He was Minardi's test driver in 1996 ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by thesprog
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He was Minardi's test driver in 1996 ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by thesprog
I would have to say Alan McNish from recent times. His performances at Toyota in their first year and subsequent displays in Sports cars proved he is quick and consistant. I was very sruprised when neither he, nor Mika Salo were signed up to Toyota for a drive.
From a little earlier I would say Gianni Morbidelli. Showed plenty of talent in the drives for Minardi, Footwork and those rare Ferrari drives but never really got the chance to join a team with championship potential. Good performances with sub-standard machinery.
Mc Nish in the modern era. Also Alex Zanardi never seemed to show what he had in Champ Car in f1. I think with a different team, fate would have been different.
Guys in the past I cant really name right now...but you have to know some damned fine race drivers never got more than a cup of coffee in f1.
mika salo
sebastian bordais (sp?)
greg moore (died)
What tends to happen is that drivers, for varying reasons, do not get a chance in a competitive car. This has the effect of draining their confidence, thus influencing the quality of their driving in poor machinery. Consequently, team managers who were previously considering hiring them think that they have "lost it". The break therefore never arrives. Some drivers go into a downward spiral.
I can think of some examples:- Alex Caffi, Bertrand Gachot, JJ Lehto, Pierluigi Martini.
Surely his disappearance from the horizon had more to do with a London cabbie, CS gas canister and a certain German super sub.Quote:
Originally Posted by futuretiger9
Bit like Thomas Scheckter curb crawling in a Jag.
thinking of Gachot, i was watching a motorsport memory show on Motors the other evening, featuring the '87 F3, i only saw a bit but it included Martin Donnely, Johnny Herbert, Bertrand Gachot, Damon Hill and Perry McCarthy battling at the front, that must have been quite a season.
He's mentioned in McCarthy's book.
Mention of the 1987 F3 season prompts another thought. The chances of a driver getting a break in F1 are often influenced by the preponderance of talent in his era or generation.
The late 1980s were full of talent in European F3000 and F3. There was only enough room for a few of these hotshoes in F1, and this situation become more acute as Grand Prix grids shrank in the 1990s. Many drivers, particularly British, French and Italian, disappeared. Often, financial constraints were the deciding factor. When these drivers did arrive in F1, their progression was blocked.
I've always had something for Luca Badoer, though it's clear he wont get anywhere now, in his mid 30's. Having cars like the Scuderia Italia Lola and the Forti could not have helped his confidence...
Zanardi in '99 was a disaster, but in his earlier years, his results were very encouraging indeed. A talent that clearly never came through in tough circumstances (his accident in Spa '93, remember).