Why all the hype about rookies?

[Yoong Montoya]

These guys are just starting their F1 careers, and they have a lot of learning to do before they can think about WDCs. Okay, so Jacques Villeneuve won the championship in his 2nd season, but he still needed to learn Formula One. New drivers need time to learn F1 and people should realise that. So when did all this rookie hype start? Was it when Button made his debut in 2000?

[Damon]

No, it was when we all noticed there was no one in the previous crop with an ounce of racing spirit or personalitly so now we pin our hopes on the new arrivals.

[freud]

Another great question from Yoong Montoya... the answer is the much hypthesized 'Senna Syndrome'. When Michael Schu arrived on the f1 scene... he was thought of as the 'Next' Senna. After him almost every Rookie has been labelled the 'next' Senna. I was just p****d off reading that 'Christian DaMatto' is the next Senna.

[mac]

It's simple curiosity. These are new guys. We know all the current drivers, so when someone new comes along, we are naturally curious as to what they have to offer.

[Mania]

Basically, the media is dying to see someone dethrone Schumacher and so they're more aggressive in promoting younger drivers. DC, for example, was touted by the British media as a potential world champion after he won his first race for Williams - but we all know how that one has turned out. Most of the younger drivers will probably have decent enough careers...only the likes of Raikonnen may actually end up with a World title.

[Red]

Mania is right. Media.

But that sindrome did not start only in the past few years. It was always present, and yes, Schumacher took benefits from it too. The difference is that he confirmed the hype.

Every new year it has to be someone. Button was (and may I add that he's at the receiving end too, after he got bad press; and guess what: the reasons where that he moved to Monaco and opened a fashion-line). Kimi is right now. Same is Montoya and that might ruin his career; if he doesn't get himself together and quit the idea that he has to live to the expectations right now. Alonso, Wurz, Trulli, Fissi, etc. Rubens is a special case. He's regarded as the most promissing youngster, but almost 10 years in a row!

[Sato san]

But as the thread says ......weve got to remember that some of these guys are in their debut seasons .......like how Massa was hailed as the next Brazilan to be WDC ......and by the end of the season he isnt even in the car !........If teams are gonna take them on and ebnjoy all the hype that comes with them....they should stick by them

[Red]

Sure, "that's their first season"! That kind of hype I could explain in the second season, after delivering something in the first...

[BootsOntheSide]

I think team bosses are believing the hype that driver managers are feeding them. Raikkonen and Button were extremely impressive as rookies, and Kimi has proven himself this year, albeit only against DC.

But when drivers like Massa and Sato, who never proved themselves in a series like F3000 or CART, are being hyped up to the point of people talking as if their first championship was guaranteed before they even got in the car, its ridiculous. For Massa, no rookie can live uo to being described in the same breath as his country's hero, perhaps the greatest racer ever, which has probably caused some of his overdriving this year. Both those guys have often been embarassing, and drivers like Badoer have never been given big chances.

[f1manoz]

Most rookies are over-hyped. In the past decade, the only one's who have truly lived up to their hype is Raikkonen - I simply don't count JV and JPM in the same bracket because of their previous CART experience, even though they were, in essence, F1 rookies. Both were capable of rookie mistakes, however, mostly due to inexperience on new tracks in new cars.

I think each new driver coming onto the grid, particularly when they're the babies they are today, is over-hyped. I think we should all wait a year or two to see how they develop before we jump on the bandwagon.

[DNQ]

I posted a thread similar to this earlier this year, asking why Gene, Wurz, Zonta, Magnussen, etc have all been passed over in favour of Sato and Massa etc, and its simply money - get a young, good driver, sell him to a top team.

[Red]

Kimi fits that description, but in the last years he's the only one. He's good, he's young and he surely was sold to a top team. (and darn, Ron did really make a good deal. Otherwise, imagine a 2-seasons-at-Sauber-experienced Kimi and an-eager-to-find-a-Michael's-replacement Ferrari.... But all is not lost... )

[RWC]

It's because there are WAY too many USELESS drivers there occupying seats in good cars.David coultard is the most obious example.

[Armco Bender]

Bring back Andrea de Cesaris,he'll put some action back into F1 He might not beat Michael,but he sure would liven up the racingPut Rene Arnoux in the other Minardi and you wouldn't need the safety car to back up the traffic.

[Sato san]

Originally posted by BootsOntheSide
But when drivers like Massa and Sato, who never proved themselves in a series like F3000 or CART, are being hyped up to the point of people talking as if their first championship was guaranteed before they even got in the car, its ridiculous.

Boots makes a good point here , but then we have to be careful that we dont take it to the other extreme where we say that these guys dont deserve to be in F1 either....both these guys have amazing ability to drive a F1 car very fast indeed , but its been their racecraft and judgement in certain race situations that have let them down . But they are rookies afterall....

This is where the Hype thing comes back again isnt it !....Both these guys deserve to be in F1 IMO , yet there is so much pressure on them to do something amazing in their first season and do a Jense or a Kimi that it just isnt always possible .

Let them develop , dont jump on their backs for every single mistake they do , try and ignor the hype in the magazines ....and everyone may find it easier to keep it all in perspective .

[Jay]

Originally posted by Yoong Montoya
Okay, so Jacques Villeneuve won the championship in his 2nd season, but he still needed to learn Formula One.

Err...he had the pole for his first race, and almost would have won it if his car hadn't failed him. Still...he did a ton of testing before that race.

I think with enough testing practice, and the right personality it is possible for someone to step directly from Cart into F1 and be an immediate success. But, that's assuming they were already experienced, as JV and JPM were.

That said, I think a lot of it is mental toughness and handling the pressure, as opposed to actual driver skill. These things have to be developed through experience in similar formulae such as Cart or F3000. That said, although Champ cars are as close as you'll get to F1 around the world, the atmosphere in the series is so much lighter and so much more relaxed than the pressure-cooker of F1, it can be a bit of a shocker. I think this might have been Alex Zanardi's problem at Williams.

[Rennen]

The first 'Hype' rookie stories I first noticed were about Button when he was in formula Ford...how he was being "fast tracked to F1"...by whom?...why?...how? But it happened! All I could assume was that the specialist motoring press needed a new British hero to pick up the 'banner' after Damon Hill dropped it!

Remember it was the 'Hunt mania' that saw a flurry of union jacks to appear at circuits...then for Mansell before Damon...I guess it sold magazines.

Button was carried along on this wave...which saw him..."fast tracked" When ever have we seen a rookie make the 'FRONT PAGE' of every national newspaper in the UK? It was a fantastic 'campaign'...that even Max Clifford would have been proud of!

It's simply 'Media power'!...and it worked...for all concerned it seems!

The media interest and coverage that Anthony's 2 race deal with Minardi attracted (without any PR effort at all) astounded us...yet how many of you know about his amazing wins at... say the 1999 Formula Ford Festival in the Kent class (by 14 seconds!) or the 2000 win in the slowest car...or the FIA F3 Euro Cup (winning PAU & SPA as a rookie!)

We live in a media driven world!