Greatest disappointment of F1

[RasputinLives]

Good selection and great article.

I had to plump for Jean Alesi just because he was near god to me in that beautiful 1990 Tyrell and it all just went downhill from there. By the time we get to him running out of fuel in a Benneton because he ignored the team screaming at him to come in it was just cringe worthy.

To be fair to Jean though Williams was only a better option in hindsight. When he chose to go to Ferrari they were just about the best car in the field (maybe just pipped by that Mclaren) whilst Williams were 4th at best. No one could have predicted the Newy Williams domination to come.

 

[Incubus]

Absolutely! Everyone keeps banging on about how Alesi "let his heart rule his head" blah-blah-blah and so on, but everyone seems to have forgotten that the Ferrari in 1990 was a much better car than than the Williams.
His head would have told him to sign for Ferrari too at the time.

Mind you what was definitely not so clever was to sign pre-contract agreements with four different teams, including his own!

 

[Bill Boddy]

....
Mind you what was definitely not so clever was to sign pre-contract agreements with four different teams, including his own!

Anyone can make a mistake after a drink or two.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I guess he just felt wanted, bless him...

 

[Mephistopheles]

BMW what a bunch of idiots,,, Kubica was in the title hunt so what did they do,,,,,, would you Adam and Eve it they stopped developing the car mid season, nice one you plonkers....

 

[Il_leone]

James Hunt could not be disappointment, as it was supposed to be expected. He achieved his dream and that was it. Exactly as movie Niki Lauda said at the end of Rush.

I saw Hunt was a disappointment in the way he fell off because he quit the sport 3 years after he became champion.. he quickly got disillusioned

He got famous too quickly and his lifestyle did not fit with F1's ever political minefield


Only Scheckter was worse in quitting after 1 season but he probably knew Gilles Villeneuve was the faster driver

 

[RasputinLives]

Hunt's title defence season was actually pretty impressive when you consider that the car he was driving fell apart like it was made of chocolate.

 

[Il_leone]

Good selection and great article.

I had to plump for Jean Alesi just because he was near god to me in that beautiful 1990 Tyrell and it all just went downhill from there. By the time we get to him running out of fuel in a Benneton because he ignored the team screaming at him to come in it was just cringe worthy.

To be fair to Jean though Williams was only a better option in hindsight. When he chose to go to Ferrari they were just about the best car in the field (maybe just pipped by that Mclaren) whilst Williams were 4th at best. No one could have predicted the Newy Williams domination to come.

Well yes in terms of performance but he probably saw the glamour of driving for Ferrari over the fact that Prost was his teammate and considered a master politician in the very political Ferrari environment... it was clearly too early for him to go to Ferrari.

Williams domination was not there because they had two average drivers at the time who really should have made better use of the machinery at their disposal

 

[Il_leone]

Hunt's title defence season was actually pretty impressive when you consider that the car he was driving fell apart like it was made of chocolate.

I guess he thought was going to win more titles and have more battles with Lauda but he did not expect Lotus to come up with a ground effect car which Mclaren were not able to

He was also upset by the crash to Ronnie Peterson and started blaming Patrese. His heart was not in it in 1979 when he teammed up with Harvery Postethwaite and Wolf which did not look bad on paper

 

[teabagyokel]

I'm not that sure on Hunt. Yes, he took his chance, but Lauda missed three races in 1976 and still went to Fuji with a shot. Without the crash, Lauda wins that championship absolutely comfortably.

 

[Incubus]

Il_leone Any chance of ever seeing a post from you that doesn't include the word "politics" or "politician" to account for someone doing better than their team-mate?
Politics don't actually drive the car you know?

 

[Il_leone]

Il_leone Any chance of ever seeing a post from you that doesn't include the word "politics" or "politician" to account for someone doing better than their team-mate?
Politics don't actually drive the car you know?

F1 is not a sport about a driver's ability these days... the ugly word politics seems to be a more common theme

 

[Il_leone]

I'm not that sure on Hunt. Yes, he took his chance, but Lauda missed three races in 1976 and still went to Fuji with a shot. Without the crash, Lauda wins that championship absolutely comfortably.

whilst true indeed... if you are a Lauda fan. For Hunt fans and a British point of view he was expected to maybe have a career like Jackie Stewart and become the dominant force of F1 and it just did not happen for him

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I am surprised no one has voted for Kimi Raikkonen given how he has not really been the same driver since he left Mclaren

 

[Jen]

Greatest disappointment of F1? Probably F1 itself - it could have been so much better if racing was allowed!

 

[Il_leone]

maybe I should add

Max not forced out for his S & M antics

Bernie still running the show and is only willing to sell to the highest bidders