The Decline and Fall of Once Great Drivers

[Slyboogy]

Every F1 WDC that lived/survived, except for Hawthorne, Stewart, Prost who retired as active WDCs and Brabham and Fangio to a lesser degree, were fallen/ zeroes.

Farina, Phill Hill, John Surtees, G. Hill, D. Hulme, E. Fitipaldi, James Hunt, N. Lauda, M. Andretti, A. Jones, N. Piquet Snr., N. Mansell, D. Hill, Häkkinen, Räikkönen.

"I'd also disagree with that statement. It's one thing to go on after you should have retired as was the case perhaps for Graham Hill, Alan Jones and Nigel Mansell but another to still be winning races in your final season before calling it a day.

In the two years after his final championship, Mika Hakkinen won 6 more races and after two awfull years in a declining Lotus team Nelson Piquet came back to win 3 races in two years with Beneton. Hardly a sign that eitehr driver had declined and fell." - Cider and Toast

Also Raikkonen, won a race in a car that hadn't been developed for half of the season, and apparently worked miracles with that car according to his engineers. I would like to think that he was still at the top of his game

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

...Trulli even beating Alonso in 2004 until well I can't say for real what happened as I don't have the facts, but seems as if Briatore wasn't happy and kicked him out.

Isn't it true that Briatore' was Alonso's business manager and, as a result, got a percentage/'cut' of Alonso's earnings? The more Alonso succeeded, the more he would earn...and, thus, the more Briatore' would get for his cut. It was all about money and Briatore' put Trulli in the dog house at mid season after Trulli lost a position on the last Lap of the 2004 French Grand Prix. Once he'd signed for Toyota, Briatore' sacked him immediately rather than let Trulli see out his final 3 races of the season. Can't say Briatore' was ever fair minded and the drivers that didn't sign him on as business manager usually ended up being dealt the poorer hand. Shame that a character of Briatore's type is being talked about as a replacement for Domenicalli at Ferrari. Ghastly!