How and when do you think we will officially know that Scott Speed's racing career is finished? Remember this - He is still technically under contract with REDBULL. My .02 cents. I will know when I see him back here at home (Manteca, CA.) working for the REDBULL distribution warehouse as a delivery driver.
I hope that he dose not end this way.. I am sure though that the delivery trucks are more reliable then his F1.. Wishing him luck, the poor guy needs it !!
We might see him replace Sea Bass at NHL. Otherwise he'll either have to hope he can pull a testing seat somewhere in F1. I can't see Speed in Indy or Nascar, and he probably woln't settle for ALMS or any other type of sports cars.
Scott........He wasn't fast enough. End of story. neither was Luizzi, so they're both being replaced. Scott Speed has won nothing worthwhile, and if you have the chance to take Sea Bass (a multiple champion in a large sport at least), you take him if you have half a brain Just because [Speed's] American doesn't mean you have to feel sad/sorry for him. Survival of the fittest, and he isn't/wasn't.
I honestly think it has more to do with politics. They didn't like Speed's personality or attitude, so they canned him. Liuzzi wasn't quite as vocal about the pressure they're under etc. so he's being kept until the end of the season. To me, the drivers are being used as more of scapegoats for the teams lack of success. Vettel has alot of hype around him, and he managed to be quick in practice in that BMW, he also managed to score a point thanks to a couple people retiring ahead of him. I'm going to say that Vettel will get out performed by Liuzzi the rest of the season. Also, unless STR makes some performance gains, then they'll be in the same situation. The only benefit I can think, is that Bourdais is probably a great tester, and Vettel will attract some attention.
What is next --- It has been a great ride, but Im coming home! Over the past 5 years I have had the privilege of driving at some of the most challenging and exciting racing circuits in the world. It did not always go the way I wanted, but Formula One racing has been a great experience for me, and I really appreciate the support from all of my fans. It has made me stronger, smarter and a better racer. Unfortunately, Toro Rossos decision to remove me from my racing seat prematurely has left me to consider many other new opportunities in my racing career. As I approach the question of whats next?, I wanted to begin with those who have been the most supportive of my talents and potential. As such, Red Bull was the natural choice. I have had a great meeting with Dietrich Mateschitz who became VERY excited about the possibility of my racing back in the good ol USA. We will see where it leads. I am coming back to America on a fact-finding tour, looking at the various racing series, and talking with some of the top American teams. Initial interest has been positive, so I look forward to having some productive chats and finding the right fit for me. Overall, I am jazzed about the thought of racing back home. I cant wait to see my family and friends in the USA, and to see where Im most welcome and have the best opportunity for racing, and winning in front of my home crowds. I will see if he actually does show up here at home. If he does, I'll see if I can get some updates in person.
Yeah I just read this off his website. It's probably down to either Nascar or Champ. I'm interested to see where he'll end up.
Maybe just a trade and he'll end up at Newman Haas Lanigan to replace Bourdais? Not sure who else is out there to take Sebastian's seat.
The only reason they keep Liuzzi till the end of the season is that Bourdais can't just walk away from his current seat. Liuzzi will be canned and that's a good thing. Just as it was with Speed. Berger's only mistake was to renew his drivers for this season. He should have hired different guys right from the start. Speed doesn't have the talent, he will never drive in F1 again.
Andreas, I don't know about that. Liuzzi was an F3000 Champ and Scott had the measure of him. In the first race that Vettel did as a replacement for Speed, Liuzzi easily out qualified him. I would have expected Vettel with all the big things expected of him to out qualify Liuzzi, but that was not the case. I still think it is poor management on the part of STR as well as very unreliable cars that is the major problem. I wish Scott the best in Champ Car, event though he didn't exactly light the world on fire in F1, he held his own against Liuzzi.
In my 2 weeks in Europe I had plenty of opportunity to read the Euro press and what they had to say about STR, Liuzzi, Speed and Vettel. Every single journalist and article said the same thing: Good riddance Scott Speed and we can't wait for Liuzzi to leave. They are both regarded as really, really bad. Sutil and Yamamoto aren't far behind either btw. Vettel made a mistake in Q1 and that prevented him from getting into Q2. He admitted that and given how nervous the STR is in comparison to the BMW and that Vettel had no time to test (remember Berger didn't want him to drive in Budapest without a test day first) he did pretty well. Particularly in the race, which he managed to finish ahead of others. As time moves on, he will beat Liuzzi. BTW: It was Schumacher who "discovered" Vettel and pointed him out to Berger. That was several years ago.
Yeah but we all know that Schumacher did that so the guy would be mediocre and never come close to his records. LOL
Holding your own against a slow erratic driver doesn't mean you're good. Just not slower or more erratic than a poor driver. As for Vettle and his swapping seats with Kubi, how much seat time did he have? How many lap s at race speed? You're comparing apples to oranges and still Vettle is better. He's just a better class of driver than S Speed and Luizzi.
So? Journalists are journalists, no matter where they hail from. Spin doctors, exaggerators, and just plain fabricators. Apparently, most fans see the people who happen to be in the best cars, as significantly better drivers, over the guys with crap cars. The problem is, that when drivers are in F1 there isn't a huge gap in each drivers skill when compared to another. The exception would be if you were comparing Ide to Alonso, then there would be a pretty huge gap there lol. In other words, someone of mediocre F1 skill can win in competitive cars. Let's call this the Massa factor, and also the Lewis factor. Massa would still be regarded as crap if he wasn't in a Ferrari, and Hamilton wouldn't be talked about nearly as much if he wasn't in a Mclaren. Which leads me to my point, both Scott and Tony would win in either of those Ferrari's and Mclaren's. I honestly think that both Gerhard and Franz are maybe out of their element a bit. This is probably proven by the fact that Franz physically assaulted Speed in anger. I think that's an indication that he's in over his head, to let himself go like that. Anyways about it, I'm glad to see Speed out of such a crappy situation.
Good, we both agree it is better that Speed is no longer in F1. ...now how can we get Massa out of that 2nd seat?
Won't happen: Lewis stays with the Dark Side and UnFairnando will go to Renault. Next year's title race will be even more fun: The top three drivers in the top three cars. But I can't wait for Massa's contract to expire. Watching his solid "performance" at Hungaroring was really hard to comprehend. They should have sacked him right then and there.
That would have been a stronger justification than the sacking of Speed. At least Scott had a car that wasn't capable of anything. Massa on the other hand, has a car that's able to contribute to the constructors points and fight for the title. Fire Massa and Stick in Heidfeld since he doesn't have a contract for BMW next year, just yet.
+1 Nick's contract should be only a formality and get inked within the next two weeks. His performance in Hungary was so solid. The only reason they haven't done it yet, is that BMW extended an offer to Alonso, so they want to keep that door open.