Time for some nostalgy - DC, GF, JT, NH, RB, RS.

[jens]

When I joined this forum (2006), those drivers were still very much active in F1. But by now the F1 careers of all of them have come to an end, in 2012 they have not been racing in F1 (last of them retired in 2011). And it is unlikely we are going to see any of them in F1 again. They guys I am talking about, in alphabetical order: Barrichello, Coulthard, Fisichella, Heidfeld, Ralf Schumacher, Trulli.

Back in the day there was some discussion about these drivers on the forums. At that time they were still active, but already quite experienced and many questioned if they should keep their seats at all. But by now the momentary emotions are over, dust has sort of settled down and we can reflect on their careers in retrospect - this time on the whole. What are your thoughts? How would you sum up their careers?

None of them were world champions, but they had long careers and were sort of a natural, integral part of F1. Always there or thereabouts in competing for points and podiums. When I think of 'noughties' in F1, I can't help but recall them a lot. In addition to World Champions and title contenders they were those, who made the decade.

Perhaps you can express some of your memories. What are the first things to come to your mind about those drivers? Perhaps you can share some interesting moments, emotions regarding them.
:)

[Dave B]

I feel ancient if those names are considered nostalgic!

[jens]

I feel ancient if those names are considered nostalgic!

Haha. :D Well, I started following F1 in 1998 and with those drivers I can associate the vast majority of my F1 watching experience.

When I started watching F1, they were all pretty young (though DC had already established himself in a top team), they were still considered as potential future champions. It looked like that once the Häkkinen v M.Schumacher battle comes to an end, this group of drivers is next in line to take over the limelight in F1. Also I was massively impressed with Heidfeld in F3000. I followed F3000 a lot in 1999 as well.

I was thinking that perhaps some sort of a "peak" period for this generation was around 10 years ago. Of course the odd one out here is Heidfeld, because he is younger and was still a novice in the early 2000's, but going well already then.

In any case, early 2000's was the period, when the careers of former champions (Häkkinen, Villeneuve) were winding down, while the new up-and-comers (Button, Räikkönen, Alonso) were yet to establish themselves properly. As a result for instance in 2001 Coulthard, Barrichello and R.Schumacher were next drivers behind M.Schumacher from 2nd to 4th in the WDC standings that year, while Trulli and Fisichella were punching above their weight in midfield cars.

[52Paddy]

I began watching in 2001 so associate a large bulk of my F1 fan experience with these drivers. Coulthard and Ralf never excited but I always had admiration for Barrichello - right from when he would occasionally beat Schumacher in a Ferrari up to his struggle with Honda and return to the top step with Brawn. Fisichella's win a Brazil 2003 was one of my most memorable F1 'happy moments', as was his form at Monza & Spa in 2009 for Force India. When Trulli drove for Toyota, I supported him. Heidfeld was another typical journeyman. A very unfortunate driver never to have won a race, though the team he raced for (perhaps excepting BMW Sauber) were never in a position to challenge for wins. I wonder could he rob Chris Amon of the title "Unluckiest Driver in F1" (i.e. "best driver never to have won a race"). I think not but some will argue.

[pettersolberg29]

I grew up with these drivers too, and still see them as key figures in F1 even though they're long gone! For me Heidfeld was one of the best drivers of the 2000s, but he never quite reached the heights he should have done. Turned down (unfairly) for the McLaren seat, given team orders to strip him of his first win in Canada, and left Renault unfairly before the car got good - overall a very unlucky driver. His charge from 11th to 2nd on the last lap at Spa a couple of years back sticks in my head, as do his 2 double overtakes at the British GP. Still feel he has a lot to offer a team like Sauber or Toro Rosso if money was no issue. Possibly the most reliable and consistent driver of the modern era, if not ever!

[driveace]

I started watching GPs in the early 60s,and can remember seeing at Aintree about 61/62 Phil Hill ,Denny Hulme,Wolfgang von Trips,Graham Hill,John Surtees ,Jim Clark etc all in those early years .I can also remember watching at Rufforth ,near York Jim Clark and Graham Hill racing in Mk! Lotus Cortina,s in white and green,and such names as Harry Ratcliffe racing A30s.
Von Trips was killed the same year as i watched at Aintree,in another GP that year .

[steveaki13]

Those names bring back lots of memories.

Rubens Barrichello:
I always really loved Rubens. He always seemed basically to be a really nice guy. He had some brilliant times and some bad times. My favourite memories of Rubinho are the British GPs in 2002 & 2003. The first was a damp day and after starting on the front row? (i forget) he stalled on the grid and started 20th and raced through the field, overtaking everyone except Michael. He was helped by the bridgestone and there superior intermediate tyres. But I enjoyed that race and Rubens was great. That was followed by his best drive in 2003. He was unstoppable that day in a Grand Prix which is still one of my all time favourite races.
All in all I would say Rubens was a great driver and was unlucky to find himself alongside Schumi, and was probably better in a slower car and out driving it (i.e Jordan, Stewart)

Giancarlo Fisichella:
Giancarlo was similar. He was great on oaccasion for Benetton or Jordan or Force India, but when put into a Renault struggled for consistancy and was mentally weak against Alonso.
My favourite Fisichella moments were the 1997 drive in Germany and 2001 in the Benetton at Spa. Then Force INdia 2009 at Spa, Jordan 2003 in Brazil.

Jarno Trulli:
Jarno looked so promising at times at Prost, then at Jordan had some amazing Qualifying performances and was always seen as going backwards in the race. The Trulli Train became a hit, but he really impressed at Renault. In 2004 that win at Monaco was supreme and that season he matched Alonso all the way, another great drive was Monza 2004 when he came from 20th to 4th,
He raced well for Toyota too, but I was never inspired and his last years at Lotus were like he dissapeared.

Ralf Schumacher:
It has always been tough for Ralf living in Michaels shadow, but in general his career was average only. The Jordan days were mistake riden, and the Toyota days were average.
However his best days were at Williams. In 2001 he was amazing in his first 3 wins that year. At Imola he was so fast and it was his best win for me. He also won in Canada & France maybe???
When he was fast at Williams he won easily, but other than that he was only OK.

David Coulthard:
I always like DC and supported him at Mclaren and felt he would get his chance for a world title, but in the end he was never quite up to it. However 13 wins show he was a very good driver.
His days at mclaren were successful and his days at Red Bull were fun. My favourite memories of DC, were his 2000 win at France & 2001 in Brazil.

Nick Heidfeld: He was a driver who would always bring the car home for points, and was unlucky to never have a drive in a really top car, but he was good at Sauber & BMW.
His highlights were his one pole in Europe 2005. His podium at Monaco that year as well.

[Storm]

I always liked Rubens and thought he would have done better than his 10/11 GP wins had he been in a team which did not have MS as well. Well he still had the longest career of all those and everyone else I guess. Trulli is another guy I liked and thought was phenomenally quick over one lap. Not so much for the whole race. Alonso as his teammate at Renault is what buried him but I can remember him easily beating Fernando in quallies. But nice guys (both) do not become champions unless you are Federer.

[AndyL]

So who of the current drivers are the likeable "good guys" who will have long but only moderately successful careers, in the mould of Trulli, Heidfeld or Barrichello? I hope Kovalainen and Kobayashi, but they could both be out of a job next year. I guess you'd have to say Webber too.

[Storm]

I would have liked to say Button to that but then that Brawn GP car came along :\

[jens]

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.




So who of the current drivers are the likeable "good guys" who will have long but only moderately successful careers, in the mould of Trulli, Heidfeld or Barrichello? I hope Kovalainen and Kobayashi, but they could both be out of a job next year. I guess you'd have to say Webber too.

I do not consider Webber and Barrichello as "classical midfielders" as both have spent many years in top teams and have had a shot at the title. But certainly it is difficult to see a driver with a fate similar to Trulli/Heidfeld (+ say, Panis) - basically all career (10 years at least) in midfield teams. As you say, Kovalainen (who hasn’t been even midfielder lately) and Kobayashi are likely to drop out of F1, Sutil dropped out last year. Glock stays around, but he has been only 2 years of his career in something better than a backmarker team, so hardly qualifies too for a „moderately successful long career”.

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.

[zako85]

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.