Without an effective, precisely manufactured gearbox set up with the demands of a particular track in mind, a motorsport team has very little chance of winning a race, and the only exceptions to this help to prove the rule.
Typically, when a racing car loses a gear or the clutch begins to fail, that is typically a sign that a race is over. In events such as rallying, where there are very strict limits on what can be repaired, it can lead to the effective end of any chance of winning an entire event.
This happened on multiple occasions with Marcus Grundholm in the 2004 World Rally Championship when a clever-in-theory idea to have a four-speed gearbox in the Peugeot 307 WRC backfired.
However, there was one very notable time when a driver managed to get a podium finish despite being stuck in one gear, and it took one of the greatest racers of all time to do it.
In the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix, the fifth round of a controversial and tragic Formula One season, Damon Hill won the first race of the season for a Williams Renault team reeling from the death of Ayrton Senna less than a month before.
However, the most impressive drive was Michael Schumacher’s second place, which he managed whilst stuck in fifth gear, apparently the result of a hydraulic failure that trapped the Benetton Ford in gear.
Whilst this was a disaster that ultimately meant that victory was impossible, there were two pieces of remarkably good fortune; the first was that he was stuck in a relatively high gear and could lap the Circuit de Catalunya quickly, and the second was that the car was driven by Michael Schumacher.
Before entering F1, Mr Schumacher was a sports car driver, and so he quickly adapted his driving style to find the most effective route through the track in fifth gear. He even leads the race during the last round of pit stops before ultimately finishing in second.