Danica 'dead set' on move to F1

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Originally Posted by Mr Peppermill

Sure, F1 dosen't needs a publicity stunt as a driver, but there are tems in F1 that most definitly could use one.

Danica maybe a once in a lifetime opportunity. It may never happen again(at least for a very, very long time) that we see a girl with her skills and her looks on the race tracks.

Her publicity value alone makes it stupid not to sign her, or at least give here some serious tests.

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This may be hard for an IRL fan to grasp, but F1 doesn't need drivers for their publicity value. Unlike Tony George's series, F1 has all the publicity it needs simply because it is the acknowledged pinnacle of motorsport. By comparison, NASCAR is like the club series at your local dirt track.

“F1 is regarded as the highest level of racing with the best drivers in the world, and it's very flattering to have that as an opportunity." - Danica Patrick, April 2008.

What opportunity? As I've said before, Danica will be offerfed a PR test with Honda. She was offered one in 2005, but turned it down, no doubt because being 3 seconds off the pace would have been a major embarassment. There will be no F1 ride, but she (and her boosters) will contnue to propgate the transparent BS (as above) that she could be in F1 if she wanted to, but she'd rather stay in the IRL.

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Originally Posted by skyh

And she had been secretly given the power-steering system now installed on all IRL cars. I'm still amazed that that was legal - I guess the IRL ruleset must have a special Danica section.

Like other posters, I find the thought of Danica in F1 hilarious. She'll get the usual token test drive with Honda (probably with unpublished laptimes to avoid embrasssment) - just basic boilerplate PR provided by Honda Corp to promulgate the fiction that IRL drivers could actually be F1 contenders.

I wonder - does Danica really believe her own PR hype? Does she actually believe that she could finish in the top 75% of a GP2 race, let alone F1? Perhaps, to maintain her own self-respect, she has to believe that it's her mad skillz, not the swimsuit photospreads, that got her where she is today.

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I've looked throughout the IRL records and I can't find any reference to power steering, yet it contiues to be something special offered only to DP. I wonder how she gets these special favors. Maybe she had a 25 gallon fuel call for Motegi.

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Originally Posted by BenRoethig

Funny that we're always wrong because we don't like the same things as europeans do. God forbid anybody be allowed a thought that doesn't originate there.

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A little touchy, aren't we? Nobody said you're wrong. What is wrong is the claim that American racing offers more entertainment options than European racing. There are far more races and far more series on TV in Europe than in America.

As to the insularity - America is notorious for a lack of interest in, and knowledge of, anything outside their own borders. When I first moved here in 1982, I was staggered by the ignorance of the rest of the world, the lack of international news, and an unthinking assumption that everything American was superior, even when they didn't even know to what it was (supposedly) superior.

By contrast, the people I met in Europe (and from Europe), and the European media, were very knowledgeable about the entire world, not just their own culture. That may be a product of better educational systems (taxes are good for some things, especially when don't have to spend most of your budget on war :eek: ), but it's more than that - in general, Europeans just seem to be more curious about the world outside their own horizons than are Americans.

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Originally Posted by Wilf

I've looked throughout the IRL records and I can't find any reference to power steering, yet it contiues to be something special offered only to DP. I wonder how she gets these special favors. Maybe she had a 25 gallon fuel call for Motegi.

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It's called reduction-gear steering, I believe. Not true power-steering, but offers the same advantage (less effort, less fatigue, better control). Danica and one of the Vision cars was given it at Detroit and one other road course last year, until the media (Robin Miller, I think) got hold of it, and the ensuing publicity ended that program.

The justification was that it was put on her car for "development" prior to its 2008 release to all teams. The fact that this conferred an secret, unfair advantage to DP was apparently the goal of the bush-league management of the series.
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Originally Posted by Komahawk

On another note, I still don't get it why someone would even want to run in a series which not even remotely has an even playing field. Is it really that much fun to get lapped every race, just because your car has less horsepower and worse aerodynamics than the others? Or having to retire because of mechanicals and engine failures every second race? Would you really prefer that to the IRL and seriously competing for wins, especially in Indianapolis?
Money makes the world go round I guess.

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If I go back to 2003 or so, will I see a broad variety of teams winning in the IRL? Or will I see three teams basically dominating the standings each and every season? If we were talking about the late 90's, I'd have to agree with you. But since the former CART teams came in, the IRL has basically become what you're criticizing F1 for.

By the way, in 2006, according to Business F1 magazine:
McLaren's total budget was $400 million.
Toyota's budget was $393 million.
Honda's team budget was $382 million.
BMW-Sauber's budget was $378 million.
Ferrari's team budget was $329 million.
Renault's budget was $300 million.

According to Business F1's data, the level of F1 team spending did not create a cause & effect relationship, or even draw a correlation to success in the upper portion of the WDC in 2006... or 2005. Even in 2007 (and I bet 2008), with Honda and Toyota still struggling, all F1 proves is that you can spend yourself silly, if you're not efficient and capable of managing resources within a hyper-speed environment.

To me, F1 represents all the kids who play for keeps, going into a room and taking the SAT's over & over, until they all drop dead or give up, except for the last one standing: the winner. Maybe there are some rich kids who get to take prep courses before the tests. But maybe there are some less wealthy kids who just know how to take tests and regurgetate knowledge faster & better.

IMO, the playing field in F1 is as fair as the one in life (at least in the U.S.): you take the cards you're dealt, you make the best of them and you play them for all they're worth... to the best of your ability.

Social engineering is one way to address society's ills. But I think true competition produces a stronger being, and in the end, a more robust society.

OK then. I'll finish my last thought:

Social engineering is one way to address society's ills. But I think true competition produces a stronger being, and in the end, a more robust society. IMO, the basis of the hype around Danica is more about social engineering than true competition. Yes, there have been more than a few others who made it to Formula One, who were less than accomplished. But I can't think of any who had but one race win in their professional career. And I also can't think of any of these (ride-buyers) who attracted any sort of media attention, except when they hit a wall or another car.

Based on how I see F1 and why I've followed F1 for all these years, I'd prefer that Danica-mania stay on this side of the pond, unless it's just to have her do a dog & pony show to get European tweenagers lathered up. I think the Honda F1 test will take place... most likely with unpublished results. And I think that one day there will be another woman in F1. But I do not think that it will be a woman who won her first professional race at age 26, with that win being on an oval. I think that the one (or more) that makes it to F1 will be spoken about more for her racing accomplishments going in, than the Paris Hilton/Britney Spears like media attention that follows her to the door.

Or the short version: That poodle don't hunt!

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Originally Posted by Starter

This thread has drifted way off topic from Danica to a discussion of F1 - which we have another forum for. Back on topic please or I'll have to close the thread.

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Close it. The start of the thread was already an extrapolation so far removed from the intent of Danica's original comments that it bears no relevance.