78 replies to this topic

[ATesla]

I recall people criticizing Formula E when it was first conceived. I mean, an electric car racing series was surely to fail! No one would watch such a gimmicky racing series with slow cars that produced no sound!

[Cabby]

Hamilton to Mercedes

[Disgrace]

I recall people criticizing Formula E when it was first conceived. I mean, an electric car racing series was surely to fail! No one would watch such a gimmicky racing series with slow cars that produced no sound!

 

The jury is still out on that one.

[Risil]

Crossthread from "Seemed like a good idea":

 

Newman-Haas switching to Swift chassis in 1997

Edited by Risil, 16 June 2015 - 20:13.

[Strontiumdog]

DRS

[FerrariV12]

Ross Brawn leading a management buyout of the remnants of the Honda team.

 

A world championship and tidy profit from the Merc sale later...

 

Admittedly as an insider he'll have known that they had a potential rocketship on their hands, but I remember being quite pessimistic about how things would turn out.

[TimRTC]

[Obster]

Ferrari re-hiring Kimi...

[Obster]

Whoops! Sorry....that idea is not turning out all that great,,,,

[Jimisgod]

Assuming you mean things that were controversial but went well...

 

Ricciardo to RBR over Kimi.

 

Kimi to Sauber over, was it, Bernoldi?

[ensign14]

The total win for this is Ferrari in 1974 signing a buck-toothed Austrian squit who had scored an almighty two points in two complete F1 seasons, and had been comprehensively dismantled by a still-quite-green Peterson in the first of those.  There were getting on for two dozen better choices in F1 at the time.  Yet those two dozen ended up with zero world titles between them.

 

Benetton signing Piquet in 1990.  A past-it has-been racing to pay alimony.  Yet it worked - turned them into a semi-permanent race-winning team and got some of the 1980 fire back.

[Vitesse2]

"Well, now Emerson's quit, there's nobody decent still looking for a ride next year so I suppose we'll have to hire Hunt as Jochen's number two ..."

[emmanuelrubi]

Maldonado Money leaving Williams.

 

Lotus sticking to Romain for 2013

 

Ferrari dropping Alonso for Vettel.

 

Lewis going to Mercedes.

 

Force India dropping Di Resta for Perez.

 

Force India Re-hiring Nico Hulkenberg.

 

Esteban leaving F1 (thanks god)

[Risil]

The total win for this is Ferrari in 1974 signing a buck-toothed Austrian squit who had scored an almighty two points in two complete F1 seasons, and had been comprehensively dismantled by a still-quite-green Peterson in the first of those.  There were getting on for two dozen better choices in F1 at the time.  Yet those two dozen ended up with zero world titles between them.

 

There was an ETCC win at Monza in 1973 against the likes of Mass, Scheckter, Stewart, Amon and Dave Brodie.

 

One hell of a punt, all the same.

Edited by Risil, 16 June 2015 - 21:00.

[Red17]

"Well, now Emerson's quit, there's nobody decent still looking for a ride next year so I suppose we'll have to hire Hunt as Jochen's number two ..."

 

"Who else is available?"

 

"Er... there is a swedish bloke at Wolf, Rosenbergsomething."

 

"Is he expensive?"

 

"Nah. Didnt score this season."

 

"Should be cheap, hire him."

 

"Sure thing Frank."

[Dick Dastardly]

Williams signing Mansell over Warwick for 85....Warwick had looked the more promising of the 2 at the time....

[Amphicar]

Colin Chapman using the BRM H16 engine as a stressed structural member in the Lotus 43. BRM thought it was extremely unwise - but the 43 won the H16's one and only F1 race and it paved the way for the much more successful Lotus 49, which used the Cosworth DFV as a stressed structural member.

[Nonesuch]

Ferrari bringing the F2001 to the 2002 season opener was widely criticized and even mocked, but it worked out just fine in Australia where Schumacher won, perhaps in part thanks to the massive pile-up on the opening lap.

 

By the time F1 got to Malaysia the situation seemed to have changed, resulting in a resounding defeat for Ferrari with Schumacher finishing over a minute behind the two new Williams FW24s. Ferrari then rushed its only F2002 to Brazil, where Schumacher won again. Barrichello had to make do with an F2001 and failed to finish. As an aside, that might have been the last time a team raced two different cars in a race.

[JeePee]

Max Verstappen skipping FR2.0 and jumping straight into the European F3 championship for a midfield team.

Edited by JeePee, 16 June 2015 - 22:34.

[Lights]

Ferrari bringing the F2001 to the 2002 season opener was widely criticized and even mocked, but it worked out just fine in Australia where Schumacher won, perhaps in part thanks to the massive pile-up on the opening lap.

By the time F1 got to Malaysia the situation seemed to have changed, resulting in a resounding defeat for Ferrari with Schumacher finishing over a minute behind the two new Williams FW24s. Ferrari then rushed its only F2002 to Brazil, where Schumacher won again. Barrichello had to make do with an F2001 and failed to finish. As an aside, that might have been the last time a team raced two different cars in a race.

That's not how I remember that. The F2001 was very quick, Schumacher did not win due to the pile-up in Melbourne, he overtook Montoya on track. In Malaysia he finished that far behind Ralf because he tangled with Montoya at the start and had to come back from the back of the field.

[RekF1]

Button, ramming Hamilton in to the wall, Canada 2011.

 

Not sure if I'm joking or not.

[noikeee]

Ferrari bankrolling Massa's career in Sauber for 2002, 2004 and 2005, and then giving him a seat next to Schumacher.

 

Eventually they were a little too grateful to him in later seasons after his accident as he should've been let go earlier, but for those 2006-2009 seasons he was ON IT (if perhaps slightly flattered by Raikkonen) and justified Ferrari's faith in him far more than anyone expected.

[George Costanza]

Michael to Ferrari for 1996? 

Edited by George Costanza, 16 June 2015 - 23:36.

[Disgrace]

Karthikeyan to HRT. The only time he ever stuffed it into the wall all by himself was at Singapore. Even then, Bruno Senna crashed his Williams three times that weekend. For whatever reason, it was elite drivers like Button, Rosberg and Vettel who ended up crashing into him more often. As it turned out, he was and continues to be a perfectly competent racing driver.

[V8 Fireworks]

No one would watch such a gimmicky racing series with slow cars that produced no sound!

 

Diesel pick-up truck racing!  Where every car ought to get the meatball flag every lap   

 

 

it didn't seem like a good idea, and it remains not a good idea 

Edited by V8 Fireworks, 17 June 2015 - 01:21.

[f1RacingForever]

Rehiring Maldonado to race for another season? Ross leaving Mercedes?

[StraightEdge]

Alan Kulwicki not taking Junior Johnson ride and sticking with his own team

[RealRacing]

I recall people criticizing Formula E when it was first conceived. I mean, an electric car racing series was surely to fail! No one would watch such a gimmicky racing series with slow cars that produced no sound!

Still not a good idea.

[RealRacing]

DRS

Never was, never will be a good idea.

[KingTiger]

Karthikeyan to HRT. The only time he ever stuffed it into the wall all by himself was at Singapore. Even then, Bruno Senna crashed his Williams three times that weekend. For whatever reason, it was elite drivers like Button, Rosberg and Vettel who ended up crashing into him more often. As it turned out, he was and continues to be a perfectly competent racing driver.

He doesn't have the pace for F1.

[Marklar]

http://www1.skysport...s/22058/9538348

[ensign14]

Alan Kulwicki not taking Junior Johnson ride and sticking with his own team

 

He thought he had landed the McDonalds sponsorship. 

 

Which means we can turn this around somewhat - McDonalds going with the established Johnson team rather than the hardscrabble owner-driver.  Kulwicki ended up champion, McDonalds ended up with Mr Excitement.  Although the main excitement with Jimmy Spencer was whether he could fit through the window.  His two wins were the most egregious Call examples I can think of.

[DampMongoose]

Stewart to run Ken Tyrells own car in F1. 

[vowcartaGP]

Formula E is a very good starting place for this thread.

Eddie Irvine to Ferrari.

Keke Rosberg to Williams.

Hill to Arrows 1997.(it went better than expected really. When was the teams last podium before Hungary?)

Prost taking a sabbatical 1992.

Williams hiring Damon Hill.

Kobayashi to Toyota 2009 and Sauber 2010 (everyone expected him to be worse than Nakajima)

Williams hiring some young chap called Jenson Button. Similarly, Jenson buying his way out of his Williams contract.

The IRL.

Montoya back to Indy Car from NASCRAP

[Nonesuch]

The 'Indianapolis chicane' that was designed in an afternoon to help out the Michelin-shod teams seemed like a bad idea at the time, at least to the FIA, but one wonders if the mocking that would have ensued could have ever been even half as bad for F1 in the United States as the farce that the race turned in to when all the Michelin teams voluntarily retired after the parade lap.

 

In Malaysia he finished that far behind Ralf because he tangled with Montoya at the start and had to come back from the back of the field.

 

He did, but he was also quite slow that day - relatively speaking, of course. Michael Schumacher said at the time: "Obviously, if we had got a better result [in Malaysia] then we would have raced here with [in Brazil] the 'old' cars."

[ensign14]

 

The IRL.

And it wasn't.

[FredrikB]

The 'Indianapolis chicane' that was designed in an afternoon to help out the Michelin-shod teams seemed like a bad idea at the time, at least to the FIA, but one wonders if the mocking that would have ensued could have ever been even half as bad for F1 in the United States as the farce that the race turned in to when all the Michelin teams voluntarily retired after the parade lap.

 

My winner in this thread. Off course they should have made a chicane. Everyone with a brain knew that. That should have been solved, but the FIA was only going by the rules...

[scheivlak]

Keke Rosberg to Williams.

 

He should have stayed with Fittipaldi? 

[Dunc]

Massa to Williams - I don't care what the haters say, he's doing a really good job for the team.

[FerrariV12]

Hill to Arrows 1997.(it went better than expected really. When was the teams last podium before Hungary?)

 

 

Gianni Morbidelli at Adelaide less than two years previously

 

Admittedly for their last podium on pure pace you'd probably have to go back to their first season with Riccardo Patrese, although Eddie Cheever at Monza '88 didn't need massive attrition - just the two McLarens really - to get it.

[noikeee]

Arrows were bizarrely rather good in 88. Totally off-topic, but I wonder what was up with that, and why couldn't they build up on the momentum but instead started a long, slow downwards trend into backmarkers in the following years.

 

Maybe it was just Williams stuck with a crap engine and Lotus messing up their car that year, that flattered Arrows.

[FerrariV12]

Arrows were bizarrely rather good in 88. Totally off-topic, but I wonder what was up with that, and why couldn't they build up on the momentum but instead started a long, slow downwards trend into backmarkers in the following years.

 

Maybe it was just Williams stuck with a crap engine and Lotus messing up their car that year, that flattered Arrows.

 

Yeah basically on any track that favoured turbos they were pretty much fourth best by default behind McLaren, Ferrari and Lotus (Osella and Zakspeed weren't exactly going to trouble them), and as you say with Lotus making a mess of things sometimes they were in a good place. That Monza race, the grid was 2 McLarens, 2 Ferraris, and 2 Arrows, with the McLarens dropping out leaving them with a 3-4. On circuits where the atmos could be competitive, they'd usually be clearly behind the Benettons, and have the Williams and Adrian Newey's Marches to contend with. They actually started 1989 well too, but with more of a level playing field engine-wise with the other non-factory team they then tailed off again, save for some good runs with Alboreto and the Mugen-Honda in '92.

[BullHead]

My winner in this thread. Off course they should have made a chicane. Everyone with a brain knew that. That should have been solved, but the FIA was only going by the rules...

I don't think it was just the FiA...

[vowcartaGP]

And it wasn't.

No it was terrible. But at least we still have Indy Car as CART killed itself, and the IRL was there to take the reigns essentially. That was my point.

By the way the last thing I want to do is make this into a you-know-what thread.

[R Soul]

Some people seem to be posting things they still think are bad ideas, but that's not how I interpret the meaning. It should be things we were sceptical about that turned out well, for whatever reason.

• Hamilton to Mercedes. I thought he was just going along with his celebrity management team and that the car would always chew its rear tyres. Shows what I know.
• Button not going back to Williams. I thought he was missing out on a chance to return to a solid team that was about to get better. Shows what I know.
• The current qualifying system. I thought it would be too complicated and sometimes a driver would rue doing a great lap in Q2 that he couldn't repeat in in Q3. But it hasn't happened, and, except for the tyre rule, I like this system. Shows what I know.

[OO7]

 

Some people seem to be posting things they still think are bad ideas, but that's not how I interpret the meaning. It should be things we were sceptical about that turned out well, for whatever reason.

• Hamilton to Mercedes. I thought he was just going along with his celebrity management team and that the car would always chew its rear tyres. Shows what I know.
• Button not going back to Williams. I thought he was missing out on a chance to return to a solid team that was about to get better. Shows what I know.
• The current qualifying system. I thought it would be too complicated and sometimes a driver would rue doing a great lap in Q2 that he couldn't repeat in in Q3. But it hasn't happened, and, except for the tyre rule, I like this system. Shows what I know.

 

Wow!  

 

• I used to value your opinion.  Shows what I know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[R Soul]

And I used to value my crystal ball until I found out it was made from glass.

[OO7]

And I used to value my crystal ball until I found out it was made from glass.

Don't be so quick to throw it out!  Chances are you've had it upside down all this time.

Edited by OO7, 17 June 2015 - 16:29.

[Lights]

He did, but he was also quite slow that day - relatively speaking, of course. Michael Schumacher said at the time: "Obviously, if we had got a better result [in Malaysia] then we would have raced here with [in Brazil] the 'old' cars."

 

Yeah precisely, the result itself was bad which rang the alarm bells at Ferrari as they fell behind Williams in the constructors, but calling it "the situation seemed to have changed, a resounding defeat for Ferrari with Schumacher finishing over a minute behind the two new Williams FW24s" is just trying to rewrite history and I have no clue what the motive for that could be in this case. He finished a minute behind Ralf but 20 seconds behind Montoya, and the fact that he had to fight himself through the entire field explains all of that. Schumacher still got pole and Barrichello was still leading the race and could perhaps win it if not for the failure. So there was nothing inherently wrong with the speed of that car, yet that's how you tried to make it sound like.

[Bleu]

He should have stayed with Fittipaldi? 

 

Maybe vowcartaGP was thinking from Williams perspective - choosing Rosberg to drive.

Edited by Bleu, 17 June 2015 - 16:58.