Twenty years ago, the world's largest energy-drink company tried to transform the path to Formula 1.
The result pissed off drivers and ended careers.
By PRESTON LERNER
September 23, 2019
TIM MCDONAGH
Phil Giebler is 40, now a graybeard—literally—wise in the ways of professional motorsport. Two decades ago, he moved to
Europe to chase the dream of racing in Formula 1. Later, after a brutal wreck during practice for the Indianapolis 500,
he opened a kart shop in Southern California. A large photograph on the wall of his office shows him racing at Indy during
happier times, en route to being named rookie of the year. Another poster-size photo captures him in an open-wheel car
wearing dramatic red-white-and-blue livery at Zandvoort, where he became the first American to podium in the A1GP series.
But there’s no image immortalizing what Giebler considers to be the greatest drive of his career.