Greatest disappointment of F1

[KekeTheKing]

Bit surprised nobody has mentioned Mansell at the 1991 Canadian GP. Absolutely dominated the race, leading every lap on the way to Williams' first win on the season, and then.....stalls it while celebrating a bit too early. Doesn't get much worse than that.

Not a disappointment for Piquet and the country of Brazil however, who's drivers had now won 7 GP in a row, and 9 of the last 11.

 

[Incubus]

What was it again that Nelson, in typical style, said he did when he Saw Nigel's parked car?

 

[Monkeyhead]

Monaco 2011 and Abu Dhabi 2010 spring to mind for me. Both were set up for a grandstand finish only to end with a whimper with a red flag, and the Petrov train. Both were still good races, but they could have been so much more.

The 2010 season ended a little disappointing. Until the summer Hamilton was a strong candidate, but from then he gradually dropped back, so in Abu Dhabi it was a fight between the Red Bulls and Alonso. I was expecting some Red Bull fireworks in the race, with Vettel having to move over for Webber, in order to prevent Alonso from winning the title. I was gutted when I found out Webber was only 5th after qualifying, which meant that his chances of winning the title were close to zero. That was not necessarily true, as he got an unexpected opportunity when the safety car was deployed. For some reason he didn't immediately pit. Instead, he pitted a few laps later and dropped back, from which he didn't recover. Alonso panicked and lost the title. It was some kind of turning point. After his surprising championship, Vettel went on to dominate F1 in the next couple of years, while Alonso continued to struggle ever more. That's the greatest disappointment of Abu Dhabi 2010.

 

[Olivier]

Kubica ... or rather the lack of thereof

 

[Monkeyhead]

Yeah, Abu Dhabi 2010 was also Kubica's last race. The "modern" DRS F1 is probably suited for him. Given Räikkönen's performance in 2012, he had a reasonable chance to win the title that year. Who knows...

 

[gethinceri]

JV, he wasted so much of other peoples' money. I thought his championship was great as I'm a Williams fan but Damon had as good a chance had he been kept on.
Became an egotist and a big head, almost at the levels of Eddie Irvine.
Possibly a lovely chap but he really let me down.

 

[Il_leone]

\

JV, he wasted so much of other peoples' money. I thought his championship was great as I'm a Williams fan but Damon had as good a chance had he been kept on.
Became an egotist and a big head, almost at the levels of Eddie Irvine.
Possibly a lovely chap but he really let me down.

Not sure anyone thought Jacques Villeneuve was a nice bloke certainly not the poor engineers at BAR who were on the receiving end of his verbal abuse compared to the much more affable Olivier Panis

Yes his overinflated ego got the better of him

 

[Il_leone]

One more i did not add but just thought of was Mansell deciding not to defend his world title in 1993 and after working so hard for it in 1992 because of contract breakdown talks

It was disappointing and actually turned viewers away from F1 but then again as James Hunt quoted he thought Mansell was a coward for turning his back on F1 because everyone wanted him to defend his title but he did not seem to want to

 

[siffert_fan]

Since the rumor was that Mansell didn't want to face Prost in equal equipment, I would say that, if that is the case, then Hunt was right.

 

[Il_leone]

Since the rumor was that Mansell didn't want to face Prost in equal equipment, I would say that, if that is the case, then Hunt was right.

In some ways I have to agree because the argument seems to be around money and also whether he was going to be given No1 treatment

Then Prost was master politician and managed to strengthen his hand and at the same time keep Senna out as well so in essence bought the world title

Surely if Mansell stayed he might have won another world title because Prost in all fairness was not really convincing in 1993

 

[Road of Bones]

...but then we would have been denied Damon Hill, and all the good stuff he did in the mid-90s! Not a disappointment at all, I reckon...

 

[LifeW12]

Although it didn't actually happen, I always wonder what would have happened had Eddie Irvine won the championship in 1999.

 

[The Pits]

He would have turned in to an even bigger cock?

 

[Il_leone]

LifeW12 The Pits

There would have been plenty of banging no doubt afterwards

an even wilder party than probably James Hunt would have done

 

[Il_leone]

...but then we would have been denied Damon Hill, and all the good stuff he did in the mid-90s! Not a disappointment at all, I reckon...

Yeah it probably would as he probably would be not have driven for Williams until 1994 as Prost would have gone and Mansell probably if they both knew Senna was going to be in the team

 

[Monkeyhead]

Actually I think Irvine deserved the title in 1999, but I don't know if it would have made any difference, as he was going to leave Ferrari anyway. He would have transferred starting number 1 to Jaguar, but I doubt it would have made the car any faster. At least it would have added an interesting chapter to the title defence topic.

 

[LifeW12]

I don't think Irvine deserved it at all. The performance of Schumacher on his return prooved that. 1.5 secs faster in qualifying and basically half throttling the whole race he still was ahead after the 2nd stops.

 

[teabagyokel]

Irvine certainly did not deserve the 1999 title, but it is difficult to suggest who did. Hakkinen made some really poor mistakes, which Irvine singularly did not capitalise on. When Hakkinen made the famous blunder at Monza, he should have been punished, but having qualified 8th Irvine rolled in 6th behind Frentzen, RSc, Salo (!), Barrichello and Coulthard.

Arguably, he was gifted all four of his wins - in Australia by the retirements of MSc and the McLarens, in Austria by Coulthard playing silly buggers in Turn 1, in Germany by Salo and in Malaysia by MSc.

 

[Incubus]

True but then again you could argue that the McLaren was probably faster than the Ferrari, or indeed any other car, in the 1998-99 period. Which sort of makes a difference as to what is meant by "deserving" when it comes individual drivers and the car at their disposal.

 

[teabagyokel]

Ferrari won the WCC though. I think with the mistakes Hakkinen made, Schumacher would have taken that title with ease.