520racer's Alternate Formula 1 Universe 1994 season - Introduction - 520racer's Blog

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520racer's Alternate Formula 1 Universe 1994 season - Introduction

Posted on April 26, 2018 at 10:52 PM.

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Hello OS members, Since there�s a lack of Formula 1 dynasties on this forum, I have decided to try my hand at one myself. I have chosen 1994 because that�s the first season that I started following the sport itself thanks to Road and Track magazine that my dad used to have a subscription to back in my childhood days. However, it was very tragic in real life, so here�s the new backstory and my attempt to make it a little less sad.

It is 1994 and it seems pretty obvious that we are entering a brand new era for Formula 1. The elite four drivers that dominated for the last decade or so are approaching the end of their careers. After Alain Prost announced his second retirement after winning his fourth WDC title. Ayrton Senna, shortly thereafter also announced his retirement from the sport due to him losing motivation for racing and instead he embarked on a bold new journey to start his own organization to help school aged children in his native Sao Paolo, Brazil get a chance at a proper education. Nigel Mansell, after deciding to try the American CART series a try, successfully won the CART title in his debut season in 1993 and he is decided against defending his CART title to come back to Formula 1 in an effort to win his second WDC. The fourth driver of the so called elite four Nelson Piquet decided to start his own f1 team instead after two years of retirement from racing.

Therefore, F1 goes into this season with just one of the big four drivers still remaining on the grid. As a result, there�s a massive supply of young talent trying to make a name on the biggest stage of auto racing. In addition, the overall pecking order is also uncertain due to a minor engine formula change from 3.5 liters to 3 liters in an effort to attract new engine suppliers into the sport.

At the bottom half of the grid, on the other hand, it�s an entirely different story. This season also bought along massive changes to improving safety for the drivers and top-notch crash testing introduced to make up for the banning of all electronic driving aids. As a consequence of these two things, the costs have skyrocketed and many teams are feeling the pinch more so than ever before. Furthermore, there�s a renewed interest in increasing the number of teams from the 13 current teams in 1993 to a proposed 20 teams in 1994 meaning that there�s increased pressure to perform right out of the box. Many insiders have hinted that sponsorship funds are more important than ever before and these teams will have a tough decision to make, will they take drivers that bring money to their teams or not? Finally, the FIA keeps the now classic 10-6-4-3-2-1 points system and the Pre-Qualifying lottery has been reintroduced with the list being based on the bottom 10 teams in the team�s championship and it changes every four races.

The 1994 entry list and team previews will be the next thing posted on this blog and be prepared for plenty of surprises! Until then, comment away!