19 replies to this topic

[tyrrellp34]

Who was the most promising driver in Formula 2?
In my opinion it was Bruno Giacomelli who has dominating the 1978 season and won 8 of 12 races with his March BMW!

[McSlick]

i think it is jochen rindt

1965
reims
66
eifelrennen
motorshow 200
1967
guards trophy
wills silverstone
pau
eifelrennen
reims
rouen
langenlebarn
guards brand hatch
hameenlinna
1968
truxthon
zolder
crystal palace
rhine cup
langenlebarn
enna
1969
truxthon
pau
zolder
langenlebarn
1970
truxthon
pau
eifelrennen
zolder

65/68 brabham
69/70 lotus 59b

[tyrrellp34]

Ok, for me as an Austrian it should be also Jochen Rindt. But he was at that time already also a prof. F1 driver. But in my point of view Bruno Giacomelli was as good as Jochen Rindt.

[Rob29]

Surely Alberto Ascari who won 2 World Championships in F2!!

[David McKinney]

Are we supposed to be talking about the "best" driver, as in the thread title, or the "most promising", as in tyrrell34's originating question?

[David M. Kane]

Lets not forget "Mad Ronald" Peterson, he was pretty stunning in
F2 too.

[tyrrellp34]

For sure the most promising!!! When Bruno Giacomelli came into Formula 1 with Alfa the expectations were very high. But let me compare the dominance of Giacomelli and other F-2 champions during that period of time by points.

1974 Patrick Depailler 54 points
1975 Jacques Laffite 60 points
1976 Jean-Pierre Jabouille 53 points
1977 Rene Arnoux 52 points
1978 Bruno Giacomelli 82 (78) points !!!
1979 Marc Surer 38 points

[Barry Boor]

I take the point on Ascari, but F2 was F1 then, really.

I would plump for Rindt; I think the point is that when he was winning, the cars were VERY well-matched whereas Giacomelli was in a works March when a works March was most definitely the thing to have.

[David McKinney]

I'm with you on Rindt, Barry. When he turned up on the British circuits in 1964 (long before he was an F1 driver of any description) he was a little-known Continental FJ driver - not even one of the "stars" everyone had heard about. Yet he was immediately on the pace of the top guys, which included many F1 regulars.
If 1952/53 are ruled out, I can't put forward Mike Hawthorn, who did much the same thing as Rindt. But what about Jack Brabham in 1957, Bruce McLaren 1958, Chris Bristow 1959, Ireland, Surtees and Clark 1960?

[MattFoster]

tyrrellp34 makes a good case for bruno.

[David M. Kane]

I'd like to throw Jean-Pierre Jarier into the ring. He had a coupla impressive seasons in F2. He had great car control, and he
was very aggressive.

On the Rindt front, Alan Rees had a great quote, "as we went into
the first corner Jochen's rear end snapped violently so I backed
off, somehow he saved it and headed to the next corner where
the same thing happened again. Again I was amazed, by the third
corner, I realized this was just how the guy drove!"

[Don Capps]

Jochen Rindt.

His performance at Crystal Palace in 1964 was a stunning upset. And he was the only one to beat Black Jack's Honda in 1966 in a straight-up fight after generally being the only person to keep on the heels of the Brabham-Hondas race-after-race.

However, Bruno Giacomelli is a good choice to share the podium.

[Barry Boor]

In 1964 I reckon I knew a fair bit about motor racing. Yet when I went to Crystal Palace that Holiday Monday, I don't think I had even HEARD of Jochen Rindt.

By about 5 o'clock that afternoon, I certainly had - AMAZING.

[ghinzani]

Mike Thackwell for me, given his European and Japanese results.

[fines]

Wasn't that simply a great time, really, when we had Formula 2 to back up our favourite pastime, Grand Prix Racing? I read those posts and think, well, Rindt for sure, but O'Mally was very impressive in his time, and Peterson... Thackwell... Jarier... Heck, we don't even want to think of Ascari, Clark and Brabham!!!! I could go on for hours. AND we had four or five different makes of car fighting for the lead most of the time, sometimes even seven and more.


Oh sorry, I believe that's nostalgia...

[GD66]

Jacky Ickx's efforts at the Nurburgring in an F2 against the F1s were not to be sneezed at...

Edited by GD66, 19 June 2009 - 08:54.

[john winfield]

Wasn't that simply a great time, really, when we had Formula 2 to back up our favourite pastime, Grand Prix Racing? I read those posts and think, well, Rindt for sure, but O'Mally was very impressive in his time, and Peterson... Thackwell... Jarier... Heck, we don't even want to think of Ascari, Clark and Brabham!!!! I could go on for hours. AND we had four or five different makes of car fighting for the lead most of the time, sometimes even seven and more.


Oh sorry, I believe that's nostalgia...

No need to turn pink, Fines, you're quite right; Formula 2 was wonderful. In fact, even at the time, watching a day's racing at Crystal Palace, Thruxton, Mallory etc. could be more satisfying than the annual pilgrimage to the Grand Prix. My expectations weren't so high, there were always a few surprises and there was usually space in the timetable for some quality support races. Non-championship F1 races were fun too, but the fact that F2 events counted towards a championship (or two) added an extra dimension.
I didn't see Rindt win in 1964 but saw three other of his victories - he really was something special. In terms of promising drivers, Jarier in 1973 was impressive, a superb sight, flying in the beautiful March-BMW.

[ghinzani]

Maybe the FIA will invite F2 teams to provide extra cars for their grids now? Last time I believe AGS and a couple of others said they would when J-M B gave them the call.

[lil'chris]

Maybe the FIA will invite F2 teams to provide extra cars for their grids now? Last time I believe AGS and a couple of others said they would when J-M B gave them the call.

Palmersport F1 eh

[Giraffe]

The one element that F2 had in period was pedigree and integrity. F1 drivers were putting their reputation on the line, whilst up and coming hotshoes could compare themselves against the stars, and be seen to do so. F2 was seen as a discipline in it's own right.
I liked the privateers, and liked to follow Alistair Walker in his immaculately prepared Brabham BT30, often finishing well up the field. F2 to me means Derek Bell, Piers Courage, John Watson and then Dave Morgan winning at Mallory Park beating all the established stars in his ex-Formula Atlantic Brabham BT35. I think of Mike Hailwood in the Matchbox Surtees, and the remarkable Bill Ivy showing us briefly what might have been.................