How will Villeneuve do?
Good question. I want to say Quick Nick will drive circles around him, but then again JV might just have a good time since he is more used to the car than Nick. Could go either way. But I think it won't matter much, I just don't see the Sauber-BMW being fast at all. At least not yet next year.
He will suprise everyone and finish ahead of Heidfeld in points. Villeneuve has to shine. He has to beat Heidfeld if he wants to stay with BMW in 2007 or move to a better team. It's his 2nd year with the team + Villeneuve will have a car that suit his driving style (BMW have a bigger budget) + MT said there will be no preferences given on either side (NH and JV). Forza Villeneuve!
So far Villeneuve holds the testing record and despite all his best efforts, Nick wasn't able to touch his time.
I almost forgot JV will be at BMW. He has yet another year to "prove" himself (... odd for a world champion) but hopefully this will be the last and someone at BMW will put him out of his misery when his contract expires. Long time ago I liked JV but now I think his in the way of younger drivers that have something to show. As for your question.... Heidfeld should outperform JV
JV is washed up. He should have quit years ago. Get out of the seat and give some new tallent a chance.
The former CART champion who came to F1 and made Hill look like a fool in his rookie year (unlike the son of another F1 great who made a fool out of himself when he too came as a CART champion to F1). Same guy who then went on to beat Herr Schumacher for the F1 Championship despite some desperate attempts of dirty driving. Driving so dirty that Schumacher got excluded from the championship the same year. I like you Jack, but we really don't see eye to eye when it comes to F1 heroes. I'm no Villeneuve fan, but the man is a F1 legend. Rightly so. He has accomplished more than most F1 drivers by entering the Hall of Fame of a Champion.
All my real heroes are dead Andreas... But I believe we do have 1 thing in common when it comes to heroes... we both prefer others over Herr Schumacher BTW, I voted "They will finish up fairly evenly in the points."
Lauda is still alive. So is Emerson. BTW: I'm hoping to see "Live fast, die young" next week. The Jo Siffert docu, that's supposed to be real good.
Legend? Hahahahaaa, I seriously don't think so. He won those champioships was because he was in the best car. Michael had only been at Ferrari, who hadn't produced a drivers champion in over two decades, for barley two years. So Jaques won with the best car. Look at his winning record after that, ALLLLLL down hill. Sorry, but in my book Villeneuve is far from a legend. Tallented yes, legend NOT!
Oh I like Lauda, Stewart and so on but somehow they will not become heroes as you see them grow old... I admire Lauda for what he did when he "came back" but he somehow screwed up with Jaguar for me especially when he wanted to show the young guns "how it was done" and spun the car... I much prefer the Ascari's, Gilles Villeneuve's, Lorenzo Bandini's and Jim Clarks who became true legends in my eyes. Seeing Lauda stroll down the paddock doesn't trigger me into "there goes a legendary heroe". It's more like "Hey... that's Lauda". One exception that I recall is Paul Frere in the pitlane of Le Mans. He's a living legend for me.
I disagree on this one. If JV is a legend then what separates Damon Hill from being a legend too... both won a single championship driving the best car. JV made a big splash when he came from Cart to F1 and as you mentioned he had his moments of glory. We all liked him very much back then and wanted him to become a legend... instead he took the money and sat at BAR wasting his careeer.
Well, let's be frank for a moment: ANY F1 driver is heads above the rest; even the backmarkers. Just look what happens to F1 drivers once they leave the sport. They go on to remain a strong competitor if not outright winner in whatever other automotive group they end up. Becoming a champion is still one of the hardest things to do. I admit the term "legend" doesn't come to mind when I think about Damon Hill. Yet, he has done a super job at keeping the Williams team together after tragedy struck and managed to clinch the title a year later. Against a very strong Schumacher, so Hill does deserve credit (Read "Racers", it will restore your picture of Hill. I know cause it had the same effect on me). Granted people like Senna, Schumacher etc are on a higher level, no question. But any champion is a legend in my book. Even Rosberg. PS: I compare F1 champions a bit to US presidents: Even a not so great President still was a President and not just a presidential candidate. Not every one of them becomes a Roosevelt or Kennedy, but they all make it into the Pantheon.
Is there a better example than when Mansell went to CART? One of the most impressive displays of talent I have ever seen in my life. Andreas, I notice you list your location as Ganton......where's that?
But in my eyes they would have to be a GREAT president to become a "hero". Rarely any of them (of ANY country) does... Same goes for F1... yes, JV made a HECK of an entry in F1 but what he did after winning his title was.. uh... I don't even remember... what DID he achieve after winning his title except wearing baggy overalls?
Not to start that debate again, but it was interesting to watch the juxtapositions that year with the reigning F1 World Champion and the reigning CART Champion "swapping" seats and the results of those transfers... But there are lots of other examples: Even F1 Hasbeens or Neverweres made it big or at least memorable once they joined other forms of racing: Unlucky Herbert scored a Le Mans victory IIRC and Alesi as well as others had success in DTM. Ganton is a city in the state of San Andreas. AKA LA in California in Grand Theft Auto.
Oh no, not looking to start any debate whatsoever. I just think that what Mansell did is a perfect example of what level F1 drivers are at compared to any other formula. I play that often...........just didn't make the connection.
The list is seemingly endless, especially when going back even further. Zanardi in CART. Frentzen, Stuck and Hakkinen in DTM, Winkelhock and Bellof in Group C. Ickx in Le Mans; heck even a paralized Regazzoni raced Paris-Dakar. The Ganton thing is a leftover from my using a black TR for gang related drivebys. At one point I collected TRs in San Fiero just for a photo shoot at the Bridge.
