Next American F1 Driver

[mandretti39]

In this week's Sports Illustrated, there was an article saying that Scott Speed of GP2 will move up to Formula1 next year. Here is a link to the article...
http://premium.si.cnn.com/pr/subs/si...606/index.html

I know nothing of Speed except of what is written in the article, and it would be great to see an American in F1, especially one who may be competitive, unlike our last guy, Michael Andretti. What do you think of this rising star?

You may have to register an account at the website to read the article. It's free and you don't have to subscribe or be a subscriber to the magazine to sign up.

[Bezzen]

Well, Scott does seem to have quite a bit of speed.

I think he'll go far.

[Nismo]

Maybe speed is an exception, but past american drivers have not really done much! expect in cart or nascar going around in circles..when they have tried F1 they have not exactly shined.

Mario Andretti an exception, the guy is a legend in his own right. Even a mediocre driver who learns his racing craft in europe totally dominates in american series ie IRL CART etc...

[ASCII Man]

I hope he's more like Mario than Michael....

[luke]

The way the media has been spicing things up with the IRL recently you'd believe Danica Patrick would be on the cards, she's American right?
That would certainly gain interest in F1, and then Rossi could join as Barrichello could leave to BAR, It's alll spicing up and would certainly bring more media interest into F1.

Back to the topic, it would be nice to see an American again racing in F1, but surely Patrick is looking likely?

What happened to that team Phoenix back in 2001 who were rumored to take over Prost, they were a US team wern't they?

Luke.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by luke

The way the media has been spicing things up with the IRL recently you'd believe Danica Patrick would be on the cards, she's American right?
That would certainly gain interest in F1, and then Rossi could join as Barrichello could leave to BAR, It's alll spicing up and would certainly bring more media interest into F1.

Back to the topic, it would be nice to see an American again racing in F1, but surely Patrick is looking likely?

What happened to that team Phoenix back in 2001 who were rumored to take over Prost, they were a US team wern't they?

Luke.

Team Phoenix was a Tom Walkinshaw deal

[Kicking-back]

Originally Posted by Nismo

Maybe speed is an exception, but past american drivers have not really done much!

Phil Hill - world champion

Dan Gurney - race winner

Mario Andretti - world champion

Eddie Cheever - solid points scorer for many years


That's fairly decent for a start.

Michael Andretti didn't do very well - a solitary podium aside.

But Speed's different.

He moved here at an early stage in his career and is committed to living near to the team - unlike Michael who stayed in Pennsyllvania and commuted in by Concorde when required.

[dsg]

In the future I could certainly see Patrick with a drive for say Jordan or possibly Minardi as she could bring a few dollars into the team. In the near future Speed does seem to have the momentum behind him.

Does he have any major sponsors backing him?

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by dsg

In the future I could certainly see Patrick with a drive for say Jordan or possibly Minardi as she could bring a few dollars into the team. In the near future Speed does seem to have the momentum behind him.

Does he have any major sponsors backing him?

Yes Red Bull has been paying the bills for a while.

[marcus]

Speeds possible , he is showing some good pace in GP2 and would seem to be the most likely at present.

isnt there an american running in BF3 at the moment as well ?

hows he going then ?

[Kicking-back]

Yes there is, Marcus.

Charlie Kimball.

He won both races last weekend at Thruxton.

[climb]

Speed, albeit American, wouldn't arrive to f1 without an European background, which is necessary to figure decently.
Much will depend on which team will hire him.

[BootsOntheSide]

I thought Speed had raced in Europe for several years already. The way he's gone in GP2 shows that he knows what he's doing. If he does well in the Red Bull tests he has to be worth consdiering for next season. And frankly, considering that F1 isn't the biggest form of racing there and never has been, the country has quite an impressive track record of producing F1 drivers.

[Rennen]

Originally Posted by luke

The way the media has been spicing things up with the IRL recently you'd believe Danica Patrick would be on the cards, she's American right?
That would certainly gain interest in F1, and then Rossi could join as Barrichello could leave to BAR, It's alll spicing up and would certainly bring more media interest into F1.

Back to the topic, it would be nice to see an American again racing in F1, but surely Patrick is looking likely?


Luke.

Women lack the upper body and neck strength for F1. IRL drivers have more head support.

[BSchneiderFan]

Danica Patrick is certainly shaping up to be one of those drivers who gets better as they progress up the ladder. Her Toyota Atlantic career was steady enough but didn't really suggest that she could be fighting for the lead of the Indy 500. So perhaps she will get to F1. It would be interesting to have a definitive answer to whether women can physically handle competitive F1. Danica is very teeny though - 5'2", I think? - and one does have to wonder if that could be a problem.

[jock25]

Speed will definitely be the next US driver in F1. He has the backing of Red Bull and is their ultimate ambition not for the team to become a sort of "US" F1 team? A move into the 3rd driver role at Red Bull for 2006 (probably at the expense of Klien) looks a good bet assuming he maintains his strong form for the rest of the season.

[Bezzen]

Scott Speed totally dominated European Formula Renault 2000 last year with 8 wins and 9 pole positions (total of 11 podium finishes) in 16 races. And European Renault 2000 is no picnic, there were over 60 competitors during the season.

And now he's on the podium in GP2 as well.

As he is a Red Bull driver I think there's no question that he will be in one of their cars. He will probably be their friday driver in Canada and USA (he's testing the F1 now and being evaluated for the friday role in these two gp's) this year. And I'm certain he will be at least their third driver next year.

[Russfeld]

The average female lacks the strength, nothing to stop them from going to the gym and training like a boy does.

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

Red Bull have been pushing their search for the next big American driver for a few years now and certainly of all the drivers Red Bull employ Speed has to be the number one contender to be the first American on the F1 grid in a loooong time.

I bet he's the 3rd driver in 2006 moving onto the 2nd Red Bull Racing seat in 2007, just in time for a the new venue of the US GP I suspect.

[Nismo]

she is 2 inches shorter than katayama! remeber he suffered from his head buffeting ...

[429CJ]

Originally Posted by Silk Cut Jaguar

I bet he's the 3rd driver in 2006 moving onto the 2nd Red Bull Racing seat in 2007, just in time for a the new venue of the US GP I suspect.

Long Beach making a come-back, maybe?

[N I Tram]

If Danica isn't strong enough for F1, then neither is Ant.

[Kicking-back]

Katayama's head wasn't buffeting - the "nodding" was something he did himself.

He even does it driving a road car.

[N I Tram]

I guess it's similar to Jean's memorable mannerism of leaning into the corners the way a motorbike racer would.

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

Originally Posted by 429CJ

Long Beach making a come-back, maybe?

That's the rumour doing the rounds in some magazines, Indy just hasn't caught on like people hoped it would. Personally I think it's more down to F1 than the track though.