Pick your classic grand prix - race five

How can the list not include 1996? Arguably Schumacher's finest drive.

1994! Always wanted to see the races with those ridiculous chicanes.

Its either got to be 1975 to see ground effect, technology beating out-spending, or 1994 for Hills cathartic win.

I'll go for 1975 please

1994 as that was a great race, but i'd like to see '77 as well.

@#3, Neilmurg
'75 isn't an option mate ;) '77 is however.
Out of those choices, my first option is 1994. Second option 1977.
Cheers Andrew!

77 then 88 for me.

For those wondering why the likes of 96 is not an option, check out the archives from this time last year (I think it has already been covered - along with 81, 86 ...)

As always thanks again Andrew. Really enjoying this.

1994 - Schumacher's finest race!!!

94 please Andrew, Damo is a god in my household and 77 was important for ground effect, but as you say, not the first time it was influential...cheers for the blog again, I look forward to the highlights!

Will the 2009 race only be included when the winner was Jenson Button? Seems to be the trend.

@1 Shaun McGoldrick Didn't last year's classic races have 1996?

I would say 1994, because I always love to see a awesome drive such as Schumacher's back in his heyday. I would also say 2009, because it was a perfect showing of how strategy can affect a race.

Not a very thrilling selection if the truth be known, I certainly can't remember anybody using the word classic after last year's race.

Let's go for 1977, with the technology angle.

C'mon guys 1994 is available elsewhere and is easy to find, let's have 1977 it's rare coverage! So as you can guess my vote is for 1977 with 1988 second.

How about 1981? Gilles Villeneuve in that terrible Ferrari holding off Lafitte, Reutemann, Jones and Watson. Five drivers finishing within one second and the winner drove the worst car! Classic stuff.

Senna and Mansell finishing neck and neck in 1987 (if I remember correctly) was pretty awesome as well.

Got to be 1977 for the beauty of the Lotus 78 and the JPs branding - a gorgeous machine. Also but good to see Gunnar Nilsson's 5th in the other Lotus, 2 races before his only win.

How can we forget the qualifying session for Jerez `97 ??
Three drivers posting an IDENTICAL pole time, how unbelievable was that, I thought Murray was going to have kittens. It set the race up like no other qualy session before or since

1977 please. The Lotus was a beautiful car which still looks great over 30 years later - look at the road cars of 1977! Mario was underrated too, probably because the car was so superior but he beat his team mate, the highly rated, Ronnie Peterson the following year to become world champion.

1994 Please, fantastic drives by both Hill and Schumacher

'94 or '96. Both amazing drives in very different ways.

To be honest Spanish GP's are particularly classic on the whole....odd exceptions of course!!!

Spain 1996, the greatest drive I have ever seen and arguably Schumacher's greatest win, in a car that was much slower than its championship rivals Williams. Perhaps the only drive of similar quality was Vettel's win in Monza for Toro Rosso.

So people can see: 1996 WAS SELECTED LAST YEAR AND CAN BE FOUND HERE: https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8034559.stm

1994 please.

how about jerez 1986? definitely like to see 1977, like the oldies and those Lotii where beautiful.

Andrew, apologies for being off topic, but - as and when the F1 tyres situation get sorted, it would be very interesting to see some stuff from the 2005 US Grand Prix (when the wrong tyre choice led to only 6 cars racing). It's never going to be worth "Highlights" in a feature like this, but I'd like to see how the commentators reacted to the news/start (and also the point that the Ferraris were told not to crash out). The politics behind it are also interesting.

My vote is for 1994 please
Please note people that 1981,1986,1991,1996,1997 have all been picked.

2009 is too recent but then again Andrew did say that all of last year's races will be picked.
1977 will not even get full highlights.
1988 is just for the domination of the McLaren team- Prost and Senna.

I'd like to see 1977 simply as it's rare to see F1 from that period and the introduction of the 78 was a seminal moment in F1 history introducing ground effects and paving the way for what to my )hopelessly biased!) mind was the best looking F1 car ever!! :)

It has to be '77.
If only the F1 cars today looked as stunning as the black and gold JPS Lotus cars.
Nice to see Lotus back in F1, but would have been even better to see them in a JPS style livery rather than the 60's green and gold - which is also great but lacks the kudos of the black and gold of my childhood. My Uncle, who is a bigger F1 nut than me, even had his car resprayed in the JPS colour scheme back then. Fantastic!
Highlights of the newer stuff, full on blast of the '77 race please!

'94, has to be.

1994 for me please

I'll have 1977 when formula one cars were pretty to look at rather than the formulaic we all look the same era.

1988

@ comment 20

Thank you

1994

It has to be 1994. Sick of the elderly ruining these polls by voting for races that occurred before some of us were born!

1994 please. It's one of only two grand prix I missed live in the last twenty years. The other was the '97 title showdown -- I sure can pick 'em!

1994 please andrew

'77 please. The cars and characters were so much more interesting in those days.

Although nothing can surpass the '81 race......

'77 would be great, it would give a chance to see the Tyrrell P34 in action as well as the Lotus.

1994 would be my pick!

For short highlights this approach makes sense, but for extended highlights this is a flawed system.

1991 and 1996 Spain stand head and shoulders above the selections here. It would have made more sense to cycle at least one of them back into the voting.

Of the choices provided 94 gets my vote.

1977 as a first choice - just to see those beautiful cars again.

1994 as a second choice, although it always brings back sad memories of the previous month's tragic events :(

1994 please Andrew. I was only 3 at the time this race happened but I remember my uncle raving about Schumi's drive while stuck in 5th gear a couple of years later, so it would be nice to see it.

I'm always going to vote for the older races, the cars were so awesome to watch and the DFV soundtrack to go with it. You rarely get a chance to see this footage.

@ 34 I'm 25 mate yet can recognise a golden era. Couldn't believe it when the early Monaco races didn't get voted in last year! Who wouldn't want to watch Moss, Hill, Brabham et al screaming round the classic track?

Oh 77 please :)

1994 please!

I'd go for 1977 purely as its quite rare footage, but probably a boring race.

1994 would be my second choice for Schueys drive and also the timing of the race after Senna's death.

Ideally, and i'd doubt the BBC have much footage, i'd love to see some highlights, however brief, of the old Montjuic circuit.

Keep up the good work Andrew, when this stuff gets onto Freeview (fingers crossed), its one of the major highlights of the bbc's coverage of the Grand Prix weekend.

I know it is not on the list, but 1973 would be the race for me. Fittipaldi won with a punctured tyre and Ronnie Peterson retired right in front of where I was standing.

1994 had a great drive by Schumacher but I want to see 1988 as I haven't seen this one.

Surely 1991 at Barcelona where Senna and Mansell almost touched going down the straight

oh 1986 where Senna beat Mansell just !

I can't believe 1991 was not one of the choices !

Of the choices above 1994 would get my fist choice followed by the 1988 race.

The year is 1977, the car, Colin Chapman's beautiful Lotus 78 with Mario Andretti at the wheel. Please let us see not only the best looking F1 car ever in my opinion, but the most groundbreaking (excuse the pun) tecnological F1 car anyone had ever seen. Yes my choice will be 1977

Andrew, I think my confusion stems from the fact I don't remember seeing the highlights from last years Chinese GP when the choices were broadcast on the red button service earlier this month.
Is that the case or not? Thanks.

I'd like to see the 1977 grand prix, not only do the cars look and sound beautiful but i've never watched a race from this era.

Prost 1988 all the way... masterful drive with Mansell on his case the whole race

1977 is my first choice (haven't seen it, sounds interesting) and the others follow in date order with most recent as my least favourite option.

@15: that was the European Grand Prix at Jerez, but i agree.

My choice is 1994.

@15 - Jerez 1997 was the European Grand Prix, not the Spanish event, so it doesn't qualify for this round.

How about 2001, with the drama of Hakkinen's clutch exploding on the last lap, handing the win to Schumacher? Proof if ever it were needed that the race isn't over until you take the chequered flag...

My pick would be 1977, for the reason of the chance to see some older footage. 1988 would be my second choice.

I would second the request for a glimpse at some action from Montjuich Park. That would be a treat. From the pictures that I have seen this is one of the most incredible ciruits, and to me seems to the best ciruit of the many that have hosted the Spanish Grand Prix.

1977 for sure! Very rare footage! 94 was great but is easy to find good footage on internet.

1977 for me, please. Cant get enough of that era. My reasons for choosing '77 is because I'm old enough to have seen all the other options, but '77 was two years after I was born, so not being old enough to remember that era, I cant get enough of it. Would be a shame not to show that one, as like I say, I remember all the other races.

Has to be 1996 it looked like a powerboat race but it bought out the best in Schumacher and Alasi.

Andrew, do you have full highlights of Spain 1977? I didn't the 'Grand Prix' show started until 1978, that's all.

If full highlights of 1977 are not available, I'll go for 1994. A welcome victory for Damon and Williams after a torrid couple of weekends. Was it Andrea Montermini who continued the trend of serious crashes that weekend? Whichever Simtek driver it was was lucky to escape with just a broken toe if memory serves. That chicane was indeed stupid, probably quite dangerous in itself actually. A couple more cropped up through the season along the back straight at Montreal, and then they turned Eau Rouge into a 2nd gearer! thankfully for 1 year only. Silverstone rushed through massive changes too; bit of a shame that the new for 1994 Abbey Chicane stayed forever. Glad to see it's a high-speed sweep again this year though, albeit a right-hander rather than a left!

At 61. Sorry Andrew but the race highlights for China were not shown on the red button service on the weekend of the Chinese GP. I know the choice was given on your blog but it was not broadcast, at least not when I watched... seems odd as that was the 1 Button didn't win.

"65. At 2:59pm on 27 Apr 2010, Kate Derby wrote:
At 61. Sorry Andrew but the race highlights for China were not shown on the red button service on the weekend of the Chinese GP. I know the choice was given on your blog but it was not broadcast, at least not when I watched... seems odd as that was the 1 Button didn't win."

None of the 2009 highlights have been shown on the red button loop. All 2009 options have been linked from the blogs though becasue they were put straight up after the races.

94 for me. I would like to see Schumies drive again, as I was not paying much attention at the time having lost heart after the loss of Senna.

Though I do remember Murray's comments along the lines of: "Our relay of the telemetry has gone wrong as it is showing Schumachers car in 5th gear all the time; yet he is maintaing a strong pace."

I'll go for 1977 simply because I've never seen Jarama and this is an opportunity to do so!

I remember the '94 race in so far as Schumacher's drive was quite brilliant but the race itself was otherwise not particularly memorable (no Mansell/Senna-esque wheel to wheel moments at 200mph, etc.) and as mentioned it suffer from the overreaction that aflicted the sport after Senna's death.

Its hard to see them on the Red Button on Freeview anyway seeing as the powers that be have taken away channel 302 for the BBCHD channel (That no one can get on Freeview!!!!!!!!) And if when they are on anyone who wants to watch them is asleep as there on at daft o'clock.

Actually, come to think of it, Andrew would it be possible next year to have a chance to see one of the races held at Montjuïc Park? Maybe this was a choice offered last year although I missed last years selection.

1977 please Andrew.

1994 gets my vote, great race and tyrrells last podium!!

1994 gets my vote.

1988 simply one of prosts great drives followed very closely by 77 and 94

2009 should not be included. Its just cos Jenson Button won it, BBC being bias again towards him. 2008 Australian GP was an amazing race better than 09 but they didn't put it on cos Jenson won the 09 one.

Hardly a classic selection! But as this race is normally dull as hell it must of been a tough choice. I would go for 2009 but as its a bit to recent I will go for 1994. On another note, why do people continue to give are TV channels, ITV and BBC, so much stick for supporting the British drivers? We are in the middle of a golden age for F1 and the UK, can we not just try to enjoy it? Just a thought..

Not really a choice for me got to be 94! Damon was simply amazing and the emotion in the williams garage still brimgs a tear to my eyes. For those who don't know it was their first win since the events of Imola

frankly I find it hard to understand why any GP from 2009 from the first 5 races has been classic, just because Jenson won? wow...... a good victory but classic? :S i barely remember them.

1977 please

1977 with the classic Chapman Lotus please. Iconic car.

For me it has to be 1994, a very emotional win for Williams after the horror of Imola.

Hay it's like the election too close to call...
1994 and 1977 voting is very, very close. So I'd like to think because there has been a three week break we could have 1994 the winner please and still show the 1977 race if it's true that's not full high lights, I'm Sorry I was a Damon Hill fan and to see him win that race after the tragic events at Imola would be a great tonic. Also 1996 was shown last year as the winner (?) So I'm voting for 1994.

Also would the BBC consider a voting system in which you click on your choice? however it is nice reading peoples comments.

I'm guessing 1977 footage is similar to the broadcast of the Argentine GP a while back in that it wasn't the proper BBC "Grand Prix" footage?

Perhaps Andrew would like to clarify?

In that case full highlights of 1994 please

PS I don't think the BBC are being biased towards JB in having last year's race as part of the selection. I'm guessing they will have EVERY 2009 race throughout the year. So all you anti-JB fans can rejoice once we get past Turkey...

1977 please, screaming cossie V8s, flat 12 Ferrari's and Alfas, four wheel drifting, late breaking, overtaking, a Wolf, JPS 78s, P34s, Hesketh, Surtees, Shadow, Ensign, Hunt, Lauda, Scheckter, and the dawning of a new era thanks to Chapman and at the Brit GP Renault and the, yuck, turbo, the lists could go on 1977 please.

It does really depend on what's available for the 1977 race, if it's more than 10 mins then I'd like to vote for that, but for a guaranteed extended highlights package, I'd vote for 1994, is that allowed?

The three I was really hoping for weren't listed (87, 91 and 92), but I think 91 may have been shortlisted last year but not picked for extended highlights - I hope this doesn't automatically mean any that were shortlisted but not chosen last year don't have a chance of being chosen again?

Oh sorry, 1991 was definitely shortlisted last year, me bad!!

1994 without a doubt - lets remind people how good schumacher was - is - and will be again soon!

Apologies for getting on your case, Andrew. I only discovered this blog recently so I didn't know you had already featured my favorite races last year. Keep up the good work.

i loved last years grand prix
button drove fantastically and dominated throughout

I know I make this point at every race now, but you need to look at what the "prize" is for the winning race - it's the full highlights programme. All the races get short highlights. But for some races full highlights aren't available so if one of these races "wins", it just means that we only get short highlights and all races lose. It would be a win in name only.

It's been made clear before that ITV races don't get full highlights, so that's 2006 out. Not sure about 1977 - other people have suggested that it might only get the short highlights.

Andrew will know of course! So Andrew - you know it makes sense - if 1977 wins the "vote" but there are only short highlights available, don't let it win. That way everyone would lose out. There would be nothing gained from it.

Cheers!

1994 please. Another one worth watching is 2006, when Alonso took his win in Spanish territory.

2003 and 2006 please, great drives by fernando alonso and he has become spains protagonist of motor racing.

1994 please.

I too would like to see 1994, what about 93? It would be good to see some more races with Michael Andretti in it. (I'm not a fan of him, I just feel that that year has been rejected). Also Andrew, Do you think you could edit your blog to mention Ratzenbergers death at the Imola 94 GP please? It wasn't just Senna that was tragically killed at that event.

1994 for certain!

This one is an absolute no-brainer! Great choices, Andrew.

Without a shadow of a doubt, it has to be 1994 all the way. For anybody that is slating Michael Schumacher at the minute, just watch this absolute masterclass. Most of the race stuck in fifth gear, doesn't lose much speed, and still finishes a magnificent second.

Plus Coulthard's first Grand Prix, Mark Blundell scoring Tyrrell's last podium finish and the stupid tyre chicane at the top of the circuit. Shame the full race isn't an option.

Hi

The 1977 would be my choice nice to Andretti and the black & gold Lotus again.

2003 and 2006 get my vote!
Fernando Alonso put Spain on the premiership of motorsport and F1. It meant the culmination of a strong minded and wilful young driver´s career. The blue coloured crowds (in honour of Asturias, Fernando´s homeland and Renault) will remain in the memory of the Spanish GP for ever and what a brilliant driver Fernando has indeed proved to be.

1977

2006 gets my vote!