In terms of raw driving talent, has the future EVER looked brighter??

[Bononi]

Nice review...

[KA]

Originally posted by Raoul Duke
In terms of raw driving talent, has the future EVER looked brighter??


And let's not foget Jenson. He was hampered by a **** car this year, but he does have a lot of skill, and he prooved it last year at williams.


Talent is like riding a bicycle, once you've got it, you never lose it. Unfortunately driving a **** car is like having a bicycle with no wheels!.

Glad to see that not everyone's forgotten....


BTW, another name to watch that everyone seems to have overlooked in this thread is Sato- if next year's Jordan's any good, expect a few fireworks from him at some point....

[Tristan]

Everyone seems to be saying "oh I wish the cars were more evenly matched". When have the cars been any CLOSER?? 3-secs btween TGF and Yoong isn't bad!!

[Raoul Duke]

Originally posted by Tristan
Everyone seems to be saying "oh I wish the cars were more evenly matched". When have the cars been any CLOSER?? 3-secs btween TGF and Yoong isn't bad!!

I wish F1 was more like Cart. Which means there would be potentially 11 or 12 people capable of winning each season. That's MY defenition of evenly matched.

[paulzinho]

Yeah instead of the same 3 teams winning every race.

[Tristan]

Ahh, true. Very true.

There needs to be stricter, tighter regulation on car's design. Make the cars more like CART cars or F3000's if they are too big and bulky.

[Bononi]

Oh Yeah me too... Oh right... get rid of Bernie !!!

[timbo2001]

But even still, F1 manages to be more popular than CART...why is that? maybe, even though we don't admit it, we love to see the same cars winning over and over. it could be a subconcious thing, who knows. by the way, i still don't know how to insert those little emoticon things. can somebody tell me how?

[Raoul Duke]

Well I certainly don't take any pleasure in seeing TGF win over and over gain . But I do enjoy it when Ralf, JPM and even DC win races.
But I still wish that the cars were more evenly matched like in Cart. Teams like Minardi or Prost stand very little chance of even scoring points, nevermind winning races.

[Glen]

I don't think the difference (between F1 and Cart) is due to the cars' design, or the rules governing such - in Cart you've only got three engine and two chassis suppliers. No team gets a massive lead over another due to having an exceptionally powerful engine, or an innovative chassis. Engine and chassis suppliers want success at reasonable cost - and also success for more than one of their partner teams.

So the on-track racing in Cart is superficailly better, but the rest of the racing (team-building, design, testing - all that stuff) is vastly inferior.

I'd also like to comment that this is nothing new - F1 has always (since I've been watching it anyway) had a large gap between different cars. Can anyone remember a season where there wasn't one or two or three dominant teams?

[Red]

Originally posted by Raoul Duke
But I still wish that the cars were more evenly matched like in Cart. Teams like Minardi or Prost stand very little chance of even scoring points, nevermind winning races.

Well, I wouldn’t. I do believe that it’s Prost’s or Minardi’s task to increase their own chances. They shall not expect some help from outside (actually they don’t; they rely on their own forces) because there isn’t any available. It’s sport, and everyone’s goal is to beat the opponents not to make evenly matched racing. Other than that, I didn’t find anything to add to what Glen has said.

PS: Tristan is 100% right. And 100% wrong. Indeed, the gap between the teams has never been so small; however it’s constant. The days when a car could improve from last on grid (last meaning many seconds) to first in a matter of weeks, only by coming with a clever guess are long gone.

PPS: It’s only a proof of the complexity of life. I CERTAINLY do take extreme pleasure when Michael Schumacher wins.

[srinimax]

well f1 has so many different manufacturers and constructors as against cart. i mean cart only has toyota, honda and ford as the mainstream car manufacturers. thats one of the main reasons why the teams are evenly matched i guess. i'm all for f1 with the few winners.

[zealot]

Twenty years ago we didn't have the same teams winning every race. In 1981, 1982 and 1983 we had SIX teams each win at least one (combinations of Brabham, McLaren, Ferrari, Williams, Tyrrell, Renault, and Ligier). The difference between now and then? MONEY! Brabham, Tyrrell and Ligier (I know, Prost is a LIgier, but they are different) are not more, and Renault is just getting back in. There is just too much difference in how much the top teams and the bottom teams spend. The days of seeing a Hesketh or March sneak into a victory or over. Now, realistically, you know there are only 5 cars (we know what Rubens orders are) that have a chance to win a race. In 1982, 11 different drivers won a race. Today, there aren't 11 drivers on the grid that have won a race in their entire career.

[Bononi]

A very good point Zealot !

Well done.

[Don K]

Originally posted by zealot
Twenty years ago we didn't have the same teams winning every race. In 1981, 1982 and 1983 we had SIX teams each win at least one (combinations of Brabham, McLaren, Ferrari, Williams, Tyrrell, Renault, and Ligier).

Now (1999-2001) we have 4. I would say that's not a big difference.

Brabham, Tyrrell and Ligier (I know, Prost is a Ligier, but they are different) are not more, and Renault is just getting back in.

And what about Tyrrel (BAR)?

[ghinzani]

Originally posted by Don K

And what about Tyrrel (BAR)?

Dont insult Tyrrell!!

Seriously tho you can probably say theres a lot of talent round in many different eras... and look what happens! Take 89 for instance - Pirro, Herbert, Alesi, Donnelly, Lehto, Bernard, Comas, Caffi, Larini, Schneider, Modena, Blundell, Gachot etc they all looked potential WDC's at the time - and the only one who is still in F1 from that era is Irvine!!!!!!!

[paulzinho]

What happened to Modena? I saw a video of a season where he appeared to be quite quick, did he make the wrong moves (like Alesi) or was it money? Same goes for Alex Caffi.

[ghinzani]

Originally posted by paulzinho
What happened to Modena? I saw a video of a season where he appeared to be quite quick, did he make the wrong moves (like Alesi) or was it money? Same goes for Alex Caffi.

went off into German Touring cars, then European Touring cars both with Alfa. Now missing in action as they say....

Caffi was the subject of an earlier thread here - ended up in sportscars, still pops up from time to time.

[RT]

I agree that the future has never looked brighter. However, in my view that is (sadly) a result of potential engine parity. We can finally expect a close F1 season between Ferrari, Mercedes/Mc Laren, BMW/Williams and Renault....perhaps Honda. That would make the driver a major deciding factor.....If, on the other hand, only one of the manufacturers gets it right...the whole thing could be over again with four or five races to go.

There's more than a passing chance of this. Renault looked positively ridiculous most of the season, they pushed the envelope more than the rest and they paid for it...they must have also learned a lot, a lot, a lot more than the rest about the limits of the wide-angle engines. If they get it right (and the last races hinted that the probably will), we may all be witnessing Jarno take pole, fast lap and victory time and time again. The other major teams all showed their potential and, as a Schumacher fan, I hope Ferrari keeps it up but Renault may be the real sleeper. Weren't they the most improved team between beginning and end of the season?