That's the first time I hear that. I know he tested for the team, but was that a serious test to try Tracy out for F1?
What if Ayrton Senna had survived his San Marino GP accident?
- Thread starter lustigson
- Start date
That's the first time I hear that. I know he tested for the team, but was that a serious test to try Tracy out for F1?
Let me start by saying I have been a fan of CART since 1983 when Teo Fabi made such an unexpected impact. But that does not blind me to the real value of it. It is a wonderful regional series with illusions of grandeur (World Series, who are they kidding unless its true that Americans don't understand geography
). F1 never considered CART an equal series or the standard of its drivers to be particularly high. How could they, when drivers who couldn't 'hack' it in F1 would go on to shine in CART. Unfair? Perhaps, but then, life isn't fair.
Mario Andretti, for all his greatness, was way past his best in F1 after 1982 but remained still a force in CART for many years. Same with Emmo. That means CART isn't quite as demanding as F1. Vasser got blown away by Zanardi after his rookie year while Zanardi hadn't been particularly impressive in F1 during his initial stint. Same goes for Raul Boesel. Or Mauricio Gugelmin. Or Mark Blundell. Etc. etc. etc. All drivers not quite up to scratch in F1 but very successful in CART. Some claim that's because CART rewards real drivers but the real reason IMO is that F1 requires rather more from a driver than just the basic "peddle to the metal- gung ho driving style" level of talent.
If you look at the drivers F1 has picked up from CART, you'll see that they were not picked because they were so highly regarded by F1's community but for a variety of other reasons. Montoya was in CART before moving to F1 because Williams needed to 'park' him somewhere for a season or two. Villeneuve was pushed by Bernie because he was a legacy driver of legendary proportions. Winning in CART just erased his rubbish seasons in F3. Da Matta was picked by Toyota.
The few promising drivers who were offered F1 drives or the possibility of a drive (Mears, Unser jr. and Tracy) all shied away because they were (super)stars in CART but were treated as merely talented drivers from a regional or feeder series who had yet to prove their actual worth at the highest level. Being paid a pittance and /or given a #2 contract was not what they were used to and they preferred staying in CART as a result.
Yes. In PT's bigoraphy, after his performances in CART in 1993 and 1994, winnin several races in both seasons and finishing top 3 in points both years, Bennetton called him up and flew him to Paul Ricard to test the car, and they offered him the seat. Paul turned it down because to him he just didn't like the F1 car - its speed was all because of cornering and it hard no power. A reasonable statement, being that 1995 F1 cars had about 600 horsepower compared to CART cars of the time which started at about 900.
Ranoncles, you are correct in saying that many of CART's guys turned down F1 rides because they wanted to be the stars. That is quite right. And you are quite right about Villeneuve.
As for Zanardi, his years in F1 before CART he had garbage cars - he was the last guy to drive for Lotus before they folded in 1994. But that first year, Vasser eat Zanardi alive. But Alex was driving with an F1 style then. When his aggression came around in 1997, he was really good - but when he had to make stuff happen, by God did he ever. I was at Vancouver in 1997 when he drove through the field in that race TWICE. On a tight street circuit that was notoriously hard to pass on.
As for the others, Gugelmin won once. Blundell only won a couple. Boesel never won. Zanardi became a legend in CART and got a second crack at F1 as a result, but his tenure with Williams in 1999 was terrible, as was Michael Andretti's stint with McLaren in 1993. The cars were, and still are, dramatically different, even if the current IRL cars are ugly slugs.
Yes, finally, part I of The Encounter Down Under is available for download.
Read it, share it, copy, distribute and transmit it, as long as you attribute the work to me, and use in in a non-commercial way — a Creative Commons license applies.
And I’d like to hear what you think. So, feel free to comment on my blog, too. I’m looking forward to your thoughts.
Read it, share it, copy, distribute and transmit it, as long as you attribute the work to me, and use in in a non-commercial way — a Creative Commons license applies.
And I’d like to hear what you think. So, feel free to comment on my blog, too. I’m looking forward to your thoughts.
Nice alt-history you have!
I've frantically browsed your site after reading part 1, then understood I'll have to wait...
Maybe one day I'll wrote something similar on the 1982 season. A season quite similar to 1994...
Yeah, I'm writing my story in five parts. I've only started work on part II last week, so you'll have to bear with me.
Frankly, I have 1982 on my list as well; maybe we should co-operate...
Archibald
Banned
Hmmm... 1982... can't remember it : I've born in may of the 82 year
Why not something like Pironi Vs Villeneuve, as ferocious as Senna- Prost in 1988-89-90 ?
PM me (on this forum box) : my father bought Sport-Auto every month from 1975 to 1986, still got lot of them in the cellar.
1982 was a very bizarre season
- the Renault were favourite, and clearly the best, but victim of a damned mecanical part. It broke every race, but without the Renault was not competitive!
- The Ferrari pilots were all hurt or killed in accidents.
To the point that in a GP in september 1982, they had no pilot left, and Ferrari didn't raced!
Pironi was in the hospital, Villeneuve dead, and Tambay neck ached.
- Reuteman, Andretti, Lauda retreated (at least temporarily for the latter) let very few world champions at the outcome of the season (ok, Piquet and Jones, but they were not particularly brilliant this year)
To me Rosberg become World Champion because there was no one left (my personal opinion of course!)
Platini and Pironi, Seville, Hockenheim : two cruel defeats in summer 1982...
Why not something like Pironi Vs Villeneuve, as ferocious as Senna- Prost in 1988-89-90 ?
PM me (on this forum box) : my father bought Sport-Auto every month from 1975 to 1986, still got lot of them in the cellar.
1982 was a very bizarre season
- the Renault were favourite, and clearly the best, but victim of a damned mecanical part. It broke every race, but without the Renault was not competitive!
- The Ferrari pilots were all hurt or killed in accidents.
To the point that in a GP in september 1982, they had no pilot left, and Ferrari didn't raced!
Pironi was in the hospital, Villeneuve dead, and Tambay neck ached.
- Reuteman, Andretti, Lauda retreated (at least temporarily for the latter) let very few world champions at the outcome of the season (ok, Piquet and Jones, but they were not particularly brilliant this year)
To me Rosberg become World Champion because there was no one left (my personal opinion of course!)
Platini and Pironi, Seville, Hockenheim : two cruel defeats in summer 1982...
The Senna versus Schumacher story is finally finished. Download it for free:
http://bit.ly/Senna-versus-Schumacher
http://bit.ly/Senna-versus-Schumacher