Ralph Firman?

[pD F1]

What happened to him, is he in another series? He wasn't particularly fast, but he seemed a nice character in his 1 and only F1 season.

[forzaf1]

He appeared on Superstars on BBC1 the other week. Did fairly well but didn't win.

Alex

[luke]

He recently tested the A1GP at Jerez.

[BootsOntheSide]

I'm not sure if he did any racing last year, or has anything planned this year, which is a shame because, although not spectacular and hardly photogenic or exciting, he seemed like a good guy and a good-ish driver. Remember that he was right brhind Fisichella on virtually the same strategy in Brazil when the suspension failed - one simple twist of fate and he could've took a fluke podium.

[pirenzo]

He did Le Mans last year

Not sure where he finished, but I think he did alright. I think they had car troubles which delayed them too.

EDIT: no, his car was not classified at the finish, though he's listed as 28th on Ayse's site.

[Gore]

Recent article in Autosprout mentioned that he is the A1GP development driver. Not a race seat, but probably more fun than my job...

[MikeHoyer]

At the Autosport show, he basically said words to the effect that he'd consider anything for 05

[Kicking-back]

There's some suggestion he may be driving in GP2 for SuperNova - but no confirmation on that as yet.

[raul_iulian]

good to now...!

[luke]

Last year he also contested a few Dallara Nissan races.

[Russ-Turner]

Having seen the free dvd with yesterdays Autosport with regards a sort of progress report on A1GP, the people controlling the UK's entry should give him some serious consideration IMO. He joined Van Der Mewe for most of the testing of the car, has driven in top level single seaters and has won in every championship he has entered with the exception of F1. Seems a serious, experienced level headed guy and i reckon he'd do us proud.

[Kicking-back]

The fact Ralph has done so much testing of the A1GP car will probably rule him out of a drive in the series.

[GP Racer]

I kind of thought Ralph got a raw deal from Jordan. Its not easy to impress anybody when driving that car, but I thought he did as well as could be expected. He was close to Fisi on a number of occasions, and like somebody else mentioned, that crazy Brazilian GP could have went his way if not for the suspension breaking.

I think he deserves a shot for the British seat in A1GP. Like Russ said above, he would do you proud...

[N I Tram]

Doing extensive testing of the GP2 chassis has disqualified those drivers from competing in the series, as they'd obviously be at a very unfair advantage, and I suspect A1 will use the same system. A British team could have any number of promising drivers to choose from outside F1, CART and IRL - Robbie Kerr, Marc Hynes, maybe the McLaren/Mercedes junior guys as well. Is there an Irish team? Ralph would be perfect for that as he's half-Irish.

He seemed pretty good for Jordan, he certainly adjusted to the team more quickly than Pantano, although he clearly has less overall ability. Like Klien last year he did well enough to deserve a second chance, but if I were hiring him I'd be including a performance clause, as he'd never be good enough to push a car's limit on pace.

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

The problem with single seaters is once you get past the Superfund/GP2 type level there isn't many places to go in that field, what with F1 drives so hard to come by and Champ Car not always looking like a positive jump. Briscoe jumped to IRL so maybe a few guys will follow him?

Prototypes or maybe a return to JGTC(Super GT) would be a good move for Firman?

[Knowlesy]

Sticks in the memory Ralph Firman. He used to say looking forward to tomorrow a bit much for my tastes, but even so I was impressed during his first season (I know I'm in a minority there) and he collected a useful points finish at Catalunya of all places.

I hope he returns to F1 one day!

[Kicking-back]

Me too.

He was quite under-rated.

[Snrub]

I thought Firman was a pretty decent driver. I don't know that he'd ever set the F1 world on fire, but he's a competent driver that deserves a good seat in some series out there.

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

I agree, he strikes me as the kind of guy you can throw into any car and you know he'll get the job done. It's a shame he'll probably never get another shot at F1, but at least he managed to get there once.

[BootsOntheSide]

He wasn't super-impressive, but he didn't sink the way a few other rookies have in the last couple of years. Like McNish he will probably come to view his stint in F1 as a brief pinnacle to a successful and enjoyable career, rather than a failure or disappointment.

[maximus]

I think McNish was hard done by F1 IMO

[FIRE]

I think his future is in GT/sportscar racing. Last year (2004) he did a great job in the Racing for Holland Dome-Judd at Le Mans.

[Formula Juan]

I think Firman was pretty good in 2003. He didn't bin the car too often and his drive in Spain was superb

[Spaced Invader]

He was in my local sainsbury's the other day and although he may not be a looker he had a very pretty girl hanging off his arm. He is an Attleborough boy (Norfolk) like myself so i was very keen to see how he did in F1. i think he got a raw deal really.

[BSchneiderFan]

It's a sad truth that an apparently poor first year in F1 can ruin a career more effectively than turning down an F1 seat and doing something more junior for another year. If Firman had done F3000 or another year of FNippon, he wouldn't have been as badly off for 2005 as he is now. But if you do get into F1 and don't shine, people will write you off very quickly, rightly or wrongly.