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6th February 1981: The War That Almost Split Formula One
On 6 February 1981, Formula One arrived at Kyalami with a peace agreement already signed — yet the sport was anything but united.
Just weeks earlier, the first Concorde Agreement had been concluded, designed to bring an end to the bitter FISA–FOCA war and to define how Formula One would be governed and commercialised. On paper, authority had been settled. In reality, trust had not.
As the South African Grand Prix weekend unfolded, the race would be run outside world championship sanction, exposing how fragile that settlement still was. Behind the scenes, the governing body and the teams were locked in a struggle not over lap times or trophies, but over who controlled Formula One’s future.
This episode revisits the weekend that tested the new order before it had truly begun — a moment that revealed how close the sport came to fragmenting, and why modern Formula One would henceforth be held together by contract rather than convention.
The War That Almost Split Formula One explores the conflict, the compromise, and the lasting legacy of a power struggle that reshaped the sport forever.
Send us a text
Music by #Mubert Music Rendering
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By Martin ElliotOn 6 February 1981, Formula One arrived at Kyalami with a peace agreement already signed — yet the sport was anything but united.
Just weeks earlier, the first Concorde Agreement had been concluded, designed to bring an end to the bitter FISA–FOCA war and to define how Formula One would be governed and commercialised. On paper, authority had been settled. In reality, trust had not.
As the South African Grand Prix weekend unfolded, the race would be run outside world championship sanction, exposing how fragile that settlement still was. Behind the scenes, the governing body and the teams were locked in a struggle not over lap times or trophies, but over who controlled Formula One’s future.
This episode revisits the weekend that tested the new order before it had truly begun — a moment that revealed how close the sport came to fragmenting, and why modern Formula One would henceforth be held together by contract rather than convention.
The War That Almost Split Formula One explores the conflict, the compromise, and the lasting legacy of a power struggle that reshaped the sport forever.
Send us a text
Music by #Mubert Music Rendering