... But seriously Why there aren't any american drivers in F1

Hubert; I like your enthusiasm but if I wanted to spend more money in racing it would be for my own efforts. Auto racing has been called the cruel sport I believe because desire is not enough. One needs practice and as Lombardi once said "practice does not make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect".Unfortunatly practice in auto racing costs big bucks as opposed to most other sports. I know of some poeple who work at the racing schools to gain seat time and exposure to those with $. I've never seen one become a "personal trainer" to such a person but that doesnt mean they dont exist.This also means you must be the Expert. Just a line of thought. I was in your shoes years back; no $ lots of desire and knew that to be good I needed money which meant owning my own business which fueled my desire to get/start/buy one which is where I am today. So in a way racing helped me. Now its just an expensive hobby. One more idea; check into sprint cars. I heard if you are even mid pack it can pay for itself.

 

David,
I suppose then you've heard the old "Racing: Turning money into noise." adage?
I've considered giving oval track cars a try but really wanted to make something happen in road racing.
I'll keep asking though and if you see even a test seat open somewhere, keep my post in mind.

 

Hubert; I like "There's a lot of money in racing, I know because I put it there." If your ever in Dallas and would like a Session at MSR in my low buck tube frame FM and I have time available, let me know. Sprint cars; 600 HP, 1000 Lbs, open wheels, sounds like an F1 on dirt to me.

 

United States racing is based on flat out speed...Other factors to consider, "rubbing", pushing someone into the wall, etc. None of that would be tollerated in F1. F1 is also based more around timing, Nascar is based upon who drive the most miles and cross the finish line first. I would like to see another venue for F1 in the US besides Indy. Maybe a road course? I think Washington,DC would be an ideal spot, principly because of the attractions!

 

Ahem. You sure about that? Senna-Prost, Prost-Senna, Schumacher-Hill come to mind, to name a few.

The US needs a second GP and it should be on one of the coasts. Chances are if we ever get one, it'll be on the West Coast though because of the bigger car culture there. Just my guess though.

 

I hope you're talking about American Football or

404 "real men" sports not found

 

No offense, but this is exactly the problem of why there is not an American in F1. Us Americans think if the sport isn't American, than it is not a sport. Americans think Nascar is real racing and therefore kids dream of becoming Nascar drivers.

 

Then what do you think of the original posters message...

 

I agree with him to some extent. Where I don't agree is his comment about cart drivers trying to be F1 drivers(DaMatta) have failed , but look at the case of Montoya. But then again the drivers that have been successful in making the transition from cart to F1 are non-americans(exception Mario Andretti and Phil Hill).

 

Ummm, you criticized ferrari_209 for saying soccer wasn't a real man's sport. Wouldn't you be criticizing Muira as well for suggesting that soccer had some sort of elevated subjective significance?

That makes no sense how you can criticize the pro-American football guy but agree with the pro-soccer guy in what is a "real man's" sport.

 

Notice the smiley.

Everyone has their own opinion. I also disagree with the "there are only 3 real men sports." There are motorsports that carry more risk than F1 drivers do such as rally. But that is his opinion. In my opinion NFL is a tougher and more dangerous sport than soccer. This is my opinion, doesn't mean that everyone has to agree with it.

 

I don't agree with either of them. I was just using Ferrari 209 example as what type of mindset us Americans have when it comes to sports. I am not saying soccer is better than football or vice versa.

 

Yeah, but it's implied that Muira doesn't like American football...along with a large portion of the world...

 

Payne, you are analyzing this way too much.

 

Maybe so. I'll take it you agree with my point as well though.

 

I’m just amazed that someone would take what is probably Hemingway’s most famous quote and butcher to suite their own likes, in doing so making it entirely contradictory (and condescending), all the while never referencing him. You must have read it somehwere, but did you entirely miss the point? Hemingway chose the three because it is blatantly obvious you need huge balls to do them, not because he was necessarily good or interested in them (going into his masculinity complex is way over the top for FChat, so I'll leave it at that).

"Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports ... all others are games."

It’s a good thing that mammal's non-cognitive brain functions are controlled for them, involuntarily. I would hate to think what would happen if some people were burdened with remembering to breathe, etc.

 

Darn, I knew it sounded so familiar and it was Hemingway.

I like the line about the non cognitive brain functions. I'll borrow that at some future ocasion.

 

You forgot boxing. Football is just a kids' game too.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091495/
bull fighting is for real women

 

Back to the topic at hand:

1. Sponsorship - no American has been able to bring sufficient dollars to the table. No money, no racey.

2. Wasted Talent - Talented American drivers unfortunately stay in American series like Pro Formula Mazda, etc., filled with 30- and 40-something seat fillers (kinda like mystery meat). They find the dollars to do this series and that series in the States and don't ever get to Europe. The talent is wasted learning this gentlemanly way of racing that is taught in the US.

Young karters, when you're ready to learn to drive, move to England for a couple of years. Drive all the formulae you can. Learn the way they race...

 

Here's an interesting quote regarding the subject. I am going from memory so if i don't get it totally right please excuse me. "If you are succesfull in CART you can also be succesfull in Formula One, no magic no miracles." -Ayrton Senna

 

Are you sure Senna said that, because Cart was created in 96 after Senna died in 94?

 

Well he might have said Indycars, which is what CART used to be called. Now IRL are Indycars, hence the distinction with CART is more important.