Dario / Indy drivers

Dario did some testing (for Jaguar, IIRC) a while back. most of the top Indy drivers have driven or tested an F1 car.

usually the deciding factor is a competitive and/or paying drive in Indy vs. an uncompetitive ride in F1, or having to bring sponsors to F1.

btw, DiResta is Dario's cousin.

 

I think F1 drivers make better Indy drivers than Indy drivers make F1 drivers.

 

+1

There has been a small window of opportunity for most Indycar drivers to make it in F1. Few have jumped through it and fewer have impressed enough to have a lasting career.

 

Not totally true. There are more competitive rides in indycar than there are in F1. It's always been that way. The great indy drivers would have no reason to jump to F1 simply for doing it, unless such as in the case with Montoya and Villenuve, you jump right into a top car. For instance, Helio Castroneves was offered a contract with Toyota (I don't remember if it was to test or to race) right after a one off test, he impressed the team so much. He pretty much said why trade his top ride in indycar to race a car that will never win.....

 

I bet DaMatta wishes he had taken that advice...

 

Agree.

There are also some F1 drivers who wouldn't want the risk of driving in oval tracks.

 

I agree with that ...

Yeah, it worked for Mario Andretti, Villeneuve and Montoya but wan't a success for Michael Andretti, di Matta, Zanardi, Speed or Bourdais.

Unless you land a drive in a competitive car in a top team, the move from Indycar to F1 can be the kiss of death, and often reputations never recover from a couple of seasons at the back of the field.

IMHO, a good Indycar driver is better off staying in that series.

 

That is also true.

I think the oval tracks spook a lot of road racers.

For reach F1 most drivers have been progressing through several road race series (FF, F3, GP2, etc...) and are unfamiliar with oval racing.

But IRL racers often come from other oval series (midgets, stockcar, IRL light) and feel at home in that environment.

It must be quite disheartening for an experienced F1 driver to realise that he has to re-learn everything in a completely new discipline.

Some take to it like a duck to water (Clark, G.Hill, Stewart, Mansell, Cheever, Blundell, Fittipaldi, etc...) but for others it never clicks (Jochen Rindt, Denny Hulme, Nelson Piquet?).