Any US drivers on the horizon for F1 ?

Americans have tons of racing options at home, without having to live out of a suitcase flying to all the remote tracks Bernie is bringing into F1.

Even when it was mostly European, living away from home isn't all that inviting a prospect. I spent some time in europe, but I was glad to get home again.

When you consider the whole package: 99% travel, sponsors you've never heard of, language issues, internal team politics, really odd food (in miniscule servings) -- F1 just doesn't really offer all that much versus domestic racing ... especially a klunker team like STR, where the driver brings more funding than his salary.

To F1 fans, driving a Minardi in F1 might have been better than driving the top CART racer. But when you consider the logistics, it's not that great a deal.

The best american drivers just don't need F1.

Besides: NASCAR machines have more leg room.
And more width for "well fed" american drivers.

It's that way with many of the countries with well developed domestic racing: Japan, Australia, etc. They just don't need the international series when they can drive at home and still sleep in their own beds.

 

Good post!

 

Great drivers want to race where the greatest drivers are.

People move up to F1 from other racing venues.

JPM moved down to NAStyCAR when he figured out he was never going to be WDC.

Most teams have chefs and the people eat and drink like royalty.

Traveling is a hassle. would you rather go to Monaco or Talladega?

 

JPM is 100% American as Columbia is in South AMERICA!

 

IMO F1 needs a American driver quick..

 

Hey, I tried. Neither Jean Todt or Ron Dennis are returning my calls or e-mails for some reason

 

Someone who isn't Latin American so he has a cool head on his shoulders, like Scott Speed...LOL

 

F1 used to be the pinnacle of motorsports. Not any more. Now it's a micromanaged dope opera.

Jeff Gordon astonished a lot of people at the ROC when he beat a WRC driver in rally cars. Even with Billy-Bo-Bob cussin' him out around the ovals, he still didn't find any F1 deal all that tempting. NAScrud may look like "rednecks on wheels" from the outside -- but right now it seems to be a pretty attractive option for drivers. Being only 2nd in the F1 WDC isn't a reason to go to redneck racin' by itself.

People going to NASCAR or staying there over F1 should tell you something about the state of F1 internals today. And all the domestic TV coverage going to NAStruck poker night tells you something about NAScar: The money sure ain't going into gazillion dollar steering wheels.

Those fancy F1 pit row catered meals are for the press, not for the drivers (who are on intensive physical fitness regimes -- the G-forces in those cars are brutal). The teams all know that their money is coming from what TV coverage they can get. (That's what the Concorde agreement is all about.)

I can day-trip to Talladega and be at home in the evening. For Monaco, you're there for the duration. Even a private jet takes most of a day to get between continents. And back-to-back races like China and Japan means a couple of weeks minimum. Being a tourist gets old, after a while. Even a hotel in paradise is still a hotel, not a home.

In the past, many of the "american" drivers in F1 were US passport ex-pats living in europe already.

And look at all the international drivers in CART and IRL. F1 just isn't all that great a gig for drivers, these days.

I think Speed's "attitude" came from recognizing that F1 (and Red Bull) needed a yank more than Scott needed to put up with STR's garbage.

Surely Webber isn't the best Australian driver ever. And Sato isn't the best Japan has produced, either.

F1 just isn't attracting the world's top drivers, anymore.

And if Bernie keeps dropping the traditional races, he might not get the eastern european drivers, either.

 

LOL

Try honda they really do need some stars and go faster stripes

 

I had my hopes on Colin Braun, but I think he is headed to NASCAR, probably for many of the reasons mentioned above. But he did help put a Ferrari on the podium at LM.

 

Easy question...Monaco.

 

I'd like to see Rahal and Andretti in F1. Both are young and have been inconsistent, but have run up front at times. But they are both younger than LH and are learning fast. My money would be on Rahal though. Driving the much faster Champ car at 18 yrs. old and he speaks and appears older than his years.
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Well said and I agree, even after only following F1 for a few years (since 2004) it is noticeable how lame it is getting. I miss the V-12s and even the V-10s and after being in Indy in 2005, my opinion was forever tainted of F1 and it just hasn't been the same in my mind since then. It has turned into a battle for 1-2-3 and then the rest of the field. Not as fun to watch anymore...

 

Marco and Graham need more experience, and to show a bit more pace against guys who haven't made it in F1 like Justin Wilson; Speed was never special in GP2.

Charlie Kimball was my favourite to move up, but he hasn't done so yet.

Paul M

 

it still is the pinnacle, just the US can't reach it

he didn't draw as much as they hoped and he was just "average" (which is incredible to the rest of us plebs)

well seeing as how you seem to have forgotten 3xWDC Jack Brabham and WDC Alan Jones (Williams 1st WDC) you could be right. Sato looked good in the Japan GP a few years ago and placed well, boded well but faded fast, flash in the pan and that IS the best they have ever done

The best drivers will ALWAYS gravitate to F1, but only the best open wheeler drivers not the tin tops which is what a lot of people are getting confused with.

Tank racing cannot be compared to formula racing , you can't bash your way to the front in formula racing because the car folds up. In NASCAR/BTCC/V8stoopidcars(aus) drivers are "rewarded" for smashing their way to the front and the looneys yelling and screaming think THAT is great driving

Great driving is watching Mikka pass Schuey at 200mph as they come up to pass a backmaker, he didn't bang him in the back and spin him out, he out-thought him in a very high speed chess game that no NASCAR/BTCC/V8stoopidcars could possibly have done.

 

I think those could be some traits he inherited from his dad and grandpa. Both were prone to some brain fade during races.

 

They're from F1 BC: (Before Concorde).

F1 used to be the best. But now it's not the best deal for drivers.

I still watch F1 rather than NAScar. I'd like to get enthusiastic about ALS -- which doesn't have much wheel banging either. But with four classes running at the same time, it just looks like rush hour on the beltway, to a former rallye driver.