Retro Silly Season

[uesugi kenshin]

Who was Dick Dasterdly linked to?

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by uesugi kenshin

Who was Dick Dasterdly linked to?

I’m sure Graham Hill was linked to many teams throughout his career

[Theunser]

Gregor Foitek was a candidate at Lotus for 1991 to race for them until Donnelly is back to fitness.

[S griffin]

I think David Brabham was too?

[Theunser]

Originally Posted by S griffin

I think David Brabham was too?

Yes, I think he was along with many others. Also Manuel Reuter tested the car.
But in the end it was always gonna be Johnny Herbert, as he was Peter Collins's favourite. Mika Hakkinen said in an interview that he felt Johnny is the numer one driver.

[S griffin]

Julian Bailey did the first four races with them, but according to Perry McCarthy, his overalls had Johnny’s name on them

[S griffin]

Renault were apparently interested in getting Schumi for 07.

[wnut]

in December 1985 Al Unser Jr. was apparently offered the Brabham drive alongside Piquet for 1986 by Bernie. Al said he was already signed to a contract and committed to Indycar for 1986.

December 1992 Unser spent 5 days at Estoril testing alongside Hill and Patrese and was apparently the fastest of the trio. When he approached Williams about a contract he was told, " We were just interested to see how you performed, and there is no contract available."

Would have been interesting to see Unser alongside Prost in 1993.

[S griffin]

Wouldn't have been alongside Piquet for 86 as he had already signed a contract for Williams long before Unser's was offered a drive

Certainly Unser was fast in that Williams test, but apparently his fitness left something to be desired

[S griffin]

Montoya was linked to a drive for Stewart for 98

[Theunser]

Originally Posted by wnut

in December 1985 Al Unser Jr. was apparently offered the Brabham drive alongside Piquet for 1986 by Bernie. Al said he was already signed to a contract and committed to Indycar for 1986.

December 1992 Unser spent 5 days at Estoril testing alongside Hill and Patrese and was apparently the fastest of the trio. When he approached Williams about a contract he was told, " We were just interested to see how you performed, and there is no contract available."

Would have been interesting to see Unser alongside Prost in 1993.

But he also talked to Lotus, when Hakkinen left them.they needed a replacement, and Al Jr. was one of the main candidates. I guess he wasn't that interested in leaving the US where he can compete for wins and championships, to race for a midfield F1 team.

[uesugi kenshin]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Montoya was linked to a drive for Stewart for 98

He was also often linked with Burger King

[S griffin]

Listened to more of the Zanardi podcast last night. As well as Williams, he was in talks for drives with Jordan, Prost and BAR for 99. He also met up with Jean Todt about a possible Ferrari drive

[S griffin]

Emilio de Villota was on the entry list for Tyrrell for the 82 US West GP alongside Alboreto

[Theunser]

Julian Bailey had chances of coming back to F1 in 1989 when Larrousse decided to sack both drivers.
Eventually the french team chose Eric Bernard and Emanuele Pirro, but as Pirro has been picked by Benetton to replace Herbert, Philippe Alliot was able to keep his seat.

[Theunser]

Pierluigi Martini was rumoured to join Lotus for 1989, as he was sponsored by Camel.
Martini also had been the main candidate at FIRST Racing.
But he joined Minardi, and the rest is history...

[S griffin]

Danny Sullivan I think might have had a contract with Tyrrell for 84 even though he didn’t race for them. He was on the entry list for the San Marino GP

[Theunser]

Gianni Morbidelli talked to Tyrrell for a possible 1996 seat. Eventually they kept Katayama and Morbidelli had to take a year sabbatical from F1 racing(he tested tho for Ferrari and Jordan)
Also, why Ferrari didn't choose him for 1992 is still a mystery for me. He did an alright season at Minardi(he scored no points, but his pace was good) and when he had to fill in at Scuderia, he did a respectful job.

[S griffin]

Yes, Gianni did a very good job in that very wet Australian GP, he kept it on the track and got up to third when the race was stopped. Maybe wasn’t as quick as Alesi, but a very solid backup. Never saw much wrong with his driving

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by wnut

in December 1985 Al Unser Jr. was apparently offered the Brabham drive alongside Piquet for 1986 by Bernie. Al said he was already signed to a contract and committed to Indycar for 1986.

December 1992 Unser spent 5 days at Estoril testing alongside Hill and Patrese and was apparently the fastest of the trio. When he approached Williams about a contract he was told, " We were just interested to see how you performed, and there is no contract available."

Would have been interesting to see Unser alongside Prost in 1993.

According to one or two ex team personnel who were there at the time, Little Al was in reality nowhere near the regulars on pace. The stories put out were just PR.

[Theunser]

Originally Posted by chunterer

According to one or two ex team personnel who were there at the time, Little Al was in reality nowhere near the regulars on pace. The stories put out were just PR.

Autosport wrote that Frank Williams wanted Unser, but Patrick Head wasn't too keen.

[Theunser]

Gabriele Tarquini was a candidate to race for Larrousse alongside Comas in 1993. But instead Alliot made his umpteenth comeback.

[S griffin]

Raikkonen was linked to Renault for 07

[uesugi kenshin]

Originally Posted by Theunser

Autosport wrote that Frank Williams wanted Unser, but Patrick Head wasn't too keen.

Didn't want him raiding the drinks cabinet.

[S griffin]

Peterson was in talks with Wolf for 79. Of course he was going to end up at McLaren before fate intervened