Eddie Cheever's Formula 1 career

[futuretiger9]

Eddie Cheever was a constant fixture on the Formula 1 grids of the 1980s, yet one could argue that his was a case of potential not realised.

He arrived in Grand Prix racing after starring in karting and F2, and very early in his career he was linked with a Ferrari drive, and tested for the Prancing Horse.

His big chance came with a Renault drive in 1983, but he was comprehensively overshadowed by Alain Prost. After that it was case of midfield running in F1 until 1990, when he moved Stateside.

I always thought it significant that Eddie displayed good form on street circuits, a sign of finesse and talent. He really suffered in 1989, as the cockpits of F1 cars became more and more cramped, and he was penalised by his lanky frame.

Did Cheever achieve the level of success in F1 warranted by his ability, or could he have achieved more, given luck or a different approach?

[Valve Bounce]

Eddie Cheever was a constant fixture on the Formula 1 grids of the 1980s, yet one could argue that his was a case of potential not realised.

He arrived in Grand Prix racing after starring in karting and F2, and very early in his career he was linked with a Ferrari drive, and tested for the Prancing Horse.

His big chance came with a Renault drive in 1983, but he was comprehensively overshadowed by Alain Prost. After that it was case of midfield running in F1 until 1990, when he moved Stateside.

I always thought it significant that Eddie displayed good form on street circuits, a sign of finesse and talent. He really suffered in 1989, as the cockpits of F1 cars became more and more cramped, and he was penalised by his lanky frame.

Did Cheever achieve the level of success in F1 warranted by his ability, or could he have achieved more, given luck or a different approach?

I suppose if Ron Dennis had offered Eddie a drive, he might have won a couple of WDC's.

[wedge]

I haven't seen him properly, only in Indycar and season reviews.

My conclusion so far is that he was very good midfielder who blew hot and cold and was also wet weather specialist. Combined with street circuits which proves he could hussle a with finesse shows he was a very good driver.

[Rollo]

His big chance came with a Renault drive in 1983, but he was comprehensively overshadowed by Alain Prost. After that it was case of midfield running in F1 until 1990, when he moved Stateside.

Despite that the 83 Renault was prone to lunching itself quite often, the car was capable of winning races by Prost. Cheever did finish second in the 83 Canadian GP which was his best result.
Given that from 82 starts in Champ car and even driving for Chip Ganassi, its a fair assumption to say that an F1 GP win was probably beyond him.

Maybe if he was given a better car in F1 he might have won a GP, but to get that better car in the first place he'd need to prove he was worthy of it. Also if we apply the Vettel-Panis exemption clause to the 1984 Monaco GP we determine that if a Toleman came second, then the car one was driving was irrelevant.

Did Cheever achieve the level of success in F1 warranted by his ability, or could he have achieved more, given luck or a different approach?

Cheever achieved the level of success in F1 warranted by his ability quod erat demonstrandum.

[futuretiger9]

I haven't seen him properly, only in Indycar and season reviews.

My conclusion so far is that he was very good midfielder who blew hot and cold and was also wet weather specialist. Combined with street circuits which proves he could hussle a with finesse shows he was a very good driver.

You have identified Cheever's main shortcoming in F1 - his inconsistency. An inspired drive to the podium would be followed up by an anonymous midfield performance two weeks later.

[jens]

Obviously his relative unsuccess (considering the machinery) in 1983 was the distacting factor, which disabled his chances to get a top drive in F1 again. But his time together with Warwick at Footwork was quite interesting - I mean, can a driver pairing be even more equal than that? :

[philipbain]

The Warrick / Cheever combo at Footwork in '88 is an interesting one, as they had similar careers in F1, both drove for Renault, both took a break from F1 to race Group C back in the days when Sportscar racing was seen as a viable alternative to racing F1 and they were team mates at Footwork Arrows in '88, combining to take the team to 4th place in the '88 constructors championship in a Ross Brawn designed car with a frugal (important in '88 when turbos had to do a race on 150 litres of fuel) Megatron (BMW) engine.

In F1 terms they both under-achieved, neither won a race yet I am not alone in thinking that in different circumstances they would have been race winners.

[futuretiger9]

The fact that Cheever stayed in F1 for a decade, and drove for many different teams, suggests that he was rated by team managers, who must have recognised his inherent talent. However, he did tend to "team hop", which tends to imply that teams became exasperated by his inconsistency.

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