Could any current (or recent) F1 drivers cut it in the IndyCar Series?

[CGormally]

I was talking to my mate Nick the other day, and we were discussing the unification of IRL and CCWS. Then he came up with a good point. In the mid 90's, several former F1 drivers were racing in the CART series (ie.Mansell, Fittipaldi, Andretti, Johansson, etc.) and some had done well in the championship. We were thinking, could any current F1 drivers, or F1 drivers who have retired in the last few years, cut it in the IndyCar Series?

[!!WALDO!!]

I was talking to my mate Nick the other day, and we were discussing the unification of IRL and CCWS. Then he came up with a good point. In the mid 90's, several former F1 drivers were racing in the CART series (ie.Mansell, Fittipaldi, Andretti, Johansson, etc.) and some had done well in the championship. We were thinking, could any current F1 drivers, or F1 drivers who have retired in the last few years, cut it in the IndyCar Series?


Nope, because Indy Car teams need checks, unless they bring money they can't race.

Look at Villenueve, he needs his own Sponsor to have a ride in NASCAR.

Most F-1 drivers cannot sell themselves. Justin Wilson sold stock in himself for a ride and scored 1 point.

Talent wise, yes but money wise no.

[bblocker68]

Hamilton - yes, but me may not want to come over.
Kovalainen - Yes and he'll drive anything
Kimi - Who knows, but he'd kick arse.
Massa - Maybe. He's do it to see his old Brazilian friends. Same for Rubens
daMatta - YES! Dont count Christiano out for a comeback! You may say the same for deFerran too since he's racing in ALMS now. He was an F1 guy, even if just the driver coach.
Alonso and Piquet - Nope. AOWR is too low class for those guys.
Webber - Yeah. He may not do as well as he should becasue he has bad luck.
Coultard - May make a nice retirement tour.
Kubica - Yes and he'll drive tractors fast if given the opportunity
Rosburg - Maybe. He'd do well.
The rest? Count out Fissi and the others are a crap shoot as how well they'd do.

[CGormally]

Nope, because Indy Car teams need checks, unless they bring money they can't race.

Look at Villenueve, he needs his own Sponsor to have a ride in NASCAR.

Most F-1 drivers cannot sell themselves. Justin Wilson sold stock in himself for a ride and scored 1 point.

Talent wise, yes but money wise no.

OK, but if we looked purely on talent and not financial backing, who do you think would be competitive?

[CGormally]

Hamilton - yes, but me may not want to come over.
Kovalainen - Yes and he'll drive anything
Kimi - Who knows, but he'd kick arse.
Massa - Maybe. He's do it to see his old Brazilian friends. Same for Rubens
daMatta - YES! Dont count Christiano out for a comeback! You may say the same for deFerran too since he's racing in ALMS now. He was an F1 guy, even if just the driver coach.
Alonso and Piquet - Nope. AOWR is too low class for those guys.
Webber - Yeah. He may not do as well as he should becasue he has bad luck.
Coultard - May make a nice retirement tour.
Kubica - Yes and he'll drive tractors fast if given the opportunity
Rosburg - Maybe. He'd do well.
The rest? Count out Fissi and the others are a crap shoot as how well they'd do.

I'd love to see Hamilton in the IndyCar Series one day, it would be a different kind of challenge for him. :D

[Placid]

I do not see Speed in the top at all.

[994ever]

OK, but if we looked purely on talent and not financial backing, who do you think would be competitive?

You'd be hard pressed to find someone in F1 who WOULDN'T match up talent-wise with ANYONE in Indycar.

[CGormally]

Hamilton - yes, but me may not want to come over.
Kovalainen - Yes and he'll drive anything
Kimi - Who knows, but he'd kick arse.
Massa - Maybe. He's do it to see his old Brazilian friends. Same for Rubens
daMatta - YES! Dont count Christiano out for a comeback! You may say the same for deFerran too since he's racing in ALMS now. He was an F1 guy, even if just the driver coach.
Alonso and Piquet - Nope. AOWR is too low class for those guys.
Webber - Yeah. He may not do as well as he should becasue he has bad luck.
Coultard - May make a nice retirement tour.
Kubica - Yes and he'll drive tractors fast if given the opportunity
Rosburg - Maybe. He'd do well.
The rest? Count out Fissi and the others are a crap shoot as how well they'd do.

OK then, if you think that so many F1 drivers can cut it in IndyCars, how many, (if any), IndyCar drivers do you think would be competitive in F1?

[Chaparral66]

Michael Schumacher has made a point of saying how he doesn't like ovals, and I bet many in F1 share his thinking. That said, F1 legends Jim Clark and Graham Hill came over and both won at Indy, so it's certainly not impossible. Ovals would be a real learning curve, so to speak. :)

[turbo-engine]

Michael Schumacher has made a point of saying how he doesn't like ovals, and I bet many in F1 share his thinking. That said, F1 legends Jim Clark and Graham Hill came over and both won at Indy, so it's certainly not impossible. Ovals would be a real learning curve, so to speak. :)

Forget about Schumacher! He was a couch potato. Never wanted to go out of F1. Never really wanted to try other disciplines beside F1. Take Mario Andretti, E. Fittipaldi or Nigel Mansell for example. They were F1 champs (!) who went to Indycar. THEY are the real champions. Schumi could have won much more titles, but that would not have made him a "true" race car driver to me. He was just an F1 specialist (a very good one...maybe the best).

[infoxicated]

It always beats me why F1 drivers are held in such reverence - the series too, in fact.

JV was considered a brilliant driver when he came to F1 - took Hill to the wire in his first season and then won a championship himself. Then he goes to BAR and suddenly the guy cant buy a podium, let alone a win.

Did he become a crap driver overnight?

Probably not, no.

Did he enjoy an equipment advantage at Williams.

Yes, he did.

F1 is about the have's and the have-not's. F1 fans will swear blind that a mid packer in F1 is better than the leading drivers in any other series, but the truth of it is that to succeed in F1 it's more about an equipment advantage than a driving advantage. Those cars don't allow for mistakes - they don't perform well when they get out of shape and they don't react well to being over-driven.

That said, there's no doubt the drivers at the sharp end in F1 are talented drivers, but they are not superhuman in comparison to drivers everywhere else in the world.

I suspect the likes of Alonso, Hamilton, and the rest of them would fare well in the IndyCar Series if they could get to grips with the ovals. However, they'd also have to come to terms with not having whatever aerodynamic widget of the week has been crafted to gain them the .050 of a second they need to edge the competition.

[Lousada]

You only have to listen to the crybabies like Massa, Webber and Coulthard, whining about the ban on traction control. And going on and on about a barrier that's 'only' 30000km from the racing line. Most of them are just spoiled children that never faced disappointment in their lives. Maybe they have the talent to run Indycar but they certainly don't have the attitude.

[ShiftingGears]

It always beats me why F1 drivers are held in such reverence - the series too, in fact.

JV was considered a brilliant driver when he came to F1 - took Hill to the wire in his first season and then won a championship himself. Then he goes to BAR and suddenly the guy cant buy a podium, let alone a win.

Did he become a crap driver overnight?

Probably not, no.

Did he enjoy an equipment advantage at Williams.

Yes, he did.

Yes, but looking at his results - he didn't beat Damon Hill, HHF wasn't the best driver and JV was beaten by Button, Heidfeld and Massa. He was never the best driver on the grid. I don't think he was even the second best driver on the grid.


I suspect the likes of Alonso, Hamilton, and the rest of them would fare well in the IndyCar Series if they could get to grips with the ovals. However, they'd also have to come to terms with not having whatever aerodynamic widget of the week has been crafted to gain them the .050 of a second they need to edge the competition.

I'm sure they would adapt. Nigel Mansell springs to mind.

[ShiftingGears]

You only have to listen to the crybabies like Massa, Webber and Coulthard, whining about the ban on traction control. And going on and on about a barrier that's 'only' 30000km from the racing line. Most of them are just spoiled children that never faced disappointment in their lives. Maybe they have the talent to run Indycar but they certainly don't have the attitude.

Link please.

[Chris R]

I think most of the current and recent F-1 drivers would stand a decent chance of being competitive in the IRL if put in a competitive drive. In general, F1 drivers are very well trained professionals who could and would adapt to a different formula IF they wanted to.... Time and time again it has been shown that a good road racer can adapt to heavier cars and ovals more often than not - however it does not necessarily work the other way...

Of the current IRL/OWRS drivers, we will find out about Bourdais. As of today, I would not rate anyone else as potential F1 material. Rahal and Power might be with some more seasoning. Tracy, Kanaan, and Castro-Neves might have been earlier in their career. The rest just haven't shown the talent or discipline yet...

Hopefully one series will get us back to a more competitive and professional drivers situation as it was in CART in the 90's....

Another issues is that American's tend to value raw talent more than discipline - drivers like little Al and Michael Andretti and say Foyt before them were huge on talent - but not necessarily on the grunt work needed to make it in F-1 - a modern F-1 driver is more of a technician with some driving talent than a talented driver with some technical ability.....

[nigelred5]

Link please.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080305/lf_nm/motor_racing_traction_dc_1

[infoxicated]

Yes, but looking at his results - he didn't beat Damon Hill, HHF wasn't the best driver and JV was beaten by Button, Heidfeld and Massa. He was never the best driver on the grid. I don't think he was even the second best driver on the grid.
I sort of agree with you, except to say that JV wasn't the same driver by the time Button was his team mate. The man was spent at that point - I think he'd realised himself that he had wasted the best years of his career at BAR and was going to be thrown out with the trash at the end of his contract. Sad thing was he was too proud to admit it.

Anyhow - different discussion. ;)


I'm sure they would adapt. Nigel Mansell springs to mind.
Absolutely, but then Nigel took to the CART way of driving because that type of driver could make a hell of a difference. He loved wringing the neck of those cars and, back when he was in F1, that type of driving could still make the difference. The FW-14 was the class of the field - Nigel could have coasted to victory the way that Prost did a year later, but no - he had to drive the wheels off the thing every time he stepped in it.

Nigel was old school, and maybe Alessi was the last of that breed in F1 - I used to love it how that guy would go out in the pouring wet for practice when the track was empty just to put on a show for the fans. I think Alessi would have been awesome in CART, but he ended up a nomadic old-school driver in a series where precision that prevents the car getting out of shape in the first place is a commodity in higher demand than having the talent to gather it up again once it has gone wrong.

Actually, maybe that's a good summary of how I see it; the type of driver that F1 requires is different from the type of driver that can be successful elsewhere. It doesn't make F1 drivers better - far from it - it just makes them unique.

[nigelred5]

Absolutely. If they could afford to eat.

[DBell]

Talent wise they could, but why would they? As has been stated in this thread, a good portion of the seats in ICS are going to drivers with money. Example: Milka

F1 teams, for the most part, are hiring drivers based on talent and actually paying them to drive. I know, old school thinking.

[bblocker68]

OK then, if you think that so many F1 drivers can cut it in IndyCars, how many, (if any), IndyCar drivers do you think would be competitive in F1?

Competitive is one thing, successful is another. Doornbos is competitive. I'd like to see Rahal and Andretti given a shot. Wilson could be good in a good ride. I think he's learned a few things since he was in show the first time around. Dixon? Absolutely. Helio and Wheldon? Possibly. PT would provide the most entertainment. I dont think Kanaan has the killer instinct. Not sure on the others.

[Jag_Warrior]

OK then, if you think that so many F1 drivers can cut it in IndyCars, how many, (if any), IndyCar drivers do you think would be competitive in F1?

When I first saw the thread, I went dyslexic and that's what I saw. To me, to ask which "F1 drivers could cut it in the IRL" is like asking how many people attending MIT could make it at the Universal Technical Institute (vocational school)? In fact, that might be a better question (brainiacs are often not so good with their hands). Plus, it seems that road course whiz kids have an easier time picking up ovals than those going in the other direction (Montoya, Mansell, Fittipaldi, Jacques Villeneuve, etc.).

So I'm dismissing the original question and going with this one. Once upon a time, I think Tony Kanaan and Helio may have had the right stuff to be competitive in F1. I think the same is true of Dario. But their Sell By dates have long passed. Now, I don't know. I don't see much there. Young Rahal is an unknown quantity. He was in a good car with the best team, and while he didn't make a monkey of himself, he didn't really WOW! anyone either. Probably time for GP2, if that question is to be answered. Marco? It appears that all he really has is the Andretti name. Like Katherine Legge, he was moved up too fast, to capitalize on something other than his racing talent. Danica? It's too early in the day to laugh that hard. Justin Wilson? He had his day in the sun. A good driver, but not amazing. Maybe he could still be competitive though. Who else do we have? "Special Ed" Carpenter? Let's just go ahead and say that anyone who is a backmarker IRL driver would not be considered for anything other than Captain of the Broom Squad in F1. So who else? Wheldon? Dixon? Manning? Hmm, Dixon isn't so bad on road courses, right? I haven't followed Darren since he left CART. I would pick him, but I don't know how he has progressed. The only person who seems to be amazed at Wheldon's talent is Wheldon himself. At one time, I would have said Scheckter. But he seems to be another one that has traded on his (father's) name, rather than his talent. Doornbos? Hmm, maybe. Is he even still in the picture or did he leave amongst the foolishness?

I don't know who I might have left out, but other than the ones I mentioned as possibilities, I don't see anyone else who could make the cut, unless they were bringing money to a backmarker F1 squad.

Your mileage may vary...

[infoxicated]

So I'm dismissing the original question and going with this one.
And your arrogance at "dismissing the original question" is pretty much par for the course when it comes to F1 and its fans. Way too blinkered to see anything other than the self proclaimed "pinnacle of motorsports".


Your mileage may vary...
Actually, no. No it doesn't - with F1 fans the mileage never varies. I already knew what their responses would be before I looked at this thread.

[!!WALDO!!]

OK, but if we looked purely on talent and not financial backing, who do you think would be competitive?

There are plenty of talented drivers everywhere but without financial backing we will never hear of them.

So to base it strictly on talent is a "joke". Remember the famous phone call from Roger Penske to Tom Sneva in late 1974. "Tom how would you like to drive my car for $40,000?" "Roger, I do not have $40,000." So money was "required" in some driver's minds 35 years ago.

Talent? Financial backing? That is why our talent ends up in NASCAR. If you spend $2,000,000 to get your kid a look, he does well in 5 years you will have your money back, the kid has that much and he has a racing team with that much in resources.

Different world that F-1. Good today, gone tomorrow. NASCAR, good today, in the Truck Series tomorrow.

[Jag_Warrior]

And your arrogance at "dismissing the original question" is pretty much par for the course when it comes to F1 and its fans. Way too blinkered to see anything other than the self proclaimed "pinnacle of motorsports".


Actually, no. No it doesn't - with F1 fans the mileage never varies. I already knew what their responses would be before I looked at this thread.

I wish you people would have a meeting or something before touching your keyboards. Ya need to make up your minds. Am I a disgruntled CART fan, an F1 fan, an ALMS fan, a closet NASCAR fan, an Angelle Sampey stalker or a Grand Am turncoat? Pick one and stick with it, will ya?! :p :

As far as being arrogant... son, that's probably genetic. I don't think you can blame F1 for that. Course... Your mileage may vary! :D

[CGormally]

When I first saw the thread, I went dyslexic and that's what I saw. To me, to ask which "F1 drivers could cut it in the IRL" is like asking how many people attending MIT could make it at the Universal Technical Institute (vocational school)? In fact, that might be a better question (brainiacs are often not so good with their hands). Plus, it seems that road course whiz kids have an easier time picking up ovals than those going in the other direction (Montoya, Mansell, Fittipaldi, Jacques Villeneuve, etc.).

So I'm dismissing the original question and going with this one. Once upon a time, I think Tony Kanaan and Helio may have had the right stuff to be competitive in F1. I think the same is true of Dario. But their Sell By dates have long passed. Now, I don't know. I don't see much there. Young Rahal is an unknown quantity. He was in a good car with the best team, and while he didn't make a monkey of himself, he didn't really WOW! anyone either. Probably time for GP2, if that question is to be answered. Marco? It appears that all he really has is the Andretti name. Like Katherine Legge, he was moved up too fast, to capitalize on something other than his racing talent. Danica? It's too early in the day to laugh that hard. Justin Wilson? He had his day in the sun. A good driver, but not amazing. Maybe he could still be competitive though. Who else do we have? "Special Ed" Carpenter? Let's just go ahead and say that anyone who is a backmarker IRL driver would not be considered for anything other than Captain of the Broom Squad in F1. So who else? Wheldon? Dixon? Manning? Hmm, Dixon isn't so bad on road courses, right? I haven't followed Darren since he left CART. I would pick him, but I don't know how he has progressed. The only person who seems to be amazed at Wheldon's talent is Wheldon himself. At one time, I would have said Scheckter. But he seems to be another one that has traded on his (father's) name, rather than his talent. Doornbos? Hmm, maybe. Is he even still in the picture or did he leave amongst the foolishness?

I don't know who I might have left out, but other than the ones I mentioned as possibilities, I don't see anyone else who could make the cut, unless they were bringing money to a backmarker F1 squad.

Your mileage may vary...

OK, maybe I did write the question a bit wrong, but there's no need to just dismiss my question. Let me ask you this then. Could any of the recently retired F1 drivers (ie.M.Schumacher, Hakkinen, R. Schumacher, Alesi, Frentzen, etc.) be competitve in the IndyCar Series?

[CGormally]

There are plenty of talented drivers everywhere but without financial backing we will never hear of them.

So to base it strictly on talent is a "joke". Remember the famous phone call from Roger Penske to Tom Sneva in late 1974. "Tom how would you like to drive my car for $40,000?" "Roger, I do not have $40,000." So money was "required" in some driver's minds 35 years ago.

Talent? Financial backing? That is why our talent ends up in NASCAR. If you spend $2,000,000 to get your kid a look, he does well in 5 years you will have your money back, the kid has that much and he has a racing team with that much in resources.

Different world that F-1. Good today, gone tomorrow. NASCAR, good today, in the Truck Series tomorrow.

I agree. Most IndyCar team owners now want a driver with a lot of money and a bit of talent, rather than one with a bit of money and a lot of talent.

[!!WALDO!!]

I agree. Most IndyCar team owners now want a driver with a lot of money and a bit of talent, rather than one with a bit of money and a lot of talent.


So far in 4 NASCAR Cup races they have raced for $33,000,000 and the average driver gets a salary and 35%.
The ICS will race this year for about $42,000,000. In two races the Sprint Cup will surpase that amount with 29 more races.

[Placid]

Competitive is one thing, successful is another. Doornbos is competitive. I'd like to see Rahal and Andretti given a shot. Wilson could be good in a good ride. I think he's learned a few things since he was in show the first time around. Dixon? Absolutely. Helio and Wheldon? Possibly. PT would provide the most entertainment. I dont think Kanaan has the killer instinct. Not sure on the others.
Forget about Tomas Scheckter. I have no idea why he never followed his father's footsteps. Hornish would also be a best bet when he was young and winning 2 titles with Panther before getting 1 for Penske.

Wheldon and Dixon are the best in getting an F1 ride.

[DBell]

Forget about Tomas Scheckter. I have no idea why he never followed his father's footsteps. Hornish would also be a best bet when he was young and winning 2 titles with Panther before getting 1 for Penske.

Wheldon and Dixon are the best in getting an F1 ride.

Scheckter was in the Jaguar program, but was released after being arrested for hiring a prostitute. Hornish is a talented oval racer, but hasn't been more than average on road courses. Imo, Wheldon and Dixon are too old. F1 has been going after young guys from their feeder systems.

Marco and Graham are young and have names. I would think Marco's stock has taken a hit in the last year, but is still young enough to turn it around and maybe get a chance. Graham will have to also really shine to get a look.

A guy like Robert Doornbos might get another chance. It happened with SeaBass.

Any IRL driver will have to dominate for a couple of seasons to get a real look by F1, imo.

[Jag_Warrior]

OK, maybe I did write the question a bit wrong, but there's no need to just dismiss my question. Let me ask you this then. Could any of the recently retired F1 drivers (ie.M.Schumacher, Hakkinen, R. Schumacher, Alesi, Frentzen, etc.) be competitve in the IndyCar Series?


Look, I didn't mean to offend you with the way I worded my reply. My apologies if I did. The other fellow? He can either get over it or not. Don't really care one way or the other.

Alesi is the guy who I hoped, more than anyone else, would come to CART, do Indy, whatever... when he retired from F1. But at almost 44, I believe the time has passed for him now. And still having his money, his health and a very cute wife, if I was him, I wouldn't drive anything faster than a golf cart. If he did lose his mind and decided to come out of retirement, would he be competitive? I don't know. On road courses? Probably. On ovals? Dunno. Alesi was one of my favorite drivers back in the day because of his driving style, but I don't think that he had the same level of talent as say, Emerson Fittipaldi. Fittipaldi came out of retirement and won Indy and the CART Championship at 42... against much deeper talent than we'll likely see again at Indy for years to come.

Ralfie? Maybe we need to better define "competitive". Could he beat Danica and the other mid-packers on a consistent basis? I'd say so. But I don't think that he now has what it would take to race for a championship... unless he was with a team that had found a real advantage. Frentzen? Again, not a young guy and he wasn't really that strong in F1. I'd put him in the same category as Ralf.

Onto the ones who I think could do very well: Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen. I couldn't stand Shoemaker. But yeah, he would kick azz, take names and then return for another azz kicking session. Despite the fact that I had no use for him, I cannot deny his incredible level of driving talent. I believe that Mika Hakkinen would also put on some driving seminars, though he has been saddled with a set of personal distractions of late.

The ones who I don't believe would do so well in the IRL are the ones who I don't think should be in F1: the "connected" ride buyers. F1 has had its own versions of Milka Duno and Alex Figge as well.

[nanders]

Most if not all of the former F1 drivers would not risk it driving IndyCars on the high speed meat grinders like Texas, Chicago and Kansas. However some have no problem driving in SpeedCar ;) http://www.speedcarseries.com/drivers/index.php

[bblocker68]

I think Liuzzi was interested in coming over. Put him and Scott Speed back on a team and let's see how they do :)

[BobGarage]

You only have to listen to the crybabies like Massa, Webber and Coulthard, whining about the ban on traction control. And going on and on about a barrier that's 'only' 30000km from the racing line.

interestingly, i was watching the F1 preview on ITV yesterday and Heiki Kovalinen was talking about how he was looking forward to valencia because the would be no run offs and concrete walls running round the track and it would be much more of an exciting challaenge.

i'd like to see him come over here. i'm sure he'd love it and be fast from the get go too.

[CGormally]

Look, I didn't mean to offend you with the way I worded my reply. My apologies if I did. The other fellow? He can either get over it or not. Don't really care one way or the other.

Alesi is the guy who I hoped, more than anyone else, would come to CART, do Indy, whatever... when he retired from F1. But at almost 44, I believe the time has passed for him now. And still having his money, his health and a very cute wife, if I was him, I wouldn't drive anything faster than a golf cart. If he did lose his mind and decided to come out of retirement, would he be competitive? I don't know. On road courses? Probably. On ovals? Dunno. Alesi was one of my favorite drivers back in the day because of his driving style, but I don't think that he had the same level of talent as say, Emerson Fittipaldi. Fittipaldi came out of retirement and won Indy and the CART Championship at 42... against much deeper talent than we'll likely see again at Indy for years to come.

Ralfie? Maybe we need to better define "competitive". Could he beat Danica and the other mid-packers on a consistent basis? I'd say so. But I don't think that he now has what it would take to race for a championship... unless he was with a team that had found a real advantage. Frentzen? Again, not a young guy and he wasn't really that strong in F1. I'd put him in the same category as Ralf.

Onto the ones who I think could do very well: Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen. I couldn't stand Shoemaker. But yeah, he would kick azz, take names and then return for another azz kicking session. Despite the fact that I had no use for him, I cannot deny his incredible level of driving talent. I believe that Mika Hakkinen would also put on some driving seminars, though he has been saddled with a set of personal distractions of late.

The ones who I don't believe would do so well in the IRL are the ones who I don't think should be in F1: the "connected" ride buyers. F1 has had its own versions of Milka Duno and Alex Figge as well.

Alesi would have been great in the IndyCar Series. He was pretty good on road courses (as he showed in F1). It would have taken a bit more for him to be competitive on the ovals, but his aggresive driving style (as well as his mentality) would probably have helped him. I don't think he would have been scared about racing on the ovals.

[F1boat]

I think that Kimi Raikkonen will be invincible in the IRL. About the others, I dunno. Massa does not like close battles, which are typical for Indy-racing. Alonso is a great driver, but at Indy, at the oval part of the track, he always seemed a bit scared to me - check 2006 for example. Lewis should be really quick. I guess that Nico and Kovy could be really competitive too. And DC would be great. I dunno about the others.
From IRL to F1, I think that Dixon and Helio would be fast.

[SoCalPVguy]

To the topic at hand: Yes any and all of the F1 drivers at this time and in recent past would "cut it" in ICS on a pure driving basis. Witness CCWS champ Bordais struggling to beat 20 year old Vettl his team mate in obstensibly equal cars. Another example, an old fat Mansell comes to ICS and wins

The reverse question, could any current ICS drivers "cut it" in F1 would be a very short list. I can't think of many, many Rahal Jr. possibly maco, that's about it. Remember Dornbos is her because he didn't "cut it" in F1.

[JSH]

F1 is about the have's and the have-not's.

ALL Motorsport is about the have's and the have-not's.

It's just more obvious in F1. Other series just cloud it with spec this and spec that.

But at the end of the day, the team with the most "have" will prepare a better car and give their driver a better chance at winning than the teams that "have-not".

It doesn't matter if it's F1, NASCAR, Touring Cars or Saturday Night Roundy-Rounds at Flat Rock Speedway.

[Lousada]

To the topic at hand: Yes any and all of the F1 drivers at this time and in recent past would "cut it" in ICS on a pure driving basis. Witness CCWS champ Bordais struggling to beat 20 year old Vettl his team mate in obstensibly equal cars. Another example, an old fat Mansell comes to ICS and wins

Bourdais is one of the best drivers in F1 currently. He just has the bad luck that his teammate is even better. I think Vettel will be one of F1's stars in the not so near future. Also remember Vettel may be 20 but he has a lot more F1 experience than Bourdais.

[bblocker68]

Vettel showed what he could do in a good car. Wasn't he the youngest driver to ever score F1 points at the USGP?