BRM's H16 was essentially two 180-degree V8s stacked on top of each other. It's no surprise it didn't work.

For the 1966 F1 season, maximum engine displacement was increased from 1.5 liters to 3.0 liters. British engine builder BRM had success with its 1.5-liter V8s, but it decided to adapt to the 3.0-liter regulations in the oddest way possible, sinking Team Lotus's hopes for a championship in the process. This is the strange story of the BRM H16.

Sometimes the "H" designation is used to signify a flat engine, but BRM's H16 was no flat-sixteen. As Drivetribe explains in this video on Jim Clark's 43, the engine was two 180-degree V8s (derived from BRM's 1.5-liter) sat on top of each other. Essentially, it was two engines, each with its own crankshaft, stacked on top of one another and geared together. It also had eight camshafts.

BRM's engineers figured that by taking a proven engine design and quite literally doubling it, they'd have a hit on their hands. The BRM H16 made around 420 hp, but it was much heavier than any of the V8s and V12s on the grid, and 16 cylinders meant that it required a lot of fuel and fluids to run.

It wasn't reliable, either, only managing to finish one race, the 1966 US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. That Jim Clark managed to win that race was a testament to his incredible sense of mechanical sympathy.

BRM seems to have given up on the H16 for the 1967 season, refocusing its efforts on more-traditional V8s and V12s. Lotus switched to Cosworth engines that year, with the Ford-badged DFV 3.0-liter V8, which went on to become the most successful F1 engine of all time.

So, the Lotus 43 and the BRM H16 was a failure, but a truly fascinating failure. Engine design doesn't really get much crazier, and to Drivetribe's Michael Fernie, the story of the 43 and the H16 is a perfect way to encapsulate Jim Clark's genius. Even when saddled with sub-par equipment, the Scottish legend could shine.

​​​​​​“Another big part of my success is that I hated not to finish a race”.

According to Bernie Ecclestone Prost has been the best Formula 1 driver of all time: "Michael (Schumacher) had many advantages, a strong team and team mates who helped him. And for a time, it was the same for Senna as well. Prost, instead, has never enjoyed these privileges. He has always had competitive team mates, like Senna. Therefore, even though it’s hard to choose, I’d say Prost”.

Taken from a 1960s German documentary shot in 70mm, this is a remarkable look at one of F1's greatest eras.

So much film and imagery from mid-century racing is in black and white, which is why this clip from the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix is so stunning. It's taken from a German documentary film Flying Clipper (which was released in the US as Mediterranean Holiday) that's been recently re-released on in 4K quality. The rest of the film is about traveling through the Mediterranean by sailboat, but the part we care about, the racing bit, is now on YouTube in HD. We can't stop watching.

Flying Clipper was the first German movie shot in 70mm, and it must have taken a lot of work. In this short clip of the Monaco GP, there's simulated race footage shot from a moving car, and actual race footage with tons of vantage points across the circuit. There's even a helicopter shot.

It's a remarkable look at one of the greatest eras in racing, complete with appearances from so many legendary drivers and cars. We're just going to keep watching this over and over.

Stories about Juan Manuel Fangio, the greatest Formula One driver ever, are pretty well-trod at this point—there’s the famous 1957 German Grand Prix win, the fact that he was in his forties in his prime, the fact that he won 24 of the 51 grands prix he competed in. Less talked about is just how terrifying those races were.

The Maserati 250F Fangio drove in that German Grand Prix win made 270 horsepower from its six-cylinder, or enough to go nearly as fast as modern racecars (in a straight line, at least.) What was different was the downforce, tires, and brakes. The car produced little to no downforce, had far inferior brakes, and had tires that were as grippy as an ice cube.

There’s an honest debate over who is the greatest F1 driver of all-time. You could argue for Ayrton Senna, of course, but I’ve always preferred Fangio, if only because he had more success with crappier tools, and a much higher degree of risk.

I mean, just look at how much sliding Fangio does on a turn at Autodroma di Modena in his Maserati 250F.

And now watch him at Monaco the year before:

I mean, damn:

The car’s all over the place, on every turn.

Of all the old Fangio videos, though, the one that truly frightens me is this one:

Fangio at times seems to be literally wrestling the car into submission, all at breathtaking speeds.

Fangio’s greatest race is his win at the Nürburgring in 1957, when he set nine lap records in his Maserati 250F, including seven in successive laps, to overtake Mike Hawthorn and win the German Grand Prix.

He said afterward that he had “conquered” the ‘Ring, and that the experience on the whole was absolutely terrifying.

Fangio had clinched the driver’s championship at the ‘Ring, and would only race four more F1 grands prix before retiring at the age of 47 in 1958. He lived until he was 84.

Determining the best Formula One lap ever is answering a big question. One far greater than I have the knowledge for, but maybe one of you might know.

The first lap that comes to my mind is Ayrton Senna’s qualifying laps at Monaco. In 1988, Senna put his car on pole and was 1.4 seconds quicker than his teammate Alain Prost! The following year he was equally as fast, and there’s something really special about watching Senna row through gears on a manual gearbox while tearing up Monaco.

But is that the best drive ever? The best lap of Formula One? Others say the best drive happened back in 1979 with the final moments of the French Grand Prix, when Villeneuve and Arnoux battled for the lead:

It might be Senna’s opening lap at Donnington in 1993, where he started 4th on the grid in the rain. You have to admit that his move around the outside at the 1:30 minute mark is awesome!

My personal favorite lap of F1 goes way back to 1957. I think it has to be Juan Manuel Fangio’s final laps of the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. At the start, Fangio realized the Ferrari’s were going to run enough fuel for the entire race, so Fangio decided to run stickier tires and less fuel—but that would mean a pit stop which ended up nearly costing him the race. He was in the lead by 30 seconds when he came in for fuel and tires, but the left rear mechanic lost his wheel nut (you can see it in the video) and cost Fangio over a minute in the pits.

He rejoined the race in third place, but in the next 10 laps, Fangio reset the lap record nine times to pass Hawthorne and Collins and win the race. His final pass on Hawthorne was said to be half on the grass and half on the track as he went flying by.

“I have never driven that quickly before in my life and I don’t think I will ever be able to do it again,” Fangio remarked. I think Fangio’s is the greatest drive ever during a Grand Prix race. What’s your favorite lap?

He's interviewed heroes like Jeff Gordon, Dario Franchitti, Sebastien Loeb, Mario Andretti and more, asking them to recount their biggest failures in unflinching detail.

Formula 1 reporter Will Buxton is putting the finishing touches on his first book. In 20 interviews captured over the past year with some of motor racing’s biggest names, the Briton has asked legends of F1, NASCAR, IndyCar, WRC, and Le Mans to steer clear from reverie and rose-colored memories.

"The premise of the book, which is titled My Greatest Defeat, is asking them to explore the moment they hit rock bottom," Buxton told Road & Track. "It could be in racing, or their personal lives, and it was fascinating to sit in front of these legends and have them embrace something we’re only coming to accept today, which is it’s okay for men to struggle, to not be alright, and to confront the fact that you can get to these incredibly low places.

Buxton chatted with Alain Prost, Jeff Gordon, Rick Mears, Tom Kristensen, Jimmie Johnson, Dario Franchitti, Emanuele Pirro, Sebastien Loeb, Derek Bell, Ari Vatanan, Emerson Fittipaldi, Carlos Sainz, Mario Andretti, Alex Zanardi, Damon Hill, and more for the book.

"To see these heroes admit they’ve been through their own ordeals and come out the other side to reach incredible successes … it taught me an awful lot about myself while showing a different side of drivers with such immense stature," he said. "It’s been an amazing journey."

Having completed the editing process for interviews spanning nearly 100,000 words, Buxton is finalizing graphics amd artwork for the book created by one of his favorite DC and Marvel comic book talents. Once he’s done, the last step in bringing My Greatest Defeat to market is finding a publisher.

"I have it at a stage where we’re pretty much ready to offer it to publishers," he added. "I have an amazing illustrator on board named Giuseppe Camuncoli who, for fans of graphic novels and comic books, has done The Amazing Spider-Man, Hellblazer, Wolverine, and other titles. He’s done amazing art for each chapter, and we’re ready to go.

"Whether it works as a motorsports book, or an everyday book, the depths that they’ve gone through with injuries, depression, addictions … it’s something that I’m proud of. I’ve been searching for a topic to write on during my 16 or 17 years in the sport, and this one really resonated with me."

Spa Francorchamps, longtime home of the Belgian Grand Prix, is a tricky circuit, but today, it's nothing compared to what it used to be. Originally, the circuit was nine miles long and used many public roads before it was shortened to four miles of dedicated track in 1979. Jackie Oliver, the Le Mans winner who drove for McLaren in 1971, explains it well in this video from the British supercar maker.

Much of the public-road portion of Spa was fast and blind, Oliver said. Drivers would enter some corners at 170 mph, before having to track out across a heavily cambered road. This required smooth hands and feet. "If you made a mistake, you'd either collect a tree, or end up on wet grass at 180 mph," Oliver says.

"Spa was not safe," recalls Alastair Cadwell, Bruce McLaren's race engineer. "There were cows, farm houses, telegraph poles. . ."

McLaren made this video to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its first F1 victory, which came with McLaren himself driving at this circuit. The 1968 Belgian Grand Prix was a glorious preview of things to come for the McLaren team, which despite its recent F1 troubles, comes second only to Ferrari in terms of F1 victories.

But given what Oliver tells us about the original Belgian Grand Prix circuit, it wasn't an easy win for Bruce.

“The Power and the Glory: Senna, Prost and F1’s Golden Era” reviewed