Overslept, burnt, stranded: Perry McCarthy’s Barcelona Odyssey

– Perry McCarthy is considered one of the unluckiest drivers in Formula 1 history – even though he never participated in a Formula 1 race. The Brit tried several times to qualify for a Grand Prix, but he had to overcome arguably the most difficult circumstances any driver has ever faced. Because, essentially, his team seemed to be working against him.

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McCarthy joined the Andrea Moda team in 1992, which is considered one of the worst racing teams in history. For a brief context: The team had fired its two regular drivers after the first two races because they had criticized the preparation – Andrea Moda had not been able to participate in any of those races at all.

So McCarthy, who had made a name for himself as a sports car driver in the USA after starting in the usual junior formulas, received a call. He was to become one of the new regular drivers alongside Roberto Moreno.

But even at the next race in Brazil, his car wasn’t ready, so the Brit couldn’t drive a single meter. In Spain, however, McCarthy’s big chance for his first Formula 1 appearance was supposed to come. First, though, there was pre-qualifying on Friday, which was about whether one would even be admitted to qualifying.

No Finished Car, No Luxury Hotel

The day before, however, the car was once again not ready, leaving McCarthy in doubt as to whether he could really go out on track at 8 AM. “I waited and waited and waited, and it got to 10:30 PM. I thought to myself, ‘Good heavens, I’m supposed to be on track at 8 AM tomorrow. I need to get back to the hotel soon,'” he recalls in the podcast Beyond the Grid.

Team owner Andrea Sassetti, originally a shoe designer who had bought the team from Coloni, finally agreed that McCarthy would be driven across Barcelona to the hotel.

“Anyway, I pulled up to my luxury accommodation – I’m a Formula 1 superstar now, you understand,” he says. “So I arrive at my hotel expecting wonders and riches, open the door, and the room I was supposed to stay in had about seven beds. So me and the whole team stayed in the same room. I had to laugh.”

But he didn’t care about that at all at the moment. McCarthy lay down, and gradually the rest of the team arrived at the hotel. “I thought to myself, ‘I’ll just ride with the team tomorrow morning.'”

But when he woke up in the morning, he was greatly surprised: no one was there anymore.

At Breakneck Speed Through Barcelona

“I called down to reception and asked, ‘What time is it?’ They said, ‘Half past seven.’ And I was supposed to be on track at 8 AM, didn’t know where I was, and got washed and dressed faster than Superman, believe me,” he recounts.

“I ran down the stairs, in complete panic. How professional am I, really? For my first Grand Prix, I don’t even show up. Everything’s going wrong. I’m standing there thinking, ‘Oh my God, how do I get a car? How do I get a car?’ Nobody helped me.”

At that moment, Sassetti’s brother, who had just come from a nightclub, came in and took McCarthy to the track – and in a special way. “They picked the wrong driver; they should have signed him,” McCarthy says. “The guy was insane. We sped at full throttle across Barcelona. Through red lights, over everything, bam – we stopped in front of the paddock.”

“I ran through the paddock, straight to the back of the truck, changed, ran down,” the then Andrea Moda driver continues. At exactly eight o’clock, he was in the garage. “My heart was beating at 200 beats per minute. I jumped into the car, got strapped in and everything.” And then? Nothing.

Much Drama for… Nothing.

“They couldn’t get the car started,” he says. “So they sprayed huge amounts of starting fluid into the airbox. Loads, loads, loads,” says the Brit. “There was so much that when the engine was started, all that stuff in the airbox ignited. A tunnel of light made of flames shot out around my head and the cockpit.””

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“They then threw blankets over me to extinguish the fire. Then they lifted the blankets, got the engine running, and said, ‘Okay, drive off.’

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In retrospect, McCarthy describes his first Formula 1 adventure as his own version of Kevin – Home Alone. “I almost died in several accidents across Barcelona to be there on time. Then I was in the car, they almost burned me, and now it was time to go out and try to qualify for my first ever Grand Prix.””

“I rolled out of the garage, got to the [pit exit] line. I tried to calm myself. My heart was fluttering like a wild engine. And they said, ‘Go.’ I drove over the line, the engine cut out, the car rolled out and stopped – that was it.””

“I got out of the car and just stared at it. I remember looking up and a part of me just laughed and thought, ‘I just can’t believe this.'”

At Least One Record…

McCarthy had always told himself beforehand that he would set records once he got into Formula 1. “I told everyone that, and I did it,” he laughs. “The shortest attempt ever to qualify for a Grand Prix: I think it was 30 meters.””

Teammate Moreno at least made it three laps before his engine gave up the ghost, and he was allowed to try again in McCarthy’s car – unsuccessfully. In the end, he was more than eleven seconds off the session’s best time – in a field of six cars that still had to qualify for the main qualifying session.

But that was only the beginning of a true period of suffering for McCarthy in Formula 1, whose car often had to serve as a spare parts depot for his teammate, and who was sometimes sent out far too late or with wet tires in dry conditions to fulfill contractual obligations.

Andrea Moda was warned by the FIA to give McCarthy a serious chance to qualify, but in Belgium, they installed a damaged steering rack that had been removed from Moreno’s car – the Brit barely avoided a serious accident at Raidillon. It was to be McCarthy’s and Andrea Moda’s last appearance in Formula 1: the team was banned.

No Regrets for McCarthy

Today, the 65-year-old looks back on it with a laugh. He says he was never envious of others and doesn’t see himself as a poor guy, as he is often called. “I always believe that things are out there for you to take or not. That’s all,” he says.

“It went wrong. Tough luck. Dust yourself off, get up, move on. And I myself look back at these insane things, start laughing, and just think, ‘Oh my God,'” says McCarthy.

At least he and the team are remembered this way because it was so incredibly bad. “We weren’t just somewhere in 15th or 16th place in the midfield and ended my career like that,” he says.

“For me, it was probably more ‘all or nothing.’ I almost believe I was destined to either be incredibly successful or to have the career I ultimately had.”

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