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  1. #1
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    Suddenly and Surprisingly Strong Seasons (Drivers)

    For a while, I've been wanting to take a look at drivers who against all expectations, suddenly enjoyed a great season, seemingly out of the blue, and surprising most people.

    I am thinking of people who suddenly had a superb season, but afterwards never lived up to it again.

    I have in mind Ukyo Katayama and his 1994 season for Tyrrell. This has always intrigued me, and a while back f1rejects also posted an article about it! (such a shame they closed down - I think it's because of Bernie, shame on him!)

    Katayama wasn't particularly rated, but suddenly had the beating of Blundell all season long, a regular fixture in the top 10 on the grid, including two 5ths (almost 3rd in Hungary). Such a shame then, that he spoiled it with so many errors. Then after

    Johnny Herbert in 1997 is another interesting case, suddenly looking very strong indeed. It seems a lot of it was due to his great ability to preserve his tyres, a huge bonus in tyre war 1997. So many strong weekends, finishing races right in the mix of McLarens, Benettons, Ferraris, even Williams. Yet he never looked so good again, save for a few races at the end of 1999.

    I guess Frentzen in 1999 counts too, since he never really looked so good after that.

    Maybe Maldonado in 2012? Seems a similar case to Katayama. Look at the gulf in speed between him and Bruno Senna that year, but lost a lot of points too.

    I wonder if Ricciardo 2014 could end up under this?!! Or even Rosberg 2014 (though I think his 2010 season was fantastic).


    Would love to hear some more examples from you guys and gals. They can be any motorsport I guess.
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    Hmm 2009 was a bit of a wake up call for one Jenson Button!

    9 times out of 10 you can put it down to car/engine/tyres being just right that season for them I suppose. Take Wurz for example, was amazing in the few races he did in 1997 but then was never in a decent car again.

    Kubica in 2008 was also having a really good season and if BMW had put more focus on that season he might well have pulled off the title. Ironically they were too focused on 2009 and missed the one chance they really had.

    Olivier Panis in 1997 until he crashed at Montreal. I doubt he would have done much more though because I don't think Prost could develop anywhere near the pace of the others.

    It's always been my feeling that people must win the titles or races during those seasons when it all clicks because they only get one chance at it where as others like Michael Schumacher for example get lots of chances to win.
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    I don't think Button qualifies, because he had excellent seasons before and after, especially '04 and '11.

    Kubica in 2008 was following a 2007 when he was pretty comprehensively beaten by Heidfeld, but that was effectively his rookie season, and he did also impress later on in the Renault.

    Panis is a good call. Of course he had is win the previous year but that was out of the blue as well.

    How about Wurz in 2005, coming in for one race as a sub for Montoya who had his infamous "tennis" injury and inheriting a podium.
    Last edited by AndyL; 28th April 2015 at 13:21.

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    Alexander Wurz from 1998 is a good case for me. His first full season, a string of good points and was a legitimate match to Fisichella that year. Whatever happened after that, is a mystery. He was nowhere near Fisichella and dropped out of F1 after 2000. Which is not what you would have expected based on 1998!

    What about Ralf Schumacher in 1999. First season for Williams, utterly destroyed Zanardi and made people talk about him like future great. Like Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher also made his name that year. Ralf still had good seasons in 2000, 2001, but not quite as standouts and after that his career started to decline comparatively.

    For whatever reason Barrichello stands out from 1999 too... But for different reasons. It was not his only impressive season and he had good seasons before as well. But it was the last season in which he looked like a future star. And he finally had a good car. Got podiums, got a pole, led races. Unique season for Rubens. Other than that he usually had just merely unremarkable midfield cars (before 1999) or he got consistently beaten by team-mates (from 2000 onwards).

    Felipe Massa, 2008-2009 (so that contains two seasons). Before that he was either unremarkable in midfield (Sauber) and got beaten by team-mates even if he looked promising. But in 2008 he suddenly was a title contender, beat Raikkonen, and almost won WDC. His 2009 was decent too until accident, though not so spectacular in qualis. Since then has been getting beaten by his team-mates. But 2008 stands out massively.

    Overall... I think in this thread any driver's best season can be added. Because all the other seasons would look inferior, so that best is the benchmark. Just maybe the performance differentiator is not big compared to other years and there are always factors, which influence the outcome. What about Alboreto from 1985? Regazzoni from 1974, almost WDC and beating Lauda? Hunt in 1976, only season he was ever a realistic title contender? Hulme in 1967? Pironi in 1982 - almost WDC after getting a trashing by G.Villeneuve in 1981?

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    It is interesting to ponder about reasons though. Sometimes it is a good car and bad team-mate combined, which makes driver look a standout.

    Damon Hill (vs HHF '99), Zanardi (vs Ralf '99), Shinji Nakano (vs Panis '97), Bruno Senna (vs Maldo '12), Larini/Fontanta (vs Herbert '97) were all basically pretty much out of their depth in those seasons. Needless to say, the cars were good as well. I am not so convinced in the Supertec-powered Wiliams, but Jordan (99), Prost (97, heavily aided by Bridgestone tyres!), Williams (12) were certainly very good cars.

    So then the lead drivers of those teams had standout seasons. But when they faced stronger team-mates and cars, which were not so good any more, they suddenly looked not so impressive. It is interesting for me personally to look back at Frentzen that when Trulli joined Jordan, HHF instantly looked like an ordinary good driver, like JT, and not the best he looked like in 1999.

    It is a good thing to ponder. Was the driver in question really performing that well, or simply the stars aligned and luck was on his side? I think 2004 was also sort of a standout season for my favourite Trulli. Out of nowhere he suddenly matched Alonso. He didn't do it in 2003, and you'd expect he'd get beaten again after 2004 had they been teamed together again. But, 2004 was a different story. Räikkönen struggled in 2008, and Ferrari was great - so Massa looked great.

    Katayama, IIRC, was also suffering from illness after 1994. And new weight rules were introduced after 1994, so these things were a factor.

    Oh.... and what about Eddie Irvine, again 1999. So many examples from 1999! But I am struggling to get my head around the fact that he was absolutely nowhere in Ferrari in 1996-97, had a better season in 1998, but still well behind leaders in the points. But then suddenly won 4 races and almost won the WDC. OK, Schumacher got injured, but even after the British GP Eddie was just mere 8 points behind the leader - never happened before in his career. Another case of stars aligning.

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    Quote Originally Posted by AndyL View Post
    I don't think Button qualifies, because he had excellent seasons before and after, especially '04 and '11.
    You are totally correct here actually. Button withdrawn.

    Quote Originally Posted by AndyL View Post
    How about Wurz in 2005, coming in for one race as a sub for Montoya who had his infamous "tennis" injury and inheriting a podium.
    Yeah but he only did that one race, not the whole season, in car that was about to become the car of the season.
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    Quote Originally Posted by jens View Post
    what about Eddie Irvine, again 1999. So many examples from 1999! But I am struggling to get my head around the fact that he was absolutely nowhere in Ferrari in 1996-97, had a better season in 1998, but still well behind leaders in the points. But then suddenly won 4 races and almost won the WDC. OK, Schumacher got injured, but even after the British GP Eddie was just mere 8 points behind the leader - never happened before in his career. Another case of stars aligning.
    Yes I think he got his act together, Ferrari got behind him rather than Schumacher, Schumacher was injured and McLaren had built an unreliable car, a faster car but not reliable, plus Hakkinen made 2 driver errors during the year. I think it was more the case that he kept getting handed gifts on a plate rather than amazing driving.
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    Except for Ukyo Katayama. I don't see anything surprising about the seasons nominated drivers have put out.

    Olivier Panis? Geesh! Some of you must've thought he was a peanut.

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    In fact. From my pov. It's been more about teams elevating themselves unexpectedly. Having not been familiar with Ligier as a good team, their performance in 93 came out of the blue to me. 3 podiums was quite a lot for a mid pack team. A number of point scoring finishes. The were good that year.

    Stewart in 99. They'd gone from hopeless to threatening. The win at Nurburging wasn't really a huge surprise that year. Except for the fact it was Herbert that won it.

    BAR in 04. I wasn't expecting such a sustained performance. Button, 10 podiums! Personally, it made me more annoyed JV got the boot. While I can't say for certain he'd have finished ahead of JB in the standings. He had the experience, so I reckon he'd have pinched a win off the Ferrari's, which Button couldn't.
    Last edited by journeyman racer; 6th May 2015 at 15:38.

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    Quote Originally Posted by journeyman racer View Post
    In fact. From my pov. It's been more about teams elevating themselves unexpectedly.
    Yeah, suddenly good seasons by teams is also a good topic.

    Brawn GP is the best example here. So many favorable things came together for them that year, while they were nowhere in 2008 and only upper midfield as Mercedes in 2010. Yet Brawn GP was a cash-strapped private team, and Honda and Mercedes big manufacturers! One of the most stunning stories.

    Toro Rosso from 2008 is remarkable, by far their best season to-date.

    Toyota sort of had a green patch of form in 2005, though that period didn't last long.

    Jordan and - as you mention - Stewart in 1999.

    Super Aguri in 2007?! Sato making it into Q3 and beating Hondas was pretty amazing. The team went bankrupt a year later.

    Force India in late 2009. Fisichella was fighting for a win in Spa and Sutil was up there as well in races. Force India has never replicated that form again, except Hülkenberg's charge in wet Brazil in 2012.

    Sauber in 2012. Discounting BMW Sauber (06-09 period), this has been the only season ever, when Sauber has been competing for race wins on speed merit! And it wasn't just one race, but multiple!

    I never quite understood, how was Arrows so fast with outdated Supertec engines in 2000. Yeah, point score doesn't really tell us much (7th with 7 points in WCC), but de la Rosa was running 3rd on merit in Austria, and 4th in Germany. Verstappen also had good races.

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