JOHN WATSON’S TOP 10 DRIVERS
WATSON F1 STATS
1974-82
Starts: 135
Wins: 4
Poles: 2
Fastest laps: 4
Best championship: 1982 (3rd)
10 CARLOS REUTEMANN
1974-82 WINS 12
In 1981 in Las Vegas, Carlos drove that grand prix doing something I’ve never seen a driver do. He drove that race in his mirrors – he never once looked forward. He got passed left, right and centre. Nelson Piquet didn’t win that championship in 1981 at Las Vegas (below); it was Carlos who blew it.
He was probably the most psychologically fragile of all the drivers we’re including here. A very talented, quick guy, overanalytical probably – every gear ratio change, spring change, rollbar change, he’d write it down. A very good driver, but not a racer. He was unusually quiet for a Latin American – probably because he’s a German! Carlos and his wife Mimicha were not social like Carlos Pace. He was insular.
Carlos had such good qualities but his fragility was illustrated by what happened in 1981. Remember, there was a clause in his Williams contract where if Alan Jones was closing, Carlos was required to let him by. I think Carlos felt there was a prejudice and the team was working against him and in Alan’s favour, and you can understand why. Alan had the team in the palm of his hand because he was the kind of racing driver Williams wanted.
They didn’t want some sensitive South American who needed an arm putting around him.
He always seemed to choose the car that had won the championship that year, and then realise he’d made an error. He left Brabham to go to Ferrari in late 1976, he went to Lotus in 1979, so he was always a year or more out of step. When Carlos went to Ferrari, Niki Lauda told me that he turned around and said: “I’m going to f*** that guy.” And he did. That’s one of the
