F1 Speculation
There’s a lot of craziness going on in F1 these days. This can summed up in a two-word example: Force India, the perennial backmarker who is suddenly challenging for pole positions and race wins. Then you have Giancarlo Fisichella moving to Ferrari. I don’t know what is weirder there: Ferrari actually wanting him, or him leaving his lead driver spot to go to Ferrari where his best future is probably a few years as test driver. Ah, who am I kidding? I’d give up an awful lot to be a Ferrari test driver also.
You’ve got BMW announcing they are leaving the series just when their car starts to get competitive again. Toyota is also threatening to leave. As far as I’m concerned, Toyota can stay or go, but won’t somebody please pony up and buy the BMW team and bring Sauber back? Just sayin’.
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Then you’ve got four new teams announcing that they are coming into F1 for 2010, including the USF1 team headquartered in (where else?) North Carolina. USF1 is of particular interest, first off because they are going to be the first US-based F1 team since, uh, never? Since Dan Gurney’s Eagle? Who knows.
That team is also interesting because of their stated goal to only hire American (read: U.S.) drivers to race their cars. This seems odd: Ferrari doesn’t hire only Italians, Renault doesn’t hire only French, McLaren doesn’t hire only English, Force India doesn’t hire only Indians. But I don’t so much have a problem with the loyalty thing.
I have a problem with the selection. Names like Scott Speed, Marco Andretti, and Danica Patrick have been tossed about in the rumor mill. But if there is one thing we should have learned over the past twenty years, it is this: Success in American racing series (Champ Car for example) is hardly a good indicator of F1 promise.
Consider as examples Michael Andretti, Alex Zanardi, Cristiano da Matta, and Sebastien Bourdais. These four drivers have a total of nine Champ Car titles between them since 1991, and yet they share as a group only 27 F1 points, one podium finish and zero — ZERO! — wins.
So let’s examine the named USF1 candidates. Scott Speed was a flop in F1 when he drove for Toro Rosso, getting fired for poor results and blaming the car and team. A year later, his replacement driver became the youngest to ever win a Grand Prix, making you wonder if it was really the driver after all. And Marco and Danica? Hey, I like them both, they are both legitimately fast and talented. But they have only one win apiece in IRL, and if the history shows that champions of American race series tend to struggle in F1, how can we expect greatness from those two? I mean, I get the market value of having them on the team, but there’s also market value in having competitive drivers that have a chance to win.
Some of you might be NASCAR fans. You might be thinking that Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon or Kyle Busch, the kings of the roundy-rounds, would be great in F1. Uh, get real. Did you know that you have to turn right in F1? Did you know that they also race in the rain? Did you know that F1 cars also feature such things as Brakes, Downforce, and Handling? The NASCAR peeps know nothing about that stuff!
Ah, who am I kidding? NASCAR fans don’t even have the internet. They can’t get a broadband pipe to their double-wide. Kinda makes you feel sorry for them.
No, if USF1 is smart, they will hire at least one experienced driver. From the sounds of things, both Robert Kubica and Jarno Trulli will be looking for rides next year. Both are incredibly fast and are proven F1 winners. Rumor has it that Ferrari is going to pick up Fernando Alonso, which means that either Kimi Räikkönen or Felipe Massa would be available also. Another possibility could be someone like Mark Webber, who might not exactly be relishing the supporting role for Vettel and might relish a new opportunity to be the main guy on a hot new team. That is, if USF1 becomes a hot new team.
Ah, yes, it’s been a crazy season. Mostly, it has been great. I can’t wait to see the new teams, the new cars, and who ends up on which teams next year. I’ve loved seeing the tight competition and all the new faces on the podium. In fact, apart from Ferrari’s struggles and Massa’s freak injury, the only dark spot I can think of is the appalling Renault scandal. But that deserves its own post.
