Il_leone
World Champion
Having followed F1 for 25 years now F1 has its highs and lows . I would like to know what has been the greatest disappointment followers have experienced following the sport
Whilst this is very broad description there have been a few that stand out and some that not so memorable in F1
For a start excluded from this are driver fatalities as these have been discussed numerous times and will always forever will be for those who follow the sport
So here are my considerations
Nigel Mansell 1986 tyre blow out -doing just enough to secure the championship . He was told to stay out as the tyres expected to last by Goodyear. His tyre spectacularly down the Brabham straight leading to Murray's infamous quote "And look at that!" Mansell's instinct took over to put himself out of harm's way and then the realisation he might have well lost the title and to compound this further the clerk of the course admitted he was prepared to red flag the race if Mansell had not parked down the escape road. The race would have been declared final and he would have been champ
James Hunt post 1976 - Having shaken off the tag " Hunt the Shunt" and shown determination to win the title against his rival Lauda. Expectancy was to continue more success but Mclaren's inability to exploit the ground effect. A reunion with Dr Harvey Postlethwaite at Wolf was suppose to revive fortunes. Unfortunately he had lost his hunger and the death of Ronnie Peterson affected him greatly
Jacques Villeneuve post 1997- Pushed into f1 by Bernie because of the name. Took it with both hands with stunning pole on debut and that outside pass on Schumacher. Champion in 97 and feared by Schumacher and his career then gradually went backwards. Forced out of the team supposed to built around him initially..his career went into obscurity after comebacks with Renault and Sauber failed to revive his career
Juan Montoya - the Monster took Indycar by storm with bold aggressive overtaking and winning it in his debut season. Williams wasted no time in bringing into F1. The speed and the aggressive overtakes particularly on Schumacher was evident but never the consistency. A move to Mclaren suppose to make him better but injury to his elbow and erratic form along with Ron signing Alonso left him with very little options in F1 and was sacked
Alex Zanardi - not so stellar F1 career at Lotus meant he went to US to rebuild his reputation and was mighty impressive in beating the series regulars with his two titles. Signed by Williams who did not want to throw Montoya into the deep end. Apparently known for his technical skills but never felt comfortable with the grooved tyres and was using steel brakes which has not been heard of in F1 for 15 years or so. Despite some glimpse of his form in 1999 at Spa and Monza. Ended the season pointless and decided not to carry on
Jarno Trulli- fast tracked into F1 after impressing in junior career and shown his ability by leading the Austrian GP impressively and likened to Senna as a potential "Trulli great". The 1 lap speed was evident but mysteriously he could never sustain over a race like Senna, Alonso or Schumacher. A first win at Monaco was suppose the start of many race wins but a fall out over contract with Briatore led to him running to Toyota and never challenging consistently
Kimi Raikkonen
The Iceman makes the list for failing to transcend his Mclaren form to Ferrari. Fed up with Mclaren unreliability a deal struck with Ferrari at a whopping $50m a year was done. Having delivered the title in 2007 after an indifferent start was expected to be the start of sustained success especially with Alonso leaving Mclaren unceremoniously. However inconsistency saw him play 2nd fiddle to Massa in 2008 and despite trying his hardest in 2009 in a poor car which only came evident after Massa's accident. He was paid off handsomely not to drive for another team . A return in 2012 was the resurgent of Kimi as a front runner in Lotus but argument over money caused him to lose interest and fall out with the team. The choice of Red Bull or Ferrari once seems to be once again motivated by money for 2014. So far has unable to match Alonso 's consistency blighted by bad luck but also unable to get more out of the car is leaving a lot of questions about his motivation and application
Toyota - the world's leading car company for many years with success in Rallying and Endurance series finally took the plunge into F1. Spending $400m a year they succeeded not to win a race in 139 races and quit the sport. To sum it up what went wrong by DC " They signed Schumacher but the wrong one"
Honda 2000-2008 - Unlike Toyota they have F1 history and pedigree. All the signs were promising with BAR Honda moving up the grid to be front runners by 2004 and the team became Honda . Expectation to be front runners and challenging for success never came with glimpses by Button when the car allowed it . A disastrous PR exercise in Earth car concept coincided with going to the back of the grid. Their honourable decision to pull out and pay off the staff paved the way for success of Brawn (and soon Mercedes)
Lotus revival (1990-1995)
Having not won a race since 1987 and lost both Camel and Honda engines. A revival looked possible with Peter Collins leading the team with Herbert and Hakkinen and a Ford engine allowing them to race with the big 4. However a lack of funds to develop the car and an ill fated tie up with Honda saw the demise of this once great team
Lotus revival 2 (2010 to date)
i was happy to see the legendary name come back in F1 with people who were genuine excited with the project. 4 years on the name has been tarnished with the row over naming rights with Team Enstone . Team Lotus racing (now Caterham) have yet to score a point and look no further to achieving with Fernandes losing interest and the subsequent backing with rumours the team is being sold
Team Enstone meanwhile idea of exploiting marketing opportunities through cheap imitation with Bahar long gone and Genii capital constantly making staff cuts whilst denying concerns about finance issues and dragging the team down the wrong end of the pitlane unless new investment comes along
Michael Andretti
Signed by Mclaren to appease Marlboro. Much was expected of Mario's son but refusal to relocate to Europe and commuting to every race from America meant he missed valuable testing and never settling with the team
Against Senna was possibly the last thing he needed at Mclaren with a pace deficit of 2 seconds per lap and getting caught in accidents. A podium in his last race did little to turn his back on F1
Giancarlo Fisichella
Tipped for great things but he is evidence of bad career mismanagement by Flavio Briatore. Impressive with Jordan but forced to join Benetton by the CRB as the team were in transition. Excelled once Flavio was back in charge of the team and clear No 1. Forced to move again due to contract and Flavio trying to maximise his earnings. His stints at Jordan and Sauber should have landed him a top drive..unfortunately convinced to rejoin Renault when Williams was a better option. Despite his best seasons was overshadowed by Alonso who was Flav's golden boy..spent his last few years in Force India due to Flavio holding out for Alonso. Reminded everyone what a top driver he was with pole at Spa.. a dream move at Ferrari curtailed his career which deserved more than 3 wins
Jean Alesi
Its hard to believe that he only has 1 win in over 150 gps. Impressive in 1990 against the big teams in a Tyrell led to a contract wrangle between Tyrell, Williams and Ferrari as Murray quoted " If put a piece of paper in front of Jean Alesi he would sign it" Unfortunately went with his heart than his head and chose Ferrari when Williams clearly was an even better option. Courageous and committed during the poor Ferrari years the odd flash of speed was there but blighted by unreliability . A move to Benetton expected to bring better fortunes but another driver on the receiving end of Flavio's mistreatment
Whilst this is very broad description there have been a few that stand out and some that not so memorable in F1
For a start excluded from this are driver fatalities as these have been discussed numerous times and will always forever will be for those who follow the sport
So here are my considerations
Nigel Mansell 1986 tyre blow out -doing just enough to secure the championship . He was told to stay out as the tyres expected to last by Goodyear. His tyre spectacularly down the Brabham straight leading to Murray's infamous quote "And look at that!" Mansell's instinct took over to put himself out of harm's way and then the realisation he might have well lost the title and to compound this further the clerk of the course admitted he was prepared to red flag the race if Mansell had not parked down the escape road. The race would have been declared final and he would have been champ
James Hunt post 1976 - Having shaken off the tag " Hunt the Shunt" and shown determination to win the title against his rival Lauda. Expectancy was to continue more success but Mclaren's inability to exploit the ground effect. A reunion with Dr Harvey Postlethwaite at Wolf was suppose to revive fortunes. Unfortunately he had lost his hunger and the death of Ronnie Peterson affected him greatly
Jacques Villeneuve post 1997- Pushed into f1 by Bernie because of the name. Took it with both hands with stunning pole on debut and that outside pass on Schumacher. Champion in 97 and feared by Schumacher and his career then gradually went backwards. Forced out of the team supposed to built around him initially..his career went into obscurity after comebacks with Renault and Sauber failed to revive his career
Juan Montoya - the Monster took Indycar by storm with bold aggressive overtaking and winning it in his debut season. Williams wasted no time in bringing into F1. The speed and the aggressive overtakes particularly on Schumacher was evident but never the consistency. A move to Mclaren suppose to make him better but injury to his elbow and erratic form along with Ron signing Alonso left him with very little options in F1 and was sacked
Alex Zanardi - not so stellar F1 career at Lotus meant he went to US to rebuild his reputation and was mighty impressive in beating the series regulars with his two titles. Signed by Williams who did not want to throw Montoya into the deep end. Apparently known for his technical skills but never felt comfortable with the grooved tyres and was using steel brakes which has not been heard of in F1 for 15 years or so. Despite some glimpse of his form in 1999 at Spa and Monza. Ended the season pointless and decided not to carry on
Jarno Trulli- fast tracked into F1 after impressing in junior career and shown his ability by leading the Austrian GP impressively and likened to Senna as a potential "Trulli great". The 1 lap speed was evident but mysteriously he could never sustain over a race like Senna, Alonso or Schumacher. A first win at Monaco was suppose the start of many race wins but a fall out over contract with Briatore led to him running to Toyota and never challenging consistently
Kimi Raikkonen
The Iceman makes the list for failing to transcend his Mclaren form to Ferrari. Fed up with Mclaren unreliability a deal struck with Ferrari at a whopping $50m a year was done. Having delivered the title in 2007 after an indifferent start was expected to be the start of sustained success especially with Alonso leaving Mclaren unceremoniously. However inconsistency saw him play 2nd fiddle to Massa in 2008 and despite trying his hardest in 2009 in a poor car which only came evident after Massa's accident. He was paid off handsomely not to drive for another team . A return in 2012 was the resurgent of Kimi as a front runner in Lotus but argument over money caused him to lose interest and fall out with the team. The choice of Red Bull or Ferrari once seems to be once again motivated by money for 2014. So far has unable to match Alonso 's consistency blighted by bad luck but also unable to get more out of the car is leaving a lot of questions about his motivation and application
Toyota - the world's leading car company for many years with success in Rallying and Endurance series finally took the plunge into F1. Spending $400m a year they succeeded not to win a race in 139 races and quit the sport. To sum it up what went wrong by DC " They signed Schumacher but the wrong one"
Honda 2000-2008 - Unlike Toyota they have F1 history and pedigree. All the signs were promising with BAR Honda moving up the grid to be front runners by 2004 and the team became Honda . Expectation to be front runners and challenging for success never came with glimpses by Button when the car allowed it . A disastrous PR exercise in Earth car concept coincided with going to the back of the grid. Their honourable decision to pull out and pay off the staff paved the way for success of Brawn (and soon Mercedes)
Lotus revival (1990-1995)
Having not won a race since 1987 and lost both Camel and Honda engines. A revival looked possible with Peter Collins leading the team with Herbert and Hakkinen and a Ford engine allowing them to race with the big 4. However a lack of funds to develop the car and an ill fated tie up with Honda saw the demise of this once great team
Lotus revival 2 (2010 to date)
i was happy to see the legendary name come back in F1 with people who were genuine excited with the project. 4 years on the name has been tarnished with the row over naming rights with Team Enstone . Team Lotus racing (now Caterham) have yet to score a point and look no further to achieving with Fernandes losing interest and the subsequent backing with rumours the team is being sold
Team Enstone meanwhile idea of exploiting marketing opportunities through cheap imitation with Bahar long gone and Genii capital constantly making staff cuts whilst denying concerns about finance issues and dragging the team down the wrong end of the pitlane unless new investment comes along
Michael Andretti
Signed by Mclaren to appease Marlboro. Much was expected of Mario's son but refusal to relocate to Europe and commuting to every race from America meant he missed valuable testing and never settling with the team
Against Senna was possibly the last thing he needed at Mclaren with a pace deficit of 2 seconds per lap and getting caught in accidents. A podium in his last race did little to turn his back on F1
Giancarlo Fisichella
Tipped for great things but he is evidence of bad career mismanagement by Flavio Briatore. Impressive with Jordan but forced to join Benetton by the CRB as the team were in transition. Excelled once Flavio was back in charge of the team and clear No 1. Forced to move again due to contract and Flavio trying to maximise his earnings. His stints at Jordan and Sauber should have landed him a top drive..unfortunately convinced to rejoin Renault when Williams was a better option. Despite his best seasons was overshadowed by Alonso who was Flav's golden boy..spent his last few years in Force India due to Flavio holding out for Alonso. Reminded everyone what a top driver he was with pole at Spa.. a dream move at Ferrari curtailed his career which deserved more than 3 wins
Jean Alesi
Its hard to believe that he only has 1 win in over 150 gps. Impressive in 1990 against the big teams in a Tyrell led to a contract wrangle between Tyrell, Williams and Ferrari as Murray quoted " If put a piece of paper in front of Jean Alesi he would sign it" Unfortunately went with his heart than his head and chose Ferrari when Williams clearly was an even better option. Courageous and committed during the poor Ferrari years the odd flash of speed was there but blighted by unreliability . A move to Benetton expected to bring better fortunes but another driver on the receiving end of Flavio's mistreatment
