a lot of un-shy people on social media. The thing is, the history books just don’t support that point of view, no matter how many media columns opine about F1 being boring and having a real issue.

Take, for example, the first-ever F1 race, the 1950 British Grand Prix. It is a legendary race, where the Alfa Romeos turned up to put in an incredible show for an awe-inspired British audience. Problem is that that does describe the race. The Alfas turned up, smoked the field to the tune of two laps and then gently stroked the cars home for a one-two-three. Need more? How about the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix, a race during the ‘golden age’ of Formula 1. That was won by a full lap by Denny Hulme. Even more recently, during the screaming V10 era, Damon Hill won the 1995 Australian Grand Prix by two full laps and was one of only eight cars to cross the finish line.

Sometimes that nostalgia you feel is a bad thing.

CLK GTRs flipped at Le Mans

I’ve written about this one before, but it’s always worth repeating such fallacies. The myth is that the Mercedes CLK GTR, the GT1 challenger, took flight multiple times at the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hours due to some faulty aero design. Mark Webber experienced this phenomenon twice in practice before Peter Dumbreck suffered a similar, if not more spectacular fate during the race itself.

Except, the CLK GTR didn't do anything of the sort. In fact, the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR did not race at the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hours at all, or even in 1998. The CLK GTR was replaced by the CLK LM for Le Mans in 1998, and then by a car in a completely different class for 1999. A Mercedes car flipped at Le Mans in 1999, but it was the new CLR, a car built to LM-GTP regulations rather than GT1. It did indeed flip three times over the weekend, twice with Webber at the wheel, landing mercifully on the track, and then off into the trees with Dumbreck at the wheel. The fallacy is just the idea that CLK GTR had that off. The CLK GTR was an incredible racing car, dominating the GT championship, it does not deserve to be tarred with the CLR’s gravity-defying brush.

F1 cars have electronic aids

This one comes up on our channels All. The. Time. All we need to do is post a video of a classic racing car sliding around or an onboard from one of our races and you can guarantee that someone will pop into the comments to say “back when the driver had to control the car and didn't have electronic aids, not like F1 today”. 

Of course, their issue is that they don’t like modern racing cars being a little less wild to watch than older ones. The driver looks less flustered and then sometimes the whole hybrid charge thing just starts to confuse people. But this one is a very simple one to clear up: While F1 ECUs do control how much power is released between ICE and electric motors, there are no electronic driving aids other than power steering. Traction control and ABS are both totally banned in F1. They were legal from 2001 to 2008, but for the last 13 years, the drivers have been out their all on their own.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.