Comments on: Not enough seats to go round

By: Vince T

Vince T — Sat, 31 May 2008 20:35:18 +0000

“Tony Stewart dose indeed have the natural gift of speed, but I believe his fitness standards are a bit below F1 driver spec”

HA!!! I just saw him on SPEED this morning…you are right on with that one!

By: Gman

Gman — Fri, 30 May 2008 23:38:04 +0000

Sorry for hitting the send key too early… Kyle Busch is planning to test for Toyota in the off-season, and at 23, he’s got time to build a championship career in NASCAR before perhaps trying his luck in F1. Still, I don’t know how much winning on the ovals of NASCAR would give him in a pursuit of an F1 seat.

By: Gman

Gman — Fri, 30 May 2008 23:35:01 +0000

Good stuff Vince T! Tony Stewart dose indeed have the natural gift of speed, but I believe his fitness standards are a bit below F1 driver spec, so I don’t know if he’d want to make the commitment. Gordon is a much more realistic chance- he did jump in JPM’s Williams a few years back at Indy for a few laps, but I don’t think he’ll leave the relaxed NASCAR life for a shot at F1.

While I don’t see any of these guys making a move, I know Kyle Busch is planning to test in F1

By: chunter

chunter — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:29:09 +0000

Of the list, I honestly believe Davidson and Liuzzi will find the way back to F1.

Justin Wilson may stay in Indy if he adapts to ovals and the sport actually begins to grow, otherwise I think he might have his age against him as well. Same goes for Montagny if I’m remembering right.

I agree strongly that Sato, Yamamoto, and Albers are definitely finished, and it’s too bad; they seemed to be nice guys, but the results just weren’t there for them.

Villenueve is finshed because he wants to be finished.

Somebody tell Vince T that Jeff Gordon tested already, I think he just doesn’t want the F1 lifestyle.

By: oricon

oricon — Fri, 30 May 2008 02:05:37 +0000

Do miss JPM…
remember how he toy around with michael schumacher..??
he do bring some entertainment to the sport..

By: Vince T

Vince T — Fri, 30 May 2008 01:50:17 +0000

An excellent list and a few wonderful obsservations.

How about two drivers that probably will never get a shot but would be such fun (and interesting) to see try???

Tony Stewart – can just flat out drive anything on wheels and be quick.

Jeff Gordon – legendary car control by NASCAR standards. Also pretty good turning left AND right.

I’m not saying these guys would be running at even near mid pack or anything, but I would love to see how their skills translate to F1

By: Pink Peril

Pink Peril — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:08:11 +0000

How about seeing Black Jack Villeneuve back in F1?
As long as he doesn’t sing, that is

By: Manatcna

Manatcna — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:32:32 +0000

I think Sato deserves another shot, but if one more team goes, you/we may end up with 27 cars on the grid. 9 teams each fielding 3 cars?
That would be interesting.

By: patrick

patrick — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:30:06 +0000

Andy – I don’t recall Albers having much trouble beating Monteiro at Spyker, or whatever they were called that year. Was rather shown up by Sutil though.

By: Gman

Gman — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:59:34 +0000

Out of all the names mentioned by Keith, I think Davidson has a good shot at getting back in through a testing role, at least. Many of the others drove in F1 before I started watching the sport, so I’m not truly qualified to make an assesment on many of those names.

As for Speed, he was dismissed from STR just as I took up an interest in F1. It disappointed me a great deal that the only American on the grid was pushed out of the sport, and far too soon according to many of my friends with more F1 experience. He’s currently enjoying the stock car life here in the US, and I think JPM fits into the same catagory- they find NASCAR and the like more relaxing and less stressful than the F1 life. I woulden’t bet on seeing any of them back in F1 anytime soon.

With only 20 cars on the grid, and with many teams developing their own talent in the form of Hamilton/Vettel/etc.. it may be tough for many of these guys to get another shot.