I suppose what I am saying is Prost was three times world champion who could mix it up with Senna and on his return he was slower than his rookie team mate....
Five Comebacks We Could Have Done Without
- Thread starter RasputinLives
- Start date
Olivier
Race Winner
Maybe Imola. I guess that's not the point. He need not to be great. He had the best car ... and a rookie as team mate.
... but ... probably you are right, he was not the same guy that overtook the whole field in South Africa in 82?
No way. Or even the guy who took the win in 1990 in Mexico! I guess thats my point really. All gets forgotten.
Its a bit like the day Paul Mccartney released Frog Chorus. You know he used to be a great but you can't justify arguing the point anymore.
Its a bit like the day Paul Mccartney released Frog Chorus. You know he used to be a great but you can't justify arguing the point anymore.
The Artist.....
Champion Elect
RasputinLives. There are some other (not so) great comebacks... Bruno Giacomelli is one that comes to mind... He should really have been a race winner with Alfa Romeo, and had creditable results for toleman in 1983.. He chose to return to f1 glory in 1990, spearheading Life's f1 entry... He failed to make it out of pre qualifying all season!
Honourable mentions should go to Graham Hill in this thread too... His accident in 1969 should have led to his retirement, but instead he continued racing, after a short break... However, his return was not successful at the top level- like Schumacher, he still had speed, but just not enough to compete at the top level..
Honourable mentions should go to Graham Hill in this thread too... His accident in 1969 should have led to his retirement, but instead he continued racing, after a short break... However, his return was not successful at the top level- like Schumacher, he still had speed, but just not enough to compete at the top level..
Mika's Italian Tears
Points Scorer
What would have been really interesting is to see where (and if) Schumi would have been on this list, had he not been 'injured' and returned with Ferrari in 2009.
And while I dont have much inputs to the list (only started watching F1 in the late 90s
), surely Schumi's return deserves to be in the Top 3, bcoz it turned the best ever to a mere mortal...
And while I dont have much inputs to the list (only started watching F1 in the late 90s
), surely Schumi's return deserves to be in the Top 3, bcoz it turned the best ever to a mere mortal...
The Artist..... I did consider Graham Hill but thought the five on my list were worse
Rachit Bedi JV, AJ and NM come infront of Schumie in my thinking just for the jaw dropping butt clenching embarrasment they gave their fans. At least Schumie showed some speed.
Rachit Bedi JV, AJ and NM come infront of Schumie in my thinking just for the jaw dropping butt clenching embarrasment they gave their fans. At least Schumie showed some speed.
I don't think Schumacher would have fared well in the 2009 Ferrari, he would jump into the car without driving it before hand, a very difficult car at that, and would have been up against Raikkonen who was supreme in the car at that time.
If he returned with Ferrari for that half season, I doubt he would have joined Mercedes in 2010.
If he returned with Ferrari for that half season, I doubt he would have joined Mercedes in 2010.
Il_leone
World Champion
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Hill was on pole and if I remember had to left Prost passed very early on and pretty much cruised behind him
I think most people will agree everyone was gunning for Senna or Hill to beat Prost
1993 he might have had 7 wins but I don;t remember many that were convincing as he had to fight for them hard or seems to inherit most of them from poor Hill's misfortune and inexperience
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I remember reading Grand Prix Magazine 1992 Senna/Mclaren vs Mansell/ Williams and both James Hunt and Murray Walker mentioned Prost basically had been driving out of F1 by Senna being able to do everything better than him in terms of on track and off track politics
Il_leone
World Champion
Should Nick Heidfeld or Alexander Wurz get a mention on this thread then?
Wurz who came into F1 with a bang thanks to his aggressive racing making up for a lack of speed was impressive against the highly rated Fisichella who he beat in 98 thanks to Dave Richards equal status policy but things went downhill when Richards quit over row with the Benetton family over team future and in stepped Flavio Briatore on his return who made Fisi - his protege de facto no 1 . Wurz never really recovered although got a test contract with Mclaren and had 1 outing replacing Montoya with a podium in 2005
a full time drive for Williams was a surprise in 2007 but probably due to his development abilities but he lacked race pace and compared to Rosberg was almost near 10 places down on grid positions but did inherit a podium and 4th place in two races...subsequently retired before the last race when realising his career was over as a F1 driver
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Heidfeld - here's a case of a guy who never took his opportunities when presented to him having been invested heavily by Mercedes into F1
Fast tracked with successes in German F3 and International F3000....his F1 career started in 2000 with Prost team but saved by lifeline at Sauber beating Kimi Raikkonen. Unfortunately overlooked by Ron for the Mclaren drive citing PR issues seems to have spiralled his career downhill. A lifeline at BMW was quickly turned into a nightmare by the rapid pace of Kubica in 2008
Despite outscoring Kubica in 2009 most people agree it was through solid racing but not noteworthy and found himself out of a drive for 2010 and overlooked by Mercedes who opted for the returning Schumacher
A comeback drive with Sauber was followed by a full time drive with Renault in 2011 due to RK's accident..after a promising start he fell away as the team struggled to keep up with the front 4 but also he failed to show the leadership skills required and expected of him as he genuinely thought he had potential to be world champion
Dropped and ended on an ugly note about breach of contract
Wurz who came into F1 with a bang thanks to his aggressive racing making up for a lack of speed was impressive against the highly rated Fisichella who he beat in 98 thanks to Dave Richards equal status policy but things went downhill when Richards quit over row with the Benetton family over team future and in stepped Flavio Briatore on his return who made Fisi - his protege de facto no 1 . Wurz never really recovered although got a test contract with Mclaren and had 1 outing replacing Montoya with a podium in 2005
a full time drive for Williams was a surprise in 2007 but probably due to his development abilities but he lacked race pace and compared to Rosberg was almost near 10 places down on grid positions but did inherit a podium and 4th place in two races...subsequently retired before the last race when realising his career was over as a F1 driver
----------------------------------------
Heidfeld - here's a case of a guy who never took his opportunities when presented to him having been invested heavily by Mercedes into F1
Fast tracked with successes in German F3 and International F3000....his F1 career started in 2000 with Prost team but saved by lifeline at Sauber beating Kimi Raikkonen. Unfortunately overlooked by Ron for the Mclaren drive citing PR issues seems to have spiralled his career downhill. A lifeline at BMW was quickly turned into a nightmare by the rapid pace of Kubica in 2008
Despite outscoring Kubica in 2009 most people agree it was through solid racing but not noteworthy and found himself out of a drive for 2010 and overlooked by Mercedes who opted for the returning Schumacher
A comeback drive with Sauber was followed by a full time drive with Renault in 2011 due to RK's accident..after a promising start he fell away as the team struggled to keep up with the front 4 but also he failed to show the leadership skills required and expected of him as he genuinely thought he had potential to be world champion
Dropped and ended on an ugly note about breach of contract
I believe most of what you say is factual but I also believe that the OP wanted this thread to be about people who had a full and successful career in F1 only to comeback and underachieve to some degree or other and not about people who had 2 or 3 excursion into the sport without making much of a mark on it.
Although Prost's comeback netted him a WDC it was one of the most fabricated in the history of F1 which is why it ranks in the top five.....
Although Prost's comeback netted him a WDC it was one of the most fabricated in the history of F1 which is why it ranks in the top five.....
RasputinLives - Senna.
Senna?
Senna had 3, didn't he? Gave him a chance to one-up Senna with a minimal risk of getting beaten.
Yeah but the whole thing just made Senna look far better to most.
RasputinLives - I'm not saying it didn't backfire horribly.
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