great to see an aussie secure the title at nascar. what are the chances of being lured to f1? and how well could he possibly do?
Bourdais as a 4x champion in Champ/Indy car (whatever it was called) didn't fare so well...Annihilated by his rookie teammate. Will can make a lot more money in the States as a champion there. Coming into F1 now at his age is a big mistake...He won't get a top drive, won't get top money and only has a couple of seasons in him realistically speaking.
If Will Power had the talent to be in F-1, he would have been there a long time ago. He was committed to Indy Cars and has hung with it, landing the Penske ride which certainly helps. Other than Bourdais and Barrichello, we haven't seen much Indy Car to F-1 and F-1 to Indy Car swaps the way we did when CART was in operation. It says a lot that so many former F-1 drivers are committing to Formula E and not giving Indy Cars a second look. And, let's not confuse Indy Cars with NASCAR. Two completely separate entities of course but only reinforces the perception that all of racing in the U.S. is NASCAR. BHW
I think he had the talent, his results in his two years of European racing were decent if not spectacular (look at his competition in Formula Renault in 2005! 2005 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) like a lot of drivers he chose opportunity in the US vs. stalling out in F1. Had he made it to F1 instead, he probably would have ground out a few years with a backmarker and either be out of racing or in sports cars by now. going to America is the right choice for someone who wants to be competitive and have a long(ish) term career in open wheel. and no, I don't think he'll switch to F1 now. why would he? he's making $$$ and winning races (and championships) driving for Penske, only a few teams in F1 would make me leave that....
Yeah, glad Montoya is back in Indy Cars where he was always impressive. Other than a convenient marketing ploy to get NASCAR exposure in South America, Montoya's move there never really made sense. Keeping in mind now though, Montoya is the exception. We're not seeing the wholesale F-1 to Indy Car type swaps we saw in the 80s for instance when Mansell came to CART after winning the F-1 World Championship. Not sure if Indy Car is still perceived as a "South America championship" by European drivers or not. With an American, a Kiwi and now an Aussie winning the Indy Car championships for the last three years, that perception may not be justified any longer. BHW
