Anyone else miss crap teams? ;)

[big_sw2000]

NO, just crappy drivers like Sato.....Danica P.,.....and Button......oppos he is no longer crappy....

Or Kimi

[V12]

Can only echo others sentiments here really, I don't miss the likes of Life, Andrea Moda or Mastercard Lola (although each makes a good story, I don't really see the romance in Perry McCarthy's Andrea Moda's steering rack seizing mid-way through Eau Rouge because his car was being basically used as a rolling spare for Moreno's car)

But your Minardi's, BMS Dallaras, Osella, Rial, Coloni, Onyx, AGS, Leyton House March etc. etc. were just as an important part of the sport as McLaren, Ferrari, Williams etc. and the sport was, to use modern day corporate speak, "devalued", when they fell by the wayside, unable to be replaced by teams of a similar fashion thanks to Bernie and Max's $48 mil bond and their preoccupation with manufacturers and "professionalism"...oooh look how that one turned out...

Actually scratch my opening paragraph, well sort of. As far as Life goes, imagine looking at that thing crawling round the track and thinking to yourself "They're in F1 - and I could probably build a car that goes marginally quicker than that in my garage!". Like that "eel" guy who swam in the Olympics, I guess it went to show you could get to where you wanted to be if you tried hard enough, even if it resulted in you failing spectacularly once you actually got there

So in summation yes, I do miss "crap" teams - a lot.

[Soperfan]

V12's post is what i was meaning. those of you who are embarrassed by the 'Life' and Andrea Moda kind of teams.. well i dont want them either.they had no place in F1.

I was just meaning the small private teams which i reckon really added to the world of F1. your Osellas,Arrows,Zakspeeds.. those kind of teams that never threatened the winners rostrum but still often had good drivers and could have a real say in a race. i do miss that

[52Paddy]

As far as Life goes, imagine looking at that thing crawling round the track

I would pay to see that, literally. Just a piece of video footage, just the sound of that sick W12 engine. If only...

[V12]

V12's post is what i was meaning. those of you who are embarrassed by the 'Life' and Andrea Moda kind of teams.. well i dont want them either.they had no place in F1.

I was just meaning the small private teams which i reckon really added to the world of F1. your Osellas,Arrows,Zakspeeds.. those kind of teams that never threatened the winners rostrum but still often had good drivers and could have a real say in a race. i do miss that

Definitely - The argument against our viewpoint is usually "What's the point of teams turning up if they can't win." - My counter-argument is that with that attitude you'd end up with a grid of 4 or 6 cars at most. 20+ cars being able to compete for victory at the top level is some sort of utopia that is only very rarely achievable (mid-late 90s CART is about the only thing I can think of)

[woody2goody]

I miss Minardi. used to love the way they entered F1 year in and year out on a shoestring budget. They were slow as sh!t on a frosty morning, but they had balls and character.

Minardi did a pretty good job considering their budget. Simtek had a lot to go through especially in 1994. I feel for poor David Brabham who was completely knocked off his career path by it. He also had to contend with driving that monstrosity of a Life car in 1990(?).

[wedge]

I suppose I agree with V12.

Ah, Simtek! Only reason I admired that team was because Nick Wirth was touted as the next Adrian Newey. Still badly missed in F1 but doing a splendid job for Acura in ALMS.

[patnicholls]

Agreed with V12's post #12 above.

Another fairly obvious point is that small, private teams are rather more likely to be 'OK' (relatively speaking, clearly no-one wants to be at the back) with being at the back of the pack than manufacturers, if you see my point.

Teams like Minardi and Larrousse were actually midfield for a reasonable amount of their time in the sport - the difference being that with big fields and points for only the top 6 that they might still only pick up a couple of scores during the year. But even so, when they did it was very good to see. What can be better than a real underdog getting a result? (some of the Toro Rosso mechanics for Seb V's Monza win last year had been with Minardi since 1985, imagine how chuffed they must've been)

[markabilly]

Why should any claim to miss crap teams, when you got the current Ferrari team.........

[Rollo]

Agreed. I just don't get the nostalgic fondness for crap teams with crap drivers.

Politoys? BAR? Toleman?

If you follow the bloodlines of those cars you get, Williams, Brawn GP, Benetton & Renault. The likes of which have all won GP and even made World Champions.

Sometimes it's impossible to tell what's going to transpire, any team which actually exists has the potential to take a driver to glory... in 8 years time... who knows?