Drivers

Just realised that this truly great world champion doesn't have his own thread, and thought he deserved one! Been the orignal flying Finn Mika Hakkinen was a two time F1 Drivers Champion. He was one of the main reasons i got into F1 and decided to follow DTM. Mika started his F1 career at at Team Lotus at the United States GP way back in 1991. That year at the San Marino GP he picked up his first points in F1. In 1992 Hakkinen continued on at Team Lotus and was partnered alongside British Driver Johnny Herbert. In 1993 Hakkinen joined Mclaren as a reserve/test driver, after Michael Andretti was sacked for poor results Hakkinen was promoted to full time driver, at Estroli where he out-qualified the late great Ayrton Senna. In...

So a fan favourite is no longer in the series so Lando is drafted in to soften the blow for all the hardcore fans........but enough about Star Wars we're here to talk about F1. Yes the only other Lando you know will make his F1 debut with McLaren this year and if McLaren aren't already in talks with Disney about a special Star Wars promotion on the car for some races this year then they really are out of touch with the world. Lando Norris (cue FB posting a pic of Norris from Coronation Street) is a 19 year old whizz kid from Bristol. I've watched him quite a bit over the years and from the very first moment I saw him drive the words 'next Lewis Hamilton' floated into my brain. He has won championships in every series he has raced...

So after the news yesterday that Pedro will once again be on the drivers list - this time at HRT - I thought I'd put a thread up to discuss his exploits. Spain's second greatest racing driver - unless Jamie Alguersauri finishes above 9th in Brazil on Sunday - in which case Spain's 3rd greatest racing driver! Started out as test driver for Jordan back in 1998 before getting a race seat with the Arrows team in 1999. He joined the exclusive 'scoring points on your debut' club by finishing 6th in his first race in Australia. Back then points only went down to 6th so it really was an achievment. He did benifit from both Mclaren's breaking down and Schumacher getting a puncture and ending up a lap down. Having said that he was running as...

Alexander Albon makes his debut in F1 in 2019 with Toro Rosso having started our as a Red Bull junior and then being dropped before being welcomed back at the end of last season. Marko has not been very complimentary about Albon in the past so his recall is very much a U-turn on the management front. Albon races under a Thai licence and is a practicing Buddhist but is actually half British as he was born in London and grew up in Ipswich. His junior career is pretty good without being outstanding. Why? Well mainly because he has followed Charles LeClerc up the ladder. To his credit Albon has always pushes LeClerc to perform better and personally I think he is well deserving of his spot in F1. He might have pushed LeClerc a bit more in...

Hoping for a good debate on this one because I change my mind about him about every other week. Antonio has a decent background in other formula and was Formula 3000 champion(pre-GP2) in 2004 - only his second season in that formula. Graduated in to F1 the following year and was originally going to get the second car at Red Bull alongside DC but in the end Red Bull decided to give him and Christian Klein a share option of the car. Antonio only go 4 races and Klein got the rest of the season. To be fair to Liuzzi he was coming into F1 for the first time with little testing and Klein had already done a full season with the same team(then the Jags of course). Records show he scored a point on his debut at San Marino after the BARs got...

Today marks the 45th anniversary of that most tragic day at Hockenheim when Jim Clark, the greatest driver I ever had the pleasure of seeing in action, was killed when his Lotus crashed. Clark amassed some incredible statistics: 33 F1 poles in 73 races, 25 wins in 72 starts. What always amazed me was how effortless he made it all appear. The one race of his that I will never forget was Monza in 1967. Clark was leading, but had to pit with tyre issues, thereby losing a lap. Upon rejoining, his brilliance was such that he not only recovered the lap he lost, but he regained the lead. Ultimately he ran out of fuel on the last lap, handing the win to Surtees in the Honda, but EVERYONE knew who was the "real" winner. And it's not like the...

Pierre Gasly - or as I like to think of him - the last Jedi. For the last decade or more there has been an endless line of talented young drivers all coming off the Red Bull assembly line. Sometimes there were so many that even with 4 seats in F1 some talent had to be filtered out and never made the top level. Those heady days have unfortunately come to and end and Pierre Gasly really does represent the last of the dynasty. Red Bull have invested in younger talent and will come round again but for now its all on hold. Why have they let this happen you ask? Well to be honest they have so much young talent already in fruition that they don't need any new ones coming along. Verstappen and Ricciardo are very much here for the long term and...

So, exactly who is Sergiy Sirotkin? Well, he's been in Formula Abarth and the Formula Renault Euro Series as well as Formula 3 in Italy. He's scored one podium in the Renault Series and lies 8th in the Championships. For F1, he is Russian, and that seems to be enough. Although Sauber have plucked a driver from obscurity before...

Realized this man doesn't have his own thread yet, so thought i'd give him one! Jackie Stewart started his F1 career at Owen Racing Organistion (BRM to you and I) in 1965 and raced alongside Graham Hill thats year. On his debut he scored his first World Championship point in South Africa coming in 6th. The very same year he went on to win his first F1 Grand Prix Race in Monza going head to head with Graham Hill for the win. Stewart ended his rookie season in F1 finishing in 3rd place of the Championship. In 1966, Stewarts BRM team went through a tough season ending up with 2 designed cars to fight for the championship. Stewart did win one race this season at the opening round in Monaco. Jackie went on to finish the season 7th in the...

One of F1's unluckiest drivers or a man who let his heart rule his head? Jean was spectacularly fast on his day, as his early performances at Tyrrell showed, but his desire to drive for Ferrari rather than Williams cost him the chance to prove he could be a World Champion. A single win, in Canada in 1995, was poor reward for such a talented driver but he always seemed to be in the wrong car at the wrong time. After F1 Jean raced in DTM, Speedcar and Le Man Series. It has also just been announced that Jean will compete in the Indy 500 next year at the ripe old age of 47. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/23/us-motor-racing-alesi-indy-idUSTRE78M45B20110923

The latest Brazilian to enter Formula One is Felipe Nasr, who is from the capital Brasilia. Admittedly, he is not from the usual motorsport heartlands of Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, but he is not as far out as Antonio Pizzonia. He has had some impressive championship results over the last couple of years - 4th and 3rd in the last two GP2 seasons. He was also runner up in the 2011 Macau Grand Prix, as a faster team-mate to Kevin Magnussen. His last three seasons in GP2 paint a picture of an outstandingly consistent driver - from 19 GP2 finishes last season, 18 were points scorers, 16 were top 6 finishes. However, that is where the questions arise with Nasr. His first GP2 win only came in the sprint at Barcelona last year, and of his...

Well I was looking in the drivers section and was surprised not to see a thread on this fellow. So it's about blooming time this dude had his own thread! Having driven for 3 teams in his 6 year stay in here are the teams: 2002: Jordan 2003-05: BAR Honda 06-08: Super Aguri At Jordan he didn't have the best of times and a crash with an out of control Heidfeld at Austria was his low point. However, he did end up scoring 2 points 5 behind experienced team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella at the time. He also out qualified Fisi 4 times this season. In 2003, Sato moved to Japanese Honda powered team BAR as a reserve/test driver. However, at his home race in Suzuka, Sato replaced Jacque Villneuve in the car and partner Jenson Button to...