1,000 Greatest Drivers: Jean Behra
My choice for the best F1 non-winner. (I might switch back to Amon at some point: watch this space.)
I think I’m fully recovered from last week’s virus now, and I’m still awaiting work from both of my bosses, so it’s time for me to do another daily driver entry. I’m still going to leave the charges off until March 10 (like I said), but right now I’m going to go through a bunch of drivers who aren’t exactly household names, so I probably wasn’t intending to charge for most of them anyway. I did test out my new microphone on Saturday and released my first Substack video that day, and it automatically produced a YouTube video and some YouTube shorts clipped from the video. Unfortunately, they were all given AI-generated thumbnails, and I don’t know what I’m going to do about that. I suppose I can just edit them later, but I might not even bother.
I did buy a YouTube TV subscription yesterday, minutes before the Daytona 500 started, the first time I’ve had any kind of cable in almost 3.5 years. I did watch, and I was typically kind of baffled. On a personal level, Tyler Reddick is my favorite driver, so I was happy with the result, but the weird thing about it was that I thought it was one of the least impressive performances in a Daytona 500 win I’d ever seen. Obviously, he was overdue for another win, but it felt like basically a replay of his 2024 Talladega win, where he wasn’t really the least bit competitive for most of the race, but he benefited from his fellow Toyota drivers wrecking each other and causing a caution, propelling him onto the front row alongside Michael McDowell. The races were so similar that with the history of 2X2 gridlock, I instantly predicted that in a case of déjà vus ex machina, Reddick was gonna do the same thing again, and well, I was right. But this one was somehow even stupider, as he just had the good fortune that his godawful teammate, Riley Herbst, was there to save the day when none of the other drivers left over had a teammate close enough to help. Not only did Herbst push him into the lead, but then he hit a strike and wiped out all of Reddick’s competition, so it wasn’t even contested. Okay. And to think Watkins Glen was the race that was sponsored by Go Bowling! As a fan, I’m happy, but I’m not yet convinced he’s back. I’m not even convinced he’s good at drafting yet.
I didn’t really have a problem with the three-wide fuel saving, nor did I really have a problem with the 2X2 gridlock, even in last year’s Talladega race, unlike a lot of people. I think it’s because when they’re doing that, they’re generally not taking aggressively stupid chances and wrecking, and those infamous highlight reel wrecks are one of the things that make NASCAR a big joke to the general public. The shitshow finishes are consistently more disgraceful to me than just chilling out, and three-wide fuel saving is a lot prettier to watch than the single-file fuel saving of the ‘90s. I also liked that there were so many cautions when enough drivers topped off for fuel at the end that the back of half the field restarted single-file. I’m so sick of double-file restarts on every restart on every track (especially at the end of the race), but especially on tracks where 15-20 car pileups are common. I’m sure it would eventually get to multiple lines of traffic, but I still think single-file restarts would be purer. I’m starting to hate double-file restarts more than overtime, more than charters, more than playoffs…
But not more than I hate losing my mom’s homeowner’s insurance. Her homeowner’s insurer is going to drop her effective April 1 because I was unable to get the roof repair financed last year. I am working with Onondaga County Community Development for both a roof repair and the installation of a ramp, so Mom will hopefully be able to come home. If I can get it repaired by April, I can probably at least find another insurer. The nursing home hasn’t been as miserable for her over the last week or two, as in addition to finally replacing her dentures, now that she’s been moved out of the room with the roommate that she hates, she currently doesn’t have one, and now she finally has some peace and quiet for a while. I think for the second time, her roommate died, so she’s probably going to be replaced again soon. Hopefully, she’ll be replaced by someone who’s nicer than my mom has been lately.
I rescheduled my intake appointment for Unique Peerspectives, and because my next book hasn’t come in at the library yet (Stefan Fatsis’s Unabridged), I’ve been reading the U.S. History section of a World Almanac to refresh my memory on some stuff (and I’ll probably do the World History section next) in preparation for my reentry into LearnedLeague. The next match starts a week from today, which is also the same week that the winter bar trivia tournament ends. Because I was too sick to go last week, that pretty much ensured our team wouldn’t be able to win to compete in the Syracuse tournament for $2,500, but since we didn’t win any of the individual weeks, I don’t think we’d have been likely to win that anyway.
JEAN BEHRA…………………….FRANCE
Born: February 16, 1921
Died: August 1, 1959
Best year: 1957
Best drive: 1957 12 Hours of Sebring
Probably my choice for the best F1 non-winner, Behra perhaps most cinematically embodies the image of a ‘50s driver. Brave and fearless but also cocksure and impulsive, Behra arguably had championship-caliber speed but poor racing discipline, bad career decisions, and numerous racing injuries limited his potential. A four-time French motorcycle champion, Behra’s first major car success came when he finished third in the 1950 Monte Carlo Rally, but his true greatness was displayed in open wheel cars and especially sports cars.
Behra made his F1 debut at Monza in 1951 for Gordini, where he stealthily substituted for Maurice Trintignant. Gordini was rarely competitive, but Behra nonethetess gave them their first podium in the 1952 Swiss Grand Prix, their only fastest lap in 1954, and four non-championship wins in 1952 and 1954. His three consecutive Pau Grand Prix wins from 1954-1957 made him briefly the winningest driver in that highly prestigious non-championship event. However, he also suffered 18 scars from 12 racing injuries, including losing his ear at the 1955 RAC Tourist Trophy.
Starting in 1955, Behra drove for Maserati in both F1 and sports cars. In 1956, he finished fourth in F1 with five podiums but never led because he was forced to play a #2 role to Stirling Moss. Juan Manuel Fangio replaced Moss in 1957, so Behra needed to play a #2 role again. Behra clearly peaked in 1957 with five non-championship F1 wins and three World Sportscar Championship wins, including the 12 Hours of Sebring with Fangio and Swedish Grand Prix with Moss overall. Behra arguably outperformed them, setting the fastest lap in both races and taking the lead at Sebring himself. An ill-fated switch to BRM in 1958 hindered him in F1, but he still earned four WSC class wins, including a Le Mans class win for Porsche. In 1959, he joined Ferrari but started an F2 Porsche team simultaneously. Ferrari was upset when Behra’s Porsche beat them at Reims, while Behra blasted Ferrari for giving him an uncompetitive F1 car. He was fired after punching team manager Romolo Tavoni and a patron at a restaurant. Less than a month later in a sports car race at AVUS, Behra crashed in heavy rain on the circuit’s extremely steep banking and was ejected from the car and instantly killed when his head struck a flagpole.
Although many people would argue that either Chris Amon or Nick Heidfeld was the best non-winner, I pick Behra. Although the non-championship F1 races certainly had weaker fields, Behra’s 12 non-championship wins are the most ever for a non-winner. Although Heidfeld and Amon both had more podiums (13 and 11, respectively, to Behra’s 9), Behra had a higher podium percentage, a higher rating in my model than both. But what really impresses me is his sports car performances. He proved himself every bit Fangio and Moss’s equal in his WSC starts. While he wasn’t on their level in open wheel, he inevitably would’ve won if Mercedes hadn’t had a designated #1 driver.
Touring car model: #57 of 931 (.235)
Teammate head-to-heads: 59-28 (1-0 vs. Cliff Allison, 1-0 vs. Edgar Barth, 2-0 vs. Elie Bayol, 2-1 vs. Prince Bira, 1-0 vs. Tony Brooks, 1-0 vs. Clemar Bucci, 1-4 vs. Juan Manuel Fangio, 1-0 vs. Ron Flockhart, 1-0 vs. Gerino Gerini, 3-0 vs. Paco Godia, 1-0 vs. Masten Gregory, 1-0 vs. Phil Hill, 2-0 vs. Chico Landi, 1-0 vs. Roger Loyer, 2-0 vs. Sergio Mantovani, 0-4 vs. Robert Manzon, 5-0 vs. Carlos Menditeguy, 4-2 vs. Roberto Mieres, 3-4 vs. Stirling Moss, 4-2 vs. Luigi Musso, 4-1 vs. Cesare Perdisa, 2-0 vs. Andre Pilette, 1-0 vs. Luigi Piotti, 3-0 vs. Giorgio Scarlatti, 8-4 vs. Harry Schell, 1-1 vs. Andre Simon, 2-5 vs. Maurice Trintignant, 1-0 vs. Fred Wacker)
Year-by-year: 1950: C-, 1952: C+, 1954: C, 1955: C+, 1956: E-, 1957: E, 1958: C+, 1959: C-