USF1Fan - 02 November 2009 09:39 AM

@Porsche911 - Saying that someone who signs with USF1 has a "one-way ticket home" suggests a post by someone who has not followed F1 much, or didn't pay attention to the careers of other drivers who started in what was (at the time) inferior equipment. From Michael Shumacher to Fernando Alonso to Felipe Massa and on down the list, the number of 'successful' F1 drivers who started with a smaller team and went on to bigger and better things is a very long list. With the same power as the other new teams (plus Williams), two team principals with previous F1 experience, and modern computer design, there is no reason to claim that the USF1 drivers will be significantly disadvantaged over other new (or existing bottom-end) teams.

I've followed F1 since attending the Grand Prix of Long Beach in 1977 and seeing Mario Andretti stomp the competition, and I've watched many drivers start in slower cars and progress on to being world champions since then.

It's true that USF1 is starting from scratch, but any driver who outdrives his (her?) teammate on a consistent basis, even if in a slower car, usually garners attention from better teams.

I am cautiously optimistic that the USF1 team may surprise a few folks and not be the absolute worst team next year. I think a lot of the bad press they've gotten has been from European teams / people who can't see the work being done here and don't believe that America has the talent to produce a decent car. Between Youtube $$$ and access to Silicone Valley computer expertise, I'm enough of a patriot to hope the eurosnobs are wrong, and I will be watching next year with great interest!

Not to mention how experienced drivers can get a shot in the arm; as we thought Rubens was down for the count in 2008, but his career is revivied in 2009 and now has a new contract with Williams in 2010. Fisicella might have experienced a similar Indian Summer in the autumn of his carreer had he not jumped ship so readilly.

Placid - 03 November 2009 02:27 PM

USF-One - 03 November 2009 12:53 PM

Scott Speed & Shumi too...
I hear Mi.Shumi wants to race might even
leave his wife to do it...

That is a pretty combination.

Scott Speed said in a recent interview that he is not even following F1 anymore.. & after the way he was treated at STR I'm not sure what makes someone think he wants to come back to Europe.

Besides.. he's a just not good enough (imho).

On the other hand --re; another young upcoming yank mentioned:

For sure, Alexander Rossi has to be taken as a serious contender; He finished 4th in his first GP2 race at Abu Dhabi.

But I agree don't rush the kid give him a chance to develop.

Now, regarding Somebody not in the single-seater ladder system; but high on my personal-list is Drift-King Tanner Foust.

He's got the natural size & body-type of an F1 driver.. an all-American (but not obnoxious) personality, wit and charm -- he would be a good representative of the United States overseas.. as we have oh so very few drivers from U.S. compete in the European series..

Europeans seem to consider each and every one of those handful of drivers a representative of the entire United States of America.

Not to mention Tanner Foust' totally sick car control.

RoC: Germany edges USA in Nations Cup
http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/roc-germany-edges-usa-in-nations-cup/

Team Germany: Sebastien Vettel and Michael Schumacher Edges Team USA (Tanner Foust and Travis Pastrana?)

btw -- Tanner Foust just beat Michael Schumacher at the RoC!!

AGR just taken RHR for 2010. That means Hildebrand is
open.

Placid - 04 November 2009 08:57 PM

AGR just taken RHR for 2010. That means Hildebrand is
open.

I think J.R. is a good driver but he doesn't have the European experience and background of some of the others.. (Summerton, Rossi),


He is likely to be eaten alive in Europe like Scott Speed and Michael Andretti were; Hildebrand hasn't raced any of the Euro-tracks and doesn't know the heavily downforced Euro Cars.. (WSR, FMasters, GP2).

Once again.. as does Summerton and Rossi; Summerton has even beaten the likes of Sebastien Vettel in Europe; so these are more credible candidates for F1 (than JR Hildebrand) in my eyes.

J.R. should focus on Indycar and landing sponsorship for a ride at say.. KVRT -- teaming with Mario Moraes; that would be a good seat for him I think., he would need to go out and find sponsorship for himself; something U.S. drivers seem to be extremely poor at -- (self marketing) a necessary skill these days.

And Speaking of young Alexander Rossi --

GP2: American Rossi impressive in debut
http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/gp2-american-rossi-impressive-in-debut/

^Frank Williams and Mario Thiessen also seemed impressed with this kid (18 yrs old) -- USF1 might have some competition for his services..

I get the feeling that Rossi is the real deal; and apparently I'm not the only one.


---

Rossi was massively impressive in Abu Dhabi. Prior to this, with FBMW and IFM, I wasn't sold, but after watching the GP2 Asia races, well, I am starting to change my mind. I'll be keenly watching the balance of the Asia series for certain.

Steve

I am very impressed with Rossi last weekend. I think USF1 will have competition to get him tho. But I honestly hope he will get a seat with a top team IMO.

JordanZombie - 05 November 2009 05:06 PM

I am very impressed with Rossi last weekend. I think USF1 will have competition to get him tho. But I honestly hope he will get a seat with a top team IMO.

I honestly don't hope he gets a top seat..

--(at least not his first few seasons) -- I think it is possible that Adrian Sutil is going to be a top-driver; because he fought a terrible car valiantly and has learned from the struggle to make it go fast and be competitive against the faster better cars.

I think that Alonso and Raikkonen have depth because they did time at Minardi and Sauber respectively. (Hamilton --awesome talent aside --is a aberration.. because he was 'raised' from a child by Mclaren-Mercedes).

Vettel did struggling STR first; then lucked into a top car at RBR. (Few expected RBR to come to the fore so quickly, did they?)., But I do think Vettel's time in a bad car and team helped him grow and made him push.

Rosberg may be better because he started out at a struggling Williams; might be ready for a top ride now.. Brawn or Mclaren

To have Rossi straight out of GP2 get teamed with Massa, Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton.. likely means the kid will get creamed and be out of F1 fast -- another American driving talent down the tubes.

Whereas if he is with USF1 -- whom everyone has already deemed not likely to make the grid; and a pre-ordained failure if they do make the grid -- well, then the pressure will be off Rossi to deliver won't it?

He will have time to absorb the F1 circus and how it works from the inside; while he develops his technique and tries to make a bad car go..

.. Knowing how to make a bad car go.. helped Kimi Raikkonen this season at Ferrari -- no way the Ferrari F60 should have finished 4th in the wcc ahead of the Double-Diffuser gang of Toytoa and Williams. Ferrari only 1-point off Mclaren.. even though 2nd half of season Ferrari probably had worst car on the grid.. (yes, worse than Renault, or Force India).

Look at results of Fisi and Badoer vs. Liuzzi and Grosjean .. rather than looking at skewed and fantastic results of Raikkonen and Alonso -- their cars were horrible.. but they pushed the 'H' out of them for those results.

I credit awesome talent.. and earlier time spent in bad cars for these results --


--Alexander Rossi needs time in bad car and bad team without spotlight and pressure all falling on his shoulders. He could be next the Alonso if developed.

Or next Heikki Kovalainen .. (or worse, next Scott Speed) if not developed and properly supported by his team.

Don't throw him into the deep end too quickly. (Think of an F1 rookie..Michael Andretti-to-Mclaren with Ayrton Senna as a teammate) to much deep-doo too-quickly spells disaster.

Revel - 05 November 2009 05:33 PM

JordanZombie - 05 November 2009 05:06 PM

I am very impressed with Rossi last weekend. I think USF1 will have competition to get him tho. But I honestly hope he will get a seat with a top team IMO.

I honestly don't hope he gets a top seat..

--(at least not his first few seasons) -- I think it is possible that Adrian Sutil is going to be a top-driver; because he fought a terrible car valiantly and has learned from the struggle to make it go fast and be competitive against the faster better cars.

I think that Alonso and Raikkonen have depth because they did time at Minardi and Sauber respectively. (Hamilton --awesome talent aside --is a aberration.. because he was 'raised' from a child by Mclaren-Mercedes).

Vettel did struggling STR first; then lucked into a top car at RBR. (Few expected RBR to come to the fore so quickly, did they?)., But I do think Vettel's time in a bad car and team helped him grow and made him push.

Rosberg may be better because he started out at a struggling Williams; might be ready for a top ride now.. Brawn or Mclaren

To have Rossi straight out of GP2 get teamed with Massa, Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton.. likely means the kid will get creamed and be out of F1 fast -- another American driving talent down the tubes.

Whereas if he is with USF1 -- whom everyone has already deemed not likely to make the grid; and a pre-ordained failure if they do make the grid -- well, then the pressure will be off Rossi to deliver won't it?

He will have time to absorb the F1 circus and how it works from the inside; while he develops his technique and tries to make a bad car go..

.. Knowing how to make a bad car go.. helped Kimi Raikkonen this season at Ferrari -- no way the Ferrari F60 should have finished 4th in the wcc ahead of the Double-Diffuser gang of Toytoa and Williams. Ferrari only 1-point off Mclaren.. even though 2nd half of season Ferrari probably had worst car on the grid.. (yes, worse than Renault, or Force India).

Look at results of Fisi and Badoer vs. Liuzzi and Grosjean .. rather than looking at skewed and fantastic results of Raikkonen and Alonso -- their cars were horrible.. but they pushed the 'H' out of them for those results.

I credit awesome talent.. and earlier time spent in bad cars for these results --


--Alexander Rossi needs time in bad car and bad team without spotlight and pressure all falling on his shoulders. He could be next the Alonso if developed.

Or next Heikki Kovalainen .. (or worse, next Scott Speed) if not developed and properly supported by his team.

Don't throw him into the deep end too quickly. (Think of an F1 rookie..Michael Andretti-to-Mclaren with Ayrton Senna as a teammate) to much deep-doo too-quickly spells disaster.

This is true and does make more senses, so I am going to agree with you lol. Thanks for the good info :D

USF1Fan - 02 November 2009 09:39 AM

@Porsche911 - Saying that someone who signs with USF1 has a "one-way ticket home" suggests a post by someone who has not followed F1 much, or didn't pay attention to the careers of other drivers who started in what was (at the time) inferior equipment. From Michael Shumacher to Fernando Alonso to Felipe Massa and on down the list, the number of 'successful' F1 drivers who started with a smaller team and went on to bigger and better things is a very long list. With the same power as the other new teams (plus Williams), two team principals with previous F1 experience, and modern computer design, there is no reason to claim that the USF1 drivers will be significantly disadvantaged over other new (or existing bottom-end) teams.

Stop being USF1 fanboy and look at it from Rossi perspective. He's only been racing single seater OW cars for four years. He's shown that he has immense amount of talent. As I pointed out earlier and so has Revel, he needs time to develop. If he were go on to win the GP2 championship in 2010 or 2011. He'll have better opportunities than USF1.

BTW, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, and Felipe Massa all signed with established F1 teams right out of the box. Benetton, Minardi, and Sauber all had many seasons under their belt.

The question now must be Can USF1 actually produce a car in time? That said, if I were investing in the venture from a marketing perspective, I would insist on at least one of the drivers being an American. Why call yourself USF1, base your team in Charlotte, North Carolina and then hire Heikki Covalainen and Timo Glock? Sign one if you can, or better yet, a charger like Kamui Kobayashi but Alexander Wurz? What, did Martin Brundle say no?

As for Scott Speed, I believe he wasn't a victim of Euro bias, but his own personality and media savvy.

From my recollection, Senna was supportive of Michael Andretti and upset with the way McLaren treated Michael.

Obviously, you can tell I am a Danica Patrick fan. I feel from a driving talent evaluation, she could do it, but I'd be more confident after a win on a road course.

From a $ and cents perspective, however, I'd sign her in a nano-second. If you think Sam Hornish is going to excite the average American racing fan.....I'm excluding my fellow F`1 zealots on this site, as we're in a tiny minority who love F1 in the States, then ask ten people at a sports bar...."Tough year for Sam Hornish wasn't it?" and listen for the Sam who ? Then, phrase the same question and substitute Danica.