Comments on: Debate: The Bottom 10 F1 drivers

By: Steven Roy

Steven Roy — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:46:47 +0000

Andrea Moda was probably the worst team ever. At one race McCarthy was in the lobby of the hotel looking for the team when he met Andrea’s brother who told him the team had left for the track..without the driver. The brother decided he would drive Perry to the circuit and flew through several red lights. It is worth digging through the net to find McCarthy’s description of this journey. Eventually they come to a green light and the brother locks up all the wheels. McCarthy asked him why he didn’t just carry on at the same speed and was told ‘don’t be stupid my brother could be coming the other way.’

Johnny Dumfries was not a pay driver. He was British F3 champion but Senna had refused to have Derek Warwick as his team mate but Lotus wanted a British driver as the number two to keep sponsors happy. Being number two at Lotus was never a good place to be that’s why Jackie Stewart refused to be number two to his friend Jim Clark. Lotus focussed on Senna and Dumfries’s GP career withered away. He had the potential to be a good GP driver but Lotus was the wrong place at the wrong time.

Zanardi struggled at Williams but Lotus raved about his ability before he went to America.

By: Alianora La Canta

Alianora La Canta — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:54:39 +0000

Perry McCarthy was probably a good driver, but Andrea Moda is a candidate for the worst team that ever raced in F1, so he never got the chance. He inspired F1 Rejects because he was a good driver with few results, not because he was an awful driver.

Chanoch Nissany got a Friday session in the Minardi in Hungary 2005. Nicknamed “Stirling Mossad”, he was 13 seconds off the pace in the morning before a technical problem sidelined him in the afternoon – to the relief of all his rivals.

By: Andy

Andy — Sun, 18 May 2008 21:17:43 +0000

Was it Brundle who said about Marques, “he couldn’t drive a nail into a piece of wood”? Classic!

Wilson’s good. Not stellar, but plenty good enough to keep well off this list. There’s an interview on the IndyCar site somewhere at the moment with Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon in which they’re asked which ex-Champ Car drivers have impressed them most, and Wilson’s one of the names they come up with.

Don’t know if it counts because he was only test driver, and that in name only, but in the final years of Minardi we signed 41-year-old Chanoch Nissany. The BBC wrote: “Nissany is a relative newcomer but very wealthy, a fact which no doubt boosted his attractiveness to Minardi.” I’m not sure he was actually allowed anywhere near the car…

By: Pink Peril

Pink Peril — Sun, 18 May 2008 10:38:08 +0000

I second the motion to check out F1 Rejects – the podcasts are hilarious !

I could be wrong, but I think that inspiration behind the site is Perry McCarthy – so surely he would have to make the list?

By: Nathan

Nathan — Sun, 18 May 2008 08:34:58 +0000

this i didnt know!
cheers

By: Rohan

Rohan — Sun, 18 May 2008 08:31:11 +0000

Ukyo was diagnosed with cancer of the back towards the end of 1994: http://www.f1rejects.com/centrale/katayama/index.html

By: Nathan

Nathan — Sun, 18 May 2008 02:24:10 +0000

who has cancer?
if ur referring to Ukyo, he left F1 to persue mountain climbing!

By: Rohan

Rohan — Sat, 17 May 2008 12:42:26 +0000

Can’t believe that someone’s mentioned Ukyo here. He’s the best driver to come out of Japan so far (yes, he’s better than Sato, but, tbf, that isn’t hard – although Davidson’s failed at even that), and was on the verge of getting the second Benetton seat before he was diagnosed with cancer.

By: TeamOrders

TeamOrders — Sat, 17 May 2008 12:08:38 +0000

Michael Andretti (1993) was pretty awful

By: Keirdre

Keirdre — Sat, 17 May 2008 11:43:05 +0000

I’m glad somebody else remembers Rosset for being the one who ploughed into the Spa 98 mass pile up with unabated speed – in fact, he almost looks like he floored it, and sped up! Genius.

By: Robert McKay

Robert McKay — Sat, 17 May 2008 11:29:45 +0000

Wilson: wrong team, wrong time. Decent driver. Shame Champcar went belly-up, just as he’d negotiated his way to NHLR, the best team on the grid. I remember he made some great starts in the Minardi, would get up to like 12th on the opening lap from th start and then fall back as the other better cars made their advantage tell. And then if memory serves me well he was parachuted into a mediocre Jaguar at very short notice for a few races after Pizzonia (remember him??) got the push. I don’t think he was stellar at Jag, but he didn’t get much time…

Also wrong height, because he was so tall most teams didn’t even consider him for the problems it meant trying to fit him in the car if I remember.

By: the limit

the limit — Sat, 17 May 2008 03:02:34 +0000

Saw Justin Wilson race recently in an IRL car, didn’t seem too bad in that, but his F1 career was very shortlived and unispiring.
Anyone think he was poor in F1, or just in the wrong team at the wrong time?I know lady luck plays a large part in such things, but what about you guys?
I am interested in hearing what Sush has to say about it!

By: Nathan

Nathan — Sat, 17 May 2008 01:55:07 +0000

also, jean-marc gounon!

By: Nathan

Nathan — Sat, 17 May 2008 01:54:48 +0000

Alex Yoong anyone?

By: Terry Fabulous

Terry Fabulous — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:14:32 +0000

Johnathon Palmer
“And Lavaggi getting in the way, getting even MORE in the way, he needs to move out of the way, he’s desperately slow, he’s there because of his money”

Murray Walker
“What IS Delatraz doing?”

Great article Keith!
For more on F1’s greatest failures you have to have a look at http://www.f1rejects.com. They are enormously funny and very good hearted as the celebrate the drivers who were the best failures in our sport.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:11:54 +0000

Well, Let me add one brazilian to the list:

Tarso Marques:
I don’t remember exactly if he was a pay driver, but he was always off pace, he was always in trouble and had the privilege of being one of the last drivers to fail to qualify because of the 107% pole time limit rule…

In 2001, he partened (supreme cruelty) none less than Fernando Alonso, in Minardi.

While the future double world champion managed to qualify in the 9th row seven times (17h once and 18th six times), Marques only qualified ahead of the 11th (and last) row once, with a 20th place in Malaysia…

In qualifying results, Alonso beat him 12-2 (as he was replaced before the season end), and, even if it’s very cruel to compare one of the worst with one of the best, that’s a good showing of how differently two drivers can perform with the same machinery, and let’s not forget that Alonso was a rookie, while Marques had 11 Grand Prix starts on his bag before the season began… and Alonso, back than, was only 20 years old…

By: Ratboy

Ratboy — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:10:26 +0000

Just found this:
Bernie Ecclestone attended the 1958 Monaco and British rounds but didn’t qualify can he be considered

By: steve thompson

steve thompson — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:06:22 +0000

What about poor old Rupert Keegan – the new wonder star, the next Graham Hill……er RAM March or something…. I have a photo of him…… and another name from the 70s Arturo – thats him at the back missing gears – Merzario

By: Ratboy

Ratboy — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:00:52 +0000

This is a topic I like because I like to support the underdog,
Anyway how about: Massimiliano Papis, Esteban Tuero, Giovanna Amati and the proof why Piquet Jnr will fail, who remembers Michael Andretti in 1993?

By: KB

KB — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:25:34 +0000

What about doing the worst drivers in top cars?