Quality Of The Drivers

[jondownunder]

Originally Posted by mbathshah

Did a quick check and the quality of the drivers is really poor. Only 3 Champions in single seater racing the rest of no real pedigree. That's why Bernie is probably not that worried. See below:

How on earth can you say "the quality of the drivers is really poor" based on a look at only the previous two years?

There's obviously a mixture of abilities, as like Andrew said, some countries have little motorsport heritage. And there are certainly some dubious drivers, but no more than in some other single seater series. I would rate Piquet, Power, Halliday, Yoong, Verstappen, Kerr, Speed, Toccacelo, Jani, Parente and Premat as having already proven they deserve to compete at this level. Others like McIntosh, Devaney and Duran have also shown great potential in the junior categories. Some countries aren't running their best drivers (Russia, Germany, South Africa, Japan, Austria & Czech Rep IMO). Hopefully when the winter proper sets in, the proportion of solid, talented drivers will only get better - with the likes of Enge and Scheckter free to race.

And no-one pitched A1 GP as an alternative to F1 apart from the typically misinformed mainstream media.

[mjolnir]

i get the feeling that we'll get quite a few of these threads, comparing F1 and A1GP.

to me, it's like comparing a med student and a kid in pre-school. what? the kid can't even perform heart surgery? don't bother...

[EvilPumpkin]

Well I find it interesting that the F1 fans seem to feel so threatened by A1GP that they can only offer negative comments about it.

[bella]

agreed, ep. it's a shame they can't bring themselves to watch both, since it'd do away with that very unpleasent f1-free off season during the winter

[Hazza]

People should maybe check THIS out.

[Andrew Kitson]

It is only the usually mis-informed mainstream media that has generated the hype saying A1-GP will replace F1. It will not. It is a great addition to the motorsport calendar, for fans, drivers and crucially teams to provide employment through the winter. But as I said before, IMO the exposure of top line motor racing to countries with little heritage can only benefit the sport as a whole. There is plenty of room for both, and GP2, simply because of the timing of the A1-GP events. A great idea with the nation concept but underneath, it is basically a one-make F3000/GP2 type Formula or bigger version of FPA with the boost button etc. It will prosper and provide great racing/entertainment no doubt.

[Mr Jinxx]

I think it was an interesting chart that started this article, not because it in any way reflects the abilities of the driver, but it indicates their experience - time in the seat (or lack of it) in the last 2 years. That is one of the most important factors in determining which driver will be at the top of his game at the first race(s). It does not mean that he/she will ultimately be quick, because the engineers do have rather an important role to play in the ultimate pace of the car.

A quick driver has talent, the talent itself doesn't get lost. What does happen is that the driver either loses an edge as the driver gets older and less likely to put things on the line (Verstappen is a good example, perhaps ... great driver, unquestionably quick and talented, but possibly lost his ultimate desire which he had when he was younger?) or the driver gets rusty, through lack of time in the seat. Arguably, Verstappen may also fall into this category too - I don't know what he's been driving in the last 2 years. What I do know, is that drivers like Speed, Piquet, Adam Khan, etc have basically been welded to their seats over the last 2 years.

In terms of getting up to speed, and thereafter doing well, the driver needs a) talent b) currency (as in jumping into the car and immediately feeling at home, rather than cash-type currency) c) a basically competitive car d) the ability to hone the car's setup and finally e) circuit knowledge. Talent is what it is, you've either got it or you haven't. Currency is also what it is ... you're either current or you have to spend time to get current (i.e. back into feeling totally at home when the lights go green). Having a competitive car is a given , too ... you need the top team (or one of them) which is more often than not down to cash ... and that car needs to be competitive on the circuit in question. The ability of the driver in terms of feedback and working with the engineer in order to get the car's setup right is a combination of ability and experience. And finally, the circuit knowledge (or the ability to learn a circuit quickly, which most talented drivers can do within an incredibly short number of laps) is the last piece in the jigsaw.

I think, therefore, that you will find that the dominance of Mr Piquet is primarily down to currency, and will be eroded very quickly as some of the other drivers get themselves up to speed.

Piquet has all the right ingredients at the moment - talent, currency, top team. As to his ability to set a car up, you'll have to ask his engineers - we couldn't know this. Circuit knowledge will get you to the top of the timesheets in the first session, but (unless there is inadequate testing) will not be the major factor at the end of the day.

When other talented drivers, in other good teams (and there don't seem to be too many poor teams running A1GP in truth) get some currency, I'm totally convinced that you will find the 1 second gap that Piquet had over most other drivers, whittled down very rapidly. Robbie Kerr is a good example of this ... is he talented? Yes. Current? No. Good team? Yes. Good at car set-up? Ask the engineers. Circuit knowledge (Brands)? None better. So why always nearly a second of Piquet? Piquet is almost a second faster than Kerr in terms of talent? I think not. It's Currency. Simple. And time in the seat cures that.

[Kiwi3]

I think that your currency concept makes Matt Halliday's performance at Brands all the more impressive. He has only driven Porsche's recently.

I think there are some very good drivers in A1GP that have not won championships before because of lack of opportunity. John Watson made a very good question during the race commentary - where have these talented guys like Halliday been? Glad it has finally dawned on you Wattie, but as a kiwi I've known the answer for years...lost to a lack of funds. Some Australians have made it recently but for many years they had the same problem, and perhaps South African drivers too. Finally there is a shop window for drivers from these countries but a generation has been missed, which is a shame.

I agree that the drivers from some countries, such as Lebanon, China and Russia are not very good at the moment (although Teng Jiangyi finished right behind Lauda - good job) and would not be seen in GP2 or even top level F3. However that is half the point of A1GP. It will give young karters in those countries something to aim for, and expand the world of motorsport. So I'm all for it.

[Miranda]

Well I like the series... and I liked the race at Brands Hatch too. Even my best friend, who hates anything that has to do with motorsport thought it was great. Of course there are some driver... who are just not very talented... e.g. Lauda!

But Nelsinho is just great and I thought there were quite a few battles going on in the middlefield. So I'm not complaining .

Btw a bit off-topic but are we gonna get the results of the prediction competition any day soon?

[Miranda]

Ah alright then there they are

[L-B]

Originally Posted by mbathshah

No driver in the history of F1 has won 50% of their races

Fangio won 47% fairly close..
Jim Clark won 35% but if you took races where he was classified (ie finished) its 54% Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious...

[fordo]

I thought A1GP was supposed to be a race of Nations NOT ex F1 drivers who have already had a break. Correct me if I am wrong but isn't it meant to be a competition between teams made up of drivers and crews from each country in an effort to give some of the less funded but talented drivers some exposure.
I was a little surprised by the choices of drivers for both Australia and New Zealand as there are a lot of more experienced drivers NOT neccessatily talented drivers available from both countries but all credit to them for giving these youngsters a break. Different drivers will come to the fore in different countries which is why teams will change drivers dependant on where they have spent time racing. E.G. Christian Jones (Australia) who has spent a lot of time racing in Malaysia so will do the Malaysian round.
I have to admit though that I would like to see Fabian Coulthard in the Team NZ car though.
You cant write the concept off after just one race as there was always going to be teething problems and if one wanted to pass judgement on some of the older drivers in the first race when you look at the classes raced and experience that they have had over the last 10 - 15 yrs then it didn't count for much when you look at Nelson Piquet JR(with a lot of experience and backing) Will Power(Aust), Matt Halliday(NZ), Robbie Kerr (UK), Alex Premat (France)?. Sure Halliday and Premat made mistakes and stalled the cars but they still drove well and at the front.

[Ian Sowman]

Originally Posted by fordo

I thought A1GP was supposed to be a race of Nations NOT ex F1 drivers who have already had a break. Correct me if I am wrong but isn't it meant to be a competition between teams made up of drivers and crews from each country in an effort to give some of the less funded but talented drivers some exposure.

The bit of your quote that I have underlined isn't really true, the rest is though.

[John Weed]

Brazil would have done either way, using Piquet Jr. or De Oliveira, who went faster in testing at Silverstone.

[cos]

Pitpass.com are claiming that Sato is being lined up to drive for Japan at some stage.

[Alienman_69]

You mean Brazil would have won with any other driver? Why you think that? You think any other driver would setup the car even better and he would be 2 sec quicker than any other team? Is it just me, or do you people know how hard it is to be 1 sec quicker than the other teams with the exact same package? Talking about 25 nations, most of them run by racing teams with lots of experience, so you think than 1 sec quicker is something easy to do? I always enjoy to see people that find every excuse to put down a driver or a team, only because they dont like that particular driver or team.
Yeah, I also think IF I was driving for my country I would be 2 sec quicker than Parente...
Talking about drivers again ,and about my country, I rate Lamy a lot better than Parente anyway, unfortunately looks like Lamy will only drive the last 6 races.

[jondownunder]

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpa...s_art_id=26051

Oh dear, looks like the talentless Sven Heidfeld is linked to the German team. Timo Glock would be a good choice though.

[Kicking-back]

Yes, I'd give Glock the drive full time.

Or Nico Rosberg.

[Kiwi3]

Sven Heidfeld? As if Christian Jones and Mathius Lauda were not enough already!

[Go-Pakistan]

anyone who follows F3 (or any other professional series for that matter) will know that the top 10-12 cars are often covered by only a second difference, so to be a second clear of the 2nd placed driver shows amazing driving talent.

so as alienman69 says, stop blaming outstanding performance purely on team preparation or setup......everyones got the same equipment and the driver still has to get in and drive the thing to it's limit, corner after corner, lap after lap, braking so hard and late that he only just avoids a lock up and skidding off into the gravel and cornering with so much G that he's on the limit of grip on every turn.

so credit where it's due to the drivers.

[overflow]

Hopefully Team Australia will field their top two drivers , James Courtney & Ryan Briscoe , in the not too distant future . Briscoe has put his hand up to drive after he recovers from his IRL shunt...does anybody know if Courtney has been approched to drive..?

[BootsOntheSide]

A1 is not intended to rival F1, certainly not in the short term. It runs in a completely different season, with a different basis to the teams, and in much different cars. The cars they have seem better-suited to close racing than those in GP2. A lot of drivers who have not had chances to race at a high level in recent years, such as Robbie Kerr and Matthew Halliday, can revive their careers through this, while other drivers can use it as a further stepping stone, or a way to keep active in the winter. de Olivera was faster in the test than Piquet - does that mean he is 1.1 seconds or more better than the other drivers? Of course not - the teams set up the cars and motivate the drivers, and there is going to be an inconsistancy there.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Ian Sowman

The bit of your quote that I have underlined isn't really true, the rest is though.

Maybe not, but it ought to be!

Verstappen's performance at Brands, lack of circuit knolwedge not withstanding was surely a great indication of why the deat holders should be giving the guys who deserve the breaks the seat time?

Jos is high profile for Holland, which is why he was in the car i guess, and he'll probably be at the sharp end shortly but well you know what i mean... Give Van Lagen a go or something..

But as Boots just said, it needen't and shouldn't be compared to F1, it is a series with a commendable ethos in its own right!

One of my mates sais he overheard some bloke in a local chippy saying something like:

"Saw that A1 on sky, didn't think much of it. Compared to F1, there wasn't much overtaking"

Erm...even my mate who isn't a racing nutt nearly had to pick himself back up off the floor after that one!!

[mac]

Originally Posted by overflow

Hopefully Team Australia will field their top two drivers , James Courtney & Ryan Briscoe , in the not too distant future . Briscoe has put his hand up to drive after he recovers from his IRL shunt...does anybody know if Courtney has been approched to drive..?

Briscoe has said he would be interested in driving - but I'm not too sure how keen Toyota would be on his involvement.

[mbathshah]

Was watching the World Series By Renault and one of the drivers who races in A1GP and the Renault Series was asked his impression of the A1GP car vs the Renault. Apparently according to the commentators he was not very complimentory of the A1GP car. Sorry but can't remember which driver it was.