Fernandez: greatness or lucky.

[kuchi]

I just want your opinions about adrian fernandez. Through otut his cart carrer he has achieved some respect from other drivers, but is he really as good as we think or he´s just a lucky guy who lives from patrick´s strategy. It´s tough to tell that but we have never seen him being dominant, well maybe at motegi, but most of the race he scores good points is because his pit strategy is nmadeto perfection. So will we see him wiining because of his skills some day?.

[KC]

I do not consider Fernandez a great driver, like Mario Andretti, Juan Montoya, Bobby Rahal, etc., but he is very good. A good portion of a driver's luck is manufactured by the team tactics and racecraft. He has had both in his favor. He lacks the consistency to become a truly great driver but seems able to contend at nearly every circuit. I like his skill, his demeanor on the track, and his attitude during interviews.

[wallbanger]

I certainly consider Adrian a great driver because he is one of the VERY few who have mastered every aspect of the sport. Though not necessarily a stand-out in any particular sub-category, the composite is much larger than the individual components would normally add up to:
-mastered both oval and roadcourse driving
-learned to be fuel conservative and to follow orders implicitly
-understands all technical functions
-tests well
-qualifies well
-is brave enough for extreme speed
-is a master PR agent
-understands the business end of the sport
-interfaces exceptionally well with fans and CART insiders - including fellow-drivers
-understands "responsibility" (to fans, to country, to other drivers, to sponsors)
-has the ability to win ANY race
-speaks his mind...tactfully

[Jay]

There is no question that Adrian has some talent, however not enough to make it in F1.

He has put in some good drives, and even led the championship for a period. However, having watch him amoung the other drivers at the track, I can honestly say he is nothing special. Even though he does not have the best car, it is not the worst and he is rarely seen pushing the car to its absolute limits, like we see from Montoya, Tracy, Moreno, and the late great Greg Moore.

However he does bring a very positive attitude to the track and is always willing to sign autographs and mingle with the fans, so I like him as a person too.

[Sharky]

The guy is good....he's certanly not a great driver but he's good. However he's probably the luckiest guy on the grid. I mean....take for instance this year at rio. I only realized that he was on the race when jumped in front thanks to some strategy....same goes for fontana last year.

But he's had some good drives. I recall Mid Ohio 98 when he had an outstanding drive and won the race.

[Heeltoe6]

Yeah, the onmly thing that really sticks out in my ming is the win at Motegi with the Frankenstein car. Now that impressed me. I'll go along with the good, not great, attitude.

[jamie928]

Fernandez is a great guy and a really good driver. Except for Blundell, he's the nicest driver fan wise on the circut.
I've always felt bad for the guy cause he was the winner in Toronto when Krosnoff was killed as well as at Fontana when we lost Greg Moore. It was also his wheel that killed the spectators at Michigan. The poor guy seems to be snake bitten as far as being involved in racing tradgedies.
He's a great ambassador for the sport and I understand he's a national hero in Mexico.