Vintage F1 cars at Yas Marina Circuit
Vintage F1 cars at Yas Marina Circuit Image Credit: Supplied

Yas Marina Circuit has announced that Formula 1 will display nine heritage cars from the past 70 years at the 2021 season finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Located at the F1 Fanzone in Main Oasis, racegoers can step back in time to explore an impressive collection of vintage F1 cars to showcase how the sport has evolved and technology has developed over the past seven decades to the new modern-day car.

Among the cars on display is the Hesketh 308B designed by Harvey Postlethwaite; the 308 made quite the entrance in 1974 with James Hunt securing pole position for the 1974 Brands Hatch, Race of Champions before being upgraded to the 308B in 1975 with revised bodywork and oil radiators.

Also on show are the Shadow DN5 and DN8 models. The DN5 was first revealed to the public in Paris in December 1974 as a continuation of Tony Southgate’s DN3 design. Although a very fast car, it was plagued with unfortunate faults so along came the DN8. It was similar to the DN5 with a low monocoque chassis and high cockpit, rocker arm suspension at the front and parallel links and radius arms at the rear. It was immediately successful, with Welshman Tom Pryce qualifying third in the car’s debut at the Dutch GP, going on to finish in fourth place.

Lining up alongside them for F1 fans to marvel at will be the Fittipaldi F8, Amon AF1, Maki F101, Arrows A3, Surtees TS9B, and ATS HS1.