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8W is forix.autosport.com's motorsport history section and covers the drivers, cars, circuits, eras and technology that shaped the face, sounds and smells of motor racing.

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The 'halo effect' in Grand Prix racing

There are lies, damned lies and statistics. Using statistics to prove who are the all-time best drivers will always be a flawed exercise. But what's the alternative? Willem Visser compares the merits of statistics and reputation, and argues that personal taste and psychological phenomena such as the 'halo effect' usually make the so-called reasoned approach just as flawed.

Michael Schumacher, Jordan 191, 1991 Belgian GP

 

Ferrari at Indianapolis
Mutual love unanswered

Alberto Ascari, Ferrari 375, 1952 Indianapolis 500

The story of Ferrari and Indianapolis is a story of expectation and disappointment, of mutual love unanswered. Our Indy expert Henri Greuter uncovers the reasons why the uneasy relationship between the two never became a love affair, let alone a happy marriage. Having already covered Ferrari's first fruitless attempts at Indy in the fifties, going from Ascari to the 'Monzanapolis' bash, we now continue with two veritable ghost stories. Did you know that Ferrari also considered taking part at Indianapolis in the sixties and seventies? Well, now you do. Here are two stories of Ferrari and Indy's enfants terribles going 'side-by-side' and a certain 'Uncle Franco'. You'll be amazed.

 

Delahaye dominating the 1936 French racing season

In 1936 Delahaye suddenly found itself entirely dominating the French racing season with its 135 model. Delahaye expert André Vaucourt tells the story of the French manufacturer's zenith in a year in which, ironically, the world's greatest race was cancelled...

Jacques Ambaud, Delahaye 135, 1936 Rally Monte Carlo

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