Alan Henry
Sunday’s Australian grand prix sees the start of a new season and a new career. As Michael Schumacher and Formula One’s other heavyweights reacquaint themselves with Melbourne’s Albert Park track, Allan McNish will enter the pits, ease himself into a Toyota and breathe in the unique atmosphere for the first time.
It will be a new experience for the Scot (32) but you can hardly call him the new kid on the block, because his task is to prove wrong those who have passed him over for promotion to the sport’s senior category in the past decade.
He says he is up to the challenge. “I may be getting my chance late but better late than never,” he said. “Damon Hill was 32 when he made his F1 breakthrough and I’d settle for a repeat of his career.”
Eleven years have passed since McNish made his contribution to the late Ayrton Senna’s second world title with his test driving for McLaren-Honda.
In 1988 he drove in the Opel Lotus Euroseries single-seat class alongside an almost unknown young Finn, Mika Hakkinen. By 1990 McNish was in formula 3000 but his resilience was sorely tested when, at Donington Park, he was involved in a horrifying accident that left him briefly unconscious and a spectator dead, killed by the flying engine that had been ripped from the back of his Lola.
As Hakkinen accelerated towards F1 success, McNish remained bogged down in the slow lane. Eventually a switch to sports car racing threw McNish a lifeline, particularly after he won the prestigious Le Mans and Daytona 24-hour races for Porsche in 1997. His toughness and consistency attracted the Toyota management. They signed him to drive for their sports car team, which in turn put him in pole position as a candidate for the new Formula One programme.