Hello Scott! Let's net some of those butterflies!

Mclaren. Where did they go? You have Ron Dennis' Project 4 going into Tyrrell, why? Click to expand...

McLaren became more of a constructor along the lines of March Engineering in OTL. The three of the men who would have created March, Alan Rees, Graham Coker and Robin Herd, all eventually would find their way to McLaren. March was never formed.

The fourth, Max Mosley, met Bernie Eccelstone at a meeting of interested parties among the teams at the end of the 1969 season. Mosley became Eccelstone's legal man, just like he did in OTL.

Project 4 got together with Mclaren because they were both sponsored by Marlboro. Click to expand...

By the late 70s McLaren was looking at being more of an automotive technology consultant firm and a customer builder than a forming a full-on race team. Seeing this, Ron Dennis' Project 4 needed a place to become a team and compete, and Ken Tyrrell needed a title sponsor.

Ron Dennis and Ken Tyrrell were a marriage of convenience.

I really can't see a fiercely independent leader like Ken Tyrrell letting Ron Dennis takeover, nor can I see Ron working under someone of such a different style to himself. Click to expand...

On the Tyrrell side of the ledger, Uncle Ken is independent but he's also a pragmatist. Blue cars with just Tyrrell on them and Elf stickers getting smaller every year weren't going to get it done. Ron Dennis brought a sack of pounds with him. However this was not a takeover, but and equal partnership.

Or at least the legal agreements drawn out by each man's solictors said so.

On Ron Dennis' side, Tyrrell has a good organization on the ground that can be assimilated into. Since McLaren's intrests were more diversified towards the customer/development role and with an eye towards more on the manufacturing end, Dennis needed take his ball to a new pitch.

The big variable is the FISA-FOCA War.

In OTL, FISA vs. FOCA was a lot of threats and one split event and a short driver's strike, but it was also more sound and fury signifying nothing,

But ITTL, Bernie Eccelstone and Max Mosley had a situation where they were able to drum up an greater wave of driver and popular support. The Grand Prix Drivers Association, under the leadership of Francois Cervert was more organized and wielded more power than in the OTL. The Drivers were pushing from an agreement regarding "Rights and Conduct" andEccelstone played upon this.

What also helped Eccelstone position is a key divergence. Colin Chapman, the head of Lotus, sighting the technical changes FOCA wanted to make (limits on aerodynamics skirts, greater parity between volume manufacturers and race constructors), siding with FISA on a number of matters (a quid pro quo to curry favor with Renault to receive turbo power it was later found out). McLaren also expressed sympathy with Jean-Marie Balestre's point of view. Mainly because of the growing relationships between McLaren and the larger automakers it was consulting with.

The result, Eccelstone and Mosley called in a lot markers. Track owners were running to their contracts to see what the hell was going on..It was a mess...And it would be a mess for the next three years.

Ultimately after a furious amount of court actions across the European Economic Community and a few in North America in 1979 and 1980, which delayed the start of 1980 season by 70 days. It was decided that each track could make a choice. They could not hold a race. They could choose one of governing bodies...OR both of them. In short...figure it out.

FISA held two huge markers -- Monaco...and in 1980, FISA rearranged the calendar to brig traditionalist fans to their side. The season opened at Monte Carlo, and actually got a solid field of 16 teams...including a number of smaller teams that were giving immediate approval.

They also had MONZA. Two of the glamour spots in F1, both firmly in FISAs series.

FOCA however held a marker, too. Formula 1's "ancestral home" -- The United Kingdom. Officials at Silverstone and Brands Hatch made their feelings known quickly..FOCA Formula 1 series ONLY! Plus, they worked to leverage as many races outside of Britain as possible. FOCA got a major coup by both Watkins Glen and Long Beach signing with FOCA. For both tracks it proved to be a boon.

FISA had the tracks, some big names and the glamour, but Jean-Marie weakness as far as the marketing showed up in a fantastic way. And drivers such as Gilles Villenueve and Francois Cervert continually pointed that our.

FOCA had a bevy of telegenic stars and had friends in high places. Eccelstone found warm support from a nationalistic Westminster that saw FISA as "More bloody European interference hindering Britain."

In 1982, FOCA got the linchpin ally that brought both sides to the table. Former world champion-turned-industrialist Dan Gurney, who was finalizing negotiations to acquire a good deal of the British auto industry offered to mediate, citing his 1978 "white paper" that restructured Indianapolis-type racing in the U.S. as a template.

To make the long story short, three years of splits negotiations, and name calling nearly wrecked Formula 1, but ended up making Bernie Eccelstone a bigger player than he was in the OTL (and would also sow the seed of his downfall..buts that's different story).

On December 5, 1982, the Eccelstone-Balestre Agreement (ITTL's "Concorde Agreement") was signed and ratified by all the competing teams for the 1983 season. 1983 would be a common schedule, and ultimately would be the compromises that would shape Formula 1 for the next 20 years. As I write this the next Eccelstone-Balestre Agreement is in primary discussions. All sides are very optimistic that the team principals and FOA Chairman Damon Hill and his negotiating team will be ready to annouce a new agreement at New Kylami next March.

Ferrari don't seem successful enough to me, any reason? Click to expand...

Actually Ferrari was more competitive ITTL, but so was all of Formula 1. A lot of small teams were buying McLaren M23 kits, not March 731 kits, and winning with them.

Ferrari did walk out of the decade with 3 Constructors Championship and 2 drivers, also Jacky Ickx won more races in ITTL, then he did in OTL, in part because he sacrificed a bit of his endurance career to drive the hell out of early 1970s Ferrari F1 cars that weren't very good but he was winning with them. Similar to the OTL, Niki Lauda was very competitive in the next generation 312T mounts in 1975 and 1976 and 1977 (narrowly losing to Hunt in '75, dethroning Hunt in '76 narrowly losing to A.J. Foyt in '77 -- and that is another variable..the F1 talent level was above the level OTL)

Also another thing to consider: No Jody Scheckter (OTL '79 World Champion for Ferrari), and you can thank Francois Cevert for that.

South Africa was banned from FIA motorsports championships in a similar fashion to how the nation was banned from International rugby. That ban began in 1976, and the ban went one step further. A native-born South Africa could emigrate to Britain, but he won't Zola Budd his or her way (sorry Desire Wilson) to a FISA license. Scheckter tried to do that. But don't feel too sad for Jody. He had a very good career in IndyCar and now he and he son Tomas are preparing to make their debut in Formula 1 as the proud owners of Team Springbok Grand Prix. Coming to a GP near you in '12

Ferrari in the 1980s won two drivers championships ITTL, that's two more than Ferrari did in the OTL 1980s. Granted one of those was in the FISA split season, but every racing pundit and expert agreed that Gilles Villenueve would have rolled to a championship if the 1982 season was a united F1 season.

Ferrari's success in the late 80s came more in IndyCar racing in the United States, and that may have hurt Ferrari in the 1990s. Also consider, No Michael Schumacher in Maranello

Mercedes kept their golden boy and in turn dumped a lot of their resources on Eddie Jordan, the result?...Eddie Jordan's team wasn't underfunded but plucky. They were plucky, fun and full of Deutschmarks, and they spent well. Plus Mercedes was technically ready, because of another key point Mercedes Benz never left motorsports They did draw down committment in the 1960s to focus more on cars people buy and on racing related to cars people buy. But Mercedes still kept an ear to racing, and they worked on racing projects as a subcontractor, but they got a push in the late 1970s by the immense success they were seeing from Porsche and Audi. M-B didn't want to get left behind, so they dove back into it hard ITTL 1984, and by 1988, there were among the front of the grid in endurance racing and well on the way in lower single seaters.

They also developed a young pipeline of German talent. ITTL, Mercedes was pushing to build a German World Champion, and they had a promising set of brothers called Michael and Ralf.

It was Michael Schumacher who was the golden child and when he went to Jordan, Mercedes went with him with a ready V-10 package designed and built by Penske-Ilmor.

s much as I like the guy, Zanardi was never good enough to be a champion in F1 Click to expand...

Put Zanardi in a competitive Grand Prix car, and Michael Schumacher would get scared in a hurry. Alessandro Zanardi had the balls and the touch to win. Regardless of your talent level you have to have good equipment, and even Frank Williams admitted, the Williams Zanardi drove for him in OTL wasn't up to scratch.

Zanardi with Ross Brawn at Ferrari circa 2001? On quite a few Sunday afternoons the question would be, "Who's finishing second behind Alex Zanardi?"

Since I've written into the 1990s anyway, I'll explain how Jackie Stewart owns a team, Jeff Gordon is a champion, AND how Lewis Hamilton got here. All three of these events are connected.

First Ken Tyrrell and Ron Dennis had a good run. They won the last Jim Clark Cup as FOCA Champs in 1982 thanks to Tiff Needell, who had a very solid career with 12 career wins and 3 LeMans victories. He stills races from time to time, but you see him very often on your telly. He has a very successful chat show on Channel Five. Think of a really hyper and comedic cross between Jeremy Paxman and Peter Snow, and you'll get an idea of who the ITTL's Tiff Needell is.

Tyrrell Project Four won in '85 Keke Rosberg who said that dealing with Ron Dennis was biggest mess he dealt with in his life, and he escaped to NASCAR because it was so bad. In 1987 Nigel Mansell took home the world championship, but also left because he just didn't like Ron Dennis...but then again, who did Nigel like?

The Dennis-Tyrrell relationship couldn't last on pragmatism forever, plus Tyrrell was looking to get out of Formula 1 and retire by the 1990s, but he didn't want to leave his team in hands of the who he nicknamed "Ron Dennis Oswald Mosley"

Enter Jackie Stewart. His son Paul was owning and racing in British Formula Three. Also enter Jackie's good friend George Harrison, who was an avid racing fan and wanted to invest in Formula 1. It seems he had some spare Beatles money that doing nothing.

Stewart was putting together the contacts to built his own F1 team. Ken Tyrrell tried to talk him out of it, but Stewart wanted to press on. Tyrrell was beginning discussion of selling his interest in the team to Stewart.

When Ron Dennis got wind of it, he moved quickly to try and force a takeover of the team. What ensued was over two years of court fights that hurt the team on track, but In 1994 and deal was struck.

Ron Dennis was paid to leave. Jackie Stewart was majority owner of the team, and Ken Tyrrell retired.

Out of respect and love for the man who gave him his start, the team was renamed Stewart/Tyrrell Grand Prix Engineering.

As all this was going on in Britain, there was young kid who moved from his home in California to Indiana around 1989, to be closer to the USAC racing scene. The young lad had Indianapolis dreams and a lot of talent . By 1991, Jeff Gordon was dominating on dirt and asphalt, and Ford Motor Company had him under a development contract.

The question is? Where do we put him. There aren't many good open seats in IndyCar. Ford racing in 1990s limited their technology to a few teams. They stressed quality over quantity. They didn't nor want the entire field in Ford-Cosworths or 25-30 NASCAR Thunderbirds in the field.

Jeff Gordon, even with a lot of talent, couldn't get in the door.

Ford was pointing him toward NASCAR, and he did compete in the 1992 NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) Series, but again, it was the same deal. None of the frontline Ford teams where willing to take a chance on the rookie, even one with Gordon's talent.

One of NASCAR maverick owners put an offer onthe table. Rick Hendrick wanted to sign the kid to drive for an expanded team in 1993. Ford officials were scared. They'd lose a special talent to their biggest rival, Chevrolet.

In OTL Stewart made it public that he was looking at Gordon around 1991 to consider having his son's team campaign him in British Formula Three. Gordon turned him down. He wanted to stay in the states.

ITTL, Jackie Stewart made the offer and Gordon jumped on it. Driving for Paul Stewart Racing, he was a solid 4th place in the standings in the British Formula Three Series in 1993. In 1994, he moved up to F3000 and was 3rd in in the standings with 4 series victory. Gordon also did an impressive set of tests with the new Stewart/Tyrrell in 1994.

The stage was set for Stewart/Tyrrell Grand Prix '95.

The drivers were veteran Brazillian Rubens Barrichello ,and American rookie Jeff Gordon.

However, before Gordon began his Formula 1 journey, Ford had an idea to get some buzz for him in America.

They entered Jeff Gordon in 1995 Daytona 500, driving a third entry for the successful Yates-Kulwicki-Allison Racing Team. YKA was leading a period of Ford dominance in NASCAR, and Jeff Gordon added his name to it.

Gordon won his Twin 125-mile qualifying heat and started 3rd in the grid. On race day, Gordon led 127 laps and passed Sterling Marlin on the final lap to win the 1995 Daytona 500.

The next week Gordon was participating in the final F1 Preseason test at Estoril, Portugal, and there was a lot of buzz generated.

At first, at lot of European fans looked down their nose on the American, and his pedigree on dusty backwater dirt tracks.

But people who knew racing and knew history saw the stuff of past American grand prix stars in Jeff Gordon.

"This kid lacks the sense of entitlement that plagued Michael Andretti. He has the raw Mozart-like talent Salieris like Eddie Cheever or John Paul Jr. could only dream of. Dismiss this young American at your peril. You just may find yourself with egg on your face, like a few NASCAR experts did after Daytona." -- Nigel Roebuck in Autosport..March 13, 1995 Click to expand...

Gordon learned quickly in 1995 and 1996, and it came together 1997. The Stewart/Tyrrell-Ford package was close to the level of the dominant Jordan package and ahead of the Ferrari, Williams and Prost EuroFrance teams.

Jeff Gordon and Michael Schumacher waged a pitched confrontation around the world, that ended with Schumacher trying to crash him in the season's final race at the 1997 European Grand Prix. Gordon fought off Schumacher and won the championship. It was a victory not just for Gordon or Stewart or Ford, but it was another sign that the growing push to develop talent that was fostered by Mercedes works. Ford put more into their driver development programmes as a result.

And the Ford development program in the UK, got news of a special kid in Stevenhage around the time Jeff Gordon was starting out.

As Jeff Gordon rose, so did this young British kid, and the youngster became a fan of the rookie from America.

They met at a karting award banquet where Jackie was presenting in 1995. The confident ten-year-old introduced himself...

"Hi, I'm Lewis Hamilton...and I want to drive for you someday Mr. Stewart and want to be your teammate, Mr. Gordon."

When Gordon clinched the 1997 championship, this kid was watching on BBC 1, hearing Murray Walker sing his praises. (ITTL The Beeb never lost the Television Contract)

The Tyrrell Tradition Continues!!!!! Stewart, Cevert, Rosberg, Mansell...and now you can add an American flavor, Jeff Gordon!!! Click to expand...

Jackie Stewart never forgot the kid and neither did Jeff Gordon. In 1998, Ford Motor Company and small investment firm called Gordon-Evernham Enterprises starting giving technical and financial support to a young, black kid in Stevenhage with dreams of hope and glory.

The rest was history.

At the season opening Australian Grand Prix in 2007, Jeff Gordon started in position #2 on the grid.

Lewis Hamilton, Gordon's teammate, was on the pole position.

"How does Prodrive get a team? In OTL they only considered having one if it had been legal to buy a Mclaren car lock stock and barrel. Click to expand...

1. David Richards didn't try to "cheat" ITTL. He pulled his rally people together, got together with some knowledgable F1 people trying to get Lotus F1 going again and in 1999 started working on designs from an F1 project.

2. Find somebody with deep pockets and big ambitions....Deep pockets? Big Ambitions? It seems the people who own Lotus have those things.

The next thing you know, David Richards is at a corporate office in Kuala Lumpur.

Deep pocket and big ambition, thy name is "Proton".

British know-how+ Malaysian money=what BAR could have been

Prodrive was on the grid in 2002 and was surprisingly solid. In 2004, the had become much like OTL Brawn GP, thanks to a lot of rules uncertainty. Richards' team found the loopholes and ProDrive-Proton found it had a competitive advantage.

This is why Damon Hill wants the next Eccelstone-Balestre Agreement to be air tight. The big teams hate loopholes. That hasn't stopped Prodrive Lotus-Proton from being competitive, but they are still straining to find someone that can carry them back to the top.

And what happened to Red Bull?

ITTL, Red Bull put the PR dollars in rallying and X-games exclusively. They didn't think they'd get as a big a bang for their Euro in Formula 1.

Sebastian Vettel would still get to F1, anyway. Danke Schon, Mercedes Benz.

Vettel came through the Mercedes development program, and was their next golden boy. Michael Schumacher was one of the people who looked at him early on, and there are many more to come according to Schumacher, who now runs the Mercedes Driver Development Programme.