F1 is an aristocratic sport, and having a young brilliantly wealthy lad race around because he can afford it, is par for the course and very common in the history of F1 and car racing. And yes it's a team sport, funded and salaries paid by the racer in this case, I learned life ain't fair long ago. Hamilton nor Vettal would be competitive in that chassis.
Ocon did not come from rich parents. But, you've revealed your prejudice. You don't care that the best should be driving F1. You think its just whoever can write the biggest check. Well, F1 is still a sport. But if you want it to be an exhibition instead of a sport, let any rich person in the world take a seat. Imagine how well that would work in the Olympics. Now, Stroll is not the first person to buy a seat. He's just the least experienced person ever to buy a seat.
"Prejudice" ? LoL No, I kinda agree with your overall premise. However, Just wanted to stick up for a kid a bunch of over the hill internet cyber surfers decided to bully. Hamilton nor Vettal would be competitive in that chassis, it's not like he's loosing points for Ferrari - who cares, would that team even be on the grid without the families investment?
Cyber bully? LOL! Yes, we are personally attacking Stroll here on Fchat. I'm sure he can't sleep at night from the posts here. He's a big boy. He wanted to be in F1. He is NOT performing well (anyone want to disagree with that?) You get what you pay for.
Sorry to come on so strong, but I bet you anything he's an overly sensitive, massively insecure kid, that his tremendously financially successful father places tremendous pressure on. Kids in a tough spot, I read he's a very nice young man. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if he reads a thread like this on Fchat. The 2nd half of the grid has been irrelevant for a long time, so why pick on him?
As a Florida resident I feel the need to point out that Indianapolis is not in Florida. You may now continue with your regularly scheduled diatribe.
What a stupid comment. Everybody knows that Alonso is a very fast driver and has been since he was a rookie. If Stroll was actually nearly as fast as his team mate we would not be criticizing him. We are F1 fans, we want all new people to the sport to have talent Pete
Not a "stupid" comment at all. Sticking up for a rookie is all I'm doing, give the kid some time - he's 18 for crying out loud. The irony and ridiculousness of many of these posts is comical.
Not FA fault that the car breaks down. His dad(Strolls) squeezed out several drivers that were way more talented and have race-craft all due to money. His dad put him in the limelight of F1 in a tier 2 team ( He wanted to put his son in Ferrari but Ferrari saw something in the kid therefore here we are). He(dad) maybe should have started his son in a backmarker team or maybe given his son 1 more year before coming to F1.
Well then I agree with everything you said, however the reality is today even a multi billionaire can't buy a seat at Ferrari. My point was and has always been, give the kid a damn break. I'm sure the pressure on the kid is ridiculous. Now if you want to debate the issue of his father putting him in that position we'd most likely be on the same page. But I hear that kid has racing in his veins, perhaps he was as hungry as his father to get him to F1.
I understand the sticking up for a rookie bit as we are all human, but the "give the kid some time" comment is not valid. You do not become faster in F1 over time, you become a more complete racing driver, ie. able to win races slower or put competitive lap times in easier or when the pressure is really on (like Vettel did today at Monaco). So in regards to giving Stroll some time, well sure, but he has not shown any decent speed at all yet ... he is usually over 1 second a lap slower than Massa at every track. So where is he going to find this speed ... ????, it's not going to happen. Now if Williams make a better car he will go faster, yes, but so will Massa. So before you get your violin out and start crying for Stroll, do some research on rookie drivers in F1. Usually they are fast but erratic and crash a lot but there is raw speed there. Kimi was damn fast when he bust upon the F1 scene, as was Prost, Senna, Vettel, MS, etc., but not Stroll ... unfortunately. All Stroll has shown is that he is slow and on top of that erratic like all new drivers. Wow Williams must be thrilled Pete
Stroll of all the people on our planet would least qualify for a violin pitty party, I would agree that his participation this year might have been to soon. I think in time if he sticks with it he'll improve. Time will tell, I find all the threads about certain drivers "sucking" in extremely poor taste.
Stroll is not a driver with clear, apparent talent at all. He might be well prepared via testing but the trend for him has not gone upwards per race. That much is readily apparent. Without the need for funding Williams would have fired him by now. That is apparent as well. He shows no hints of making it at Williams as a competent F1 driver, and Im fairly certain around the paddock he would not find another seat, funding or not. If the father at all cared about what is left of his 'career' they'd buy a seat in a junior formulae for next year and let him develop further if he can at all.
I very much want to enjoy life so the former gets my preference. That's why I don't have kids or a wife, lol. Cool lets just hand out seats to anyone who is a nice boy. What's that got to do with anything? We're judging his performance here, and he's done rather poorly. Massa has not been the same since his accident, and lost considerable speed that he never really found back again, yet Stroll somehow makes Massa look like Senna! +1 Trouble is there's another young chap (that was even younger when he started) and he amazed the world every time he got into that car.... lol Ah yes, Alonso is of course famous for being Stroll's teammate. Hold on...no he's not! A fairer comparison would be how many points he's scored to his actual teammate...well it's 18-0 at the moment. Qualifying is no better at 6-0, with a deficit of ~1.2 seconds on average! He's no good, and he has more than 1.2 seconds to make up to what is post-accident an average driver...it's a HUGE difference.
I don't think so, and I have nothing against the guy. Daddy's money (or patience) will run out before success comes. Nothing wrong with being a rich kid and liking motor racing, but Lance Stroll should have not aimed so high as F1. There are plenty of rich amateurs in IMSA, WEC, Blancpain, or some sort of endurance series where raw speed isn't absolutely essential, and where the young Stroll would fit very well. He would probably enjoy himself more too. Just my opinion...
+1 And let's be honest...wouldn't it be tons more fun for him if he where to race in one of such series and maybe compete for better positions? Certainly actually fighting for any position would be much more fun than trundling around the track on your lonesome waiting for your next accident to appear, and everyone talking about your performance (or lack of). They've the luxury of a private track...buy yourself a V10 F1 car and drive that around if you want to go fast.
I personally think so. If Stroll senior were to sponsor a sponsor a private GT team, for example, Baby Stroll could learn his trade from his team mates and slowly improve. He could even make a career there and enjoy himself for many years I don't think F1 is the best environment for that, now more than ever with the ban on testing. Also, Stroll comes under a lot of unwelcome media scrutiny and that itself must be hard to face. My opinion is that there are plenty of different areas for rich individuals to enjoy fast cars, most more forgiving than F1, surely.
