The end all to the 'Why are there no American's in F1 question'

Dear F-Chat Crew,

I recently had met with a gentleman who has the experience and authority to answer the ongoing question as to why there are no Americans in Formula 1. It took quite a lot of writing for me to get out everything he said but I think he covered it quite well.

Have a look and please pass on to anyone else you think might take an interest:

http://mjdrive.blogspot.com

Cheers

Michael

 

Great piece and good on you to have made such a contact.

 

You have an interesting site. I wish you great success in chasing your dream. (I wasted my 200th post on Danica Patrick crying--I wished the 200th milestone had been this post.)

 

"this business is ... brutal"


Great piece! Brutal certainly is how it's looked to me, watching from the fringes for years now. Tough to be a young man in search of a racing career.

 

So it really comes down to connections, and as a whole American racers don't have those long term casual connections with the Euro powers that mean so much.

In other words, it's like every other business.

Thanks for the blog, it's been interesting.

 

Americans don't care for F1 because its a european sport like soccer. We love NASCAR because its WWF wrestling of car racing.
At least now F1 is becoming interesting without the traction control. I wish they would go back to manual shift because I think paddle shifting is girlie.
If F1 want to capture the american market, have 1 or 2 races in North America..(Miami or Las Vegas). Get a couple of American drivers and more crashes!...

 

??

 

It definately helps if your name is 'Andretti', or maybe 'Fittipaldi'......LOL!

Well, they are South American but you get the idea......

 

...way to go!!!...is horribly hard but certainly you are taking steps in the right way....Ill be watching!!!

...the thougher the test...the worthier the champion.

 

GO, Michael!

 

Yeah it's definitely though, but if you want it, then you want it. It's as simple as that, so you must go for it. I didn't catch a name for that gentleman though.

 

... hire Casey Putsch?

~shahedc
.

 

Rob Wilson, one of the "deans" of our profession.

"Rob Wilson needs no introduction to motor sport enthusiasts around the globe. A fast and successful competitor in all types of racing cars for the past 33 years, Rob today also works as the highly respected driving guru of a number of today's leading F1, GP2, Aussie V8, rally, Porsche Supercup, F3, Palmer Audi and Formula Renault stars, including David Coulthard, Valentino Rossi and the ProDrive Subaru drivers. Rob, in short, lives his life at 24/7 one minute competing at Le Mans or Daytona, the next evaluating F1 drivers for Honda Racing and Red Bull Racing or training future World Champions for the Raikkonen-Robertson F3 team.

A New Zealander who grew up in the great days of the Tasman Series and therefore a dedicated fan of drivers like Jim Clark, Bruce Mclaren and Phil Hill. Rob was instantly successful in Formula Ford when he first came to Europe in 1974. He moved swiftly up the racing into Formula 3, where he beat the stars of the day (including World Champions Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell) in some of the most dramatic wheel-to-wheel races ever seen in the junior ranks. He made it to the fringe of F1, receiving offers to drive for both Tyrrell and Fittipaldi, but fell shy due to the inevitable financial woes.

Rob, now 53 has won over 400 races throughout his career although the exact number is lost in the sands of time and the idiosyncrasies of class and overall wins. He won the FIA "World Endurance Touring Car Championship" as recently as 1999 and over the past couple of seasons has been a regular frontrunner in Maseratis and BMW saloon cars."

 

I was wondering when that name would get tossed into the discussion.

 

...Casey will be hired for a different "ride"

 

Congrats Michael! I saw your post in the Texas section and then spent some time reading your blog. Hope all is going well in Europe and that we'll see you in a seat sometime soon.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

200 a milestone ? Worry when you get to 20,000, 200 should take 2 months, not a big deal.

97 posts (at the time). 'Nuff said.

 

I did over 100 in one day once

 

That's funny.

I love F1, and i like soccer. I hate nascar, and wrestling, and nothing about F1 is "girlie."

Just watch Hammond attempt to tackle the Renault R25.

 

Thanks for posting, fun read. Best of luck in reaching your goal, you are taking the right steps!!

 

He set the record for most stalls!

 

Interesting article on Rob Wilson: http://membership.eaglescanyon.com/img/f1p2.jpg
http://membership.eaglescanyon.com/img/f1p4.jpg

 

That's why he's one of the "deans." Because he focuses on deconstructing the entire track so that his clients know it better than anyone else and because he focus' on feeling what the car is doing and making the driver want to make the car feel good more! Fascinating guy and great approach. I know, I use it...

 

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