Danica Patrick for F1? (merged)

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by Skam85

Exactly! I'm saying if Nissany is good enough to get into F1 (albeit "testing"), then Danica Patrick certainly is. Plus, had Baumgartner ever won a race before entering F1?

But it wasn't a BAR-Honda was it.

I'm a big fan of Danica but I bet even if you ask her at the moment she wouldn't be slightly cautious about jumping into an F1 car, let alone replacing Jenson Button if he does leave

[John Turner]

Should this be merged with the other thread (Danica/Honda), the discussion and comments seem pretty similar?

[superfox2000]

Ask yourselves who would be behind such a move? Bernie Ecclestone once again!

[Marbot]

If we gave all the drivers who finished 4th at Indy a go in an F1 car how many do you think would get a seat in a decent car?
I'm no chauvanist,but what about the 3 guys that finished in front of her,surely they deserve a shot too.
It wouldn't be good for F1 or Danica if she is running around at the back of the field because she came to F1 too early.She needs to do Champ cars or GP2 or something that at least turns right.

[richard_sykes]

Think about all the Americian fans she will bring to F1, if this is just to get more fans watching F1 then it is a good way of doing it. F1 needs it night now!

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by VilleneuveTracy

Her average finish is 10.5, in a series where 22 cars start a race that is medicore.

Nice stats, but it fails to take into account she isn't in a Andretti or Penske car!

To pick a driver at random in F1 (well not random, lets take part of your username). In F1 there are 20 starters (two races there were 18). Villeneuve has a slightly better finishing average than Danica of 10.4 (ignoring he engine failure and the spin out of the race). That is out of 20 starters and an average of 15 finishers.

I hope she gets an F1 test, but I agree generally she has done nothing more than quite a few others to justify an F1 drive. She is young though.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by superfox2000

The rumour here in Fort Worth is that Danica Patrick has signed to replace Button at BAR! Danica flys to Canada tonight to meet with top Honda excutives.

has this rumour made it into the press yet? the only thing I can find is a rumour of demonstration drive on this site: http://www.homeoff1.com/news/item.aspx?id=11883

As such I've merged it with the current Danica thread which is along the same lines.

[Warrior21]

Come on guys. Would a male with her results be considered for F1? If a male had made the rookie mistakes she made at Indy they would still be kicking him. She is a good driver or she wouldn't be driving, however, she is not good enough for F1 and I doubt any team has yet consider her.

[Gore]

We keep hearing about DP's weight advantage. Clearly a few tens of kilos makes a big difference to any single seater on a road course, but would a similar amount affect lap time around an oval where speed, not acceleration is the issue? My vague recollections of physics tell me that power to weight ratio determines rate of acceleration, but that top speed is a function of aerodynamics (because drag squares with speed).

I guess the test of this would be to ask how much time an IRL car gains by emptying the fuel tank--is there a big difference?

[BootsOntheSide]

There is no weight advantage for Danica in F1 - the driver's weight is included in the minimum weight allowance. The team mgiht be able to organise the car's ballast slightly differently, and gain a little bit aerodynamically that way, but it's not a big advantage. If it was every team would run Davidson-size drivers. So why would BAR look halfway around the world to find a sslight driver, when they've got one who's been pushing for an F1 chance for 4 years, and ahs showed well when given the chance.

I really hope this doesn't happen - it would reek of her being pushed into a drive she's not ready for (if she's even good enough for it, which is unproven - she did nothing in 2 years fo Formula Atlantic in the best team, funny how the breasts cause people to forget this). There really is no precedent for a driver with no experience of F1 cars, or of any of the main feeder championships, getting ad rive in a top team, so forget it. She might get some tests, and possibly a 3rd driver role in 2006, but even that's unlikely, and could do more harm than good for the cause of female racers.

[GP Racer]

Danica qualified 3rd for Texas, and came in 13th in the race last night. That sounds disappointing but its not bad really. She was the last driver still on the lead lap, and only the unitiated IndyCar fan would have thought she could do better there. Texas is a very high speed, high banked, wild and woolley wheel-to-wheel race, where going 3 wide is the norm, and where a rookie has never won. It is a heart stopping race, where just staying out of trouble can be considered a victory!


Adam,

She may not be in a Penske or AGR car, but being in a Rahal car is just as good! Buddy Rice won the 500 in one last year, and almost the championship, and the forgotten Vitor Meira drove one to second place in this years Indy 500. No disadvantage there!