On the 40th anniversary of the first use of in-car cameras in Formula 1, it’s impossible to overstate how much this technology has changed the way we watch, understand, and remember grand prix racing. Today, we can experience the kinetic intensity of Monaco’s barriers and Silverstone’s sweeping bends as if sitting right behind the wheel. But imagine how much richer our appreciation of the sport’s past would be if in-car cameras had been available from Formula 1’s earliest days.
When French broadcaster Antenne 2 first introduced the revolutionary live onboard shot at the 1985 German Grand Prix, the footage was grainy and jostling, but it brought the racing world inside the driver’s office for the first time. Suddenly, fans could follow Alain Prost working the wheel and shifting gears at speed, see lines chosen through critical corners, and feel every bump and vibration through live television for the first time. The technology was soon adopted everywhere; by the late 1980s, in-car cameras were a staple, bringing fans ever closer to the visceral world of F1.
Looking back, there are countless landmark races and legendary drivers for whom in-car footage would be invaluable—not only for fans, but for historians and the teams themselves. Consider the championship-deciding collision between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at Suzuka in 1989: while external cameras captured the drama, nothing would compare to seeing Senna’s hands as he made the fateful move, or Prost’s view in those crucial seconds. Earlier still, races like the 1971 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, which featured five cars finishing within half a second of each other, would take on a whole new dimension with onboard views of drafting battles at 350km/h.
Imagine the 1950 British Grand Prix, the very first world championship race, with in-car cameras capturing the sights and sounds from the cockpits of Alfa Romeos spinning up Dunlop Road tyres. Or the 1955 Mille Miglia, where Mercedes engineer Fritz Nallinger’s camera could have caught Stirling Moss’s record-breaking run through the Italian countryside, carving through traffic and cities at a relentless pace. Jack Brabham’s gambles in the rain, Jim Clark’s ethereal smoothness at Spa, Jackie Stewart’s bravery at the Nürburgring—each would feel newly immediate and personal.
Even the more notorious and controversial moments would be reframed: Niki Lauda’s fiery accident at the Nürburgring in 1976, Gilles Villeneuve’s mesmerizing car control at Dijon in 1979, or the chaos and calculation of the infamous 1982 Monaco Grand Prix, where five leaders dropped out in the last three laps. With in-car cameras, we could see through the drivers’ eyes as events unfolded, understanding their responses, triumphs, and mistakes on a far deeper level.
In-car cameras didn’t just bring drama and spectacle—they have also transformed race strategy and safety. Teams pour over hours of footage to improve drivers’ lines, optimize gear changes, and train newcomers. Incidents and stewarding decisions are fundamentally changed when there is direct driver’s-eye evidence. The transparency helps keep today’s motorsport fair, and fosters unprecedented fan engagement.
On this historic anniversary, we can only imagine how much richer the tapestry of F1 history could be, week by week, race by race, had these cameras been there from the beginning. But their presence, even four decades later, invites us to look both forward and back—treasuring old legends, witnessing modern heroics, and always keeping one eye on the future of technological innovation in the sport.
