What is it going to take for everyone to be convinced Scott Speed is the real deal? I am not being biast because I know his family, I just know for a fact he is one of the most talented drivers I have seen. Scott is where he is today because of what he has accomplished, not because of money. Like I said before his family had no money when Scott was racing karts and formula cars. He is one of the very few that made it based on talent. I have raced guys in karts such as AJ Aldeminger, Memo Gidley, Alex Tagalani, Alex Barron, Colin Flemming(Other Redbull contender) and Delinorossi(2 CIK world Champion) and I have to say Scott Speed was in a class of his own compared to these guys. Delinorossi, who is arguably the most talend driver to compete in the CIK world championship has beaten Micheal Schumacher, Jarno Trulli and even Alonso multiple times. Delinrossi came and raced the Stars of tomorrow back in 2001, when Scott Speed was leading the Championship. Scott Speed beat him by huge margin, something like 3-4 seconds. As for the others I have mentioned, Scott ran circles around them in karting. Another example is Alex Barron, Scott was invited to test for the Eddie Cheever team in the IRL last year at Sonoma. Alex as you know is his #1 driver, who was also there that day. Scott got into the car, which he had never driven. The only thing he had driven at that time was an F3 car. After two sessions, Scott went 1.5 seconds quicker than Barron. Eddie Cheever was ready to sign, but Scott already signed with Redbull to run the GP2 series. I am sure to most of you what I am saying doesn't matter until we see Scott race F1 next season. From what I have seen first hand with Scott, he is in the same class as Micheal Schumacher, Kimi and Alonso. He is that good.
Speed has potential. So has Liuzzi. Liuzzi has shown great speed and potential in the lower Formulas. (F3000 champion .....total domination) They both have talent. F1 is a new ball game. Jan Magnussen was a star before entering F1. (british F3 champion, DTM runner-up) He did not live up to his expectations. I HOPE Scott Speed is the real deal. In my opinion, Speed won't have it easy. Liuzzi will be hard to beat. I'll be keeping an eye on this team, Toro Rosso.
Webber, Heidfeld, JPM showed similar levels of domination up to F3000. *That* is the midpack of F1. As of right now we can't truly say how fast he is going to be in F1. Like previously said, Luizzi *dominated* F3000, yet he couldn't even best Coulthard and Klien.
He beat DC on his first outing (Imola). He drove only 4 races. He was under immense pressure. Liuzzi will have all the 2006 season. After we'll see if he's good or not.
First things first "CONGRATULATIONS SCOTT" He does deserve some credit for kicking some @ss. And since I live in his former hometown of MANTECA, I will be supporting him as much as I can. And yes Aaron, He was BORN in San Jose. And yes as far as the public appearances go, I'm working on that! Even though I am M.S. Fan, I really don't care who wins, as long as there is a good race. I hope to meet up with him again this next year @ Indy. There is no way I am going to pass this up after being there for the crap that happened this year.
Well I wouldnt go that far yet. Unfortunately current viewers are the only ones noticing there is an American in F1. I for one am thrilled about him getting a race seat for next year, but I wouldnt call him a genius till he has the attention of more than the normal F1 fans. I give him all the credit in the world for being a great promoter for his own brand, but not for F1 just yet. And BTW I also will be rooting for Speed purely because I have a lot of patriotism and havent seen an American in F1 since I started watching it. GO SPEED Mark
I believe he was reffering to the Race of Champions, the one that they use the rally cars and buggy's in? The one Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Colin Edwards teamed up and won a couple years back. Also the one where Kovaleinin absolutly took MS to school in the Ferrari. But the guys who race IROC (the USA one) are in fact great drivers. I just wish they would stop using all NASCAR ovals and stock cars for that series. It just doesn't show off what those drivers can do. IROC should have 4 races: 1 on a NASCAR track in a stock car 1 on a road course in an open wheel car 1 on a road course in a sports car (Ferrari, Porsche, etc.) 1 on a dirt oval in a sprint car THAT would be a true "Race of Champions". I think I remember them running IROC races at Mid Ohio or Road America back in the early 90's Do something like that again.
My point is, that we are talking here about Speed and the team he'll be driving for and we and the media will be looking for him on TV and at the track. Compare that attention to last year's Minardi team. I can't even remember who drove them.
I wish SS all the luck in the world in F1 - there have been a lot of guys with the talent who for one reason or another haven't clicked on the top step (Michael & Magnusson to name but two) and others who've shown the speed as testers but can't get a race seat (like Antony Davidson). I hope he's still in F1 when Charlie Kimball gets there, so we can see them head-to-head! (BTW, Pedro Lamy was a pretty useful Portugese F1 driver before Monteiro IIRC) Paul M
Ok thats 100% true. Never has there been this much attention given to what use to be Minardi, and I truly hope he gets the attention he should in the media becuase it will only be good for the sport as a whole. Mark
Anyone who has reached the rarified levels of motorsport that he has must be pretty damn good. However, there are a lot of other equally capable drivers from all over the world. Being a token American has given him The Buzz and the RedBull B-team seat on the hope that Americans will now tune into F1. Not gonna happen. Even if he masters a good southern/NASCAR drawl, the US is not going to care significantly more about F1. F1 might possibly be mentioned on the first page of the sports section if he actually wins races but we all know how likely that is. Regardless, I hope he makes the best of the opportunities that have been presented to him.
