'Unlucky' Italian F1 drivers?

[chunterer]

Have been looking back at the 1992 season via youtube in recent weeks when i get a few mins to spare.

A reminder that teams could wipe the floor with tbe opposition most of the time Williams) yet still get given a good run on ocassion as we see with Mercedes!

What struck me was how awful Ivan Capelli's year turned out to be. He didn't seem far away from Alesi early on but suffered appalling reliability and then overdrove a bit!!

He showed so much promise when he came in and like Alex Zanardi, Stefano Modena and perhaps Gabriele Tarquini all of whom were considered future stars, his career petered out and never really got going?

Anyone got any recollections of the up and coming Italians of that period?

[cds_uk]

I would put Alex Caffi on that list as well.

[chunder]

You could also say Stefano Modena, but by all accounts he was so superstitious he was perhaps responsible for his own downfall!!

Marco Apicella? Lasted barely a few yards.

I always thought Zanardi had such a poor feel for his Williams and tyres that he let himself down. No way was he that poor.

Capelli for me did enough in his Leyton House days to warrant not being here!

Nicola Larini? Did OK in replacement drives for Ferrari but has to endure the Lambo F1 cars!!

Andrea Montermini, decent peddler in a lot of things but Simtek!!! At least Papis had a decent Arrows!!

[S griffin]

Capelli did so well in his March days, but could not have picked a worser time to join Ferrari, right in the middle of turmoil. He never recovered after that dent in his confidence

Modena was talented, but too disorganised especially with his pre race rituals and it's laughable he was called the new Nuvolari in the lower formula, then gave up in his first F1 race due to cramp, whereas Nuvolari would race with broken bones left right and centre!

Zanardi's rise was halted by the Spa crash in 93 and his second chance at Williams never worked, partly because he hated grooved tyres and never adapted and partly because the Williams team by their own admission didn't give him the support he needed

Tarquini never got a chance in a half decent car, but his performance in the 1989 Monaco GP qualifying with the AGS showed he had talent

Caffi's performances in the 89 Dallara impressed, but his F1 career was never the same after that road injury in 91

Apicella to be fair was more of a journeyman in F3000

Naspetti did a competant job in his races with March in 92

Larini showed he deserved a proper shot in F1 with second place in the tragic 94 San Marino GP. He never got a chance with Sauber in 97 due to him not getting the support from Peter Sauber

Morbidelli did alright in his one GP in Ferrari in the rain shortened Australian GP and actually was in third place when the race was stopped, thanks to staying on the track. He had the talent and potential

Badoer shouldn't be judged on his two race stint at Ferrari, he should be remembered for getting the Minardi up to fourth when his gearbox broke

Montermini never got the chance, not helped by his crash at Barcelona

Papis was impressive in F3000, but didn't really make a mark in the Arrows in 95

[chunder]

Emanuelle Pirro too, was OK but nothing flash, went on to superstardom in touring and sports cars

[S griffin]

And I forgot to mention to Barbazza, he did alright in his short stint with Minardi

[chunder]

He was not exactly top drawer or unlucky though was he!

Dare I mention Ghinzani? Franco Forini? Teo or Corrado Fabi.

Piero Martini I often thought could have podiumed in a decent car. And obviously Nannini's career was cut short with injury.

[chunterer]

Let's keep it to F1 drivers....

If we include F3000/F2 or below the list will be endless.

However I take issue with the Apicella comments. He was seriously good and very sensitive to the needs of the car.

What did Eddie Jordan say about him after Monza? something like he gave more feedback to the engineers about the 193 in one event than the regular drivers combined upto that point in 1993!

He should have had a longer F1 career.

Senna rated Modena very highly, and he would know. But he was perhaps over sensitive and got disheartened.

That Monaco drive in 1991 though... What might have been.

[S griffin]

Fair enough point on Apicella, it's just that didn't he have the record for most F3000 starts and yet never won one of them? (Although to be fair Damon never won in F3000, although he came close more than once)

[chunder]

Modena was heavily touted by the Marlboro mob, I recall Hunt singing his praises aswell.

He was a talent, but never shone amazingly in DTM when he raced there did he? Just an odd chap, Brunders has some fascinating stories about him apparently.

Badoer is a funny one too, berated when he raced a Ferrari but a fair journeyman before that.

Jar of Mouldyjelly? Gianni Morbidelli? Did he get a mention?

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Fair enough point on Apicella, it's just that didn't he have the record for most F3000 starts and yet never won one of them? (Although to be fair Damon never won in F3000, although he came close more than once)

He had some kind of jinx I am sure of it. But I have to agree we should have expected far more hard results from someone that talented.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by chunder

Modena was heavily touted by the Marlboro mob, I recall Hunt singing his praises aswell.

He was a talent, but never shone amazingly in DTM when he raced there did he? Just an odd chap, Brunders has some fascinating stories about him apparently.

Badoer is a funny one too, berated when he raced a Ferrari but a fair journeyman before that.

Jar of Mouldyjelly? Gianni Morbidelli? Did he get a mention?

Badoer stunned in 3000 and then made the error of joining that overweight and underpowered Lola-Ferrari BMS project in F1 the following year tbat could easily have done for his and Alboreto's F1 careers! Also didn't help when both of those guys got beaten to the Benetton no.2 drive by Lehto for '94.

I saw enough glimpses in the Minardi years to believe Luca would have done a decent job in a midfield team like Sauber or Ligier at the time.

[wnut]

Alessandro Nannini gets my vote, great talent and so much potential, cut short by a horrible helicopter accident!

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by wnut

Alessandro Nannini gets my vote, great talent and so much potential, cut short by a horrible helicopter accident!

I was never convinced about him. Good number 2 maybe?

James Hunt often queried his consistency. He might be trundling about in the low points places fairly anonymously and then all of a sudden would up his pace by a fair margin when he got a sniff of something!

Hunt often wondered why he couldn't go that quick from the off!

[S griffin]

He only really struggled for consistency in his first season of Benetton, by 1990 he was constantly up there. Remember Hockenheim when he was leading when Senna passed him? Or when he was poised to challenge to Boutsen for the lead in Hungary only to be nerfed off by Senna? And just before his helicopter accident he took third in Spain and it's a fair bet if that hadn't happened, it would have been him and not Piquet who took the win in Japan

[chunterer]

Hockenheim was one of the very races i was referring to about Hunt commenting. He suddenly went a lot quicker when Ayrton homed in when he shoukd've been doing that from the off.

Nope never saw him as an ace. Good at hoovering up points though.

[S griffin]

Funnily enough Nannini wishes he went faster at the 89 Japanese GP, then the win would have been beyond doubt, as Senna would have been unable to catch him