F1 entries/rumours that never came to be

[saxoflute03]

Anthony Reid received an offer from Jordan for 1991.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by saxoflute03

I'm guessing the F3000 test was also 1994? His Jordan testing role started mid-season.

End of '93 I think. It was at Snetterton. Can't recall if anyone else drove the car though.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by saxoflute03

I thought Kelvin Burt ended up as Arrows' test driver? He also tested for Jordan in 1994 and was considered for a race seat.

He was Ligier test driver to begin with, it was only after TWR took over Arrows he became their test driver

[saxoflute03]

Originally Posted by S griffin

He was Ligier test driver to begin with, it was only after TWR took over Arrows he became their test driver

Understood.

Tyrrell reportedly looked at Johnny Herbert as a possible replacement for Ukyo Katayama for 1996.

Hideki Noda was due to replace Roberto Moreno at Forti towards the end of the 1995 season but, for some reason, wasn't granted a super licence despite having done the last three rounds of 1994 for Larousse.

As for Anthony Reid, I recently came across an interview stating his Jordan offer was for 1991, he lost out to Bertrand Gachot when his sponsorship fell through.

[saxoflute03]

Nino Vaccarella was offered a Ferrari contract for 1962 but had to turn it down as he was already contracted to Scuderia Serenissima who had already run him in a De Tomaso at the 1961 Italian GP. He did get to race for Ferrari in the 1965 Italian GP at least.

[saxoflute03]

Jo Bonnier offered Helmut Marko his self-run McLaren for the 1971 German GP. Marko withdrew from the event after running out of fuel on his first practice lap. Marko only drove for BRM thereafter.

[S griffin]

Corrado Fabi was offered the chance to replace the injured Brundle at Tyrrell midway through 84, but, although Bernie was happy to let it happen, Corrado turned it down

[saxoflute03]

The late Hitoshi Ogawa was reportedly offered F1 contracts by Lotus and Minardi for 1990 but he couldn’t find the sponsors to secure a drive.

[S griffin]

When Lauda had to miss the 85 European GP due to his wrist injury, McLaren asked Warwick to replace him, but Warwick decided not to break his Renault contract

[saxoflute03]

Before Larrousse went bust in 1995, anyone of Christophe Bouchut, Eric Bernard, Eric Helary, Erik Comas, Emmanuel Collard and Elton Julian were in contention to drive for them. Other sources claimed Paul Belmondo and Emmanuel Clerico were also in the frame.

Emmanuel Collard was the alternative choice to stand in for Olivier Panis at Prost in 1997.

[S griffin]

They did test Collard prior to the French GP, but Prost felt he didn’t have the required stamina for the job

Tarso Marques was another contender for Minardi in 98

[saxoflute03]

Tetsu Ikuzawa tried to start up the Ikuzawa F1 team with the intention of entering the 1998 Season with future CART rivals Gil de Ferran and Kenny Brack as the drivers. The designs for the Ikuzawa F1 car eventually evolved into the 1997 Stewart.

1994:

Aguri and Toshio Suzuki were in the frame to drive for Larrousse and Pacific and Peter Sauber intended for Karl Wendlinger to return to Sauber, all in the final two races.

Jean-Marc Gounon came close to replacing Gianni Morbidelli at Footwork/Arrows after his stint at Simtek concluded but Morbidelli managed to raise the required funds in time.

[saxoflute03]

1995:

Roberto Moreno originally signed to do the first two races only for Forti, Motorsport Magazine named Andrea Montermini as team-mate to Pedro Diniz, other candidates included Christian Fittipaldi, Mauricio Gugelmin and Gil de Ferran.

Motorsport Magazine named Pedro Lamy as team-mate to Bertrand Gachot at Pacific although it could have been Mika Salo with Lamy joining Ukyo Katayama at Tyrrell.

[saxoflute03]

Masami Kuwashima would have been the 4th local driver at the inaugural Japanese GP at Mount Fuji in 1976, alongside Noritake Takahara, Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Masahiro Hasemi. He originally signed to drive a RAM Racing Brabham but the deal fell through and RAM Racing didn't even compete in the end. Kuwashima then signed for Wolf-Williams alongside Arturo Merzario, got as far as Friday qualifying, then his sponsors withdrew and Frank Williams promptly replaced him with Hans Binder.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by saxoflute03

1995:

Roberto Moreno originally signed to do the first two races only for Forti, Motorsport Magazine named Andrea Montermini as team-mate to Pedro Diniz, other candidates included Christian Fittipaldi, Mauricio Gugelmin and Gil de Ferran.

Motorsport Magazine named Pedro Lamy as team-mate to Bertrand Gachot at Pacific although it could have been Mika Salo with Lamy joining Ukyo Katayama at Tyrrell.

Salo being linked to Pacific was probably due to the merger between Pacific and Lotus

[saxoflute03]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Salo being linked to Pacific was probably due to the merger between Pacific and Lotus

It was and had it worked out, it would have been Lamy and Ukyo Katayama driving for Tyrrell.

If Lotus had survived, the intention was to retain Salo and Alex Zanardi.

Juichi Wakisaka got to test the stillborn Dome F1 car and got as far as a Jordan testing role in 1998.

[saxoflute03]

1960:

Both John Surtees and Jim Clark came close to partnering Roy Salvadori at the original Aston Martin team.

Vanwall were also looking to run Surtees in a Vanwall-engined Lotus.

[saxoflute03]

BRM intended to run Stirling Moss in 1952 and tried to hire Juan Manuel Fangio. The Argentine ultimately agreed to join Maserati prior to his accident that ruled him out until 1953.

[saxoflute03]

Carlos Sainz Jr. and Roberto Merhi were linked to possible outings with Caterham in 2014.

Roman Rusinov was in the frame to drive for Caterham in the inaugural Russian GP.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by S griffin

They did test Collard prior to the French GP, but Prost felt he didn’t have the required stamina for the job

Is that true? The man who has driven 24 times at the LM24 Hours including an unbroken 23 race run? Astonishing....

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Is that true? The man who has driven 24 times at the LM24 Hours including an unbroken 23 race run? Astonishing....

I think a bit more context is worth noting here.

Prost's statement on Collard’s fitness was: “We thought long and hard about the possibility of Emmanuel Collard taking over from Olivier [Panis], however, in Emmanuel’s current physical condition, this would have been a premature decision and we decided, mutually, not to take the risk. Having said that, I hope to be able to work with Emmanuel in the near future.”

The key part here being 'current physical condition'.

Over the period of 14 and 15 June 1997, Collard had participated in the LM24H, where the leading Porsche 911 GT1 he shared with Ralf Kelleners and Yannick Dalmas went up in flames two hours from the end.

Then on 17 June 1997, he began his test in the F1 car at Magny-Cours. “I was completely destroyed,” says Collard, who had first tested an F1 car with the team in its previous guise as Ligier in 1990. “I was really tired because Le Mans is Le Mans, it’s really tough. And it was more than one year I didn’t drive a single-seater, I was with Porsche in GT, so it was not easy for me. But in the end I did it.”




The test occured a few days after the 1997

[Aysedasi]

Ah, that makes it more understandable...

[saxoflute03]

What about Grands Prix/Circuits that didn't work out? Would that have to be a separate thread?

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by saxoflute03

What about Grands Prix/Circuits that didn't work out? Would that have to be a separate thread?

No thanks, and no!!!

[saxoflute03]

Originally Posted by chunterer

No thanks, and no!!!

Fine.