Who will be "the New Schumi"?

[Splatz]

Sorry, slip of the 'thumb', I meant the Group C sportscar, not C class touring car.

Regarding his times, I was refering to an article which said that he was quick when he joined them, and the team were (astonished or astounded, can't remember which.) It also said that he beat one of the other guys best-lap times by several tenths and then later by around a second. That's what I was referring to. I should have said that it came from a car mag before.

I actually saw him driving the car and have a couple of photos, but I was young and watched only the glowing brake disks and not the lap times.

So correct me there at will

[TimD]

Just going to be a total pedant here, and say that of course it's quite right that Schumacher never raced a DTM C-Class Merc.

But he did race a Merc in DTM - a 190 Evo!

And it was his performances in the Sauber-Mercedes sports cars that really marked him out as something special, but only in the company of other hotshoes such as Wendlinger and Frentzen, and for a long while the jury was out as to which of them - if not all of them - were going to be truly, truly great.

Funny this should come up today - I've been having a small chuckle this afternoon at the expense of some soul on another forum who reckons that 24-hr endurance racing is no test for a driver (!). In the opinion of the expert in question, Herr Schumacher would enhance his reputation more by playing a charity soccer match than competing against a bunch of old men. Martin Brundle was named...

I thought to myself that something didn't seem right, so I checked the old memory banks, and reminded myself that the wonderkid Schumacher finished 5th in the one Le Mans race he ever entered, despite having the quickest car on the course that weekend, and was a whole seven laps behind the winning car of Johnny Herbert...

Ho hum.

Pedantic is my middle name.



Except of course it isn't.

[Red]

Hmmm, not what I have in my database… In 90 he entered the European F3 Cup at Le Mans (WTS Reynard VW). He qualified first, crashed his car in the first lap and took the spare car (powered by an Opel engine). He won that race, but was disqualified for switching the engine types... (Of course, I may be wrong)

In fact I am wrong, we're talking about different Le Mans races... sorry Tim.

[Martin de Miguel]

Dear Mr. Splatz

I was just like to add that I respect your opinion and support part of it because a lot of good drivers with good experience don´t get a decent chance, however I don´t share the one you have about Alonso, his curriculum is probably the best out there for his age, this is not a personal opinion but an idea share by the majority of the big fish of the F1 circus, Montezemolo, Todt, Briatore, etc, etc.
I am not going to support one driver more than other if he doesn´t deserve it, however Alonso reminds me a little bit to a mix between Mansell and Senna and about the fear he creates you just have to ask the guys that race against him.

PD: I hope Trulli gets a chance with a Ferrari one day

[senna12]

My first post, so go easy on me!! I consider JV a great driver, because he was able to come to F1 and be instantly on the pace (pole in his first race). Can you name another driver who has been able to make the switch from CART to F1? Living in Canada, I have been able to watch a lot of racing in many different formulas. JV has always been exciting, and always outperformed his teammates. I can also say that JPM is indeed a very quick driver with incredibly fast hands and no fear, especially of his teammates! (watch out Ralf!) His problem this year was a new engine(Toyota, watch out for them in F1 in 2002!), and lack of motivation, as he knew he was going back to Williams long before anyone else did. Plus, he won Indy in a completely different car. As he has previous experience in the Williams,I would expect him to be very quick, as soon as he improves his fitness level. Not living in Europe, I'm not familiar with the abilities of drivers like Alonso or Raikkonnen, I must rely on what I hear and read about them, but one name I keep hearing is Pizzonia. What do you all think about him? I often wish that Paul Tracy had signed with Bennetton after his test a few years ago, he was very quick and would have done well, I think. (much like Senna's test for Penske in '93. After a couple of laps he was ahead of Al Unser Jr.s pace!) Anyway, with all the driver aids in F1, and the performance differences between teams, its hard to measure a drivers ability, except against his teammate perhaps. Boy I wish Gilles Villeneuve were still alive!! Now there was a driver on a completely different level!!!

[Splatz]

Welcome, Senna12.

You covered some good points about JV. Do you remember his pass at Road America Elkhart Lake, after a restart near the end of the 1995 race? I think it was '95, it was the year Penske blitzed everyone, or was that '94 they did that? He passed about three cars...it was awesome.

Weren't the F1 cars still on slicks the year JV arrived? I think that was their final year.

I know nothing of Pizziona or Alonso or Raikkonen. Everyone loves them and reckons they're great but doesn't mention what they've won. Alonso won one race this year, (Spa I think) but he did well most of the season against good opposition like Mark Webber. Raikkonens done 20 or 23 races in all, depending on what you read. Webber is Australian FFord champ, drove with Bernd Scneider in a Mercededs CLK-GTR in GT1 sportscars and did well, then went to F3000, where he drove exceptionally well but was punted off the track and caught in incidents too much to win the title, despite winning a race and qualifying well regularly.

How do you think Montoya will go on grooved F1 tyres with his driving style? I ask because you've obviouly watched CART a bit so you know what I mean. I hope he's learnt his lessons on patience well.

Also, Sennna12, it would be great to get your prediction for 2001 champ. Refer to the thread, "who's yor pick for 2001 F1 champ" Giving reasons for your choice is preferred.

Enjoy the forum.

[senna12]

Well yes, Splatz, indeed I do remember that pass up the inside on the restart, I couldn't forget it!! JV is one of the few drivers who could have made that stick. As for JPM, I am confident that he will be able to adapt, if for no other reason than he is much more focussed than Zanardi ever was. I remember Paul Page of ABC tv saying that JPM had the "formula one mentality" and was much more suited to F1 than CART. Zanardi became notorious at Williams for not being as serious as he could have been,(on the technical side), or as fit as he could have been. Since he will race with Mo Nunn next year, it will be interesting to see if he's still on it, I'm sure he will be. As for next year, I will indeed give a fearless prediction on the other thread. Thank you for the warm welcome