Marco to USF1? [Archive] - Motorsport Forums

TURN3

18th August 2009, 21:48

Rumor page has Marco being a possible driver for USF1. I'm surprised nobody has started a thread yet on one hand. Then on the other hand it really isn't news worthy, more like a joke. Aren't you supposed to have a remote bit of talent to be considered for an F1 seat? I realize Indycar is all about money and not talent but F1? This kid stands zero chance.

chuck34

18th August 2009, 22:57

If he can't be a regular at the front in IndyCar, he'll be toast in F1. He's not as good a driver as his dad was and look what happened to him.

Come on Starter. He's no where near as good as his dad. And his dad was crap. I can't stand Michael, but give credit where credit is due. He had some talent, he just squandered it with his ego. Massive, MASSIVE EGO. Marco is just horrible as far as I can tell. He seemed to have a bit of talent early on, but that is now gone. Not sure exactly of the reasons but I think at least one of them is a three letter word. I won't tell you what that is but the first letter is E and the last letter is O (the middle letter is G, but you didn't hear that from me). And it is/was being fed by his father.

Perhaps I'm a bit "over the top", but I don't think by much.

DBell

19th August 2009, 02:14

Come on Starter. He's no where near as good as his dad. And his dad was crap.

This part of your rant to me is ridiculous. Micheal WON 42 races in CART, 3rd all time behind his AJ and Mario in Indycar history. He also had 32 poles. You can debate a lot in his career, but to refer to him as crap is ludicrous. When he was behind the wheel in his prime, he was an unquestionable ace. For me back then it was drivers like him I paid to see and he was worth the money.

As for Marco, he's just not very quick. No way does he belong in F1.

Mad_Hatter

19th August 2009, 02:41

Let him go. That will make an open seat that will hopefully get filled by someone who deserves it.

Easy Drifter

19th August 2009, 02:46

Michael was fairly good but like all the Andretti's including Mario prone to boneheaded moves. Michael probably could have been an average or even slightly above F1 driver if he had stayed in Europe and tested instead of flying back to the US all the time.
Marco has inherited the boneheaded moves and also does not seem to have the ability to set up a car.
I really do not see any US driver with the skill to run in F1 at the moment.
Probably the closest would be Scott Speed and AJ Allmendinger. Speed at least has experience but I cannot see either giving up the taxi cabs.
Heck maybe Mario should come out of retirement! Now there would be a story!

Chamoo

19th August 2009, 02:51

Marco's problem is that he was promoted too soon. He pretty much went straight from Star Mazda to the ICS.

Jag_Warrior

19th August 2009, 03:12

DBell

19th August 2009, 03:36

Talent aside, how do you guys & gals think Marco would stand up to the mental and emotional rigors of F1? I mean, he's been under daddy's wing since he got into the IRL. By being Michael's son and racing for AGR in the IRL, he is a somebody. But in F1, he'd be a virtual nobody. And a nobody with questionable talent at that. So how do you think he'd deal with that?

And where exactly did this rumor come from? I missed that part.

It's one of Mark C's rumors. I don't know what it says as I don't subscribe. I looked at a couple of F1 sites, including one that has a lot of F1 rumors on it and saw nothing on them about this.

maxmach

19th August 2009, 04:02

Grandfather was great, father was really good, Marco....not so much

Mark in Oshawa

19th August 2009, 05:46

Grandfather was great, father was really good, Marco....not so much

That sums it up. Mike was half as good as his dad, good enough for 3rd on the all time list, but Marco has the pedigree, the name....and not enough talent. Heck...Frankie Muniz would be a worse pick by degrees but I think Marco isn't in IndyCar if not for the fact Dad is his boss. THAT said, he showed flashes in his first year and I wonder what could be done if he was schooled or maybe wasn't an Andretti and did a year or so in Indy Lights, had a good mentor and engineering support tailored to bringing him along. The problem is AGR sucks right now, and I think Marco skates on the grunt work. This team would be screwed if not for Tony Kanaan being there helping set up all the cars because Danica hasn't shown a great amount of diagnostic skills in the past.

speeddurango

19th August 2009, 07:44

I should say that Marco in his very first year had shown some promises but seemed to lose it the second year onwards.

Chris R

19th August 2009, 12:38

Grandfather was great, father was really good, Marco....not so much

good assessment - although I think Michael might have been great in an earlier era... and by the same token Mario might have only been very good in the "modern" era..... Mario had a lot more legitimate opportunity to make himself great - Michael was pretty much an indycar guy and nothing else..... If Marco had "IT" he would have shown something by now.....

chuck34

19th August 2009, 12:57

This part of your rant to me is ridiculous. Micheal WON 42 races in CART, 3rd all time behind his AJ and Mario in Indycar history. He also had 32 poles. You can debate a lot in his career, but to refer to him as crap is ludicrous. When he was behind the wheel in his prime, he was an unquestionable ace. For me back then it was drivers like him I paid to see and he was worth the money.

As for Marco, he's just not very quick. No way does he belong in F1.

I might have gotten a bit carried away, but at any rate I was refering to the fact that he was crap in F1, not IndyCars.

ClarkFan

19th August 2009, 14:25

Marco's problem is that he was promoted too soon. He pretty much went straight from Star Mazda to the ICS.
There is the real problem. With rapid promotion, he never figured out how to set up a car or racecraft for longer races. He did one season in Indy Lights, but the competition was pretty weak that year - Marco struggled adapting to ovals, but had 1 second a lap on everyone else on road courses.

Graham Rahal has faced some of the same issues, but Bobby was smart enough to send him to someone else's team to get a grounding.

Either one of them would be toast in a bottom tier F1 team, which is what USF1 will be next year.

ClarkFan

Jag_Warrior

19th August 2009, 14:32

It's one of Mark C's rumors. I don't know what it says as I don't subscribe. I looked at a couple of F1 sites, including one that has a lot of F1 rumors on it and saw nothing on them about this.

Ah, well that probably explains it then. Yeah, I checked a couple of F1 sites and I haven't heard anything about this either.

Say, I didn't really keep up with A1GP. How did Marco end up doing with that? Did he show any promising signs at all? I know that was another effort run by Daddy. But being that it was 100% road course, I just wondered how well he showed.

Chamoo

19th August 2009, 19:02

Marco ran half a season in Lights in '05, winning three times, all on road courses.

He could had used a full season in Atlantics or Lights to learn how to set up a car.

TURN3

19th August 2009, 19:30

Marco has had alost 4 seasons in Indycar to learn how to set-up a chassis. If he hasn't gotten it by now with the resources he's had, he won't get it. He's openly admitted that they still use Dario's old set-ups within the team and suggested they don't work for everybody. That comment alone which came after Toronto I believe says mouthfuls about what is going on there with him, Danica, and Hideki....not that is wasn't already obvious. He showed flashes his rookie year because he had teammates to set up a car.

FIAT1

19th August 2009, 19:34

With best of honda and dedio he can't cut a muster in a spec car therefore I don't see anyone with any brain that would take chance with him in F1 car. Grand am ?

Chris R

19th August 2009, 19:50

Ah, well that probably explains it then. Yeah, I checked a couple of F1 sites and I haven't heard anything about this either.

Say, I didn't really keep up with A1GP. How did Marco end up doing with that? Did he show any promising signs at all? I know that was another effort run by Daddy. But being that it was 100% road course, I just wondered how well he showed.

I don't think he did all that well in A1-GP - mid-field at best - not sure how strong the Team was though.....

DBell

19th August 2009, 20:12

Ah, well that probably explains it then. Yeah, I checked a couple of F1 sites and I haven't heard anything about this either.

Say, I didn't really keep up with A1GP. How did Marco end up doing with that? Did he show any promising signs at all? I know that was another effort run by Daddy. But being that it was 100% road course, I just wondered how well he showed.

It was a mixed bag. He had a 3rd at Malaysia, but most were mid pack finishes. I don't think he qualified very well, but when he finished it was usually higher than he started. A couple of crashes in there also.

Nikki Katz

19th August 2009, 20:27

It was a mixed bag. He had a 3rd at Malaysia, but most were mid pack finishes. I don't think he qualified very well, but when he finished it was usually higher than he started. A couple of crashes in there also.
Hmm, I don't know how well this compares, but Doornbos started 5 races last season, finished on the podium in 3 of them and won one. Andretti started 10 races, finished on the podium once with no wins, and only scored points (top 8) on two other occasions. Andretti was replaced by Hildebrand when the IRL season started, and he was immediately competitive.

Andretti would be miles out of his depth in F1. On road courses he tends to be outperformed by Danica in the IRL.

F1boat

19th August 2009, 21:02

IMO Marco will be a bigger failure even than Nelsinho... he showed some promise two years ago, but now he is mid-pack in IRL and will be worse in F1...

TURN3

19th August 2009, 21:22

On road courses he tends to be outperformed by Danica in the IRL.

And that is downright embarrassing! Ed Carpenter league on RC's.

Placid

20th August 2009, 17:48

The Seat will be battled by either Summerton, Hunter-Reay, or even JR Hildebrand.

garyshell

20th August 2009, 19:19

Seat? Doesn't that HAVE to be seats in F1?

Gary

DBell

20th August 2009, 20:31

Seat? Doesn't that HAVE to be seats in F1?

Gary

Rumor is that one seat will go to an experienced driver like Alex Wurz.

nigelred5

21st August 2009, 03:40

Marco's problem is that he was promoted too soon. He pretty much went straight from Star Mazda to the ICS.
x2. He can drive, he just isn't a very good racer. He never learned to set up a decent car and never learned how to race. he wasplopped down in an Indycar and had a trio of good technical drivers to set up the cars for him.

jwhite9185

21st August 2009, 16:17

If a 4 time Champ Car champion cant make the cut in a car that won a race last season, then Marco has no chance!

garyshell

21st August 2009, 17:03

If a 4 time Champ Car champion cant make the cut in a car that won a race last season, then Marco has no chance!

Small correction. That car did not win a race last season. The cars are all new this year because of the HUGE rules changes this season. But I do agree the Marco has ZERO chance of cutting it in F1.

Gary

jwhite9185

22nd August 2009, 09:26

Small correction. That car did not win a race last season. The cars are all new this year because of the HUGE rules changes this season. But I do agree the Marco has ZERO chance of cutting it in F1.

Gary

The Torro Rosso that seabass drove last season won at Monza in the hands of Vettel.

Although, i must admit, i think it was more down to Vettel than the car.