129 replies to this topic

[PlatenGlass]

I thought given the hype for a certain driver in his debut season, it might be interesting to discuss drivers who over the years have been very highly thought of based on their pre-F1 form, and how they ultimately did.

I think for example, people said of Senna when he started: "You can forget calling him the next Clark. That doesn't come close. If anything, he is the previous Verstappen."

But other than that, Jan Magnussen was praised throughout his junior career, but when he got to F1 it just didn't happen.

Frentzen was "quicker than Schumacher" (according to some alleged quote by Jochen Mass), and actually looked pretty good at Sauber I thought, but then never got the job done at Williams.

Montoya came with a lot of hype with his F3000 title and then winning the CART championship and Indy 500 at his first attempt. He obviously had moderate success with GP wins, but no championship.

I'm not sure how much hype there was but I think Erik Comas won in every category he raced in before not doing anything in F1.

Hamilton obviously had a lot of hype around him.

Etc.

[superdelphinus]

Looking at the threads here http://forums.autosp...topicfilter=all onwards is quite fun re Hamilton

[CountDooku]

I'm the modern times Lewis is easily the most hyped driver, and he's now a 3xWDC. Max is nearly reaching 2007 hype levels, but without the amazing results and consistency.

The other driver I can think of is Hulkenberg. There was a massive song and dance of him bettering Lewis' clean sweep of the junior categories and doing it in fewer years. I use say I've been a bit disappointed (though he is a Le Mans winner!).

[SR388]

Heikki was really hyped. Him beating schumi at the roc really worked people up.

[senna da silva]

Raikkonen was hyped because of his lack of experience and actual number of races but supposed bags of raw talent.

[charly0418]

Alguersuari 

 

Specially after his Formula Three season where he beat good drivers like Perez, Turvey, Ericsson and others

 

It looked like he was the next Alonso 

[scheivlak]

Raikkonen was hyped because of his lack of experience and actual number of races but supposed bags of raw talent.

Actually - this is a thread about expectations based on their pre-F1 form, see the OP -  he wasn't hyped at all from the start. Big question marks were raised about him by quite a few people among them Max Mosley (FIA), who only gave him a provisional licence and Red Bull, who withdrew their Sauber sponsorship because Peter chose Kimi above Bernoldi. 

 

As a result, the hype really got going when he started to score a few points right from the start - under full pressure to deliver.

[DarthWillie]

I think for example, people said of Senna when he started: "You can forget calling him the next Clark. That doesn't come close. If anything, he is the previous Verstappen."
 

This one I don't understand, Verstappen entered F1 10 years after Senna 

 

Verstappen Sr was a much hyped driver, but managed to achieved little.

[oetzi]

Jan Magnussen

you ended your own thread

[jAnO76]

This one I don't understand, Verstappen entered F1 10 years after Senna 

 

Verstappen Sr was a much hyped driver, but managed to achieved little.

 

...

 

he wasn't talking about Jos.

[EvilPhil II]

Jean Alesi 

[ensign14]

I think for example, people said of Senna when he started: "You can forget calling him the next Clark. That doesn't come close. If anything, he is the previous Verstappen."
 

 

Until we invent time travel, nobody will have said that Senna could be the previous Verstappen.

 

Going back a little further, Bruno Giacomelli had a lot of hype from winning 8 F2 races in one year, but it turned out that was more car than driver. 

 

One whom the media pushed extremely strongly was Christian Klien, probably because Red Bull was pushing stories to them.  Too much too young.

 

And everyone expected a lot more from Michael Andretti... 

[scheivlak]

 

One whom the media pushed extremely strongly was Christian Klien, probably because Red Bull was pushing stories to them.  

Which reminds me of a certain Vitantonio Liuzzi..........

[Hamandeggs]

Michael Andretti

[shonguiz]

Vettel 4 WDC.

[ElJefe]

I can remember Trulli and Fisichella making a great impression during the early stages of their career. It's a shame they never really managed to deliver on their promise, but I think they lacked mentality more than anything else. 

[senna da silva]

Actually - this is a thread about expectations based on their pre-F1 form, see the OP -  he wasn't hyped at all from the start. Big question marks were raised about him by quite a few people among them Max Mosley (FIA), who only gave him a provisional licence and Red Bull, who withdrew their Sauber sponsorship because Peter chose Kimi above Bernoldi. 

 

As a result, the hype really got going when he started to score a few points right from the start - under full pressure to deliver.

 

Going by the thread title there was plenty of hype surrounding Kimi when he started F1, as you yourself have mentioned.

[oetzi]

Seeing as Jan Magnussen was taken, I'll vote Johnny Herbert.

A lot of people thought a lot of him before, but by the time he got to F1 it seemed to be entirely on yesterday's promise.

[noikeee]

Alguersuari 

 

Specially after his Formula Three season where he beat good drivers like Perez, Turvey, Ericsson and others

 

It looked like he was the next Alonso 

 

Not really, he didn't look like anything amazing. He looked competent but the hype was mostly because of him being the youngest driver ever (at the time), but he looked a little rushed to achieve that. Remember British F3 was on its dying days. Ricciardo and Vergne came in as bigger prospects later on.

 

I think the guys that disappointed the most in recent years were probably Kovalainen and Piquet Jr.

[MastaKink]

I'm the modern times Lewis is easily the most hyped driver, and he's now a 3xWDC. Max is nearly reaching 2007 hype levels, but without the amazing results and consistency.

The other driver I can think of is Hulkenberg. There was a massive song and dance of him bettering Lewis' clean sweep of the junior categories and doing it in fewer years. I use say I've been a bit disappointed (though he is a Le Mans winner!).

 

The hype with Max is getting a bit silly but to be fair he can't match the results Lewis did because of the car.  He or any other rookie can't unless they were dropped in the best or close 2nd best car, then we could judge by results.

[Kristian]

Seeing as Jan Magnussen was taken, I'll vote Johnny Herbert.

A lot of people thought a lot of him before, but by the time he got to F1 it seemed to be entirely on yesterday's promise.

That's a bit of an unfair comparison if you take into account his accident which nearly removed his feet - he had to be carried into the car for his first grand Prix....

[oetzi]

That's a bit of an unfair comparison if you take into account his accident which nearly removed his feet - he had to be carried into the car for his first grand Prix....

Well aware of that. Awful as it was. But the 'oh, it's too early, he'll get there' when he was slow and the 'here he is back' on the odd day he was quick was depressing. He did have it by all accounts, but it was gone. So they just hyped it even though it wasn't there. Which is sad. In every way.

[oetzi]

To modify that - in the mid 80s he was justifiably considered the next big thing. But he never had the chance to prove that due to the accident, although the fact he still won races after what happened shows he wasn't that bad ;)

I only picked him because of the hype (subject of thread) - the commentariat had awarded talent points, and if they didn't match reality there had to be a reason.

There was a really good, clear reason in this case, but they always chose to ignore (or use) it.

[MP422]

Nelson Piquet JR. 

[NoSanityClause]

Funny how nobody has still mentioned Senna. I mean Bruno, of course. Not many drivers were hailed as being better than Senna by Ayrton himself. 

 

And he wasn't.

[oetzi]

Not sure you can count 'My nephew is a jaaaayyyynius!' as hype.

Unless you're called Williams

[NoSanityClause]

Not sure you can count 'My nephew is a jaaaayyyynius!' as hype.

Unless you're called Williams

Had I said that, it would certainly not make much of an impression. But for years the "wait until you see Bruno" lived on.

 

I should know, I believed in it 

[hollowstar]

Button was really hyped after his first season but then kinda disappointed... until 2009.

 

Montoya. Was supposed to be the next big thing, but then he got trashed by Kimi and started playing tennis. I liked his speed and the way he'd always go for it though.

 

Kubica was IMO a little overhyped but we'll never know.

 

Bourdais was hyped a lot in France when he arrived in F1 after his many ChampCar titles. He didn't live up to these high expectations, but in hindsight, I don't think he fared too badly against a future 4x World Champion.  He was better than some current drivers IMO.

 

Hamilton. Fared pretty well. 

 

Jules was hyped too in France (and probably elsewhere), with good reasons. I had the same feeling about him that I had about Lewis prior to his F1 start. I think he really was one of the most promising drivers.

[oetzi]

Had I said that, it would certainly not make much of an impression. But for years the "wait until you see Bruno" lived on.

I should know, I believed in it

Yeah, but he'd have been there a lot sooner, wouldn't he?

[andyF1]

Takuma Sato had a lot of hype around him when he came to F1 in 2002. Seem to remember that he had dominated British F3 the previous season. Soon built a reputation as a crasher.

 

Webber also got a fair bit of hype after his first race where he finished 5th in a Minardi! Good drive and stayed out of trouble, whilst all those around him proceeded to crash into each other in the demolition derby that was the first race of 2002.

 

Maybe my memory is hazy but I have vague memories of Tora Takagi receiving a lot of hype when he first came into F1!

[eronrules]

 i'm waiting for a usual LEMON of a car from STR. this year's car is probably the best they ever made on their own merit (thanks to james key) [and 2008 don't count]

 

then we shall see the hype regarding Max and Carlos

 

 

 

(which i do believe they'll have a slump of sort, when the Euphoria of rookie season ends)

[Jimisgod]

Liuzzi was rather hyped as the 1st fully "RBR young driver" and he was one of the few to get a 2nd chance at FI.

[eronrules]

i think anyone who has won a WDC should be exempted from this thread ... cause, u know, they did achieve the top reward the sport can offer.

 

which includes the likes of JB, KR, 

[hollowstar]

i think anyone who has won a WDC should be exempted from this thread ... cause, u know, they did achieve the top reward the sport can offer.

 

which includes the likes of JB, KR, 

 

So the thread would be only about those who underwhelmed? I thought it was about all drivers whom people had high expectations of, no matter what happened eventually.

[Marklar]

Everyone at Toro Rosso

[FrontWing]

I agree that Max has been hyped a lot and I wasn't expecting much from him in his first season, but I think he's had a great rookie season and can now see why he's had so much attention. He's got over double the points of Sainz, who's had a good rookie season himself, and is giving the RedBull guys a run for their money. How can you not by impressed, its the best rookie season I've seen since Hamilton.

[CountDooku]

The hype with Max is getting a bit silly but to be fair he can't match the results Lewis did because of the car. He or any other rookie can't unless they were dropped in the best or close 2nd best car, then we could judge by results.

He is easily being matched by Carlos though, who as good as he is is no 2xWDC.

[Cloxxki]

He is easily being matched by Carlos though, who as good as he is is no 2xWDC.

Some people see the same color of car and think the driver is just as good. But please elaborate on your view in the Max vs Carlos threads :-)

[Currahee]

Surprised nobody has mentioned di Resta yet going by the amount of people on here who don't like him.

 

Anyway anyone F1 magazine bigs up as "mega" before they get a seat are usually pants.

[Myrvold]

Funny how nobody has still mentioned Senna. I mean Bruno, of course. Not many drivers were hailed as being better than Senna by Ayrton himself.

And he wasn't.

Was he really? If we look past Ayrtons own comments,I felt it was more "It's a new Senna!" Or "he never won the GP2".
I also still feel that he never got a true chance in F1, one thing is to step out from some FP1s. But he did 5 of 20, not ideal at all.

[MortenF1]

Jungle boy, Pizzonia.
Liuzzi was a karting superstar and the super-tag stuck with him through the ranks. Hyped, but also underrated probably.

[SophieB]

Memory may be playing tricks but I'm sure I remember people confidently predicting Ralf to be even better than his brother.

[Fisico54]

Trulli,Barrichello, Fisichella and Alesi are the obvious candidates who were hyped but didn't live up to their hype.

They still achieved a good F1 career though. Next big things who flamed out completely in F1 JJ Lehto, Jean Christophe Bouillon, Erik Comas, Stefano Modena.

Max is just as likely to be Alesi or Lehto as Schumacher

[wj_gibson]

Stefano Modena was hyped up prior to his 1987 debut, no?

[RedBaron]

Memory may be playing tricks but I'm sure I remember people confidently predicting Ralf to be even better than his brother.

 

This happened. Didn't Williams end up signing him because the first Schumacher slipped through their fingers and they didn't want to make that mistake twice?

[eronrules]

Everyone at Toro Rosso

except Buemi ... i don't really recall any hype regarding his promotion to RBR

[HP]

Perhaps Martin Brundle before his unfortunate accident?

[Jimisgod]

Jungle boy, Pizzonia.
Liuzzi was a karting superstar and the super-tag stuck with him through the ranks. Hyped, but also underrated probably.

 

Yes Pizzonia. Seemed to be considered the next big thing despite lacking results of any significant nature in F3000. He was one of the champions of British F3 around the turn of the century when people considered front-runners -- Sato, Bernoldi, Burti -- to be good bets for the future. Bernoldi was favored over Raikkonen at Sauber IIRC.

[Jimisgod]

Stefano Modena was hyped up prior to his 1987 debut, no?

 

There's an old F1 manager game where he was only mildly cheaper than Senna and co., so I guess he was rated pretty high.

[DampMongoose]

Chris Bristow came into grand Prix racing with some hype, Innes Ireland thought in his book that Chris had started to believe a lot of it, possibly contributing to his fatal crash.