Marco Andretti at Haas - really ?

You would think Rossi would be on the "top 10" list Haas keeps mentioning. You would think he would need to be paired with another more experienced driver though. But who knows...maybe go with two young guns and lean on Ferrari for help.

He's "proven" also as you point out...at least IMHO.

 

Remember that Phil Hill won at Le Mans, the Ring and of course the World Championship so not too bad!

 

Totally agreed.

I love the Andrettis but I wont expect much from the grand kid. Talent got thinned out through the bloodline, something Canadians can probably refer to.

OTOH I am a romantic sucker who loves to see the old last names on a current grid

 

Was this asked already... Does Marco qualify for a Super Licence?

 

Good question; I don't believe so.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIA_Super_Licence

His finishes in Indy are:

2013 5th
2014 9th
2015 9th

That is 14 pts out of the required 40 over a 3 year span.

 

If you are looking for American IndyCar drivers, Newgarden would be a great choice.

 

The Mayor said it...Team Haas driver choice is the least of their problems...one just has to point to McLaren/Honda.

 

Remember,F1 is only 2-3 seconds a lap slower than the next fastest cars. These days they drive F1 right out of training school.

 

Say what?

 

I think he meant to say "2-3 seconds quicker."

Which is an eternity at this level of course; Covers the entire grid.

Cheers,
Ian

 

I read it as you corrected, but still couldn't believe what I was reading : )

Right - 2-3 seconds is an eternity....just ask Manor : P

The notion that F1 cars are "easy" to drive or that anyone just walks into one out of "training school" is equally silly.

 

Obviously I meant slower. As far as difficulty,not nearly as difficult as the turbo era cars. Today in F1 you have to bring a little talent and a lot of sponsorship.You really think the leMans guys couldn't drive F1? or for that matter NASCAR guys,or some Indy racers? . If you want an exclusive F1 class make the cars faster and more difficult.Why do you thing F1 viewing is down?

 

Sure they are less difficult than some cars of some other eras; even the drivers will tell you that. That doesn't mean they are easy cars to drive or that you can do it right out of training school.

Of course there are talented drivers in other series, no one is debating that. Likewise, I don't think anyone would debate that sponsorship plays a role in all levels of motorsport.

However, suggesting you only need a little talent and no experience (out of school) is totally wrong IMO. How do you draw that conclusion? Who do you think those guys are going against in F3, Formula Renault 2 and 3.5, GP2, karting, etc? They are beating the other best drivers in the world or demonstrating that they are on the same level. In addition, the super license rules now make any kind of stupid jump financed by dollars-only impossible.

Sounds like your issue is with the current F1 spec. They are making the cars faster by the way; which I favor of course.

 

Also, to your point about great drivers in other series, this is a list from autosport about the 50 best drivers to never race in F1 as of 2013:


50. Valentino Rossi (ITA)
49. Bird Clemente (BRA)
48. Carlos Sainz (ESP)
47. Nicolas Minassian (FRA)
46. James Courtney (AUS)
45. Andy Wallace (GBR)
44. Alain Ferte (FRA)
43. Gary Hocking (GBR)
42. Christophe Bouchut (FRA)
41. Jean-Pierre Jaussaud (FRA)
40. Craig Lowndes (AUS)
39. Bertrand Fabi (CAN)
38. Andre Lotterer (GER)
37. Rickard Rydell (SWE)
36. Alain Menu (SUI)
35. Kenny Brack (SWE)
34. Nicolas Lapierre (FRA)
33. John Nielsen (DEN)
32. Jean-Luc Salomon (FRA)
31. Paul Warwick (GBR)
30. Jorg Muller (GER)
29. Gonzalo Rodriguez (URU)
28. Stephen South (GBR)
27. Satoshi Motoyama (JPN)
26. Jason Watt (DEN)
25. Tony Stewart (USA)
24. Paul Tracy (CAN)
23. Klaus Ludwig (GER)
22. Frank Matich (AUS)
21. Will Power (AUS)
20. Gerry Birrell (GBR)
19. Scott Dixon (NZL)
18. Adam Carroll (GBR)
17. Emmanuel Collard (FRA)
16. Al Unser Jr (USA)
15. Greg Moore (CAN)
14. Jamie Green (GBR)
13. Don Parker (GBR)
12. Dan Wheldon (GBR)
11. Gil de Ferran (BRA)
10. Laurent Aiello (FRA)
9. Walter Rohrl (GER)
8. Gary Paffett (GBR)
7. Parnelli Jones (USA)
6. Dave Coyne (GBR)
5. Rick Mears (USA)
4. AJ Foyt (USA)
3. Dario Franchitti (GBR)
2. Sebastien Loeb (FRA)
1. Tom Kristensen (DEN)

...the full article is out there if one searches with additional context.

 

Same here, Bianchi was a treat. Agree regarding talent thinning in the second generation, although its obviously daunting to assess a cap on someone whose lesser iteration became WDC, Indy 500 champion and placed second at LeMans in the twilight of his career

 

True. But I remember in horror the few races of his son in a F1

The "seat swap" of the respective F1 and Indy champions and the subsequent results turned me off from IRL for good

 

They might give him a conditional like Kimi had when he started at Sauber

 

*Supposedly* this now requires extensive test seat time in an F1 car - even to get a conditional. Which is kind of funny since teams aren't really allowed to test anymore. ; )

 

Dont forget Friday morning first hour of first practice session is often driven by the 3rd guys

 

+1 "didn't go well".....

I hear you!

As is pretty well known here, I'm no fan of "our Nige'", but he certainly showed more than a few of them up that year.

Cheers,
Ian

 

I loved Nigell for being the eternal underdog. When he won the title it was easy with that car but only karma's pay back for all the other times when bad luck stole it from him.

 

I know : ) But, the requirement is supposedly 300km of test.

What do they cover in an hour and how would he get that done in a year? I guess maybe someone could be brought in as the third driver to set them up for the follow on season?

 

"He's a fast idiot"

-Nelson Piquet

: ))))))))))

...and after breaking his back. Wow. Amazing.