McLaren bring SIX F1 cars as FIA bar British driver from race - Throwback

The 1992 Brazilian Grand Prix, on 5 April, at Interlagos, exposed the brutal reality of Formula 1's hierarchy in the starkest possible terms.

Whilst Williams dominated proceedings with their technologically superior FW14B, securing a commanding one-two finish with Nigel Mansell leading Riccardo Patrese across the line, the story unfolding in the paddock painted a vivid picture of a sport divided between the haves and the have-nots.

McLaren arrived at Interlagos with six cars. Andrea Moda could barely muster one.

The sight of the Woking-based squad unloading six chassis from their transporters, three of the new MP4/7A and three of the older MP4/6B, was unprecedented.

Reliability concerns plagued the newly developed MP4/7A, which had been rushed into service at the third round despite originally being scheduled to debut later in Barcelona.

An intensive testing programme at Silverstone had failed to iron out the car's teething issues, leaving the team with an uncomfortable choice between an old car that was too slow and a new one that was not working properly.

The strategy proved disastrous. Ayrton Senna's Honda V12 misfired intermittently throughout the race, cutting out as he struggled to maintain position whilst the Williams cars cruised 22 seconds clear by lap 10.

On lap 18, Senna drove straight into the garage, climbed out without a word, and walked away. His race was over.

Gerhard Berger fared even worse. An electronic gearbox fault on his race chassis during the warm-up lap forced a hasty switch to an MP4/6B for the start. He lasted just four laps before serious overheating issues ended his afternoon.

For a team whose previous models, the MP4/2, MP4/2B, MP4/3, MP4/4, and MP4/6, had each won on debut, this was an embarrassing nadir.

Perry McCarthy and the super licence farce

Whilst McLaren's troubles were at least self-inflicted, Perry McCarthy's weekend descended into bureaucratic absurdity through no fault of his own.

The British driver had joined Andrea Moda in March after the collapse of Group C racing, and IMSA left him with precious few options. He arrived in Brazil having secured his super licence through considerable personal sacrifice, having hocked himself to find the airfare to South America.

But on Thursday evening, the licence was physically taken from him.

The FIA revoked McCarthy's licence on a technicality following his failure to set a time in pre-qualifying, a session required for the slowest teams from the previous season.

With Roberto Moreno managing only two laps before his car expired, posting a glacial 1:38.569, fifth amongst six cars competing for four qualifying spots, Andrea Moda's weekend was effectively over.

Bernie Ecclestone would later intervene on the Briton's behalf, pressuring the World Motor Sport Council to reinstate the licence for subsequent events, but the damage was done. McCarthy would not compete in Brazil.

Andrea Moda's problems ran far deeper than one driver's licensing issues. The team had been excluded from the season opener in South Africa for failing to pay the mandatory $100,000 entry deposit.

In Mexico, neither car ran because the vehicles were still under construction. Original drivers Alex Caffi and Enrico Bertaggia had been dismissed after publicly criticising the team's lack of preparation.

Owner Andrea Sassetti, an Italian shoe designer with no racing experience, had paid $2 million for what McCarthy later described as a couple of old Coloni chassis, one rusty engine, a transporter that looked like an empty meat lorry and a couple of spanners.

By season's end, Sassetti would be arrested in the paddock at Belgium over allegations of forged auto parts invoices, leading to the team's expulsion from Formula 1.

Amati's final attempt

Whilst McCarthy watched from the sidelines, Giovanna Amati was enduring her own nightmare in the Brabham garage.

The Italian driver recorded a pre-qualifying time of 1:26.645, a gap of 10.942 seconds. In the main qualifying sessions, she lapped approximately 10 seconds slower than Mansell's pole position time, whilst team-mate Eric van de Poele was six seconds adrift.

Both Brabham drivers failed to qualify, but for Amati, the consequences were terminal. Brabham terminated her contract immediately after Brazil, replacing her with Damon Hill for the following race.

The Brazilian Grand Prix marked her third consecutive failure to qualify after South Africa and Mexico. It would prove her final attempt to qualify, making her the most recent female driver to enter a grand prix weekend, a distinction that still stands over three decades later.

Against this backdrop of chaos and disappointment, Williams simply got on with the business of winning.

Mansell started from pole position despite a poor getaway, reclaiming the lead when Patrese pitted on lap 31. The Englishman cruised to victory by 29.330 seconds over his team-mate, with both Williams drivers lapping the entire field save for third-placed Michael Schumacher in the Benetton-Ford.

The FW14B, equipped with active suspension, traction control, and semi-automatic transmission, was in a different performance category.

The technological advantage was so pronounced that Mansell and Patrese routinely gained approximately two seconds per lap over their rivals in the opening stages.

It was Formula 1's brutal meritocracy laid bare. Whilst Williams dominated with cutting-edge technology and flawless execution, McLaren gambled on six cars and lost, Andrea Moda couldn't field two functioning entries, and Amati's F1 dream ended.