Damon Hill - Hungaroring 1997

[Jax Humanhater]

I remember watching clips of the '97 Hungarian Grand Prix; Damon Hill blew right past Schumacher for the lead because most teams made the wrong tyre choices that day.

When Hill was on his way to a victory, his Arrows's gearbox started ailing.

Do you think his gearbox failed because the Arrows was not built to win races like Villeneuve's Williams or Schumacher's Ferrari, and the transmission was burdened every lap?

 

[Hampus Andersson]

How can the gearbox know what position it´s in? "Gearbox: oh now we are up to 1st, destroy."

Or are you saying the gearbox in the car was never ment to complete a full race distance?
Which would mean they had to retire from every single race.

 

[Vinicius Ferreira]

Bad luck, it wasnt to be his day, but he had a lot of good luck in Belgium 1998 with Jordan.

 

[Manuel De Samaniego]

How can the gearbox know what position it´s in? "Gearbox: oh now we are up to 1st, destroy."

LOL hahaha, good one

it was bad luck, he could have taken a great win but bad luck

 

[Jax Humanhater]

How can the gearbox know what position it´s in? "Gearbox: oh now we are up to 1st, destroy."

Or are you saying the gearbox in the car was never ment to complete a full race distance?
Which would mean they had to retire from every single race.

I did not think the Arrows's gearbox was high-end and durable like the Williams and Ferrari gearboxes.

NOTE - To Vinicius,

As much as I refrain from believing in luck, fortune and omens, these kinds of disasters are human error 99.99% of the time.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

So you did not think it would last a race distance?

 

[Jax Humanhater]

So you did not think it would last a race distance?

I did not exactly say it would not last race distance; I said the gearbox was not built for race-winning cars like the Arrows, a well-known low-budget team.

 

[David Carter]

I always thought it was a throttle problem

 

[Ho3n3r]

It was a hydraulic washer that failed which apparently cost less than a $ or something ridiculous like that.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

I did not exactly say it would not last race distance; I said the gearbox was not built for race-winning cars like the Arrows, a well-known low-budget team.

ok but how do the gearbox know it will win a race?

You are aware that the gearbox is put under equal stress from start to finish, it doesn´t really matter if your first, middle or last, either the gearbox holds (as it should) or it will break.
It has nothing to do with wins or positions.

 

[Chris Cronshaw]

I think Mohammed is saying maybe Arrows found them selves in a position they never expected to be in. And once at that stage it was push or bust.
E.g "were first now the gearbox isn't used this race winning pace put let's just stick with it and see what happens. If we drive within our means then we drop out of the points anyway so go for it."

Either way Damon Hill pulled off one of the great drives in that race and earned Arrows a great pay day with his 2nd position.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

It´s Formula 1, gearboxes are made to last one race distance easily.
But techincal problems occur even today, nothing weird about that.

 

[Markus Neumann]

Running in front of the pack can have an impact on the car. Just think of Nico Rosberg at Shanghai last year. Mercedes didn't think he would be able to fight for victory/a podium finish, so they didn't put as much fuel in the car (ironically, you could argue that this is what allowed him to get to the front in the first place).
I guess that it could be in some way also be conceivable that a gearbox might be used differently if the car is running beyond its capability. When you are in the middle of the pack, you might be shifting less aggressively. Plus, back then, refueling was still allowed and the amount of fuel carried by the car might be different if the team changes its strategy due to its unexpected position at the front. A heavier car might be harder on the gearbox. Additionally, back then, gearboxes really only did last one race.
Still, the OP's theory seems kind of unlikely.
Again, I have to say though: Mohammed, you have quite an exotic taste for picking topics