Results 11 to 12 of 12
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21st November 2012, 22:02 #11
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My thoughts one-by-one as well.
Coulthard – perhaps had the best opportunities of all of them. In addition to being in top teams, he also had seasons, where he outscored his highly-rated team-mate, when they were suffering from huge reliability issues (1997, 2001, 2002). But all of this never worked out for a WDC. However, always a solid driver for a team to collect points for WCC. After starting out in a top team in Williams, turning point in his career to a downwards slope was 2003, when younger team-mate started outdriving him.
Barrichello – just when it looked like he was stuck to becoming a perennial midfielder (like Button and Webber pre-2009), the very fast Stewart of 1999 came along, in which he impressed massively and earnt the Ferrari contract. To me his Stewart days are still the best memory of him – lead driver in an up-and-coming team. Everything still seemed possible at that time, but Schumacher in the same team was a bit too much to overcome. And finally – I think thanks to his consistency he would have collected significantly more points than either Senna/Maldonado in Williams in 2012, but we never got to see that.
R.Schumacher – was very impressed with him in 1999. Back then I thought he was going to be a multiple WDC in the future. But when Montoya came along, the career started dwindling downwards. Mighty on his day, but consistency let him down. The end of his career was strange. He wasn’t that old yet at the time (32), but couldn’t find enough fire to keep himself in F1 circles any longer.
Fisichella – was stuck in midfield for long. In his case perhaps even too long – as mentioned above, perhaps the best time for this generation to be in top teams was around 2000-2002 to deliver some big results. But in 2005 by being already part of the „old guard” he couldn’t adapt to the tricky Renault alongside Alonso well enough any more. His first full season in Jordan ´97 was very impressive. The car was good and on many occasions Fisi was close to the leaders. Sadly this is where his career stagnated as the teams he drove for (Benetton, Jordan) really didn’t take off to the heights during his time there.
Trulli – was a big fan of him, so interesting to reflect in retrospect. The Lotus period was a bit of an underwhelming waste, but in his prime was a truly fast driver. Sort of like current Mark Webber – on his day very impressive, but still having problems with consistency over a full season. Sad that he got only 1 race win, but everyone has different fates in the sport – a full decade as a strong midfielder with several podiums isn’t too shabby either.
Heidfeld – always a strong performer, but sadly he never really found the right team either to get some big results on his CV. BMW Sauber seemed like a big opportunity, but an uncompetitive car in 2009 followed by the pull-out of the manufacturer killed his career. In Nick’s case I always thought he is rather comparable to Button.
Originally Posted by AndyL
I think perhaps someone can emerge from the new generation. If someone among di Resta, Maldonado, Hülkenberg, Alguersuari (if he comes back) manages to stay around for long without ever getting a big break.
Oh, I forgot one guy. Nico Rosberg. Besides one race win he has been roughly in a midfield car all career. I think he perfectly matches the criteria unless Mercedes seriously turns it around in the next few years.
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24th November 2012, 09:53 #12
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Barrichello can certainly take comfort in knowing that he still holds several F1 longevity records. According to Wikipedia he holds F1 records for most entries, total starts, longest time between first and last pole position, most seasons with at least one start, most third places, and longest time between first and last pole position. It looked like Schumacher was going to beat him in 2013 on most entries and total starts but that didn't happen. In fact, now that Schumacher is out of the game, it will be a looong time before anyone could get close to those longetivity records. Perhaps Alonso, Vettel, or Hamilton will get there, but it will take many years to find out.
Evans has usually gone well in Croatia…
[WRC] Croatia Rally 2024