Cart continues the proud tradition as F1's farm series

[Jay]

Chip Ganassi has announced that he will have F3000 champion Bruno Junquiera and runner up Nicolas Minassian as teammates next year replacing Vasser and Montoya. Gee, I wonder where they want to be?

Maybe Cart should just label itself a "Semi-Pro" series. It is quite obvious that half of the drivers are only in Cart because they are not good enough, or have yet to prove themselves good enough for F1.

This is nothing to feel bad about though. Having the second 20 best drivers in the world is nothing to be ashamed of.

[KC]

Strangely enough, there are far more failed F1 drivers in CART than successful ones. There have been a large number of successful American and Canadian racers, as well as other nationalities.

CART will always be seen as a feeder series to most European F1 fans. Nothing will ever change that, when I as an avid CART fan see it as a better all around series. CART regularly produces better racing, and closer championship battles than F1 does. After all, is a racing championship about racing on the track or about a parade of technology?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy F1, but I do not compare it to CART or any other series. Sure Bruno Junqueira and Nicolas Minassian are willing to hone their racecraft in CART until a seat arises in F1, but that does not make CART somehow a lesser series. They have aimed for F1 for all of their careers.

[Heeltoe6]

And you complain Ed Donath takes a tone of bitterness and jealousy? Look in the mirror my firend

[gomick]

"second 20 best drivers in the world" - i dont think so.

hakkinen + schumacher = F1

6 or 7 other worthy drivers in F1, may be a few more.....

johnny herbert or juan montoya?....is alesi a better driver than michael andretti?

CART is competive, F1 aint.....the arguement will go on forever.

[Victor Broccoli]

Well, F1 doesn't have the BEST 22 drivers in the world...there are a few drivers in the series whom aren't in there on talent but rather on bankroll.

If ALL of CART's drivers are second-rate when compared to F1, wouldn't that mean that a Gaston Mazzacane or a Pedro Diniz would be a notch higher than a Dario Franchitti or Paul Tracy?

As for some of CART-to-F1 failures, remember there were some pretty extenuating circumstances. Andretti's massive difficulty in cross-Atlantic commuting had a major impact on his ability to drive. Combined with the three driver/two seat situation (McLaren had the legend Senna and the rookie Hakkinen at their disposal) and you had an extremely awkward situation. I doubt that anyone who isn't Schumi could handle the commute and the immense pressure (no, Sr. Andretti doesn't count )

But, to get back on topic, there are some drivers in CART that are better than some drivers in F1. This is due to the neccesity of bankroll drivers in F1 (due to the astronomical costs of running a team). In CART, however, the sponsorship and needs for a bankroll aren't as evident. A mid-pack CART team can concentrate on picking the best driver at their disposal, rather than also keeping in mind the amount of money they bring in.

However, Alesi, IMO, is the better man for that particular F1 job. Prost needs a dependable leader, and not really just a fast driver. Alesi is just that. And, BTW, Alesi is an extremely fast driver. He's just in extremely slow cars. I doubt Andretti could do much better in the Prost powered by the auto-detonating Peuegeot.

[kuchi]

This discussion has taken place here a lot of times, and we never get to an agreement, anyway, I think there are not many good drivers on F1, it´s just the car runs well with anybody on it´s seat. On the contrary, on cart almost all teams have the same cars, so it´s obvious that the driver must have the skills to win. So far Cart has shown more competitivity than F1, eventhough this doesn´t mean it´s better.

[botsquad]

its really a no brainer when it comes to where the best drivers want to race.

the weird twist: now those drivers, the ones that juan-pablo montoya is joining, race at indy once a year and the cart drivers have been left out of their own party.

its a shame. thanks tony.

and f u

[Liz]

Isn't it curious that The Man Who Ruined Indy chased Our Guys out because they were foreign, their cars were too techically complex, and the series was too expensive to run?

Now who does he spend half his fortune to bring in? Formula One - 100% "foreigners", so technically complex that the cars either blow up in three laps or could win without a pilot of any kind, and with such a high price tag that some people get their drives on a little bit more than talent?

Is this a major disconnect or what?

But on the topic, I think Jean Alesi is 1000 times better than Mikey and would be if he had to commute by flying the plane himself. I don't believe Mikey's difficulty was the commute. It was the fact that he tended to wham other cars up the bootlid on a wearyingly regular basis.

And as far as CART being a "farm team" for F1, I suppose for some people it is. But Gil says that he has stayed in CART on purpose, and I think we get the better racing in CART - with 9 pilots with a mathematical shot at the championship and 2 races to go? How could anybody call that the "SECOND best group of pilots?"

[Jay]

Well, the close title battle just shows how evenly matched the field is, it does not show how good that field actually is.

But, yes the racing in Cart is 1000 times better than in F1(by that I mean the entertainment). F1 will shortly close its season out at what is probably the road course with more places to pass than any other in the world (even more than Cleveland!), yet we will see very few. We will probably see more on the surfers Paradise track that is one of the tightest in the world.

That ceratinly says something about the cars.